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OK, you can turn in your Bibles 
to Judges chapter 19. Judges chapter 19, somewhat of 
a disturbing chapter of Scripture. As I mentioned in prayer, it 
records the depravity of man. 19, 20, and 21 are a unit. It is a unit that goes together. 
But because of the length, we'll just deal with 19 this Wednesday 
night. and then take up the subsequent chapters in the following Wednesday 
nights. We will probably stop after Judges 
in terms of our study in the Old Testament. We will resume 
probably in the fall, and we will be in the book of Ruth. 
We're not going to skip Ruth. We'll go through Ruth and then 
continue on to 1 Samuel. But after completing Judges, 
there'll probably be a few weeks span before we actually get into 
the book of Ruth. So beginning in chapter 19 at 
verse 1, And it came to pass in those days when there was 
no king in Israel that there was a certain Levite staying 
in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine 
from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine played the 
harlot against him and went away from him to her father's house 
at Bethlehem in Judah and was there four whole months. Then 
her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her and 
bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with 
him. So she brought him into her father's house. And when 
the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet 
him. Now his father-in-law, the young woman's father, detained 
him. And he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and 
lodged there. Then it came to pass on the fourth 
day that they arose early in the morning. And he stood to 
depart, but the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, 
refresh your heart with a morsel of bread and afterward go your 
way. So they sat down and the two 
of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman's father 
said to the man, please be content to stay all night and let your 
heart be merry. When the man stood to depart, 
his father-in-law urged him, so he lodged there again. Then 
he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but 
the young woman's father said, please refresh your heart. So 
they delayed until afternoon, and both of them ate. And when 
the man stood to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, 
his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, 
look, the day is now drawing toward evening. Please spend 
the night. See, the day is coming to an 
end. Lodge here that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow, go your 
way early so that you may get home. However, the man was not 
willing to spend that night. So he rose and departed and came 
opposite Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. With him were the two saddle 
donkeys. His concubine was also with him. 
They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent. And the servant 
said to his master, come, please, and let us turn aside into the 
city of the Jebusites and lodge in it. But his master said to 
him, we will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners who 
are not of the children of Israel. We will go on to Gibeah. So he 
said to his servant, come, let us draw near to one of these 
places and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah. And they 
passed by and went their way. And the sun went down on them 
near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside there 
to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down 
in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into 
his house to spend the night. Just then, an old man came in 
from his work in the field at evening, who was also from the 
mountains of Ephraim. He was staying in Gibeah, whereas 
the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he raised his eyes, 
he saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old 
man said, where are you going and where do you come from? So 
he said to him, we are passing from Bethlehem and Judah toward 
the remote mountains of Ephraim. I am from there. I went to Bethlehem 
and Judah. Now I am going to the house of 
the Lord. There is no one who will take 
me into his house. Although we have both straw and 
fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for myself, for your 
female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant, 
there is no lack of anything. And the old man said, peace be 
with you. However, let all your needs be 
my responsibility. Only do not spend the night in 
the open square. So he brought him into his house 
and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet and 
ate and drank. As they were enjoying themselves, 
suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the 
house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the 
house, the old man, saying, bring out the man who came to your 
house, that we may know him carnally. But the man, the master of the 
house, went out to them and said to them, no, my brethren, I beg 
you, do not act so wickedly. Seeing this man has come into 
my house, do not commit this outrage. Look, here is my virgin 
daughter and the man's concubine. Let me bring them out now. Humble 
them and do with them as you please. But to this man, do not 
do such a vile thing. But the men would not heed him. 
So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. 
And they knew her and abused her all night until morning. 
