How would you account for any and all forms of Canaan in the church? Is it that the power and influence of Canaan are just so strong as they press upon the church? This takes us to the heart of Judges 21:1–25. It uncovers for us the real source of sin, also our sin. At the beginning of Judges, Israel failed to completely wipe the Canaanites from the land. Instead, Canaanites influenced Israel into idolatry. Then, throughout the judges narratives, there was that downward spiral, a progressive Canaanization of the judges, climaxing with Samson. But, in these final chapters, and especially this last one, where are the Canaanites? Absent. And so, as one explainer rightly notes, this book serves as eternal witness to the grim reality that God’s people are often their own worst enemy. It is not the enemies outside who threaten the soul, but the Canaanite within! So yes, God’s people were, and are, influenced by Canaan, but the source of the problem is in their own hearts. It is the same with us. The root of problems, of Canaanization in the church today is not in the influence of the culture around us. Instead, it is in our own reluctance or even unwillingness to take God at his Word, and to obey. This is why God’s people need a king. Otherwise we too would destroy ourselves.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.