Setting: The Seeds of Disaster

Judges 2.6-8

• A promising start (1.1-26), but...
• They don’t finish the job (1.27-2.5)
• The don’t teach the next generation (2.10-15)

Judges 2.10-13

• Nor is there a godly leader to replace Joshua 

The Downward Spiral

Judges 3.7-11

• Israel does what is evil in the sight of the Lord
• God therefore allows their enemies to attack and harass them
• Israel cries out to God for help and God delivers them (by raising up a leader/judge)
• Israel lives in peace...but then the judge dies, and the cycle starts all over again

Ending: 

• The people God had set apart to bear his name are now indistinguishable from their pagan neighbors 
• There was no King in Israel, and each person did what was right in their own eyes (21.25).

Judges 21.25

Insights from Judges: 

• God is faithful beyond all expectations
• God works powerfully through imperfect people