Judges 19
McGeeCHAPTER 19THEME: Moral awfulnessthe homeAs we have seen in the preceding section, the downfall of a people begins with religious apostasy. From there it moves on to the second stage, which is moral awfulness. This is graphically illustrated in the frightful episode which concludes the Book of Judges. It centers about the tribe of Benjamin. This tribe engaged in gross immorality which led to civil war. It began with the men of Benjamin abusing and finally murdering a Levite’s concubine. The other tribes try to exterminate the tribe of Benjamin. This period ends in total national corruption and confusion and with this the Book of Judges concludes: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jdg_21:25).
Judges 19:1
These two verses give us another insight into the life of the children of Israel of that day, and it is a good illustration of Romans chapters 1-3. Can you imagine a Levite marrying a woman like that? Well, he did, and she played the harlot, left him, and went back to her father’s house. This Levite followed her, was warmly received by her father, and stayed several days. Then the Levite and his concubine left and headed northward. They stayed one night in Gibeah, a city of the Benjamites.
An old man who was also from mount Ephraim and was sojourning in Gibeah offered them hospitality. That night, while they were being entertained by their host, some men of the city demanded (as was done in Sodom before its destruction) the Levite for their homosexual gratification. Believing it would mean final death for him, he gave them instead his concubine. They abused her all night and absolutely caused her death by raping her. This horrible act sounds like something that could have happened in our countrydoes it not? In fact, the parallel to our contemporary society is quite striking as you read through this section. The Levite was really wrought up by this crime, and what he did reveals how low they were in that day. He took her and cut her up in pieces, then sent a piece to each tribe with a message of what had taken place! The reaction of the rest of the nation to this outrage is recorded in the next two chapters.