Today's Reading:

Judges 19
Judges 20
Judges 21

Congratulations on another book of the “History” section completed (Joshua to Esther). The time of Judges is coming to an end with Samuel as the last judge, and we will now move into the kings where Israel is unified under one king and then later split from 12 tribes into two kingdoms. In these books, we will see countless grace moments where God gives undeserved favor and deliverance even though Israel constantly fails. God raised up judges time after time, which reflected Esther’s words later, “for such a time as this” to save her people (Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin). God was still patient and gave grace, pointing us towards the need for the Ultimate King, Jesus. The major theme in Judges was, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” because there was no king- talk about chaos! Now that we have wrapped up the majority of judges, what do you think God was trying to teach Israel (and us) through all of the cycles of rebellion and rescue before we head into the time of kings?

 

 

The last few chapters of Judges were dark with the downward spiral on the moral compass. We can look back and say, “What were they thinking?”, just as future generations will do to us. Yesterday, we read about a Levite who was spiritually compromised- he was willing to serve whoever paid him more. Levites were set apart as priests and workers in the Tabernacle. The focus was on religious corruption. In today’s reading, we see another Levite, but this time the story focuses on moral corruption, with society breaking down and violence. This was an escalation of the leadership's failure. We get the account of a Levite from the area of Ephraim. Ephraim was centrally located on the west side of the Jordan, between Manasseh and Judah. The Levite had a concubine who ran away back to her family. He pursued her, and his father-in-law welcomed him into the home. Each time the Levite set out to take his concubine back to his home, her father would insist they stay longer.

Eventually, they left and, on the way, stopped in Gibeah (Benjamin territory), which seemed safer than non-Israelite territory. A man showed hospitality to the fellow Ephraimite. Wicked men, who were morally corrupt, from Gibeah went to the home of the local and demanded to have the Levite for gang rape (echoing Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 19). The owner of the house offered up his virgin daughter and the concubine instead, which was not godly to trade one for the other, but he saw it as a lesser sin. The mob rejected the women at first, but then raped the concubine all night until she was near death. In the morning, the Levite found his concubine on the doorstep, a breath away from death. He loaded her on his donkey and went home. There, he chopped her into 12 pieces and mailed them to the tribes. This was a gruesome call to gather the tribes for justice and war.

Outraged, the tribes gathered from the shocking box in the mail. They reacted in horror, and the Levite said, “Now tell me what you will do.” He demanded justice from the tribe of Benjamin, as they were brutal, and he wanted law and order. Benjamin refused to hand over the guilty men. The civil war ensued, and Israel brought 400,000 men, and Benjamin had 26,000 plus 700 left-handed slingers (for precision). Israel had inquired of God before the war, so they did not understand why they had lost to the Benjamites at first. It was a huge upset, almost as though God was testing them. Our obedience does not equate to our earthly desires. There is discipline, and God has the supreme authority. Three times Israel went before the Lord. The third time, God delivered the Benjamites into Israel's hands.

Only 600 Benjamite men escaped from the war and the burning of the city. Israel wiped out all of the women and children. The tribes had given an oath not to intermarry any Benjamites, yet they also did not want an entire tribe to go extinct. In order to “save” Benjamin, they massacred the town of Jabesh-Gilead (east Manasseh) for skipping the assembly, taking 400 virgin girls as an offer of peace. They were still short 200 wives. They agreed to look the other way and allow Benjamin to steal 200 virgin girls at the annual festival coming up in Shiloh (where the tabernacle was). This loophole of not breaking a law by giving them the women if they are stolen “solved” the problem of a dwindling tribe. This was the peak of “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”, the final sentence of the book. A tragic end to horrific crimes, a civil war, a near extinct tribe, a massacre of thousands, and kidnapping where “justice” looked more like violence. All to foreshadow that there is “no king”. Thank the Lord for not leaving us in chaos. His grace shines bright against the darkness.

Today's Discussion question: 

Now that we have wrapped up the majority of judges, what do you think God was trying to teach Israel (and us) through all of the cycles of rebellion and rescue before we head into the time of kings?

 
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