Because there was no king in Israel during the time of the judges, the children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes, and as a result, they became rotten and corrupted; when we do what is right in our own eyes and not in God’s eyes, the result is degradation, rottenness, and corruption.
The history presented in the book of Judges consists of seven cycles, the same situation being repeated again and again.
After the generation that knew God and was with Joshua passed away and was gathered to their fathers, another generation, who did not know Jehovah or the work that He had done for Israel, rose after them.
And the children of Israel did what was evil in God’s sight; they served the Baals, they mixed with the nations around them, and they forsook God.
They forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the One who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and they followed after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who surrounded them.
Because they did not dispossess and terminate the nations around them, they mixed with them and served their gods, thus forsaking Jehovah. Oh, Lord!
Because of this, because they forsook Jehovah and served Baal and the Ashtaroth, the anger of Jehovah burned against them, and He delivered them into the hands of the plunderers, and they plundered them.
Jehovah sold them into the hand of their enemies around them, and they were no longer able to stand before their enemies.
Because the people of Israel forsook God and served other gods, their enemies came and oppressed them, and they were not able to stand.
The hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, and they were greatly distressed.
Then they repented and cried out to God, and He raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of those who plundered them.
Yet they didn’t listen to their judges either, but they went about as harlots after other gods and worshipped them. Oh, Lord Jesus!
They walked straight and obeyed Jehovah during the life of the judge which God raised among them, but then they returned to worshipping other gods and forsook Jehovah.
They were the wife of Jehovah, being betrothed to Him and having the land before them to take and enjoy, but they forsook Jehovah and went after other idols.
May the Lord save us from such a situation among us today.
May we take the Lord as our Husband, our Lord, our King, and our Head, and may we cling to Him, love Him, worship Him, and remain in oneness with Him.
If we do this, if we remain in oneness with the Lord and enjoy Him, if we do not go about worshipping other gods, and if we don’t set up idols in our heart, we will enjoy God’s presence and His blessing.
Not having God as King and doing what is Right in our Own Eyes leads to Rottenness and Corruption
It is so sad to read in Judges again and again that, because there was no king in Israel during the time of the judges, the children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes, and as a result, they became rotten and corrupted (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
In Deut. 12:8-14 Moses told the people of Israel that, even though in the wilderness everyone did what was right in their own eyes, they should not do this also in the good land; rather, they should do what is right in God’s eyes.
Moses charged them with this, but deep within he knew that most likely they would not obey the charge.
In Deut. 12:14 in particular God chose a particular place to set His name, and the tabernacle was there together with the high priest and the Urim and Thummim; that was the place where the children of Israel were to come and worship God.
But Israel did what was right in their own eyes, and they did not have a king among them; this means that they did not take God as their king but rather, they did what they thought to be right.
The result was terrible, for all kinds of rotten and corrupted things took place, including immorality and murders, and terrible things were done.
Satan caused the people of Israel to do what was right in their own eyes, to be lawless and godless, and to cast off God’s constraint; this is revealed in Judges 17—18; 19:1; and 21:25.
Satan is the first who became lawless and godless, and he cast off God’s constraint; he rebelled against God and even wanted to be like God, and by doing this he became the source of rebellion and lawlessness.
It wasn’t accidental that the people of Israel did what was right in their own eyes and so they became rebellious and rotten; it wasn’t simply that the people were corrupt or tempted by what was surrounding them.
Rather, the enemy was behind the whole scene to carry out his perverse intentions.
The same is happening today: the enemy, Satan, is behind the scene to cause all men to serve his evil intentions, and men go along with the evil one’s desires.
Satan causes people to think they do what is right in their own eyes, but the result is always rottenness and corruption.
Look around today: so many are doing what is right in their own eyes, and this right thing may not be right in others’ eyes; they think they are doing what is right, but the result always leads to more rebellion, more division, and more corruption.
Whenever we don’t allow God to be king in us and we do things according to what is right in our own eyes, we become degraded, corrupted, and rotten.
God didn’t save us, the believers in Christ, so that we may do the right thing; we are not saved so that we may do what is right in our own eyes but what is right in God’s eyes.
May we return to the Lord in His word and may we allow Him to shine in us and on our actions so that we may be exposed of the corruption and rottenness in us and return to Him, return to His intention, and be joined to Him!
May we be joined to the Lord as one spirit and live in this one spirit with Him, not living our life according to right or wrong, not doing what is right in our own eyes but what is right in God’s eyes, and living in the mingled spirit!
Lord Jesus, save us from forsaking You and doing what is right in our own eyes. Oh Lord, save us from rejecting or ignoring You as our King and doing what we think is right. We repent for loving other things; we repent for forsaking You and for not living one spirit with You. We repent for doing what we think is right. Oh Lord, we return to You in Your word and to Your economy. We refuse to do what is right in our own eyes: we choose You, we choose life, and we choose to live one spirit with You! Amen, Lord, keep us in the organic union with You today, doing what is right in Your eyes and putting ourselves with our opinions and desires aside!
