The Dark Ages
According to the Internet, The Dark Ages “is a categorization commonly used to describe the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Italian Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. Roughly speaking, the Dark Ages corresponds to the Middle Ages, or from 500 to 1500 AD.” In the Bible, we refer to “the dark ages” as the time period of the judges—after the death of Joshua to the time of Samuel. They were dark because the people had ceased following the Ten Commandments—not to mention the other laws that God gave Israel. The reason given for this era of lawlessness, immorality, and spiritual apostasy is found in the last chapter of the Book of Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25).
This attitude is further explained in some of the Proverbs of Solomon: “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits” (Pr. 16:2). “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (16:25). “Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts” (21:2). Considering these four verses together, we can glean some important truths. Doing what is right in one’s own eyes presumes a few prior principles, such as:
God’s laws are either invalid, out of date, or no longer practical. More modern wisdom needs to be applied.
There is such a thing as right and wrong.
Each individual has the right to determine what is right or wrong for himself.
Human beings tend to justify themselves and their actions—no matter how absurd their defense may sound.
The Lord knows the heart and the spirit of a man—his actual intentions (whether he is sincere or excusing himself).
Replacing God’s objective morality with man’s subjective musings about it leads to spiritual death.
Look what subjective morality led to in the Book of Judges. First and foremost was idolatry. “Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so” (Judges 2:17). Once they left God’s objective commandments, they were free to violate any of them. Micah temporarily stole from his mother, made a graven image, and had a Levite to be his own personal priest (Judges 17). The Danites robbed him of his image and his priest—with no compunction (18). A city in Benjamin was filled with Sodomites (Judges 19; cf. Lev. 20:13). Even Samson, the judge of Israel, committed fornication (Judges 16:1-4). Unfortunately, many Americans have chosen to live by the same philosophy, which explains why today’s times are also dark. Respect for the Word of God needs to be restored.