I have just read through the last five chapters of the book of Judges. I already knew what they contained and couldn't wait to get to the end! I think that sections of the Bible that are like this one have been included so that we can really take in how evil society becomes when it turns its back on God. Sections of Ecclesiastes are similar because they describe life "under the sun"; that is, where there is no heavenly or eternal perspective.

Up to this point the editorial comment has been: "the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord". This is now replaced by the words: "in those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Do not both these comments together describe the Western world in which we live today? We are vividly aware of the same low moral standards, debased religious ideas, dishonouring of godliness and of God himself and his holy ways, the absence of righteous leadership, and the proliferation and promotion of evil opinions, causes and ideologies that threaten the wellbeing of all, especially the young.

What should our response be? We should pray for the world, we should portray the heart of Jesus for sinners and we should proclaim the truth as guided by the Holy Spirit – that is – waiting for the timing to be right. The example of Jesus was to love the sinner while hating the sin; to be taken up with treating others with grace and respect worthy of those made in the image of God; to offer abundant life and living water; to offer forgiveness and salvation; to describe God as the father of the prodigal son; and to avoid at all costs a holier-than-thou attitude full of judgment and condemnation. 

When some Samaritans refused to welcome Jesus; James and John asked him: "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them." He had come to seek, to serve and to save, not to judge, condemn and destroy. It is God's kindness that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

We are to preach and teach as Jesus did in the Gospels and as the apostles did in the book of Acts. Jesus said: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son" (John 3:16-18). His emphasis was not on how sinful people were, but on how crucial it was to believe in him in order to find forgiveness.