JUDGES People without a King

Today we are in a really painful part of the Bible.

It's arguably one of the lowest points in Israel's history.

It's very confronting.

Today we are talking about the depths of human depravity, of rape, objectification, murder, domestic violence.

We're talking about sinfulness revealed bare.

Anyway, it's one of the rock-bottom moments of Israel's history.

One which makes you think about who these people are and who their God is that they worship.

Have you ever had a rock-bottom moment in your life?

One which makes you think about who you are?

They're not really nice to think about once they're passed.

They're not enjoyable to recall.

You know, it's not nice to think about painful mistakes we've made in the past.

But this is what today's passage and the final sermon in our Judges series will do.

We're going to be confronted by the depths of human sin and depravity, and it should make us question our own hearts.

And I'm up here saying this now before the Bible reading.

We're looking at Judges 19 to 21.

We're going to look in particular at Judges 19.

And so I'm up here saying this now before we read to prepare us.

Because this passage we'll be confronting.

It might reveal something about you that you need to bring to the Lord.

It might remind you of painful things in your past.

This is a horrible part of the Bible.

It might be a painful trigger for some of us here.

It might trigger painful memories of the past.

And if it does, please feel free to walk out.

Sit up the back.

Meet with Debbie, who's just over in the corner.

Because your safety is really important to us.

And so I'm going to pray.

And then John's going to come up and read Judges 19.

Dear Heavenly Father, as we look at your word to us this morning, it is not an easy word to come to.

Father, I ask that you would comfort us and give us humility as we come before your word this morning.

Amen.

Thanks, John.

Judges 19.

In those days, Israel had no king.

Now a Nephi, who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

But she was unfaithful to him.

She left him and went back to her parents' home in Bethlehem, Judah.

After she had been there four months, her husband went to her to pursue her to return.

He had with him his servant and two donkeys.

She took him into her parents' home.

And when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

His father-in-law, the woman's father, prevailed on him to stay.

So he remained with him three days, eating and drinking and sleeping there.

On the fourth day, they got up early and he prepared to leave.

But the woman's father said to his son-in-law,

Refresh yourself with something to eat, then you can go.

So the two of them sat down and eat and drink together.

Afterward, the woman's father said,

Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.

And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law pursued him.

So he stayed there that night.

On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go,

the woman's father said,

Refresh yourself, wait till afternoon.

So the two of them ate together.

Then when the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave,

his father-in-law, the woman's father, said,

Now look, it's almost evening.

Spend the nights here.

The day is nearly over.

Stay and enjoy yourself.

Early tomorrow morning, you can get up and be on your way home.

But unwilling to stay another night,

the man left and went up towards Juppus.

That is Jerusalem.

Jerusalem with his two settled donkeys and his concubine.

When they were near Juppus and the day was almost gone,

the servant said to his master,

Come, let's stop at this city of the Juppusite and spend the night.

His master replied,

No, we wouldn't go into any city whose people are not Israelites.

We will go on to Gilbite.

He added,

Come, let's try to reach Gilbite and Roma and spend the night in one of those places.

So they went on,

and the sun set as they near Gilbite in Benjamin.

There they stopped to spend the night.

They went and sat in the city square,

but no one took them in for the night.

That evening, an old man came,

an old man from the hill country of Ephraim,

who was living in Gilbite,

and the inhabitants of place where Benjamin came in from his work in the fields.

And he looked and saw the traveler in the city square.

The old man asked,

Where are you going?

Where do you come from?

He answered,

We are on our way from Bethlehem to 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 in for the night.

We have both straw and folder for our donkeys,

and bread and wine for ourselves, your servants, me.

The woman and the young man with us.

We don't need anything.

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.

So he took him into his house and fled his donkeys.

After they had washed their feet,

they have something to eat and drink.

While they were enjoying themselves,

some of the wicked men of the city surrendered the house,

pointing at the door,

and they shouted to the old man who owned the house,

Bring out the man to come up to your house,

so we can have sex with him.

The owner of the house went outside and said to them,

No, my friends, don't be so foul.

Since this man is my guest,

don't do these outrageous things.

Look here, it's 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 as for this man,

don't do such outrageous things.

But the man would not listen to him.

So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them.

They raped her and abused her throughout the night.

And at dawn, they let her go.

At daybreak, the woman went back to the house

where her master was staying,

fell down at the door,

and lay there until day and night.

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 a threshold.

