Today’s Bible reading is Judges 17 through 21 (found on the right side of the Jesus Moment site). These chapters contain very violent and graphic stories of the depravity of fallen man. The chapters all seem to contain this thought expressed in Judges 17:6 (and other places):

Judges 17:6 (New International Version)

6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

People doing what they think is right is just as frightening now as it was back them. To me it is echoed in our current society. With no standard of truth any longer (having secularized the Bible) people pretty much do what THEY think is right.

I also wondered about how the young women of Shiloh might have felt as they were just picked up and carried off by the Benjamites to be their wives. When the fathers and brothers of the young women complained, the elders reply was “Do us a kindness”. It reminded me of a more recent expression “Do us a solid”.

Today I am going to spend some time thinking about how often I end up doing what I want to do (sin), rather than doing the right thing, and how often I try and justify or rationalize (rational lies) my actions.

Related posts:

1. Bible Reading Judges 1 – 4
2. Bible Reading Judges 5 – 8
3. Bible Reading Judges 13 – 16
4. Bible Reading Judges 9 – 12
5. Bible Reading 2 Samuel 13 – 15