“In His Own Eyes”

Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

Try this for devotions: gather three people and have them each read three random verses of their choosing. After the last person reads, string the verses together any way you choose, inserting a poem for good measure. What kind of theology could you get if each person did his “own thing”?

The book of Judges in a nutshell is found in Judges 17:6-“Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” The consequences of this type of living are spiritual confusion and moral depravity. Those two themes-confusion and depravity-are apparent in the last few chapters of Judges. In chapter 17 we find a man who steals money from his own mother. What is even stranger is her saying, “Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son,” because she had “wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image. . . .” How spiritually confusing!

You see more of the same in chapters 18 and 19, including a graphic story of a Levite and his concubine. Think of just the implications of that-a priest and a concubine! Moral depravity always follows spiritual confusion, and the sky is the limit for how depraved a man can be if everyone determines what is right “in his own eyes.”

While it is true that the wickedness in Judges 18-21 was ultimately against God, that is not what Judges 17:6 says. Look again at the first part of the verse: “In those days there was no king in Israel. . . .” You will find that phrase in the first verse of chapters 18 and 19 as well. God was still God-He doesn’t change. What had changed was the fact that there was no authority telling the people that they ought to follow God!

Imagine if I allowed my son, Weston, to do what is right in his own eyes? Am I so naive to think that what is right and acceptable in Weston’s young eyes will cut it in life? Of course not! What Weston needs is an authority to help him understand and learn what is right, according to God’s standard. Determine to live today and each day, not by what is “right in your own eyes,” but by what God has said is right. The unity and discipline we all need are found in what God has said, not in what we think is ok. May God help us to live accordingly.