And when the day began to break, they let her go. Then the woman 
came as the day was dawning and fell down at the door of the 
man's house where her master was till it was light. When her 
master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house 
and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at 
the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. And he 
said to her, get up and let us be going. There was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the 
donkey and the man got up and went to his place. When he entered 
his house, he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided 
her into 12 pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the 
territory of Israel. And so it was that all who saw 
it said, no such deed has been done or seen from the day that 
the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until 
this day. Consider it, confer, and speak 
up. Amen. Well, as I said last week, 
in chapters 17 to 21, what we have are two appendices, two 
stories or two accounts that are attached to the main body 
of the book that show us what life in Israel looked like prior 
to the judges. I said last week, 17 to 21, actually 
take place prior to the first Judge Othniel. We know that to 
be the case when we look at chapter 20, specifically verse 28, it 
indicates for us that Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of 
Aaron, stood before it in those days saying, shall I yet again 
go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, 
or shall I cease. So these are instances that took 
place prior to the time of the judges. And as I said, it's a 
general outlook concerning the wickedness and the evil going 
on in Israel at this particular time. 17 and 18 primarily are 
concerned with religious apostasy, and that is illustrated by the 
tribe of Dan. 19 to 21 deal with moral degeneracy, 
and that is illustrated primarily by the tribe of Benjamin. So 
things are not well in Israel, not long after the death of Joshua. We see that a people left to 
themselves very quickly will plunge themselves into all manner 
of sin and evil and wickedness. So as we take up chapter 19 this 
evening, I want to look at two broad concerns. First, the background 
to the situation in Gibeah, verses 1 to 9, and then the description 
of the crime in Gibeah in verses 10 to 30. Daniel Bloch says even 
more than in the previous unit, 17 and 18, and the story of Samson, 
particularly chapters 14 and 15, what looks at first like 
nothing more than a personal crisis in a private household. We have a Levite and his concubine 
who plays the harlot and goes back to her father's house. It's 
a private crisis or personal crisis in a private household. 
It escalates into a citywide problem, then becomes a crisis 
for an entire tribe and ultimately jeopardizes the integrity of 
the entire nation of Israel itself. So just like in 17 and 18 we 
go from Micah's household to the Levitical priesthood to the 
very tribe of Dan itself. Well the same thing is true here. 
We have this Levite and his concubine We have the crime at Gibeah. 
We have the problem with the Benjamites. And in chapter 20, 
specifically, what we'll see is war against the Benjamites. So this is a big deal and a big 
issue. And as I said, it illustrates 
the depravity of man. So let's look first at the background 
to the situation in verses 1 to 9. We are reminded, 19.1, it 
came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel. This is something common in this 
section. 17.6, 18.1, and then again in 
21.25. The statement, doing what was 
right in their own eyes, is precisely what it means to do evil in the 
sight of the Lord that we see in the section of the book that 
is concerned with the judges specifically. As well, the statement 
is the opposite of that which is enjoined in the Pentateuch, 
where the people of God are told, you shall do what is right and 
good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you. 
So what we find is that the people were living as if there was no 
God in heaven, they were living as if there was no moral restraint, 
they were doing those things which were right in their own 
eyes. They were autonomous, they were self-governed, they only 
did those things which were fleshly and carnal and pleasing to themselves. 
And while, as we saw last time, 17 and 18 focused on the apostasy 
and Dan, and while we see the illustration in 19 to 21 is with 
Benjamin, I think the author would have us to understand that 
this is an Israel-wide problem. Israel as a whole is growing 
increasingly canonized and this is the symptom of that reality. With reference to the dating, 
as I mentioned, Phineas is the priest. He is the grandson of 
Aaron, which means that the events transpiring in this chapter occurred 
within 100 years of the death of Moses and probably within 
just decades after the death of Joshua. So the people declined 
very rapidly. And as we see in the major part 
of the book of Judges, it isn't long when one of those judges 
dies that the people then begin to spiral out of control. They 
revert and act even more corruptly. We see the absolute necessity 
of restraint. We see the absolute necessity 
of God's moral law to hedge us in, to keep us in, and to hopefully 
keep us from engaging in all manner of lawlessness. Now note 
the situation in verses 1B to 9. We're introduced to a particular 
couple, a married couple. There was a certain Levite staying 
in the remote mountains of Ephraim. It's interesting. He stays in 
the mountains of Ephraim. He goes to Bethlehem, Judah. 
