Praying All of Scripture: Judges

Author: Daniel Owens, PhD
March 19, 2026

Seventh in a series.

Judges 1:28
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

Judges 2:6–8
⁶When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years.

Judges 2:11–23
¹¹And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹²And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. ¹⁶Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²²in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

***

Judges is the horror book of the Bible. It certainly includes some heroes of the faith who performed mighty deeds by the power of the Holy Spirit (such as Ehud, Deborah and Barak, and Gideon). But if it were a movie, it would certainly be rated R. There are gruesome killings, sexual perversion and violence, and idolatry all around. Though idolatry would not provoke the Motion Picture Association to give Judges a strict rating, the idolatry of Israel during the Judges period created a spiritual nightmare. Idolatry was the root problem for Israel during this period, and it remains the root problem for humanity today (see Romans 1:18–32). Turning on God’s rule led Israel into dark places.

One writer argues that horror movies, viewed with discernment, can encourage Christians with their honest depiction of human sin, the reality of the supernatural, and the fight against evil.¹ I really don’t care for horror movies, but I can see how the Book of Judges can encourage us with its honest depiction of fallen human nature, its consistent presentation of God’s faithfulness in opposing evil and responding to the cries of his people, and its power to teach us to hope in Christ as we watch Israel descend into wickedness. Jesus is the king who has come to put things right, defeating Satan by his death and resurrection, and promising to come again to finally and fully do away with all evil.

The Book of Judges begins with the recognition that the conquest under Joshua had not been exhaustive since many of the Canaanites remained in the land (Judg. 1:28). Though reduced in number, they were present to influence Israel for ill. For this reason, Daniel Block describes the theme of the book, “the Canaanization of Israelite society during the period of settlement.”² Israel was restrained and followed the Lord while Joshua lived (Judg. 2:6–8). However, after his death, the people began a series of cycles, each of which involved (Judg. 2:11–23):

a descent into idolatry leading to…
God’s discipline under foreign oppressors leading to…
the people calling out to God leading to …
deliverance by a judge empowered by God.

This repeated cycle gets worse and worse as the book progresses, leading to the honest evaluation in the final verse in the book, Judges 21:25 (also in Judg. 17:6): “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This anticipates the establishment of the monarchy in 1 Samuel.

The Book of Judges provides a sobering depiction of just how evil we can be. It also highlights God’s faithfulness to his people, in judgment and salvation, leading us to cling to our Savior with all the more affection and urgency in view of the darkness of our sin.

And so we can pray,
Our holy and loving God, we know that when we do what is right in our own eyes and reject your wise rule, we find ourselves under the weight of your discipline. To the extent that we have sinned and rejected your rule, we repent and seek your gracious deliverance. Now that Christ is risen and reigns at your right hand, we hope in his return to judge the world and the Devil. We pray for your restraining grace, that we might not descend into such wickedness as your people did during the time of the Judges, that we may instead do what is right in your eyes and so acknowledge your king, Jesus, through whom we pray, amen.

---

Daniel Owens is NCC’s Pastor of Discipleship. Earlier chapters in this series will be found in the NCC Blog.

¹ Mike Duran, “Why the Popularity of Horror Movies Might Encourage Christians,” The Gospel Coalition, February 8, 2018, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/popularity-horror-movies-might-encourage-christians/.

² Daniel I. Block, Judges, Ruth, New American Commentary 6 (Broadman & Holman, 1999), 58.

BACK