Judges 21: No King. No Hope. — The End of Judges

Judges 21: No King. No Hope. — The End of Judges

Introduction

If we step back and look at the book of Judges through the lens of redemptive history, the pattern becomes painfully clear.

God created the world and placed man in His garden to care for what He had made. But man rebelled. The curse came down on both creation and humanity. Still, God did not close the door. He left open the way of reconciliation.

When violence filled the earth, God judged it by flood. But He promised never to do it that way again. The next judgment would be by fire.

God then called Abraham and promised to make his descendants into a nation that would be His own. He kept His word. He rescued them from Egypt, gave them His law, and brought them to the edge of the promised land.

But they didn’t believe Him. That generation rejected His Word and wandered for forty years until they died. Their children were brought in instead. They received the law again and were given the land.

And what did they do?

They did the same thing. They forgot the God who saved them. They gave their hearts to idols, ignored His commands, and chose everything He had told them to destroy.

By the end of Judges, it’s not just sin. It’s collapse. A civil war has left a tribe nearly extinct. The people kidnap women and call it mercy. And somehow, they convince themselves that it’s righteous.

This is what it looks like when there is no king in the land.
This is what it looks like when everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

1. Vows of Holiness that Display Hypocrisy

The final chapter of Judges opens with an oath. Another rash vow made in the heat of battle. The men of Israel had sworn not to give their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin. But now, as they sit before the Lord in Bethel, their anger gives way to sorrow. They lift up their voices and weep bitterly: “Why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking?”

It’s a revealing moment. They recognize something terrible has happened… but still refuse to acknowledge their own role in creating it.

They had made a vow “by the LORD” to not give their daughters, but now they want a loophole. They have “compassion” for Benjamin, but their solution is to slaughter the town of Jabesh-gilead. Every man, woman, and child. Because that town didn’t attend the earlier assembly. From among the corpses, they kidnap four hundred virgin girls and send them to Benjamin as wives.

What are we supposed to take from this?

Before we go any further, it must be said plainly. These actions are evil. This chapter is not an example to follow. It’s a warning. It reveals what happens when people try to create their own righteousness without a true King. The Israelites are trying to be holy, to preserve a tribe, to honor a vow. But what they produce is murder, hypocrisy, and the abuse of innocent lives.

It’s a picture of what happens when man believes he can be good on his own.

We see people trying to prove their integrity by keeping a vow that never should have been made. They invent convoluted solutions so they can keep their promise technically while still doing what they had sworn not to do. And all of it comes at the cost of human life.

How many of our modern definitions of “good” would stand up if examined this way? What laws do we write, what vows do we keep, what acts of “justice” do we perform, that ultimately lead to harm? We try to help but our help often hurts. We try to fix things but our solutions often break them worse.

When righteousness is defined by man, it always leads to contradiction. In one place, an action is considered a crime. Somewhere else, it’s considered a right. In one era, it’s called virtue. In another, it’s called evil. Who decides? Who defines what is good?

That’s the question Judges 21 is asking. And the answer is clear. We cannot trust ourselves. Our traditions, our sincerity, our best ideas. They all fail when there is no King to lead us.

“You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men… thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
(Mark 7:8,13)

When we try to replace God’s voice with our own, we may feel justified, but we are never righteous. The further we go down that road, the darker it becomes.

2. The Darkness of Evil Displayed as Good

The four hundred kidnapped girls from Jabesh-gilead were not enough. The elders of Israel were still determined to preserve the tribe of Benjamin, but their vow left them trapped. “We cannot give them wives from our daughters.” So they came up with another solution.

They remembered the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh. They knew the young women would be there, dancing and worshiping. So they sent word to the Benjaminites: go hide in the vineyards, and when the daughters come out to dance, each man should snatch a wife and flee back to his inheritance. If anyone complains, the leaders would offer a legal cover: “You didn’t give them your daughters, so your vow is intact.”

