THE DESTRUCTION OF A NATION---PART 3
JUDGES 19
1) And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
2) And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
3) And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
4) And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
5) And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
6) And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.
7) And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.
8) And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
9) And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
10) But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.
11) And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
12) And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
13) And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
14) And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin
15) And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
16) And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.
17) And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?
18) And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.
19) Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing.
20) And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.
21) So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
22) Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
23) And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.
24) Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
25) But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
26) Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.
27) And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
28) And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.
29) And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
30) And it was so, that all that saw it said, There is no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
COMMENTARY
1) Here is yet another Levite who refuses to acknowledge there is a King in Israel and goes about doing what he FEELS is right. He was from BethlehemJudah but migrated to Ephraim. That was his first mistake. Sometimes we feel that we are more important than we really are. He probably wanted personal recognition. That is also a sin. ("The last will be first and the first will be last.") We are to do our best at what we are called to do....without grumbling.
2) The second mistake this Levite made was not following God's command of who he should marry. She was to be a virgin; not a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so that he will not defile his offspring (also Levites) among his people. Leviticus 21: 13 - 15. The LORD stresses the fact that it is He Who makes him holy. So, if she committed adultery, he should have never chased after her. But wait! She was not his wife, but his legal mistress, his concubine! That was not ordained of God! So, that's strike two!
Furthermore, why did he wait four months to bring her back? Why did she leave in the first place?
3) The Levite decided to go to his concubine and talk her into coming back to him. The girl's dad was happy about that. Surely the dad should expect a lot of blessings of God by almost having a Levite in the family. Maybe the girl was a handful and flirted with every man she came in contact with?
4) The Levite agreed to stay three days.
5) He lingered another day.
6) Note that they are eating and drinking.
7) Too much drink? So, he stays another night.
8) Here, they just eat. Then the Levite and company get a late start on their journey.
9) The damsel's dad continues to try to talk his guest into staying longer. Now, understand that we are not privy to what the issue was to begin with. Was the concubine a "lady of the night"? Was the Levite abusive to her? What was the issue that prompted her to leave and why did he not remedy the situation until four months had passed? The text leaves us to our own imagination. How could he be gone from his responsibilities five days to tend to personal issues?
10) Even though it was late, they left and got as far as Jerusalem. At this time in history, though, the town was not controlled by Israel, but by the Jebusites.
11) The servant implored his master to lodge in there for the night.
12) The Levite did not want to take chances on trying to find lodging in a strange clan's town, and pushed on to an Israelite controlled city.
13) They would stay in either Gibeah or Ramah, depending on how much longer they could travel.
14) It was dark when they came on Gibeah, which belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin-----Israelites.
15) It was the custom in those days for strangers to be invited into the homes of permanent residents, especially if they were of the Tribes of Jacob.
16 - 19)) Finally, a foreigner of the town, a man from Ephraim, who had a business there, saw the strangers and invited them to enjoy his hospitality. The Levite explained that they would not be a bother, as they had their own provisions, even to care for the animals.
20) The old man insisted that they enjoy food and lodging provided by him. He did not want them spending the night in the street.
21) The foreigner showed his guests hospitality.
22) While the travelers and their host were enjoying food and drink, evil men of the city came and demanded the Levite be brought to them so they could know him (sexually).
23) The host went out and asked the men to leave the traveler alone since he had been extended hospitality in his house.
24) As it was in the Book of Genesis when evil men tried to take angels out of Lot's house to have relations with them, the old man offered his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine. The difference between Genesis and here is Abraham. Lot was Abraham's nephew and Abraham had a relationship with the Most High God. Here, though, the Benjamites did not enforce the law of Moses, so evil was rampant. The Levite did not live according to the Law of Moses. The foreigner was not of the Tribes of Jacob. So, no one here was under God's protection. So, if the old man thought God would intervene here as He did in Sodom, he was in for a big surprise.
25) The Levite sent his concubine, who was the cause of them being there to begin with, out to the wicked men. Did he think they would walk away and leave her alone? Did he think that she needed to be punished for running away? Notice that they did not ask for the servant, nor was he offered as a substitute for the Levite.
The wicked men did what was right in their own eyes to the concubine all night. As the day began to break, they released her.
26) The concubine managed to return to the old man's house and fell down just outside the door until it was light outside.
27) When the Levite awoke and prepared to leave, note here that he did not stay up all night on his knees in prayer about his situation. He opened the door and discovered the concubine laying at the door with her hands on the threshold (the bottom of the door entry).
28) He said to her, Get up and let's go; but she didn't move. He put her lifeless body on one of the donkeys and went home. There was no wailing nor weeping? He just coldly put her on the donkey?
29) When he got home, he cut his concubine's body up into twelve pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel. This is an act of rage, not repentance.
30) Everyone who saw it were stunned. total disbelief! They held counsel to verbalize their disgust and to discuss a plan of action. It is not mentioned that they sent for counsel from the religious authorities nor that they prayed about it, asking God's direction. They were going to do what was right in their own eyes.
What about you? Are your eyes opened enough to see your own sin and the sin of our churches? Our nation has sinned against God and our churches (much like these Levites) have led us astray. We do not study His Holy Word but accept memes on our social media in place of church service. Where are God's people at such a time as this?
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