Judges 21:25

The closing refrain of Judges — "there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" — serves as a theological indictment rather than a mere historical observation, exposing the fruit of covenant unfaithfulness when human autonomy replaces divine authority. Reformed interpreters have consistently read this verse as a stark illustration of total depravity: fallen humanity, unrestrained by legitimate governance and the fear of God, does not drift neutrally but descends into atrocity, as the preceding chapters amply demonstrate. The absence of a king is not simply a political vacuum but a spiritual one, highlighting Israel's rejection of Yahweh as their true sovereign — a point Calvin underscores in noting that lawlessness always flows from the heart's rebellion against God before it manifests in the civic order. Yet the passage also functions proleptically, driving the reader toward the Davidic monarchy and ultimately to Christ, the King whose reign alone can redirect human will from self-legislating autonomy toward righteousness. The book thus ends not in despair but in anticipation, as the Spirit's repeated deliverances throughout Judges testify to God's sovereign preservation of his covenant people despite their cyclical apostasy, guaranteeing that the promised Seed would come to establish the kingdom no human judge could.