When There Was No King (Judges 19-20)
Judges 19-20 shows us what happens when everyone does what they think is right.
I never finished the books my English teachers assigned in middle school and high school. We usually talked about them so much in class, and sometimes we even watched the movie—I could do alright on the test without reading every page. So I never finished the books. Until Lord of the Flies.
I’ve read a lot of books since high school, but it’s still one of my favorites. It’s about a bunch of shipwrecked boys figuring out how to survive together on an island with no adults. As a boy myself, I thought, How great would that be? Nobody telling me when to wake up, to do chores, go to school? It sounded like paradise.
But—spoiler alert—with no grown-ups around, things spiral out of control pretty quickly.
The whole story holds up a mirror to humanity—especially to teenage boys who don’t appreciate the grown-ups in their lives. It shows us what we’re all capable of when no one's in charge.
That’s the book of Judges, too.
Judges 19–20 are two of the most troubling chapters in the whole Bible. I encourage you to go read them first before continuing. Just know—they’re deeply disturbing. If you’ve experienced abuse, you might want to proceed with extra care today.
Literary Context
Let’s step back for some important context on these chapters. When Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, he reminded them to stay faithful to God and not behave like their new neighbors, who worshiped other gods, oppressed the weak, and filled the land with injustice.
The book of Judges picks up after Joshua’s death. The grown-up is gone, and everything quickly falls apart. The book is violent and disturbing, showing how Israel became just like the corrupt people groups around them.
Design Pattern
Chapters 3-16 show Israel caught in a repeated cycle of rebellion, oppression, repentance, deliverance, and peace.
The Israelites SIN against God. God allows a neighboring group to OPPRESS them. Then the people cry out in REPENTANCE. God raises up a judge—a tribal leader—to DELIVER them. Then there’s PEACE... until the judge dies. And the cycle starts all over again.
This happens seven times in the book of Judges! Each lap around the cycle is worse than the last. Each judge is more corrupt than the one before.
In Hebrew literature, seven is the number of completion or fullness. Seven times through this cycle shows how complete Israel’s corruption is by the end. It’s not just a cycle, it’s a downward spiral. And today’s chapters—Judges 19 and 20—are the rock bottom.
And at this point in the story, the bad guy isn’t a corrupt judge or an oppressive outside group. The enemy is within. Israel is devouring itself.
Israel Had No King
Without getting into graphic detail, here’s the short version: A Levite—a priest—is traveling with his concubine. They stay overnight in an Israelite town. There, she’s abused and killed by men from the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. Instead of justice or repentance, the other tribes of Israel respond with brutal revenge, triggering a civil war. Tens of thousands die. The nation tears itself apart.
Now, an important phrase is repeated four times in the final chapters of Judges: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes."
Without someone in charge of Israel, each Israelite was free to do their own thing. They rebelled against God, abused the vulnerable, and fought one another.
At first glance, it may sound like all Israel needs is a king. But Judges is actually asking a deeper question: Is the real problem that we lack a king—or that we refuse to let God be King?
Because when Israel eventually gets human kings in 1 Samuel, things don’t magically get better for them. The kings—Saul, David, Solomon, and on and on—fall into the same patterns of rebellion, abuse, and violence.
What Israel needs most is not a change of leadership, but a change of heart. There’s a strong “don’t tell me what to do” impulse inside of them. Inside of us. And no politician, no policy, no program can fix that.
Judges leaves us longing—not just for a king—but for a different kind of King. A King who leads with compassion, justice, and sacrificial love. A King who heals what is broken instead of making it worse.
That longing points us forward to Jesus—the true King who gives his life to rescue rebellious people—and to rule our hearts.
Reflect
So what do we do with a story like Judges 19–20? I think we’re meant to hold it up like a mirror.
Where in our own lives are we doing what seems right in our own eyes?
Where do we feel our heart saying, “don’t tell me what to do”?
The book of Judges holds up a mirror. It shows us where being in charge of our own lives inevitably leads.
Take a moment now to pray. Ask God to help you trust Him today—not doing what’s right in your own eyes, but following the One who can lead you into the fullest life.