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.

When he reached home,

he took a knife

and cut up his concubine,

limb by limb,

into twelve paths

and sent them into the area of Israel.

Everyone who saw it

was saying to one another,

Such a thing

has never been seen or done,

not since the day

the Israelites come out of Egypt.

Just imagine.

We must do something.

So, speak up.

Thanks, John.

It's not a fun part of the Bible, is it?

The graphic nature of that passage

is why we decided to have

our kids' church go for one more week.

Not the kind of stuff

we want our kids to be hearing,

but it's in the Bible.

And so we're here at the start of Judges 19.

We're introduced to a couple of characters.

Let me read from verses 1 and 2.

In those days, Israel had no king.

Now, a Levite who lived

in a remote area

in the hill country of Ephraim

took a concubine

from Bethlehem in Judah.

But, she was unfaithful to him.

She left him

and went back to her parents' home

in Bethlehem, Judah.

Okay, so,

we begin with the reminder

that we've had all through this book

that Israel had no king.

And we're introduced to two characters

right off the bat.

A Levite

and his concubine.

Now, this Levite,

he's from Ephraim.

And the Levites

were specially selected people from God.

They were to be the best of the best.

They were to be the holiest people.

They were the tribe

that had no land.

And they would serve at the tabernacle

and then the temple.

They would serve God.

They would offer sacrifices to God.

So, this Levite

was supposed to be especially holy.

Set apart from the rest of God's people

to serve God.

The whole nation was

God's special possessions.

But the Levites,

they were to be the best of the best.

To be the holiest.

To show the way.

To show the people

how to serve God.

To keep people

in a right relationship with God

with the sacrifices.

And we learn

that this Levite

took a concubine

from Bethlehem.

Now, a concubine

was considered

a second class wife.

She was a wife

who was also a slave.

And so,

this kind of second class wife

is a sex object.

It's why

he has her

not as a wife

but as an object.

So, the Levite

is both

her husband

but also

her master.

God has made it clear

to us

and to Israel

from Genesis 2

that marriage

is to be between

a man and a woman.

But many people

at this time

were following their culture.

And so,

even though

it was technically legal

for people

to have a concubine,

polygamy

and this kind

of second class wife,

this is

not God's plan.

And in the history

of Israel,

it's always brought

heartache to people.

We see this

with people

like Abraham

and Jacob

and King Solomon

and King David.

It does not go well

for people.

These first two verses

are a deeply

concerning opening.

This man was a Levite.

He was supposed

to be set apart.

He was supposed

to be one of God's

key people,

one of the best

of the best

but he has been

swept up in his culture,

pagan culture,

taking a concubine.

This Levite,

it appears

at the outset

is focused

upon himself.

And the relationship

between the Levite

and the concubine

is not a good one.

From the opening

we learn

that she was

unfaithful to him.

She fled back

to her parents' home

and even though

some horrible things

are going to happen

to her,

she is not painted

as innocent.

She is painted

as sinful too.

She's not innocent.

She left her marriage

and she left

her master.

Both of those things

were unlawful to do.

And so,

the concubine,

she had been living

with her dad,

her family,

back at home

for four months

and the Levite

went to persuade her

to return.

Now,

I'm going to be away

from my wife

for four days

this week

and I'm going to be

longing

to see her again

on Saturday.

This Levite

has been away

from his wife

for four months.

I wonder

why he finally

decides to go

and get her back.

Maybe he wasn't

bothered to go

and get her back.

Maybe he just

eventually wanted

his property back.

Maybe it was

the status symbol

of having a concubine.

Maybe it was

something coarse

like he just

wanted sex back.

And so,

when he gets there,

he is met

by the concubine's

father.

Verse four.

His father-in-law,

the woman's father,

prevailed on him

to stay.

So he remained

with him three days,

eating and drinking

and sleeping there.

On the fourth day,

they got up early

and he prepared

to leave.

But the woman's father

said to his son-in-law,

refresh yourself

with something to eat,

then you can go.

So the concubine's father

welcomes him

with open arms,

come,

let's eat,

let's drink,

stay,

stay for another night.

No,

another night,

let's eat and drink some more,

sit down,

relax.

And he keeps him there.

For four days,

with food,

with drink,

with good hospitality.

And it seems strange.

Why is this father

so hospitable?

It doesn't seem

that the Levite

is treating his daughter

that well.

Why is the father

so hospitable?

