Judges 19:16-30 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Judges 19:16-30. Let’s go!
Judges 19:16-30 (NIV)
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields.
17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house.
19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants–me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.”
21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this disgraceful thing.
24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.
30 Everyone who saw it said, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!”
On verses 16-30: Here we read of one of the most shocking and vile crimes ever described in the Bible. To protect themselves from a sadistic mob, the Levite and his old man host in Gibaeh offer up the Levite’s concubine to a sadistic mob who gang rapes the concubine all night, leaving her for dead. Then the Levite takes his concubine and cuts her up into 12 pieces and disperses her body parts throughout Israel. This raises a bunch of questions, not the least of which include:
(1) Which man was it – the old man or the Levite – who gave the concubine over to the sadistic mob in verse 25? In any event, the fact is that this Levite allowed his concubine to be gang raped this way to protect himself. Contrast this to Jesus who allowed himself to be abused, tortured and killed to protect us his bride, the church.
(2) Was the concubine dead by the time her Levite husband picked her up and put her on his donkey? It’s not clear. The author of Judges leaves open the possibility that the concubine was not yet dead after the night long gang rape and that it was her Levite husband who later ended her life in the most violent way. Also, considering the callous way that the Levite treated his concubine after he took her from her father’s home, could it be that this was the Levite’s malicious plan all along, to “rescue” his once unfaithful concubine only to have her raped, killed and her body cut up and dispersed as revenge? Did the Levite plant the old man and the mob himself? What a twist in the story that would be.
Whether or not those above possibilities are true, ultimately, either through cowardice and passivity or through malice and evil intent, it was the Levite who killed his own concubine, even more than the gang rapists or the old man did. All of this goes back to verse 1 of chapter 19: “In those days Israel had no king”. In other words, when the LORD is not ruling over our lives, there is no limit to the heinous evil, injustice and sin that can result. That’s why we so desperately need God to be the Lord of our lives.
Jesus, thank You that You don’t rescue Your bride only to let her be abused, killed and dismembered. Rather You laid down Your life for us Your bride and were abused and killed for us. Thank You that while we can’t trust everyone, we can fully trust You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
