Judg 21:25, In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 
	We are at the end of our reading of the Book of Judges. It is not one that leaves us with that sense of delight in the Lord as did the other books that we read. Rather, this one highlights the sinful nature of humanity in such a way as to bring us to the edge of the absolute elimination of one of the tribes of the Lord’s people. 
Throughout our reading, it was supremely evident that The Lord had a great heart after His people. This was seen at the beginning of this Book when Judah was chosen to be the first to go forth in the conquering of the remnant of the nations that were arrayed before the people. While the book starts with this positive dispossession of the Canaanites. Sadly, it ends with the almost utter elimination of the tribe of Benjamin which was guilty of the same horrid atrocities that brought about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The entire book details how time after time after time, the people turned away from God and sought after the idols and the entanglements in spiritual adultery and abject sinfulness against the Lord God Almighty. They would turn their backs on God and choose to defile themselves by practicing the abominations of the people whom they were to have utterly destroyed. Then, when the Lord would turn them over to another people or a vile ruler to punish them for their faithlessness, they would turn from their sins and cry out for deliverance. 
At that point The Lord would raise up a judge to bring them out of their plight. This would cause them to then honor the Lord for a period of years. However, each time this cycle was repeated, there was a diminished commitment unto the Lord evidenced in a lessened length of time of obedience with each succeeding judge. This finally brought them to the point of the almost utter annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin, and ending with our morning’s text …In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
The Lord, through Moses, had warned the nation of this exact dissipation of obedient trust in Yahweh and His Sovereignty way back in Deut 12:1-9. He had made completely known to them the certain consequences of their faithless attitude and utter disregard for His Holiness. Moses voiced those words that would bring to their remembrance Jehovah’s continual provision for their care and what would certainly be the result if they turned to their own ideas and forsook God’s path of righteousness. 
Deut 12:1-9, "These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods, and you shall obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God. But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your herd and of your flock. There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 
	The Lord specifically warned against doing what was right in man’s own eyes, since our eyes are clouded with selfishness and sinful disregard for anything other than what would meet the lustful desires of our depraved hearts. That is why the whole institution of government was necessary with the goal of maintaining some social order and accountability. Otherwise total anarchy would present itself as evident within a complete lack of social mores. This exposed the need for some type of social institution with a means of control over the wantonness of mankind. 
Apart from God, man has never and will never ever be able to do anything other than try to satisfy the depravity of sinful human nature. All the efforts for a utopian society, under the best of human intentions and abilities and sensibilities, have ultimately failed! This is because, without the direct intervention of God’s hand in operation, there is only chaos and utter immorality! 
	As pointed out continually throughout this book of Judges, without a Sovereign in place to rule over the lusts and the wills and the social activities of the nation of Israel, complete bedlam reigned. Judg 17:6, In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. This all indicated the need to have a king over the nation. That king was supposed to be the Lord God Almighty. However, the people refused over and over again to acknowledge Him or to obey Him. 
	As evidenced by the Psalmist in Ps 12:1-5, even when there was an earthly king over the nation, the heart of human society is ever corrupt and defiled. Even the best of humanity is cursed with seeking after only that which was indicative of the fallen nature of mankind. 
Ps 12:1-5, Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs." 
	The Lord, in Prov 3:1-7, once again, very succinctly declared what is the necessity of humanity in terms of living on this earth. This is even within those social structures which try to control the populace through any means required. No matter how well intentioned a society may be, there is only one way that supersedes and completely sets our footsteps aright! It is as we seek the Lord with all our hearts and all our minds and do not lean upon our own understanding. 
Unless we are completely submitted to God and His will as the focus of our lives, we will always and forever fail! We need to hold to the teaching of the Lord and to seek Him to be our understanding and our guiding light through the darkness of this age.
	Prov 3:1-7, My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life, And peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 
	Again, in Prov 14:1-12, the vast difference between those who seek after their own ways and their own understanding in opposition to those who turn to the Lord is set before us. The wisdom of this age is nothing when compared to the wisdom of the Lord. It is evident in the every manner in which we live our lives and deal with even the most practical ways of each day. This is highlighted as the ways of those who seek after the wisdom of the Lord is in abject opposition to those who seek after doing what is right in their own eyes. 