In the Micah chapter, in chapter 17, there's a priest from Bethlehem, 
Judah who goes to the mountains of Ephraim. Well this particular 
Levite took for himself a concubine. Soon as we read concubine we're 
probably led to believe that he has a wife. A concubine was 
an additional wife and as we move on we see that he took for 
himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah but his concubine played 
the harlot against him and went away from him to her father's 
house at Bethlehem in Judah and was there for whole months. Now, when it speaks of her having 
committed harlotry, that is a legitimate way to take this. There is a 
variant reading in the Septuagint that says that she was angry 
with him. Gill mentions that this was in 
the Targum and that some of the rabbis actually preferred this 
particular interpretation. In fact the ESV has the marginal 
reading, she became angry with him. The New English translation 
actually renders it this way and in many respects it seems 
to make better sense of the scenario. If she's a concubine Perhaps 
she's not happy with the sort of treatment that she is facing. It seems more logical that someone 
would leave their husband and then engage in spiritual adultery 
or harlotry. As well, it seems odd that this 
man wants her back. He could, under the law, have 
her put to death if she actually engaged in the physical act of 
harlotry. But rather, he wants to go and 
appeal to her heart and win her back to himself after these four 
months. So I don't know specifically 
one way or the other. I'm simply suggesting that the 
non-harlot interpretation does make sense in this particular 
situation. He could have had her put to 
death for harlotry. He did actually seek reconciliation 
with her, and it speaks specifically to him speaking kindly to her 
and bringing her back. This seems odd, again, if she 
was engaged in the sorts of things that are conjured up with reference 
to this reference. statement of harlotry. But either 
way, what we find is that this happily married couple did not 
remain in this condition. She plays the harlot or she despises 
her and is angry with him, so she goes to her father's house 
and she's there for four long months. Now notice what he does 
in verse 3. Then her husband arose and went 
after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having 
his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. Now, basically, as 
I said, 1 to 9 sets forth the background. If we didn't have 
1 to 9, the rest of the section wouldn't make sense. We're not 
going to spend a lot of time developing the background, because 
what we find when the father-in-law seeks to detain the son-in-law, 
it isn't anything other than him exercising genuine hospitality. In fact, there's a great contrast 
set up between the father-in-law and the men of Gibeah. What happens 
in Gibeah? They go to the very city square 
and in Gibeah there is no hospitality, there is no kindness, there is 
no overture whatsoever for any of the bare necessities that 
would be required in a society where the people of God are in 
communion with one another. It is a man from Ephraim that 
happens to be living in Gibeah that actually exercises any degree 
of hospitality towards this particular man, his servant, and his God-given. And we see that his hospitality 
only goes so far. He certainly doesn't care one 
bit, ultimately, for the Levite's concubine, which we'll get to 
in just a moment. Anyways, jilted lover, Levite 
man, goes, according to verse 3, and then we see that he comes 
to her house and she brought him into her father's house. So whatever their situation was, 
this four months did serve as a bit of a cooling period. The 
one who departed to go be in her father's house, wanting to 
get away from this scoundrel of a Levite, now opens the door, 
sees her man, and invites him into her father's house. And 
then notice, and when the father of the young woman saw him, he 
was glad to meet him. So she didn't spend every day 
of those four months telling her father what a rotten guy 
this Levite was. He was glad to meet him. Maybe 
the father was ready for his little girl to go back home. 
Maybe he valued his emptiness. Whatever the case is, the whole 
situation is one of reconciliation. It is one of amicability, it 
is one of goodness, and it is one of hearty reception. Verse 
4, now his father-in-law, the young woman's father, detained 
him. And he stayed with him three days, so they ate and drank and 
lodged there. And this is what will go on for 
the next couple of days. He's a very hospitable man. That's 
all we're supposed to take away from this, but it sets up the 
time frame. It sets the context for their 
arrival in Gibeah. I don't want to go back and forth 
on each of these days. Suffice it to say, the Levite 
wanted to go, the father-in-law wanted to rejoice, finally the 
Levite goes. Notice verse 9. The father-in-law 
says, look, the day is now drawing toward evening. Please spend 
the night. See, the day is coming to an 
end. Lodge here that your heart may 
be merry. Tomorrow, go your way early so 
that you may get home. If he would have taken off in 
the morning, feasibly, he would have arrived where he wanted 
to be without having to spend the night in Gibeah. It's a question 
of timing. It's an issue of providence. And in this particular instance, 
it is a dark providence. I'm not going to lie to you. 
What we find specifically in 22 to 26 is a very difficult 
passage. Anyways, that's the background. 
You see the story. Levi, concubine, marital rupture. She goes back to Daddy. He goes 
after her. They reunite. Daddy's happy. 
She's happy. He's happy. And off they go. And that brings us to this description 
in 10 to 30. And there's two categories here 
that we need to appreciate. First, social disintegration. Social disintegration. Israel, as the 12 tribes, was 
one people. It ought to be the case that 
travelers get looked after. This is why in the New Testament, 
hospitality and kindness and care for others is such a big 
issue. Why? Because the covenant people 
of God really ought to get along together. They ought to give 
preference to one another. They ought to make sure that 
their brethren have alleviation from the needs that they have, 
or have help from the needs that they have. Notice what we find 
in verse 10. However, the man was not willing 
to spend the night, so he rose and departed and came opposite 
Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. At that time it wasn't occupied 
by Israelites. At that time it was occupied 
by the Jebusites. With him were the two saddled 
donkeys. His concubine was also with him. They were near Jebus, 
and the day was far spent. And the servant said to his master, 
come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites 
and lodge in it. Now note the irony of verse 12. 
