Study Questions:
1. Compare Judges 19:1 with Judges 21:25. “There was no king in Israel” Does the absence of an earthly king mean that there must be chaos in the land? Was it just a statement of “fact?” Or is it referring to their unwillingness to recognize God as their King? 1 Samuel 8:4-7
2. Women were regarded very little in ancient times. (Judges 19:24; Genesis 12:10-16; 20:2; 26:6-9) As a child of God, what should be our stance when facing such evil cultural practices in today’s world? Micah 6:8
3. Gibeah’s crime (Judges 19:22-30) is tragic and devastating. Can you think of an alternate way/s of dealing with such an awful crime? Should we take heed when face challenging situations in our present lives? (Romans 12:17-21)
Commentary and Reflection:
When I bought my first home insurance policy, I noticed a clause under the heading, “Act of God.” Although, legally, an “act of God” refers to a severe, unanticipated natural event for which no human is responsible, there are many things for which humanity is responsible. The story of the Levite and his concubine gives us an idea of the moral chaos taking place during the period of the judges. The tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people, had deviated too far from God’s purpose for them. During the times of Noah, almost the entire world had rebelled against God. (All, but 8 persons, were lost) Genesis 6:5 tells us that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” After the flood, God promised that He would never destroy the world in this manner again. (Gen. 9:11) God, in His mercy, has had to intercede in order to prevent another such “falling away.” We’ve seen this in the tower of Babel (Gen 11), Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19), and, among others, the period of the judges.
The Levite had a concubine who had been unfaithful to him and left to her parent’s home. The Levite, of the priestly tribe, has a concubine, and then his concubine is involved in a sexual relationship with someone who is not her husband. As the Levite was bringing the concubine back to his own home, he stopped for the night in Gibeah, a town of the Benjamites. An older man insisted, for safety, that the Levite and his concubine stay at his home instead of in the town square. That night, “some of the perverted men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, ‘Bring out the man who came to your house so we may know him carnally.’” (Judges 19:22). The old man tried to reason with them. Then, he offered up his virgin daughter, and the Levite’s concubine. (Judges 19:24) The degenerate mob abused her all that night (Judges 19:25). When the man opened the door in the morning, the mob had departed, and the concubine’s body laid “in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold” (Judges 19:27). The Levite picked up the concubine’s body and placed it on his donkey and traveled home. He then cut up her body into twelve pieces, one for each tribe of Israel, and sent the pieces throughout the land. Judges 19:30, everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it! What are we going to do? Who’s going to speak up?” (NLT) In this chapter we see the moral chaos described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, which serves as a warning for us today.
In Judges 20, the children of Benjamin refused to hand over the men responsible for this wrongdoing. (Judges 20:13) God gives permission for the other tribes to go into battle against the children of Benjamin. (Judges 20:18, 23) However, God does not promise them victory until after many lives have been lost. (Judges 20:28) Almost an entire tribe was wiped out. Thousands of lives perished on each side of the conflict. Then, God intervenes! (Judges 20:35)
Doing “what is right in our own eyes” leads to chaos and a “falling away.” There is a cost and a consequence to selfishness and sin. There is a better way! (Isaiah 55:8-9).
My prayer today: Lord, let us lift up our eyes to you who dwell in the heavens. (Psalm 123:1) Therefore we also, …let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NKJ) ~Amen
