Judges: Book Overview – Part 1

When Everyone Did What Seemed Right

Have you ever watched the world around you and thought, Where is God in all this? Or maybe you’ve gone through a season in your own life when you knew what was right but still drifted toward what was easy or familiar.

That’s the Book of Judges. It’s raw. It’s real. And honestly, it’s painfully relatable.

Judges picks up where Joshua leaves off. The Israelites are in the Promised Land, but instead of living in faithfulness, they fall into a cycle—sin, suffering, sorrow, and then salvation—again and again. And still, God never gives up on them.

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Why Judges Still Matters

Judges isn’t an easy book. It’s filled with failure, chaos, and consequences. But it’s also filled with hope, mercy, and the relentless love of God.

You and I know what it’s like to forget God, to run after things that don’t satisfy, to feel stuck in cycles we swore we’d break. Judges shows us that God’s love doesn’t quit, even when we do. He raises up deliverers—imperfect people through whom He works out His perfect plan.

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Author & Date

The author of Judges is unknown, though Jewish tradition often points to Samuel. The events span several hundred years (roughly 1200–1050 BC), during a time when Israel had no king and everyone did “what was right in their own eyes.”