Note the response of the master to the servant. His master said 
to him, we will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners. 
What's the implication? We won't be treated well at the 
hands of the foreigners, will we? If we turn aside here to 
this city of foreigners, bad things might happen to us. They 
might attack me, the Levite. They might attack you, my servant. 
They might attack my concubine. They might strip our donkeys 
of all our goods that we have here. Very ironic, isn't it? 
What is the author saying? He passes through a Canaanite 
city and comes to a Canaanite city. Only this one happens to 
be occupied by Israelites. But they're acting like Canaanites. He says, who are not of the children 
of Israel, we will go on to Gibeah. As if this somehow is their remedy. As if this is somehow their answer. 
As if this will somehow bring them a particular bit of relief. Verses 14 and 15 highlight the 
callousness of Gibeah. I mean, they are just the opposite 
of the father-in-law of this particular Levi. Notice in verse 
14, they passed by and went their way, and the sun went down on 
them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside 
there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down 
in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into 
his house to spend the night." Now this is highlighted later 
when the Levite says, we don't even need an evening meal. We 
have fodder and we have straw for our donkeys. We have food 
and wine. They weren't looking to be brought 
in for food and donkeys getting food and the whole spiel. They 
had everything they needed. They just needed a cot. They 
needed a place to lay their head. They needed to come out from 
the elements. So there is a stark contrast between the father-in-law 
and the men of Gibeah. The father-in-law can't do enough 
for this Levite. He can't give him enough. He 
wants him there for five days of drinking and eating and rejoicing, 
and he wants him to stay so he can eat and drink and rejoice. 
Some more, not so with the men of Gibeah. Now enters this old 
man, this traveler, verses 16 to 21. His identity is given 
to us in verse 16. Just then an old man came in 
from his work in the field at evening, who was also from the 
mountains of Ephraim. He was staying in Gibeah, whereas 
the men of the place were Benjamites. This is important. Benjamin's 
been mentioned twice. Why? Because in chapter 20, there's 
going to be civil war. All of the other tribes are going 
to go against Benjamin, the author setting the stage. This is masterful 
writing. The way that everything connects 
together, absolutely beautiful in terms of literary compilation. And then notice in verse 17, 
when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square 
of the city. And the old man said, where are 
you going, and where do you come from? So he gives this particular 
question. The Levite, as I mentioned, answers 
in 18 to 19. And then he invites them, in 
verse 20, to come and to stay. The old man said, peace be with 
you. However, let all your needs be 
my responsibility. Only do not spend the night in 
the open square. That's foreboding, isn't it? That's a bit of an omen as to 
what is going to follow. Bloch says he insists that whatever 
they do, these travelers must not spend the night in the city 
square. Now, I'm sure that it's not great 
to spend a lot of nights out in the city square, but out of 
necessity, you could pull it off. I mean, if something happened, 
Your basement flooded, and your house was flooded, and nobody 
answered their phone. If you had to sleep under the 
bridge or downtown Chilliwack for one night, you could probably 
pull that off. This old man, however, tells 
them. He warns them in a very earnest way. Only do not stay 
in the city square. The old man does not say why, 
Block continues. Since this is a walled city, 
they should be safe from outsiders. But as a resident alien, he has 
learned that the problem is inside. This old man knew what was going 
on in the city. He knows the ways of the children 
of Gibeah all too well. And then look at verse 21. So 
he brought him into his house. Another thing that the author 
wants us to get is that women don't fare well in a canonized 
society. The woman is absent. The woman 
is background. The woman isn't even referenced 
in verse 21. He brought him into his house. And then when we get to verse 
23, saying, this man has come into my house. I think the emphasis 
here is that when you live in a barbarized society, women typically 
are not in a good place. It is much better to live in 
a society ruled and regulated by the word of the living God 
There is a war on women in Canaan. There is a war on women in Canaanite-ish 
societies, and such is the case in a passage like this. So we 
see that the man exercises his hospitality. Again, he's not 
a Gibeah. He's not a man of Gibeah. He's 
not a Benjamite. He is from Ephraim, and he is 
simply traveling, or he is simply living there, working in this 
particular city. So he brought him into his house 
and gave fodder to the donkeys, and they washed their feet and 
ate and drank. So that's the social disintegration. That does set the stage for what 
follows here in the remainder of the chapter, which is the 
moral outrage, verses 22 to 30. The first thing we ought to notice 
before we get into the text is its similarity to another text. Does anybody know what that other 
text is? What is it? Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19. Guess what the author is saying? 