That is how they resolved the crisis. That is how the story ends.

The men of Benjamin kidnapped women who were publicly worshiping the Lord and forced them into marriage. Then they returned to rebuild their towns and their lives, as if it were normal.

What justification is there for this?

We can try to explain it. We can try to make sense of the culture or customs. But that would be missing the point. The text is not asking us to sympathize. It is asking us to see. What we call good is often evil. What we dress up as tradition is sometimes nothing but sin. What feels like righteousness to us is nothing but rebellion when viewed in the presence of God.

There is no hope in humanity. We cannot uphold righteousness. We are not holy. We cannot wash away the stains of sin. We cannot undo an act of evil, even when we attempt restitution. The victim is never truly made whole.

And this is not just ancient Israel. This is us.

Pilate washed his hands to show innocence. The crowd called for Christ’s blood and cheered their victory. But no one was righteous that day.

“Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.”
(Matthew 27:26)

They thought they were doing what was right. They believed their sacrifice was just. But they condemned the only innocent man who ever lived.

This is what Judges has been showing us the entire time. We cannot fix the world on our own. We cannot make ourselves clean. We cannot make evil good by calling it something else.

There is no salvation in man. There is no solution in our courts, our councils, or our convictions.

There is only one hope. And it is not in us.

3. When the Judges Rule

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
(Judges 21:25)
“In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land…”
(Ruth 1:1)

What often appears hopeless in the human experience truly is. There is only one place where hope is possible. When we dig through the foolishness that this world has produced over time, we uncover a promise that has always existed. A promise of salvation for humanity from its darkness. God, the Creator, has been calling people to Himself. Through wisdom, creation, and the goodness enjoyed by humanity, there have always been signs of salvation. Today, this hope is fully revealed through the person of Christ.

According to the judges’ rule, there was a famine in the land, a sign of God’s curse. Yet His sovereign hand had not abandoned His people. He remained faithful to the promise of salvation for those who believe. In the Book of Ruth, we see that He chose a Gentile woman to preserve the line from Abraham to Christ.

When Jesus was approached by a ruler who wanted to inherit eternal life, He pointed the man to the commandments. The man claimed he had kept them all since his youth. But Jesus, knowing the heart, exposed what the ruler could not see in himself. “One thing you still lack,” Jesus said. “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But the man walked away sorrowful.

He wanted salvation but not surrender. His hands held the commandments, but his heart clung to the world. He loved his possessions, and that love revealed the truth. He was not rich toward God.

This is the hypocrisy of humanity. We want enough of God to feel safe, but not so much that we have to let go. We want to define goodness on our own terms. But we cannot. There is no righteousness apart from Christ. There is no peace apart from His rule.

Conclusion

There is no hope in man.
The Person of Christ is true hope to those who trust in Him.

He alone is righteous.
He alone is just.
He alone is good.

Israel’s story ends in collapse. But the story of Scripture does not end in Judges. It leads to Jesus. And He is the King we have always needed.

If you are a Christian:
Live a life of repentance. Do not trust your own eyes to define good and evil. Turn to Christ daily. He alone can cleanse what you cannot fix. Follow Him as your King. He is not just an option among many. He is your only hope.

If you are not a believer:
Repent. Turn toward Christ. There is no salvation in man, no peace in politics, no healing in religion apart from Him. What seems right to you may lead only to destruction. But Christ offers forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life to all who come to Him in faith.

6. Scripture Reference Index

• Mark 7:6–13 – Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of man-made religion that replaces God's command with human tradition.
• Matthew 27:22–26 – Pilate hands over Jesus to be crucified, choosing the will of the crowd over justice and truth.
• Luke 18:18–23 – A rich ruler walks away sorrowful when Jesus calls him to give up his possessions and follow Him, revealing his love for the world.
• Ruth 1:1 – In the days when the judges ruled, a famine strikes the land, setting the stage for God's redemption through Ruth.