Understanding Christianity

These later chapters comprise the third major section of Judges. With the death of Samson, God no longer raises up any leader. There are no more Spirit-empowered leaders to save Israel from their enemies or hold back their idolatry. Israel has degenerated into paganism, and now we see how “ordinary—every day” Israelites act in rank paganism when there is no king. The main point of Chapter 17 is: We must worship God as He is, not as we want Him to be.