You thought you were in Israel? You're in Sodom. That's what's 
going on in this particular passage. Davis calls this section the 
resurrection of Sodom. He says, different outcomes to 
be sure, but the similarity between Genesis 19 1-11 and Judges 19 
22-26 is unmistakable and deliberate. The writer wants you to view 
Judges 19 this way. Yes, that's right, he says. It sounds exactly like Genesis 
19. It's the Sodom connection. Only 
here you have Sodom in the land of Benjamin. Gibeah is new Sodom. This is the writer's way of accusing 
the people of God. He shows us that even in Israel 
some have plunged into the moral abyss of Sodom and eagerly wallowed 
in its twisted depravity. When you compare these two passages, 
it is uncanny. When we read through Genesis 
19, there's not always the narrator's commentary saying, and this was 
wicked, and this was evil, and this was bad, which shakes some 
readers. We look at this and we say the 
narrator ought to clobber these people. He is clobbering them. By highlighting the reality that 
what we have in Benjamin is Sodom, he is telling us that things 
are very bad in Israel at this particular time. Now let's notice 
the specific incident in verses 22 to 30. Note first the intention 
of the men. As they were enjoying themselves, 
so we see them sitting drinking wine, eating bread, talking to 
their new friend. He hails from the same place 
that they know of. They're perhaps swapping stories. 
They're enjoying a bit of light revelry. They're safe for the 
night. They'll head up in the morning 
and move out to their destination. But they're enjoying themselves. 
They've washed their feet. They're eating and they're drinking. 
Suddenly, certain men of the city, perverted men, Marginal 
read, sons of Belial. You see these sons of Belial 
throughout. the Old Testament. It's even 
picked up on in the New Testament. It's applied to murderers, rapists, 
false witnesses, corrupt priests, drunks, boors, ungrateful and 
selfish people, rebels, those who lead others into idolatry, 
and those who do not know Yahweh. So here's who is in the city 
of Gibeah, and here is the welcoming committee that comes to the house 
of this old man. So the Levite, his concubine, 
his servant, and the old man are enjoying themselves. Suddenly 
certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and 
beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the 
house, the old man, saying, bring out the man who came to your 
house that we may know him carnally. The supplier, the new King James 
supplies carnally and it's legit. The knowing here has to do with 
sexually. It has to do with homosexual 
rape. That's what's in view in this 
particular passage. And it's interesting the language 
that is employed when they beat on the door. Davis says, then 
comes hollering in the racket, the thumps of bodies throwing 
themselves against the door, and at last the cries become 
discernible. The man have sex with him. Now the reader realizes how very 
dark it is in Gibeah. Footnote says, the Hebrew participle 
suggests more than mere knocking or pounding on the door. The 
New English Bible has hurling themselves against the door. This is a mob of perverts. that want the Levite. Now do 
they know he's a Levite? We don't know. Does the old man 
know he's a Levite? We don't know. But at this particular 
juncture, coming out of 17 and 18, this gives us another glimpse 
into the religious character of Israel at the time. Levites 
were leaders in Israel. They were priests. They were 
teachers of the law. Here these perverted men come 
to the house and they want him. They don't want the servant. 
They don't want the old man. They want the Levite. They want 
to engage in homosexual relations with this particular man. Now note secondly the appeal 
by the old man in verses 23 to 24. But the man, the master of 
the house, went out to them and said to them, know my brethren, 
Just like we find with Lot and the Sodomites. He calls them 
brethren. The old man in Gibeah calls them 
brethren. He's trying to appeal to them. 
What do we learn as we move through this passage? You can't appeal 
to dogs. You cannot throw your pearls 
before swine. You should not cast what is holy 
before dogs. Rather, he should have secured 
the place and made sure that no threat came to them. But note 
the emphasis with reference to this particular man. I beg you, 
do not act so wickedly. Seeing this man has come into 
my house Do not commit this outrage. Look, here is my virgin daughter 
and the man's concubine. Let me bring them out now. Nobody does well in this chapter. 
