Judges 17-20 provide the awful context that leads to the events of this chapter. Israel has descended into idolatry, genocide, and civil war. It takes a particular terrible incident (Judges 19) for the nation to wake up to their total moral collapse. The final two chapters of Judges are marked by the pained cries of a nation in ruins as they lament before God. The book of Judges concludes with the words, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit”(21:25, which echoes earlier statements in 17:6; 18:1; 19:1). Yet ultimately it is the rejection of God as King that has been their downfall. A king is being held out as the inevitable trajectory and great hope for the nation. Yet, ultimately, Israel – and we – will have to wait many centuries before the true king and saviour of the world appears. Do we recognise how much we and our world need a saviour?