In the darkest of times, can God pull us through, and make us better for having faced the challenge?

Judges ends in almost total darkness with some of the ugliest stories anywhere in the Bible. But even these darkest of scenes point the way to light. They?re here to show us what we need if we really want lasting justice. We need a true and worthy king.

In Samson?the last of the judges?we see a leader of unprecedented power leading a life of unbridled selfishness. We have a judge, in other words, who?s no better than his people with no interest in saving them. But still God uses him. And in his story we get a glimpse of the future?of how God saves, and whom.

This picture of what God has promised to do shows that risks for the kingdom aren?t really risks.

Jesus?s final words to his followers make every Christian responsible for getting the gospel to everyone who hasn?t heard it. How can we take up this responsibility?

The story of Jephthah is a dark one. It is a story of deliverance like the others, but the focus is not on his courage or even God?s power. The focus is Jephthah?s tragic misunderstanding of God?s love? and it shows us our only hope for a peaceful, life-giving relationship with God is God?s free, undeserved, gracious love for us in Jesus.

Gideon?s decline and Abimelech?s fall show what happens when you treat your power as a blank check for your agenda, not a stewardship from God. This story warns us against abusing the privileges and opportunities we?ve been given, and it points us to the leader we desperately need.

The story of Gideon focuses on Gideon?s slow-rising faith, God?s remarkable patience, and the promise that the Lord delivers those willing to give up their desire for control and trust him.

It may be that the stories in Judges follow a familiar cycle, but there?s nothing predictable about the way God delivers his people. When he acts to save them, he makes it obvious that he?s the one who does the saving.

The story of Ehud and Eglon is not one you?d expect to find in the Bible. It?s not just that the story is violent. It?s also crude and darkly comedic. But through the unexpected details we get a picture of the God who inserts himself into the messy lives of his people to turn their mourning into laughter.