The book of Judges is a difficult
book to read. Though it contains
happy moments, overall, it is very
dark, and as you progress through
the book, it gets worse and worse. 

Twice it says in the book of Judges,
“In those days there was no king in
Israel, but every man did that which
was right in his own eyes.” (Judges
17:6; 21:25) How did the nation that
received God’s law at Mount Sinai
end up in such a terrible place? It
happened because they decided to
forsake God and follow idols. 

Before Joshua died, he charged
the people, “And if it seem evil unto
you to serve the LORD, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether
the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the
flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell: but as for
me and my house, we will serve the
LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) Joshua
and his generation chose to serve
the Lord. But the next generation
decided to serve false gods. “And
they forsook the LORD God of
their fathers, which brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed
other gods.” (Joshua 2:13).

Every individual must choose for
themselves who they will follow. Either
they will follow the true God, the God
of the Bible, or they will follow a false
god, doing whatever is right in their
own eyes. The book of Judges shows
us the disastrous consequences of
forsaking the Lord and following false
gods. The consequences will be painful
if we stray from God and do what we
think is right instead of what God says
is right.