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The last chapters of the book of Judges present an appalling picture of God’s people. It is hard to imagine the deplorable corruption of thought and action among the people of God’s possession that gave rise to these atrocities.
It is significant that the Levite, having the option of spending the night in Jebus, elected instead to stay in Gibeah so as to be with God’s people instead of foreigners (Judg. 19:12). One does, and should, expect hospitality and protection from those who claim Yahweh as their God. In this case, however, the expectation was misplaced because the men of Gibeah were not subject to God’s rule. The citizens of Gibeah lived by a different rule: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25).
Issues in the Church
This is the rule adopted by many today. It should not surprise any, then, that more numerous and severe atrocities are being perpetrated in our midst. Christians should recognize and proclaim that events such as occurred at Columbine or Oklahoma City are the inevitable consequence of replacing God’s authority with man’s. Neither should it surprise believers that wicked behavior can, and does, take place among men who profess to belong to the Lord. Do not think that any people can be civilized while rejecting the Lord’s rule. Many nations, churches, and individuals since the writing of the book of Judges have attempted to throw off God’s yoke in the hope of establishing a human utopia, only to learn the hard way that to hate the Lord is to love death.
Yet it was not only those who totally rejected the Lord’s rule that contributed to the abomination in Gibeah. Believers living in a humanistic culture are easily infected with the unbelief of that culture. Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, referring to their false doctrine (Matt. 16:6, 12). When the church imitates the culture, it loses its ability to retard corruption and the heart to oppose it. Thus, the Levite seems to have had little trouble in delivering his concubine to the rabble to be raped (Judg. 19:25) and little concern that he had done so in the morning (Judg. 19:27–28). Be careful, Christian, that you do not adopt the values and ways of an increasingly decadent culture. Wickedness could not progress as it has in our time if professing Christians were thinking and acting consistently as Christians.
The conditions in Israel should serve to remind us all not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Men are prone to think that they are exempt from the influence of sin. Yet men of greater piety and devotion than you and I have fallen grievously. It is only the grace of God moment by moment that keeps men from sin.
At the same time, it is glorious to remember the Lord’s faithfulness. The history of Israel is replete with accounts of unfaithfulness, as well as God’s gracious work to restore sinful men to faith and the blessings of His covenant. God used the event at Gibeah to awaken His people and stir them to action. With the rape and murder of the concubine, the Levite finally realized that all was not well in Israel. Evidently the recognition of his own callousness and blindness led the Levite to believe that the rest of the nation needed a shocking wake-up call as well. The severed body parts sent to the 12 tribes of Israel had their desired effect. Men who had been content to do their own thing assembled together with one mind (Judg. 20:1, 8–9). Those who had been accustomed to tolerating wickedness recognized that this wickedness required a radical response (Judg. 20:3). Those who were loathe to do anything that required sacrifice devoted themselves to deal with the great evil done in Israel. (Judg. 20:10). God used the crisis to create an interest in a lethargic people to seek the will of God and to do it.
God also used the crisis to make a separation between those who merely professed faith in the Lord and those who exercised it. The awakened tribes of Israel took up arms to punish the inhabitants of Gibeah. Because the crime had been committed within the boundaries of Benjamin, it was that tribe’s responsibility to take the lead (Deut. 21:1–3 cf. Num. 35:29–34). However, when Benjamin was given the opportunity to deliver the guilty for punishment, the tribe not only refused but gathered its army to protect Gibeah. In times of crisis, God graciously makes it increasingly difficult to practice neutrality. A good indicator of one’s devotion to Christ is whether one is willing to apply God’s Word impartially to friend and foe alike.
God not only disciplined the unrepentant, He also used great hardship to discipline and refine those who were seeking to be faithful. Twice Israel’s armies faced a much smaller force from Benjamin and twice they were soundly defeated, losing a total of forty thousand men. Yet after each defeat, they inquired of the Lord to determine what He would have them to do. Even after being defeated a second time while following the Lord’s explicit command, they did not waver but put their confidence in His revealed word. In the process, they learned what it is to walk by faith rather than by sight. The crisis restored them to a worship and dependence on the Lord they had long neglected. How blessed is the people whose God is the Lord!