I wouldn't be like this

if it was my daughter.

It seems strange

as we read it.

So why is he so generous?

What is his motive?

What is his plan?

Well,

the penalty

for adultery

and the penalty

for leaving a master,

they were both severe.

It was death

and disgrace

for the family.

And so it appears

that the father

is trying to make sure

that the Levite

doesn't press charges.

Come on,

let me make you happy

with food and drink,

stay another night,

let me really lay it on thick.

Whatever you like,

I'll get it for you.

Trying to make sure

that the Levite

doesn't sue the family.

He's so happy

that the Levite

just wants to take

the daughter home,

he's just giving him

as much food and wine

as possible.

Even though the Levite

went to persuade

his concubine

to return,

there's no mention

of the Levite

or the father

talking to her.

She has no choice

in the matter.

Both the father

and the Levite

are treating her

as an object.

One for sexual gratification

and the other

to avoid disgrace

and loss of face

and money.

It's really interesting

at this point

that the author

of Judges

hasn't written any names.

These characters

don't have names,

it's just the Levite,

it's the concubine,

it's the concubine's father.

None of them have names.

And it seems

that the author

is pointing out

some stereotypes.

You know,

this is what Levites

are like,

this is what concubines,

this is what women

are like,

and this is what

fathers of daughters

are like.

So Levites,

the ones who are

supposed to be holy

and serve and love God,

well,

they're just

decrepit,

sexually depraved men.

Fathers in Israel,

well,

they'd prefer to get rid

of their daughters

than lose money

or lose face

and honour.

And women,

well,

stereotype of women here

is that they just

run off from their husbands

and they run off

from their masters.

It paints

a dark picture

of Israel.

And the story

is about to get

far darker.

Eventually,

the Levite

and his concubine

leave.

And they end up

in a Jewish city,

Gibeah,

part of the tribe

of Benjamin,

one of the 12 tribes

of Israel.

And an old man

welcomes them

into his house

because staying

in the town square

was not safe.

That should concern us

as we read this.

Why is it not safe?

And we obviously

find out why.

And so they go

inside his house.

Verse 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.

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

outrageous thing.

Look,

here is my virgin

daughter

and his concubine.

I will bring them

out to you now.

You can use them

and do whatever

you wish.

But as for this man,

don't do this

outrageous thing.

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.

At daybreak,

the woman went

back to the house

where her master

was staying,

fell down at the door

and lay there

until daylight.

This,

this is such a horrible

incident.

It should cause us

to grieve.

And it's told

in such a way

that it,

it makes it

seem that God

is grieving too.

How does the Levite,

how does the master

react?

Well,

after he sent her

outside,

he went to sleep.

Verse 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 the concubine

fallen in the doorway

of the house

with her hand

on the threshold.

He said to her,

get up,

let's go.

But there was no answer.

Then the man

put her on his donkey

and sent her for home.

When he reached home,

he took a knife,

cut up his concubine

limb by limb

into 12 parts

and sent them

into all the areas

of Israel.

Now,

this is just horrible.

The detail brings us

to the unimaginable horror

of the woman's

night of torture.

She was used,

she was abused

and she was tossed aside.

And then her body

was carried with disdain

on the back of a donkey,

cut up

and sent around

the country

in a sick

and twisted way

of making people angry

at the tribe

of Benjamin.

How does this passage

make you feel?

Are you feeling uncomfortable?

Are you feeling angry?

Are you feeling saddened?

Are you just confused

as to why this is

even in the Bible?

Well,

it's a reminder for us

about the depravity

and the depths of sin

that happen

when we worship

an idol

and not our God.

That's what the book

of Judges

has been about.

Worshipping idols

and not God

and the consequences.

The Levite

had made an idol

out of sex.

He'd conformed

to the culture

around him,

not taking a wife

but having the status

symbol

of a concubine,

a sex object.

The men of Benjamin,

well,

they see sex

as more important

than obeying God.

The host,

he prefers to honour

his guest

and offer his own daughter

for rape.

The concubine's father,

well,

he worshipped

his own honour

and his own money

afraid of what would happen

if the Levite

took him to court.

This is truly horrible.

It is domestic violence

in the extreme.

This kind of behaviour

still happens today.

We're going to talk about

what domestic violence

looks like

in our response

to it

a little bit later.

But there is no good character

in this story.

There is no one

calling for salvation.

There is no one

calling for God

to save them.

