When Religion Pays

The book of Judges draws to a close by examining what the religious and moral climate of Israel was like "on the ground." Religiously, Israel looks more like the pagan nations around them than they do the chosen people of God. They have lost their faith in a personal God and have ended up with a dead religiosity devoid of any real meaning. With every man doing what is right in his own eyes, religion is just another way Israel expressed the hopelessness of the strong dominating the weak.