Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 319
February 12, 2016
Sometimes scripture just records a horrible event, not because it makes anyone look good, but because it truly happened...
"As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”
And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”
But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.
And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer.
Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”
Judges 19:22-30 ESV
RANDY: There is nothing good in this story. 1st a Levite (a priest) had a legal mistress. The very fact that this even happened showed how unGodly Israel had become (this is explained in the first 21 verses of this chapter). Marriage was always supposed to be one man and one woman.
Then they went to a town of the Israelites to stay the night and none of the Israelites invited the priest to stay in the house. Instead he was invited in by a non-Jewish gentile. This showed how dishonorable the people of the town were, not welcoming fellow Israelites.
Then some homosexual men from the town come to the house and want to rape the priest. Instead of defending the priest at the risk of his life, both the gentile and the priest agree to throw the mistress to the crowd, who then proceed to rape her to death.
In the morning when they find her dead body, finally the priest has a moment of clarity and realizes the evil of the entire situation, he hacked apart his mistress into 12 parts and sent one of the parts to each of the 12 tribes of Israel to proclaim the wickedness of both that town and Israel in general.
This story is mentioned a few times later in the Bible in much the same way as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Some of the stories in scripture are not there to encourage imitation or to be uplifting. Sometimes the stories are just reminders of how bad sinfulness can get when we ignore God in our lives.
Our nation presently reminds me of this story. I read far too many stories about horrible acts like this committed right here in the USA every day.
We live in wicked times.
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