Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
It's been a long time since I read the Bible but the passage "there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes" has a vastly different meaning for me.
Before there was a king everybody took personal responsibility for their actions and afterwards the king decided what was right and wrong and decided when to war etc. Even god didn't want Israel to have a king and only selected one after they begged to be like the other nations.
I can't argue with purity but as soon as you give that authority to the government, as the Israeli's did, society begins to break down. Consensus may have some effect but when alone each persons relationship with their god or them self is the final deciding factor of their purity.
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Judges begins as Joshua(Moses successor) dies. They have the high Priest and the Tabernacle for worship but, no political leader. Soon Israel falls into sin. Usually it is the worship of other gods. God is angered and allows the nations around them to be victorious against them. Israel cries out to God. God hears them and raises up a judge who brings military success and justice to the land. Israel behaves themselves while the judge still live. The judge dies and Israel falls into sin. The cycle repeats itself.
You are right that God warns Israel about the perils of government and Kings. The thing is God does this knowing full well they would want one anyhow. In fact he has instructions for Kings in the Mosaic law. Man would do better without government and all its trappings if we were all good people. The problem is that even the best liberal or conservative misses the mark. We all have our dark selfish side. None of us live up perfectly to our ideals and plenty fail miserably at doing what they know they should. Law and order are needed because of who we are.