Relativism and disobedience when hand-in-hand with violence and idolatry. Stealing, rape, murder and sodomy are recorded as crimes in this book, while the priests of the tribe of Levi were confused and weak. Does this sound familiar?
Of course, the writer believes that the king, that is in the persons of Saul, David, and Solomon, brought peace and order to religion, which is true. That the religion and the covenant were severely compromised by the sins of the people as related in the Book of Judges reveals the chaos and anarchy which follows the break down of a religious structure.
That I am meditating on these passages is not an accident. Many of the stories are too horrific for this blog, but just take a moment and read the last three or four chapters. All these events happened betwee 1380 and 1050 BC. Finally, God raises up the kings to fight the Philistines and other enemies of Israel and bring about under David, and especially under Solomon, a time of peace. Short-lived, because of the sins of David.
The point is that we shall see this again with the retreat of religion in the public sphere. If Ireland and Malta pass the abortion laws, there will be less than five countries in the world which outlaw abortion laws, although some countries claim to be against abortion.
What will the world look like when the civic governments fall into religious anarchy?
Read Judges.