Judges 17:6 and the very last verse of Judges, 21:25, say the same thing. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This construct would indicate that the material found in between these verses are the story; the beginning verse and ending verse are something like a title.
The first sentence is a hint of what is to come. Israel will soon conclude that their problems are the result of not having a king. The second sentence provides a summation of the nature of Israel’s problem. They have forgotten the will of the Lord. Because the Law of the Lord is not the law of the land, morality is up for grabs. People have to come up with their own standards of right and wrong and justice. Therefore, what we find in between 17:6 and 21:25 is a collection of examples that prove there is no moral standard. Micah’s self-made religion, the Danites’ might-makes-right mentality, Gibeah’s treatment of the concubine, and the sordid way Israel decided to provide wives for Benjamin. To say the least, society is a mess!
That’s the point. When transcendent truth is denied, there is no alternative save individual opinion. Everyone argues for some sense of morality. Everyone has a moral line that he feels no one should cross. The chaos enters when it becomes apparent that everyone has different moral lines. So who is to choose? In a relativistic society, no one can select a morality over another, for that would be intolerant! Therefore, society eventually loses all unity and connectivity. Society becomes unwound! This is the end of relativism, and the only answer is to restore a universal moral code. Thus, Israel needs a king! Their real need, however, was to return to the Lord!
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