What the author of Judges observed is much like what Jesus observed when he looked over the multitudes of people following him. As Jesus said, “They are like sheep with no shepherd,” (Matt 9:36) so the author of Judges said, they were a nation with no King.”

And in the absence of a king, in the absence of good leaders and shepherds, there is no end to the trouble the nation will get into.

In Judges 2, one generation of promise-breakers dies, and a new generation who “forgot the Lord” (3:7) replaces them. Soon, those un-demolished altars of chapter 1 ensnare this new generation, and they begin to worship pagan gods at these shrines. As a result, God faithfully enacts the covenant curses of which he had repeatedly warned Israel. He strengthens enemies to afflict them, and in “terrible distress,” (2:15) Israel cries out to God. In chapter 3, God mercifully raises up a series of three judges to save his people from three enemies.