Judges 19:1-15 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Judges 19:1-15. Let’s go!
Judges 19:1a (NIV)
1 In those days Israel had no king…
On verse 1: In chapters 17, 18 and 19 of Judges, this one phrase keeps coming up: “Israel had no king”. This phrase can be taken in two ways. First, on a political level, Israel was not yet a monarchy and was not governed by any human king. Second, on a spiritual level, the phrase “Israel had no king” speaks of how Israel had abandoned the LORD, the very One who was always meant to rule and lead Israel. Interestingly, in each chapter where Judges says “Israel had no king”, what comes right after or right before that phrase is a story of the Israelites falling deep into spiritual confusion, idolatry and immorality. When there is an absence of strong, healthy leadership in any family, nation, workplace or other group, the result is confusion, sin and trouble.
Judges 19:1b-3a (NIV)
1 …Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months,
3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return…
On verses 1b-3a: It was never part of God’s ideal plan for a man to have a concubine (or a second wife), but due to the stubbornness of men’s hearts, it was apparently a fairly common practice, especially in the time of Judges. Here we see even a Levite, who is meant to be a faith leader among the Israelites, taking on a concubine. There will other things that this Levite will do later on this chapter that are far from what Christ would do. But when this Levite’s wife (in this case a concubine) was unfaithful and left him, he went searching for her to bring her back. That is an imperfect picture of what Jesus did for us: when we, the love of Christ’s life, were unfaithful to Him and left Him, Jesus came searching for us to bring us back.
Judges 19:3b-10 (NIV)
3 …He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.”
6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the girl’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.”
7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.
8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.”
10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
On verses 3-10: It is comical how the Levite’s father-in-law kept insisting that the Levite stay longer and longer as a guest in his house. Apparently this was the father-in-law trying to go out of his way to show his Levite son-in-law hospitality, which the Levite son-in-law felt obliged to receive. Perhaps one lesson we can learn from this is that when it comes to relationships with in-laws, we need to show grace and at the same time set healthy boundaries.
Judges 19:11-15 (NIV)
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”
12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.”
14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.
15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.
On verses 11-15: The Levite had no problems taking on a concubine. Yet he refused to enter a city whose people are not Israelites, even when it was dark and dangerous to be traveling at night and even when God did not prohibit Israelites from entering the towns of non-Israelites. This may be an example of what Jesus would call “straining a gnat and swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:24). In other words, this Levite showed an extreme and out-of-balance form of spirituality where he put so much emphasis on superficial matters and not enough emphasis on issues that really matter. As a result of his “major in the minor, minor in the major” approach to spirituality, this Levite would end up making some regrettable decisions. The first regrettable decision is here in verses 11-15 where this Levite decides to pass over the non-Israelite city of Jebus, insisting instead that they keep going until they reach the Israelite city of Gibeah, where ironically everyone refused to take him and his servants in.
What can we learn from this? Be careful not to have a “major in the minor, minor in the major” approach to faith, where you focus too much on superficial issues that don’t really matter and don’t focus enough on issues that really do matter. When you take on a “major in the minor, minor in the major” approach to faith, you’ll end up making some poor decisions in how you use the time and resources God has given you and how you conduct relationships.
Father, I don’t want to waste this life You’ve given me or live it poorly. So I pray that I would focus most on what You focus on most and not be side-tracked or distracted by things that are of less concern to You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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