No one, no one comes out of this chapter looking good at all. We feel sorry for the concubine, 
and well we should at the treatment that she received. But even she, 
according to the very beginning of the chapter, either A, played 
the harlot against her husband or was despised him and was angry 
and left him to go to her father's house. There's no one innocent 
in this particular situation. But what this man and what the 
Levite do are absolute wickedness. The old man offers his virgin 
daughter and the Levite's concubine to the men of the city so that 
they may humble them and do with them as you please. What does 
it mean, do with them as you please? It means do with them 
as is right in your own eyes. The old man wants to protect 
only the Levite at the cost of his virgin daughter. What's happened 
in Israel at the cost of this man's Levi? He should try to 
protect them all or die trying. Don't offer up these perverts 
to women that they can do with whatever it is that they choose 
to do in this particular instance. The old man parallels Lot in 
Genesis chapter 19 verses 6 and 7. But unfortunately for the 
concubine of the Levite, there were no delivering angels in 
Gibeah. Just because this man does what 
he does, there is not deliverance coming from the hand of God as 
it was the case in Sodom. Bloch says a host's honor is 
at stake, not justice or morality. That is why, to him, heterosexual 
rape is preferable to homosexual rape. The host cannot betray 
his obligation to his male guests. And I know all this talk of rape 
and gang rape is very offensive, but the Word of God records that 
for us so that we'll understand just how very offensive sin actually 
is. And we'll see how absolutely 
necessary the Redeemer King is, and how much we need the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And while we may not be the perverts 
of Gibeah, we nevertheless pursue those things which are right 
in our own eyes. And if our sins do not look the 
same as their sins, our sins are still enough to land us into 
a Christless eternity forever and ever, world without end. 
Amen. The perverts of Gibeah need a 
Redeemer like the sinners in the New Covenant era. This is 
offensive stuff. He says, humble them, do with 
them as you please, but to this man do not do such a vile thing. You see, women are expendable 
in a society like this. Women are like property. Women 
are shadow. Women don't matter. What's the 
author saying? The author is saying that in 
a covenant community, women are afforded protection, and stability, 
and life, and joy, and peace, and happiness, and all the things 
that God gives to His image bearers, be they man or woman. This man 
doesn't care one bit about the women that are in his house, 
that have sought refuge there, that are under his care and protection. 
Now notice, verse 25. But the men would not heed him. You really get the picture of 
a mob. I remember, I think it was one 
of the cities in the state several years ago, there was a church 
that was meeting together. And some homosexuals surrounded 
the place and were saying, we want your children. We want your 
children. And it looked like a scene right 
out of Gibeah in Judges 19. Or it looked like the scene out 
of Sodom in Genesis 19. I mean, these men are bent on 
gratifying their own wicked lusts. They will not be deterred. They 
will not be detained. They will not be stopped. The 
man would not heed him. So the man, the text is a bit 
ambiguous, but I think the man here is the Levite man. It's not the old man. So the 
man took his concubine and brought her out to them. I mean, I don't 
even know what to say in a situation like this. What has happened? He's a Levite. He's a priest 
of the living God. He is a servant of God Most High 
of Israel. And he takes his wife and he 
throws her out to the dogs as if she's garbage or scraps or 
something that has no value. So the man took his concubine 
and brought her out to them. And then notice what the men 
of Gibeah do at this particular instance. And they knew her and 
abused her all night until morning. And when the day began to break, 
they let her go. Let's just look at some of the 
sins and some of the crimes that these men have perpetrated. First, 
the intention to commit homosexual sin. That was their primary desire. That's what they were after. 
They wanted the Levite man to be released out of the house 
so that they could rape him. That's what they wanted. They 
actually rape a woman. And they do so all night long. I mean, how do you read this 
passage and not see the vileness of sexual sin? How do you read 
this passage and not see the wickedness of violating the seventh 
commandment? Which they did that additionally 
because she was married. And they also murder the woman. They raped her to death, is what 
the text says. absolutely ghastly. Now note the journey home in 
verses 27 to 28. This Levite is, I mean, who's 
worse, the perverts of Gibeah or the Levite? I mean, there's 
a statement or a saying, when wicked men do their thing and 
good men stand idly by and do nothing to stop it, they're just 
as culpable. You may not be a pervert in Gibeah, 
but if you don't stand up and resist them and seek to stop 
them, then you are accomplices with them in their particular 
crime. What does he do in verse 27? When her master arose in 
the morning. Note the language there as well. 
on her master, not her husband, but her master. She's property. She's expendable. This is what 
happens in a Canaanite society. Ladies, you don't fare well when 
Canaanites are the order of the day. When her master arose in 
the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to 
go his way. Stop for just a moment. He went 
out to go his way? He didn't go out to find this 
woman? He didn't go out to seek his 
wife? He didn't go out like he went 
to her father-in-law's house to reconcile, to renew, to get 
back into her good graces? Now these perverted men have 
had her all night long, and he opens the door to go his way? 
