In the book of Judges the people of Israel repeatedly lost sight of God as their King. This failure is stated explicitly four times, most pointedly in the closing verse that declares there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The same attitude had already surfaced during the wilderness journey, when the nation refused to keep the statutes and judgments that would have brought them into the rest and inheritance God intended. Because they no longer perceived the sovereign King who had always been present, they turned to idolatry, moral collapse, and internal warfare, ending the book in pain and division rather than the peace and unity the land of promise was meant to provide. The text contrasts this blindness with the obedience recorded in Joshua, where the people followed the divine instructions and experienced the rest that flows from living under God's authority. It further illustrates the same principle through Abraham's encounter with Melchizedek, the pre-incarnate King of Peace, who refreshed him with bread and wine and confirmed that God Most High possesses heaven and earth. From that meeting onward Abraham no longer initiated warfare, because he had seen the true King and trusted Him as shield and reward. The material connects this theme directly to the approaching Passover. Without a clear remembrance of God's sovereignty and the peace offering He provides, the commanded memorial meal cannot produce the unity with the Father, the Son, and one another that the King of Peace established. The sermon therefore urges careful preparation so that the same failure recorded in Judges—ceasing to see the King—does not occur among those who will soon sit at His table.

The account of Jephthah and the Ephraimites in Judges 12 illustrates how pride blinds people to the point where they can no longer perceive where God is working. After Jephthah led the Gileadites to victory over Ammon, the Ephraimites confronted him in anger, not out of concern for Israel's welfare but because they had been excluded from the credit and glory of the battle. Their pride clouded their judgment and reasoning so severely that they were unable to recognize that God had appointed Jephthah as judge and leader over them. Rather than seeing God's hand in the victory, they focused entirely on their own wounded status, revealing that they were more concerned with receiving honor than with the outcome of the battle itself. This inability to see God's work extended to a failure to see the needs of others. Jephthah, having just made a costly vow that resulted in the loss of his only daughter, was likely grieving deeply when the Ephraimites confronted him. Had they possessed proper character, they would have recognized his sacrifice, offered comfort, and thanked him for his leadership. Instead, their self-focus prevented them from perceiving his pain or supporting him in his time of need. This demonstrates a broader principle: preoccupation with oneself prevents one from seeing and responding to the needs of brethren. The Ephraimites' pride also caused them to view the Gileadites as inferior, calling them fugitives and outcasts. This sense of superiority likely explains why they refused to help Jephthah against Ammon in the first place, since their blindness to God's choice of leadership led them to withhold support from someone they considered beneath them. Ironically, their pride evaporated when they themselves became fugitives fleeing across the Jordan, denying their identity as Ephraimites to escape death, though it did not save them once their speech betrayed them. Their humiliation and destruction, resulting in the deaths of forty-two thousand men, stands as evidence that God ultimately humbled the very pride that had blinded them. The broader lesson drawn from this account is that pride stirs up strife, severs unity, and prevents people from seeing both God's activity and the needs of others, while humility fosters peace, unity, and the ability to serve without seeking praise or reward. Jephthah, by contrast, exemplified faith and humility, returning to lead people who had rejected him, seeking peace before resorting to war, and giving God the glory for victory. This connects directly to the example of Christ washing the disciples' feet at Passover, a demonstration of humility that put away pride and modeled unity with God and with one another through service. The overarching message is a call to lay aside pride so that one may clearly see where God is working, recognize the needs of brethren, and offer the support, encouragement, and strength that unity among God's people requires.