	Prov 14:1-12, The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands. He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, But he who is crooked in his ways despises Him. In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back, But the lips of the wise will preserve them. Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much increase comes by the strength of the ox. A faithful witness will not lie, But a false witness speaks lies. A scoffer seeks wisdom, and finds none, But knowledge is easy to him who has understanding. Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit. Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is good will. The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy. The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish. There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. 
	The Prophet Micah, in Mic 2:1-4, declares the response of the Lord to all who will not turn to Him in the course of seeking His will rather than their own vile desires and actions. The way of the wicked will never prevail against the Sovereignty and the Holiness of God.
	Mic 2:1-4, Woe to those who scheme iniquity, Who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, For it is in the power of their hands. They covet fields and then seize them, And houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance. Therefore, thus says the Lord, "Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity From which you cannot remove your necks; And you will not walk haughtily, For it will be an evil time. "On that day they will take up against you a taunt And utter a bitter lamentation and say, 'We are completely destroyed!
	The full manner of the heart of man’s consideration of Who God is and why He is to be honored with all our actions and attitudes and fealty is absolutely established and proclaimed throughout His Word. This Book of Judges is the testament to what will take place when man tries to live in abject denial against the will and the rule of God. We are shown the dire consequences within the course of those whose hearts do not cherish and understand The Lord’s rule and dominion over all of that which He has created and established. 
	The reality of the difference between human kings and the Kingship of God is thoroughly explained in His Word. The prophet Samuel specifically detailed the course of the rule of a man as king in 1 Sam 8:11-17. This was when the people demanded an earthly king so that they could be just like all the other nations of the earth. God hid nothing from the people with regard to what they were going to experience when they rejected Him and chose the willing subjection to a fallible and faulty rule of humanity.
1 Sam 8:11-17, And he said, "This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. And he will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys, and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 
On the other hand, consider what is declared in Deut 10:17+18. Herein is the vast difference evidenced when the people of God submit themselves willingly to the Divine Sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty. Deut 10:17+18, For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 
	The Psalmist rejoices the difference as in Ps 136:2+3. Ps 136:2+3, Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Our lives are to be filled with this thankfulness to God for Who He is and all that He has done.
	The Apostle Paul gave earnest declaration to the truth of how we are to regard and to cherish our relationship with the Lord as our King and Our Maker. He encouraged Timothy with this truth in 1 Tim 6:13-16. This is something that needs to be established in the hearts and minds of all God’s people whom He has blessed with His so great love in Jesus Christ. This is in consideration of the eternal and Omnipotent Sovereignty of God. Absolute obedience unto Him is so far from us doing that which is supposedly right in our own eyes.
	1 Tim 6:13-16, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time — He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. 
	We close this morning and this time in the Book of Judges with the encouragement of the writer of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. John was shown the full emphasis of the Eternal King Who is the Majestic One. Jesus is resplendent in the glory and the praise and the worship of the entirety of creation. All the forces of those who so choose to do what is right in their own eyes will never prevail against Christ and His magnificent and perfect essence of Holiness and His Righteous Dominion! 
Consider first, Christ’s victory as declared in Rev 17:14. Rev 17:14, "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." 
	Next turn to the completed and ultimate disclosure seen by John as recounted in Rev 19:11-16. There will be no other manner of the course of the operation of the understanding of humanity than the absolute Sovereignty and Divine accomplishment of the Lordship of Jesus Christ! All will bow down before His throne! Those who are His chosen will be bowing in humble and absolute joy for the love of God and His grace and His mercy! The rest will be bowing in abject horror at the stupidity of their stubborn and defiant refusal to seek Him and His freely offered salvation while on this earth.
	Rev 19:11-16, And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 
	Jesus is the "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Our place on this earth right now is to make that declaration the full measure of our walk today! We now know Him in that place of honor and majesty and sovereignty this very day and forevermore! Let us choose to so give Him the honor and the praise and the worship that He deserves as each day unfolds. Let us joyously seek His way and His righteousness in the acknowledgment of His Sovereignty. This is to be the course of our sojourn as His ambassadors of what is true and holy and just in this world that is so filled with sin and shame and depravity in the hearts of those who refuse to acknowledge Him. They are lost in the hopelessness of only doing that which is right in their own eyes, which are so blind and unable to see Him on the Throne of all His creation. So be it!
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 2:11. Worship the Lord with reverence, And rejoice with trembling. Amen.