Israelite society changed in a very significant way during the time of the Judges and especially during Gideon’s time.
What do I mean by that exactly?
I’m referring to Israel changing their mind about wanting a king to rule over them.
They began to realize that if they wanted to not only survive but thrive as a nation, they needed a king.
Second, they also came to the realization that the office of a judge would NOT be an appropriate replacement for a real God-ordained King.
The Lord only raised up a judge after Israel suffered a long period of oppression (due to their rebellion and idolatry).
A God-ordained judge would deliver the people from bondage and then he would rule until his death.
However, there was no successor to pick up the mantle of leadership when he (or she) passed away.
This void in leadership would cause Israel to again backslide and fall into another cycle of oppression.
However, a monarchy was different because a natural means of succession was built into the system…
Meaning the son of the King would take over.
And not only that, since the king had his own government he ruled over, he could put military forces in place to prevent attacks from foreigners
So the people understood on a practical level the benefits to be had by having a monarchy rule over them.
This is how Israel’s mindset had evolved during Gideon’s time.
Now how would we apply this pattern to our times today?
The first important thing is to recognize that the whole world is right now moving towards a one-world government.
Heck, we’ve had hints of this even before all this Covid craziness broke out.
Consider what happened during the financial crisis?
Both the USA and England took steps to nationalize their mortgage and lending systems.
This wasn’t about some conspiracy to control the people or anything like that.
It was because of the very real threat of a financial crisis that caused panicking government leaders to take such action.
But it wasn’t just politicians who got together and agreed to these sweeping reforms.
Billionaire businessmen and even a majority of these countries’ citizens agreed to these revolutionary changes as well.
Now think about what I just wrote and realize pretty much the same series of events occurred during the pandemic.
Politicians panicked and in collaboration with billionaire businessmen took over the medical establishments of pretty much every country in the world to implement you know what.
And again, a good majority of the world’s citizens, like sheep being led to the slaughter, wholeheartedly agreed to these sweeping changes.
Also, when we rewind the tape back again to the time just before the financial crisis struck, a man arose who was hailed as a world savior of sorts…especially when he traveled to the European continent.
Of course, I’m talking about Barak Obama.
My point in sharing all of this is to demonstrate how it’s in our very God-given nature to want a king to rule over us.
In fact, just as He did during the era of the Judges, right now, the Lord is arranging events so the world will be desperate for a king.
The merging of all our money and credit markets into a one world-wide system is one sign this is happening.
And the emergence of the you-know-what and all of the government policies accompanying it during the pandemic is another sign.
Make no mistake about it folks, the world is dying, literally crying out for a king to rule over them at this moment.
And they’re gonna get one.
But it’s not gonna be a king sent from God.
Just as what happened when King Saul was crowned King, the unbelieving world will demand a king created in their own ungodly and uncircumcised image.
We will know him as the Anti-Messiah.
Again, I repeat the point I’ve already made a couple of times.
The Lord has a King prepared for us.
A perfect King whose name in Hebrew means salvation.
Unfortunately, an uncircumcised world will not be ready nor will they accept him.
The world will first have to go through the horrors of being ruled by that evil ruler waiting in the shadows before they wake up and come to their senses.
Rich,
I’m not sure I can agree that our nature wants a king to rule over us, but we certainly do want to be like everyone else. We are, at our core, a social animal, and as such we don’t want to be separated from the rest of the group.
God never wanted a king over us, he wanted us to trust him.
It’s true that the Judges were sent to help us, but that was only because we turned away from God. The Judge was God’s reminder that he is in charge, not someone else.
The Cohen was God’s assigned intermediary between us and God, using the Urim and Thumim, as well as lots, to determine God’s will for us.
Moses was the first Judge and king because before him, there weren’t enough Jews to be called a nation. And when he died, Joshua took over as both, which lasted until his death.
After Joshua, Judges were raised up by God as needed and until Shaul, when the people again turned away from God by asking for a human king, there was no king.
The Bible tells us why they wanted a king- it was to be like everyone else.
You are right that there will be a one-world government, which is (actually) what God wants, but he wants it with Yeshua as the king, not the Anti-Christ.
But, that is not how it will work. The Anti-Christ will be first, then Yeshua will take over and that will be the final, eternal kingship.
Bottom line for me: we don’t want a king, we do want to be ruled, and we want to be like everyone else. That is why it so hard to be holy, which means separated, because it goes against our natural desire to be like everyone else
Except Moses wasn’t Jewish, Moses was a Levite. Biblical ignorance is apparent when someone indicates all Israeli’s are Jewish and not of some other Tribe of Israel.
The word “Jewish” like many other words in Scripture does actually possess more than one meaning. Jewish can mean as you pointed out one who only comes from the Tribe of Judah (as King David and Yeshua was). But over time, especially in the New Testament era, it took on a broader meaning referring to anyone of any Hebrew background regardless of which tribe one’s family was originally affiliated with.
Thanks for sharing Steven. Me saying it is in mankind’s God-given nature to want a king to rule over them is the same as me saying “Man has a void in his heart that can only be fulfilled by worshipping a holy God”. Perhaps a more accurate way to render what I said is to say “It is in mankind’s nature to want a GODLY King to over them”. Shalom.
You make a lot of scriptural sense.
Thanks and God bless us
Be blessed Abraham.