God is deliberately

pushed out of this story

to show the horror

of humanity

laid bare.

Judges has been

about idolatry

of the people

and here the idols

are not other gods

but it is sex,

it is worshipping

the culture,

it is their own honour,

it is money.

Because conflict

reveals

what our idols are.

They reveal

the things we protect

when everything else

is on the line.

We'd prefer to

protect our identities

than confront our sin.

We'd rather see

other people get hurt

than have our own

frailty and sin

exposed.

Pursuing an idol

can justify

all kinds

of depraved acts.

This passage

might make us

grieve,

it might make us

angry,

it might make us

feel sad

but it should

send us

on our knees

before Jesus.

Knowing the depths

of humanity's sin,

knowing the depths

of our sin

and the sin

of the world

that meant

that God

himself

had to die.

Even though

innocent,

Jesus was brutally

murdered.

Knowing what

our world

is like

and knowing

what we are like

should make us

realise how

big and amazing

God's grace

to us

is.

That God

can even

love people

who would do

a horrendous

action like this.

We should be

crying out

to our God

of mercy,

asking God

that he would

send Jesus

back today,

that he would

not delay

any further,

that he would

never allow

this kind of

horrendous act

to happen

again.

It should

make us

weep

that people

can be so

depraved

as to throw

a person

aside

or reduce

someone

like this.

It should

make us

cry out to

God that

we would

not be

like this,

to beg

God

to reveal

our idols

so we

don't justify

the things

that we

pursue

in our

own

sinful

depravity.

The

Levites

sent

the

concubine

out to

the

twelve

tribes

of

Israel

hoping

to

get

a

response

and

we

see

their

response

in

chapters

20

and

21

we

didn't

read

those

I'm

going

to

briefly

tell

the

story

and

then

we're

going

to

think

about

what

our

response

to

domestic

violence

should

be.

And

so

what

is

the

response

to

the

Levites

sending

out

body

parts?