He doesn't care about her. I mean, the text almost seems 
to suggest that he went to sleep while all of this was happening. 
Maybe he did it, maybe he stood there chewing his fingernails. 
We don't know for sure, but there is a callousness and there is 
this attitude of non-concern whatsoever for his concubine. When her master arose in the 
morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to 
go his way, there was his concubine fallen at the door of the house 
with her hands on the threshold. Block paints the picture this 
way. The image is concretized by the 
reference to the hands, reaching out for the door, reaching for 
the protection of her husband, reaching for the security of 
their host's house, reaching, but all she could grasp was death. 
Obviously, she had been too weak to open the door or even to knock. This is what it looks like in 
a society when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This is why it ought to concern 
us as we see what is becoming an increasingly more hostile 
war upon Christianity and absolutes and moral objectivity. We ought 
to be fearful, not in terms of we go hide in the corner, concerned 
at the stripping away of those things which protect people. Because when we get to the place 
where Christianity is abolished and Bibles are removed and the 
law of God is obliterated, this is what it looks like. You want 
to get a look at what society is going to be if the humanists 
continue to get their way? Judges 19 is a very ample description 
of the sorts of things that happens when there is no king in Israel 
and everyone does what is right in his own eyes. So he makes 
the journey home and then according to verses 29 to 30, he does something 
that can be described as a call to arms. It says, when he entered 
his house, he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided 
her into 12 pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the 
territory of Israel. You know, it's intriguing, because 
as I was reading through this, specifically in verses 26 to 
28, it doesn't actually say she's dead. That's what you assume. And then he gets home and he 
carves her up. You suspect that perhaps he's carving up the corpse. But what if she wasn't dead? 
What if it was he that actually finished the particular job? 
I think the emphasis does lie on the fact that she's already 
dead, and he gets to his house, and he carves her up into these 
12 pieces. But the text does not specify 
specifically in that regard. At any rate, he takes her, he 
cuts her up into 12 pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout 
all the territory of Israel. We ask the question, why does 
he do this? Kyle and Dalich answer, sending 
the dissected pieces of the corpse to the tribes was a symbolical 
act by which the crime committed upon the murdered woman was placed 
before the eyes of the whole nation to summon it to punish 
the crime and was naturally associated with a verbal explanation of 
the matter by the bearer of the pieces. So when he sends the 
pieces, he does so with a messenger. The messenger then relays the 
specifics of the crime. As we move into chapter 20, this 
is the explanation that makes sense because all of Israel gathers 
together at Mizpah to hear again from the Levite or to hear amplification 
from the Levite as to what has occurred in Gibeah of Benjamin. And it's at that particular time 
that the tribes then take military action against Benjamin. And 
so we see there's an analogous proceeding, Kyle and Dalich continue, 
on the part of Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 11. There he doesn't 
do it with a human being, however. So that's a call to arms. And 
then in verse 30 it says, so it was that all who saw it said, 
no such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children 
of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider 
it, confer, excuse me, and speak up. And as I said, that is exactly 
what happens in chapter 20. They gather together. They then 
strategize how they are going to deal with this particular 
situation in Benjamin. So what are some lessons that 
we can learn from a passage like this? The first is we need to 
identify the root of the problem. When we see what goes on in Gibeah, 
when we see what goes on in Sodom, when we see what goes on in the 
hearts of men, verse 1 is probably the best explanation. When there's 
no king in Israel, when there's no king in a man's heart, they 
do what is right in their own eyes. And I think the author 
is highlighting the reality that the installation of a godly king 
would help suppress the type of lawlessness that was rampant 
in Israel. Many suggest that Judges is a 
pro-monarchy book. In other words, one of the points, 
one of the purposes, one of the themes of the Book of Judges 
is to support Israel's monarchy. When you read, there was no king 
in Israel, and people conduct themselves the way they do in 
Gibeah, how do you end the chapter? We want a king in Israel, right? It is very pro-monarchical. But as well, the installation 
of an ungodly king, which Israel had its share of, would encourage 
the type of lawlessness that was rampant in Israel. So it's 
not just a king to fill a particular spot, but we want a godly king, 
we want a righteous king, we want a Deuteronomy 17 king, whose 
first order of business when he takes the throne is to write 
for himself the law of the Lord. That was the first function of 
the king in Israel, was to write out the law of God in his own 
hand for his own personal use. If man would have done that, 
perhaps things would have been different in Israel. Secondly, 
we need to observe the subjects of this particular wickedness. 
