The Failure of the Tribes

I still remember the misguided giddiness I felt when my eighth grade English teacher announced we would be reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I knew little of the titular star-crossed lovers or of Shakespeare beyond that the work was something famous I should read and appreciate.

I was livid when I read the end of the play. Romeo and Juliet were both dead, and there was no happily ever after. What sort of love story was this? 

It isn’t one, really. It’s a tragedy. Every twist and turn that leads to the demise of the young couple is meant to bring an ache to our hearts because we realize how easily it could have been avoided. We’re meant to be outraged at the selfish actions of the Capulets and Montagues, and we’re meant to feel upset and distressed at the ending. That’s how tragedy works.

The book of Judges is the tragic, true story of the people of Israel ignoring God’s instructions and abandoning their faith to live like their pagan neighbors. With each new judge, it documents a downward cycle of rebellion and rescue as Israel moves from obedience to bleak despair. More often than not, the actions on the page are horrifying, dripping with rebellion and violence. 

Forgetting the one true God—both His goodness and His holiness—is a tragedy. We hope for God’s people to get it right with each new rescue God provides. But the final scenes of this book are tragic. It just ends, with everyone doing whatever seemed right to them. As readers, we’re left with a sense of longing for how things ought to be.

As we read Judges together in the coming weeks, I pray we discover the source of true redemption in these pages. May we draw hope from the fact that God continues to work through broken, morally compromised, deeply flawed people and circumstances. He isn’t limited by our shortcomings. He isn’t limited by the brokenness in our world. His story—and because of Him, our story—is not one of tragedy but one of profound beauty and hope in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God.