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“A Prelude To War” • 10.5.14 •
Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- The last 4 chapters of Judges contain the
Epilogue, which explains how the people of God could continually cycle back
toward doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
- It began with one man's idols, which lured a
priest, a tribe and then a nation into idolatry.
- Does it matter what one worships? What are
the consequences? It turns out that this is not a harmless choice.
Text
• Judges
19:1-3 : "And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in
Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of
Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine played the harlot
against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in
Judah, and was there four whole months. Then her husband arose and went
after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a
couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house; and
when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him." : This piece of history happened early in the period of the
Judges, as we'll find from Judges 20:28
that Aaron's grandson Phinehas was still commanding the troops.
- Without a King, without a recognized human
authority to govern or stifle the spiritual slide, Israel slides deep into
depravity, highlighted by this story of another Levite in Ephraim.
- He took for himself a concubine. This is a
woman whose sole purpose was to provide children. This is not God's design for
the Levites or any other tribe.
- God prescribes marriage to be a legally
tendered union between one heterosexual man and one heterosexual woman for the
span of one life.
- This woman took the initiative in another
relationship and escaped to her Father's house. After four months, the Levite
decides that he misses her. The word "whole" indicates a long break.
- I'm not convinced that he missed her so much
as he missed what she provided sexually.
- He rose and went after her with the intendion
of speaking kindly, persuasively, understandably toward her. He wanted to bring
her back.
- When he arrived, they arrived at a point of
reconciliation and the Father met his new relation gladly, perhaps for the
first time.
• Judges
19:4-9 : "Now his father-in-law,
the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So
they ate and drank and lodged there. Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in
the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his
son-in-law, 'Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your
way.' So they
sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s
father said to the man, 'Please be content to stay all night, and let your
heart be merry.' And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him;
so he lodged there again. Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart,
but the young woman’s father said, 'Please refresh your heart.' So they delayed
until afternoon; and both of them ate. And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his
servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, 'Look, the
day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is
coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your
way early, so that you may get home.'" : This
woman's Father wanted to give his daughter a private wedding feast, given the
circumstances surrounding them.
- He was able to detain them for 5 full days,
giving them food and wine and running them into the natural delay of evening.
- This part of the story reveals what ancient
near east hospitality was like. Given that this was a relation, there was a
natural desire for extension.
- Generally, hospitality would last three full
days. This fifth day had been enough for the Levite.
•
Judges 19:10-13 : "However, the man was not willing to
spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite Jebus (that is,
Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with
him. They were
near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, 'Come,
please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.' But his master said to him, 'We will
not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of
Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.' So he said
to his servant, 'Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the
night in Gibeah or in Ramah.'" : The man
was neither willing to spend the night with his Father-in law knowing that
doing so could extend his stay another day. It's late, so they are not going to
get far.
-
When the come to their first city, the Levite declines because it is a city of
the Jebusites, which would later become Jerusalem in David's time.
-
The Levite's pride and prejudice could easily be heard in his dismissive tone
of the foreigner's city. "We'll go to Gibeah. That's one of our
cities." This would turn out to be a tragic error.
•
Judges 19:14-21 : "And they passed by and went their
way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside there to go in to
lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the
city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night. Just then an old man came in from
his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim;
he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the
open square of the city; and the old man said, 'Where are you going, and where
do you come from?' So he said to him, 'We are
passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am
from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the Lord. But there is no one
who will take me into his house, although we
have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for
your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is
no lack of anything.' And the old man said,
'Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do
not spend the night in the open square.' So
he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed
their feet, and ate and drank." : This
section begins curiously to the ears of the ancient near east mind.
-
The Levite rightly expected an invite into a home. This was not simply a
standard responsiblity, but a desired occasion for joy.
-
This was both an ancient form of entertainment and a great time to share in
what goodness each person had come upon in their experience.
-
Further, it was not unusual for a host to share their own food as well as
provide food for the travelling animals. These were standard procedures.
-
The Levite is shocked that there has been no hospitable offer, especially given
that fact that he has all the provisions that he needs, thanks to his Father in
law.
-
The old man that comes upon greets them in peace and immediately offers them
his home. His only concern is that they do not stay out in the square.
-
This seems familiar doesn't it? We'll talk about that in a moment. He brought
him into his house and they enjoyed the evening together.
•
Judges 19:22 : "As they were enjoying themselves,
suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat
on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, 'Bring
out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!'" : The old man knew what he was talking about. He knew his city
and the dangers which came from this group of people.
-
He had hoped and prayed that they had gone unnoticed but they were not that
lucky.
-
Without warning, perverted men, literally, "sons of Belial" or
"the Devil" surrounded the home and with their pounding, made their
intentions known.
-
"Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him
carnally!" Their demand was simple, straightforward and shocking.
-
If this sounds familiar to you, it is. This exact scene took place in a
different time and space, several hundred years earlier in Genesis 19.
-
It occurred the night before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Lot had escorted
the angels out of the city center, entertained them, but was also interrupted
by a band of sexual deviants.