Davis says, who in this context is each man? He is Israelite 
man, covenant man. It is precisely those who have 
been called to be a people for Yahweh's own possession who are 
refusing to be subject to his covenant law. They will not have 
this God to rule over them. Is this not a word for the church? Are there not people in our pews 
who would voice outrage over the scandal of Gibeah, people 
who find religion congenial, morality proper, charity commendable, 
and God, if he is not sovereign, unobjectionable, and yet share 
a stubborn and wicked heart with the sexual perverts of Gibeah." 
Again, the way that certain persons flesh out sin may not be the 
way the perverts did it in Gibeah, but it's still fleshing out sin. 
It is still lawlessness. It is still autonomy. It is still 
an independence that one asserts from God. Bloch says the Levite 
had preferred Gibeah over Jebus to avoid the dangers of Canaanism, 
only to discover that Canaan had invaded his own world. And then as we see in the passage, 
I think all too clearly is the depravity of man. And the depravity 
of man on two counts, the perverts of Gibeah and the cowards in 
Gibeah. those men who sought sexual gratification, 
and the men who gave them their wishes. We cannot be these sorts 
of cowards. We cannot be these sorts of men. If good men do not oppose evil, 
the sense is that good men then participate in that evil. We 
cannot sit idly by while the nation runs headlong into hell 
and never say anything contrary. We need to speak out against 
homosexuality. I saw in the news today, in the 
UK paper, the Telegraph, there's some conference talking about 
how it's natural for men to want to engage in pedophilia. We open 
the door to same-sex marriage or sodomite marriage. It isn't 
going to be long before all bets are off. We need to close the 
doors, we need to pray that God will stop the tide of wickedness 
and the evil that is overtaking society. We cannot be complicit 
in it, we must be prayerful to the Lord our God, and in the 
circles that we travel in, the spheres of influence that we 
exercise, We ought to speak up. We ought to resist. We ought 
to say, no, you ought not to do such wickedness. So the types 
of sin that is going on here, gross sexual sin and murder on 
the part of the sons of Belial, cowardice and wickedness on the 
part of men who certainly should have known better and should 
have done better. When the old man does what he 
does, we want to smack him. When the Levite does what he 
does, we're speechless. How does a man take a woman he 
just went after to reconcile with and throw her to a pack 
of perverted dogs that end up raping her all night to the point 
of death? This Levi has big, big problems. Shows us that religious leadership 
is not immune to the same sorts of depravity and sin that so 
many engage in as well. There's a lady I follow on Twitter. Her name is Janet Mefford. She's 
a radio talk show host. She's the one that actually outed 
Mark Bristol in terms of his plagiarism scandal. And every 
day, several times a day, she has in her Twitter feed links 
to news stories of pastors engaged in sexual sin. This isn't a Roman 
Catholic problem anymore. This is a Protestant problem. 
This is happening in epidemic ways. It is absolutely terrible 
and abominable, and it gives cause to the enemies of the Lord 
to bring reproach to the name of our God and Savior. So hopefully 
those are some lessons that we can take away from this passage, 
and hopefully the Lord our God will keep us from seeing such 
things in our lifetime. Well, let us close in prayer. 
Our Father, we thank you for your word. And as difficult a 
passage as this is, God help us to see in it not only depravity, 
but to see redemption, to see grace, to see mercy. We see even 
as this book will end, there is hope for the tribe of Benjamin. 
Certainly this encourages our hearts, there's hope for sinners, 
and we know ultimately it's not in an earthly judge, it is in 
the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would bless 
the preaching of the gospel throughout this earth. We pray that you 
would stem the tide of wickedness that just seems to be growing 
and growing. We pray that your church would know the truth of 
scripture and would seek to be faithful in applying it. And 
we ask that you would go with us now and watch over us. Again, 
bless our brothers and sisters that are struggling physically. 
Bless all of us struggling spiritually. Help us to persevere and to do 
so for your glory. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.