The Book of Judges tells what happened from the third generation onwards, after Israel's deliverance from bondage in Egypt. The great act of God in which He saved Israel by the blood of a lamb took place probably between 1290 and 1260 BC (let us say 1275 BC). The Book of Judges deals with a period of Israel's history that runs from about 1195 to 1050 BC.

Imagine a great event in the story of a nation. It might be a great victory after a time of war; it might be a day of independence or freedom. The generation that went through those events are constantly gripped with the memory of what happened. The next generation grows up with parents who are constantly talking of 'the war' or 'the day we got our freedom' - or whatever. Then there grows up a third generation. By the time they are born, the events of two generations before are dim. Their parents sometimes talk about what their parents used to talk about, but the events are no longer in living memory and do not arouse the excitement that they aroused in their grandparents.

The Book of Judges records the decline of the nation and Israel's need for a king. But beyond that it needs the right kind of King. So ultimately the book is pointing to the need for a shepherd-king like Jesus!