We need to be Saved from doing what is Right in our Eyes by Taking God’s Choice
If we look around in the world today, the best of the people in this world do what is right in their own eyes, and others appreciate them and even praise them.
However, the result is still not life or peace but more corruption and rottenness.
Even more, if we look at the situation in Christianity today, we see that Christians often say that to them a certain thing is right or wrong; to live in this way is to do what is right in our own eyes.
Such an attitude dominates the entire realm of Christianity, with very few exceptions.
Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.
Even among us in the church life, some of the greatest damage that was done among us and some of the heart-rending situations have been caused by those who are sure that what they are doing is right in their own eyes, for they are doing what is right.
Being right about something gives the self such a boldness and audacity, and this brings in indescribable damage.
When we live according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we choose what is good and right, we think we are right; what is behind this tree and this decision, however, is the evil spiritual force, regarding which we are oblivious.
When we live according to the principle of doing what’s right and rejecting what is wrong, doing the good thing and rejecting the evil, we basically reject God, for we think in the universe there’s only good or evil, right or wrong.
The result is that we think that a person is wrong, a situation is wrong, and we are right, so we will deal with persons and things according to this. Oh, Lord!
What about bringing a certain situation to the Lord and enquiring of Him? What about allowing the Lord to adjust and deal with certain situations?
It is dreadful for us as believers in Christ to do what is right in our own eyes; we must do what is right in the eyes of God.
If we reject Christ as our King and there’s no submission to His authority, we do what is right in our own eyes, that is, we do just what we please.
This is the situation and the state of things in the present evil age, both in the world and in Christianity as a religious system (Eph. 2:2, 12).
Doing what is right in our own eyes is lawlessness; we need to be delivered from the lawlessness portrayed in Judges and we need to live under the rule of God in the kingdom of God and do the will of God (Titus 2:14; Gal. 1:4; Matt. 6:10).
The children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes in the wilderness; that was lawlessness, and it was something that could never please God.
He tolerated this in the wilderness, but He would not tolerate it in the good land, so Moses told them that, when they entered into the good land, they must present their burnt offerings in the place of God’s choice.
This means that we believers in Christ need to live in Christ, rest in Christ, and inherit our portion in Christ, the reality of the good land, and we should not do things according to what is right in our eyes but according to God’s choice.
We are saved from the lawlessness of doing what is right in our own eyes by taking God’s choice and doing things according to His desire.
God’s choice keeps us one both with Him and with one another. His choice for our worship of God keeps us one with Him and one with the saints, for whenever we come together in spirit to offer Christ to God as our truthfulness on the unique ground of oneness, the ground of God’s choice, we are one with the saints in the Body and we offer God the worship He desires.
Today Christians are too free – they have too many choices, and there’s a supermarket of “churches” and “Christian groups” out there for everyone to choose from.
Some may not like this kind of meeting, while others love that kind of meeting; some may not like a certain teaching, while others may prefer to be in a church where everyone has the same skin color as he does.
But who takes God’s choice? Who considers what God wants?
Who is saved from the lawlessness of doing what is right in their own eyes by taking God’s choice and thus meet on the unique ground of oneness and according to God’s choice?
Lord Jesus, save us from the lawlessness of doing what is right in our own eyes. Save us from doing just what we please and what we think is right. Oh Lord, save us from merely doing what is right and rejecting what is wrong. We come to You, Lord, and we bring all things before You. We put aside our choice and preference, and we take Your choice and Your preference. We want to meet on the ground of oneness, the unique ground of Your choice, and we exercise our spirit to offer God the worship that He desires. May we in the Lord’s recovery be delivered from the lawlessness of doing what is right in our eyes to live under the rule of God in the kingdom of God and do the will of God. We choose You, Lord, and we take Your choice; we exercise our spirit to put ourselves aside and take the unique ground of Your choice, the ground of oneness, so that we may keep the oneness of the Body and remain in the organic union with the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, vol. 2, Christ as Reality, ch. 3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 9, The Children of Israel not Having a King and Everyone doing what was Right in His Own Eyes.
- Hymns on this topic:
– The tree of knowledge standing there, / Bespeaks a sure and warning voice: / Outside of God there is a source / Of death to all who make this choice. / If man would eat the tree of life, / Then God as life he will receive, / And be transformed to precious stones, / God’s will and Purpose to achieve. (Hymns #733)
– We are for the Lord’s recovery / Of the local church; / We are for the Lord’s recovery / Of the city and the earth. / Standing on the ground of oneness, / Oneness in the Lord, / We are building up the temple / Of our glorious Lord. (Hymns #1255)
– We stand as one, and cannot be divided, / Because our oneness is of Christ alone. / We eat as one: one loaf, one cup partaking, / And thus our oneness visibly is shown. / Oh, what a joy to have this blessed oneness! / We sense that Thou, O Lord, art satisfied; / And we too share this blissful satisfaction— / Sweet foretaste of the Bridegroom with His Bride. (Hymns #1107)
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