Well

the

response

is

that

it's

the

the

tribe

Benjamin

hand

us

over

those

who

committed

this

atrocious

act

hand

us

over

we'll

put

them

to

death

and

that'll

be

the

end

of

it

but

the

tribe

of

Benjamin

they

get

defensive

and

protective

of

their

own

like

all

of

us

do

they

get

defensive

and

so

they

say

no

we're

going

to

muster

an

army

so

Israel

get

together

an

army

400,000

Benjamin

gets

together

an

army

26,000

giant

army

compared

to

tiny

army

and

we get

the

first

mention

of

God

in

all

of

this

mimicking

the

very

start

of

the

book

of

Judges

they

asked

God

verse

18

who

of

us

should

go up

to

fight

first

against

the

Benjamites

the

Lord

replied

Judah

shall

go

first

so

in

the

first

fight

Judah

goes

up

and

they

get

massively

beaten

22,000

are

defeated

in

one

day

they

come

back

to

God

and

say

the

same

thing

who

should

go

up

they

go

up

again

and

get

defeated

again

18,000

in

one

day

and

finally

they

come

before

God

with

the

right

attitude

weeping

fasting

an

attitude

of

humility

before

God

verse

28

they

ask

shall

we

go

up

again

to

fight

against

the

Benjamites

our

fellow

Israelites

or

not

the

Lord

responded

go

for

tomorrow

I

will

give

them

into

your

hands

and

so

they

do

they

go

up

they

destroy

the

Benjamites

the

Benjamites

started

with

26,000

and

25,000

and a

bit

more

are killed

that day

they

destroy

their

city

they

put

everyone

to

the

sword

they

had

initially

intended

to

just

kill

those

who

had

done

the

atrocious

act

and

they

end

up

wiping

out

a

city

and

almost

destroying

a whole

tribe

of

Israel

nearly

26,000

people

and so

in response

to this

tribe of

Israel

nearly being

wiped out

Israel is

grieving again

chapter 21

verse 3

Lord

Lord God

they cried

why

has this

happened

to

Israel

why

should

one

tribe

be

missing

from

Israel

today

they're

grieving

why

why

should

one

tribe

of

the

12

tribes

of

Israel

nearly

be

missing

they've

only

got

600

men

left

God

what

are

you

going

to

do

they

seem

to

blame

God

for

this

where

it's

just

been

Israel

acting

and so

to fix

this

issue

of

only

600

men

left

none

of

whom

have

wives

they

go

and

take

400

wives

from

another

city

but

they

have

200

men

left

what

are

we

going

to

do

with

these

200

men

we

need

to

rebuild

this

tribe

of

Benjamin

400

men

have

wives

but

there's

200

men

who

need

wives

what

are

we

going

to

do

and

so

they

end

up

stealing

wives

they

go

and

they

kidnap

wives

for

these

last

200

men

Israel

was

rightly

grieved

over

what

had

happened

but

God

was

pushed

far

away

from

their

decision

making

so

they

overreact

their

response

was

to

kill

a

whole

tribe

almost

and

then

to

fix

this

problem

of

almost

killing

a

whole

tribe

they

come

up

with

another

terrible

idea

let's

go

and

kidnap

women

and

so

we

started

with

one

Levite

who

had

followed

his

pagan

culture

and

had

taken

a

concubine

for

a

wife

and

in

response

to

the

acts

that

happened

a

tribe

is

nearly

wiped

out

and

200

women

are

kidnapped

God

God

is

pushed

away

to

the

very

edges

of

this

story

he

is

just

a

bit

part

player

he's

only

consulted

when

people

want

him

in

a

battle

and

then

we

don't

hear

from

God

again

in

Judges

in

the

book

of

Judges

we

see

this

cycle

of

sin

and

judgment

and

Israel

crying

out

for

salvation

and

God

would

send

a

judge

and

all

of

that

is

absent

that

cycle

is

not

here

in

the

book

at

all

God

is

almost

absent

from

this

tale

it's

a

recognition

of

how

depraved

people

are

it

focuses

in

on

what

people

can

do

and

what

people

are

like

there

is

no

crying

out

to

God

Israel

thought

they

knew

how

to

deal

with

this

situation

but

they

only

made

things

worse

now

we

might

think

this

is

a

terrible

story

okay

it's

a

horrific

part

of

the

Bible

but

that's

fine

I'll

just

turn

the

page

it's

not

like

us

today

people

don't

do

that

these

days

surely

Christians

surely

we're

better

than

that

now

surely

we

don't

do

those

kinds

of

things

as

Steve

said

earlier

in our

series

on

judges

we need

to have

humility

we need

to have

humble

authenticity

as we

come to

God's

word

and

passages

like

this

as we

are

confronted

with

domestic

violence

the

sexual

objectification

of women

and men

it's

important

at this

point

to talk

about

the

church's

response

and

our

response

over the

last year

there's been

a campaign

that's

come to

the fore

it's

been

called

me

too

or

hashtag

me

too

if

you

understand

hashtags

it's

been a

way

of

drawing

attention

to

sexual

assault

and

harassment

particularly

in the

TV

and film

industry

many

people

have

lost

their

jobs

because

of

their

prior

sexual

assaults

have

come

to

light

including

an

American

film

producer

called

Harvey

Weinstein

who's

one

of the

most

famous

and

again

we can

think

that's

people

in

Hollywood

this

is

people

far

away

from

us

that's

not

us

that's

not

us

here

in

the

church

we're

better

than

that

just

over

a

year

ago

in

July

of

2017

there

was

a

report

on

the

730

report

on

ABC

and

they

did

an

investigation

specifically

into

domestic

violence

in

the

church

particularly

how

people

use

the

Bible

to

justify

abuse

the

730

report

spoke

about

a

couple

who

lived

not

that

far

from

here

the

man

said

to

his

wife

using

the

Bible

incorrectly

you

the

problem

is

you

don't

obey

me

the

Bible

says

you

must

obey

me

and

yet

you

refuse

and

so

he

yells

at

her

and

abuses

her

you

are

a

failure

as

a

wife

as

a

Christian

as

a

mother

this

man

appealed

to

scripture

to

control

and

abuse

his

wife

another

story

a

25

year

old

woman

from

Sydney

was

told

by

her

church

leaders

to

go

home

and

go

back

to

her

husband

who

had

been

abusing

her

and

so

she

went

home

and

the

husband

stabbed

her

to

death

shortly

after

these

are

just

two

horrendous

stories

of

people

that

are

not

that

far

from

us

not

that

different

from

we

are

not

immune

to

this

sort

of

horror

if

anything

the

statistics

on

domestic

violence

are

the

opposite

the

statistics

say

that

one

in

four

women

at

some

point

in

their

life

will

be

victims

of

domestic

abuse

men

are

victims

too

but

less

commonly

but

they're

still

victims