-
Interestingly, because of the similarity of these parts of history, one can see
a common thread between the person who has never known God and the person who
has fallen from Him.
-
Both arrive at the same place. The idolatrous practices that were common in
Sodom, were also common here in the Promised land.
-
When one adopts a godless reality, several things will be present. Along that
trajectory, a refusal to bow the knee to God's sovereign choice in
complementary sexuality occurs.
-
Paul terms this "unnatural" when writing Romans 1:18-32, referring to non-complementary sexual choices. This
is a consequence, a judgment upon any society that rejects the true God.
•
Judges 19:23-25 : "But the man, the master of the
house, went out to them and said to them, 'No, my brethren! I beg you, do not
act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this
outrage. Look,
here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; let me bring
them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do
not do such a vile thing!' But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine
and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until
morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go." : There are really no words for this. In our minds, we have just
witnessed the horror of an all out sexual assault.
-
It is unfathomable that a Father would expose his daughter or any woman to such
a horrifying danger, but it speaks to the honor code that they held dear to
their hearts.
-
Hospitality trumped the dishonoring of a guest. To not protect the guest, would
have made the old man the bad guy! Who was he to turn to?
-
There was no police force and these men were not going to be deterred. In his
mind, the only way out was to offer his own daughter and the Levite's
concubine. They wouldn't want them right?
-
In the end, the Levite made a snap decision and offered his concubine to them
in order to save himself! Like rabid dogs, the men of Gibeah raped her
repeatedly until the sun came up.
-
The effect of sin unbridled, unattended, lost in a world without a spiritual
compass is brutality!
-
This horror was a part of many late nights in the ancient world and is the lot
for many in the world today, especially in places where Jesus is not exalted.
•
Judges 19:26-30 : "Then the woman came as the day was
dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was,
till it was light. When
her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out
to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with
her hands on the threshold. And
he said to her, 'Get up and let us be going.' But there was no answer. So the
man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.
When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold
of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent
her throughout all the territory of Israel. And
so it was that all who saw it said, 'No such deed has been done or seen from
the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this
day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!'" :
When the morning came, the concubine was hanging on to the last part of her
life.
-
She made it back to the front door and waited there until it was light. When
the Levite arose!? Can you imagine this? He slept through the night! No real
concern and apparently no loss!
-
He gruffly speaks to her, telling her to get up so that they can get on their way
and she is completely passed out, never again to awaken.
-
When the Levite returned home, he cut up the pieces of her body and sent them
throughout Israel's territory. It was a grisly call to action.
• Judges
20:1-7 : "So all the children of
Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and
the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord
at Mizpah. And the leaders of all the people, all
the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of
God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword. (Now
the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to
Mizpah.) Then the
children of Israel said, 'Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?' So the Levite, the husband of the
woman who was murdered, answered and said, 'My concubine and I went into
Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah rose against
me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me,
but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. So I took hold of my concubine, cut
her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of
Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. Look! All of you are children of
Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!'" : All of the tribes from both sides of the Jordan river convened
with one purpose, united in heart. All the leaders and the soldiers readied
themselves for war.
- This points further to an earlier time in
Judges when the armed forces were still intact.
- After the Levite rehearsed his selected
testimony, he again called them to immediate action.
•
Judges 20:8-17 : "So all the people arose as one man,
saying, 'None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; but now this is the thing which we
will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. We will take ten men out of every
hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand,
and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people,
that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that
they have done in Israel.' So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united
together as one man. Then
the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, 'What
is this wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who
are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!'
But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren,
the children of Israel. Instead, the children
of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against
the children of Israel. And from their cities
at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew
the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select
men. Among all this people were seven hundred
select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s
breadth and not miss. Now besides Benjamin,
the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of
these were men of war." : There was to be no
negotiation. The people of Israel stood united and went to Gibeah seeking
justice.
-
The terms to avoid war were simple. Deliver the men that acted this way for
judgment. There was no other term to employ. They had acted in a vile, wicked,
evil way!
-
But the children of Benjamin would not listen. They hedged their bets on the
32,000 men that they had on their side, including the special forces that were
crack shots.
- What does Samuel intend for us to see? There are consequences to
living a life free from God or with only a select attribute, mental image of
God.
-
When those consequences add up, when that evil comes to a full flower, what
will we do? We have a chance to turn back and to turn our sinful way up for
destruction!
-
Herein is the turning point: The witness of their brothers and the Word of God
demanded that they take responsibility for their own sin by judging it
themselves.
-
They would not, preferring to harbor, to protect their own sinful right and act
that will bring them to utter ruin.
Conclusion
- This is no allegory. This happened historically. But it provides you
and I with a stunning picture of why God desires that we enter into a faithful
covenant with Himself.
- He changes our lives, transforms our culture
and lifts all people to a place of equality in Himself. Will we turn to Him and
turn from sin? If we don't, we entertain grave risk. Let us be warned!
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