Everyone Returns Home: There Was No King in Israel

The tribes return to their territories, and Judges closes with its famous verdict: there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That line does more than complain about weak government. It echoes Deuteronomy’s warning against self-directed covenant life and prepares the complicated kingship question that Samuel will take up: Israel needs righteous rule under the LORD, not merely any human king. Jesus foreshadowing: the closing “no king in Israel” crisis contributes to the Bible’s developing longing for righteous rule. Samuel will show that just having a human king is not enough; the Davidic covenant and New Testament ultimately direct that longing to Jesus, the righteous and everlasting King.