Judges Chapter 19
During this time the Israelites did not yet have a king and through the recorded events of this chapter we can see that many did not recognize God as their King either. This story represents the depths and chains of sin. It is certainly not easy to read about an event like this, but necessary to point to how lost people can be when they ignore God. God knows that we often see sin in other people’s lives before we see it in our own, yet He holds up this picture for us to consider.
In this event a Levite is married to a concubine (a servant girl) which is perfectly legal, however many men married wives and concubines. Often the concubines did not have the same rights as wives. This was certainly the case with the concubine that this Levite man married. He did not treat her with much dignity and respect even if she might have been his one and only wife. It may be the reason she left him in the first place.
She went back to her father’s house, which is always a good indicator that there are problems in the marriage. I’m not sure what the father was trying to do by delaying the departure of the Levite and his daughter other than maybe he just wanted his daughter there for as long as possible. The late departure from the father-in-law’s house meant getting into towns that had bad reputations as the son was setting.
Let's Reflect
1. When the Levite with his concubine and another servant got near Jebus (or Jerusalem) they started looking for a place to stay for the night. The Levite did not want to stay at Jebus because it was a town occupied by pagan foreigners. Instead, they chose to go a bit further and stay in a town belonging to Israelite people. What was the name of the town?
2. In Gibeah no person had followed the custom of inviting a travelling stranger into their home to stay for the night. So, the Levite and his family sat in the town square. He saw an old man coming through town and told him his plight and even offered to feed all of the old man’s family and assured him he had enough food to take care of his own too. Did the old man invite him to his home?
3. The invitation must have seemed wonderful at first till we learn how the people of Gibeah were behaving. It was as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah. The men of the town pounded on the door of the old man demanding that the men he had let into his house come out so they could lie with them. The old man hollered back to leave his guests alone. Instead, he offered whom to these savage men at his door?
4. It seems that it was the Levite man who pushed his concubine “wife” out the door to these men. How do we know it was she that was pushed out the door?
5. She had been so badly abused by these men that it killed her. Her husband didn’t seem to shed a tear over her. He just picked her up and did what?
6. When they arrived home, he decided to show Israel their horrible sin by cutting up his concubine wife and sending pieces of her to the twelve tribes as a message. This was not done in horrible grief, but in anger and pride to show the men of Israel what terrible people they were. What did the men of Israel think of this thing the Levite had done?
7. Have you ever noticed someone that you felt had probably hit rock bottom? Sometimes it takes someone sinking deep into their own pit of sin before they realize that they are stuck and in need of rescue. Often people need to hit rock bottom in life before they realize that they need a Savior, a Savior that is Jesus.
