Judges Chapter 19

The opening phrase in chapter 19 “In those days Israel had no king”, could be the author’s attempt to prepare us for what is to come.  

Nonetheless, we may still cringe at the morbidness described, the depravity of men, the shocking actions that a Levite (supposedly one who serves God) took to seek redress for the wrong suffered.

Some of us may feel uncomfortable that such gross things are recorded in the Bible, wondering if there is a necessity to go into such details of violence, cruelty, wantonness.  

The heinous acts of the men of Gibeah bore a striking similarity to the men in Sodom. 

As Solomon proclaimed in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.” 

It should thus not come as a surprise but rather serve as a constant reminder to us how terrifying sin can be when a person is enslaved by it.  

Let us also take serious heed to the words of Jesus in Luke 17:26 – 30 “And as it was in the days of Noah, … was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, …”

Are we also one who does not have God as king in our lives?

When reading the story told in this chapter, one may inadvertently come across this question of “what if”.  Will things turn out differently?

What if the Levite had departed for the journey home the next day instead of at the end of the day.

What if he had chosen to spend the night in Jebus instead of in Gibeah?

What if he had sought his concubine earlier instead of after 4 months?

What if …

We may also be plagued by many of such “what if” in making our decisions in life.  Lamenting at times that things may perhaps turn out better if we had taken a different course. 

James 4: 13 – 15 clearly tells us that the crux of the matter is not about having the foresight or acumen in our planning, but rather whether our steps are directed by the will of God.

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