Horror in Gibeah

Judges 19:1-30

Prayer: Father, we know that all Scripture is breathed out by You – it is all good and profitable – and yet some parts of difficult and challenging. Please use this portion of Your Word today to do the good work it is meant to do in our lives and make us more like Your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen. 

Introduction
The Bible is Rated-R, and that is because it deals honestly with the horror of human sin. This chapter is one of the darkest episodes in all of Scripture, and so it is an opportunity to look our sin straight on. 

The Text: “And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah…” (Judges 19:1-30) 

Summary of the Text
In those days when Israel lived as though they had no king, a Levite had a wife (a concubine is a wife without a dowry) who was unfaithful and then fled home to her father’s house (Judges 19:1-2). Her husband had compassion on her and went after her to reconcile, where he was welcomed by her father with warm hospitality over the course of five days (Judges 19:3-9). As the Levite returned home with his wife, he stopped in Gibeah of Benjamin for the night, where he was taken in by a man of Ephraim (Judges 19:10-21). While the Levite was being hosted, certain ‘sons of Belial’ surrounded the house and demanded that he be brought out of the house so they might rape him to death (Judges 19:22-23, cf. 20:5). In his place, the man’s daughter and the Levite’s wife were offered, and ultimately the Levite’s wife was given, who was abused all night and died at the door of the house in the morning (Judges 19:24-28). When the Levite arrived home, he cut her into twelve pieces and sent them to the tribes of Israel, causing great shock and alarm (Judges 19:29-30). 

Israel is Sodom
This episode clearly paints Israel as becoming like Sodom (Gen. 19). And this is a theme that the prophets return to (Is. 1:9-10, 3:9, Jer. 23:14, Ez. 16:46-56, Rev. 11:8). In Ezekiel, the condemnation against God’s people is likened to Sodom whose sin is described as arrogant greed and refusal to help the poor and the needy (Ez. 16:46-56). This is sometimes used to soften their sexual violence, but that was clearly part of their lack of hospitality (Jude 7). 

A central element of this story is the theme of hospitality. As in Genesis, you have the hospitality of Abraham (Gen. 18) contrasted with the animalistic hostility of the men of Sodom (Gen. 19). Here, you have the hospitality of the concubine’s father (Judges 19:3-9) and the man of Ephraim (Judges 19:16-21) contrasted with the animalistic hostility of the men of Benjamin in Gibeah (Judges 19:22-25). 

In the ancient world, the treatment of strangers was often a test of basic human piety. Even in the pagan world, the mistreatment of guests (or hosts) was considered a grave evil. In Ovid, Jupiter and Mercury come down as strangers in disguise and those who welcomed them were spared a great flood. The Cyclops in the Odyssey is a prime example of the perversion of hospitality, where the host plans to feed upon his guests (e.g. the men of Benjamin). Some of this ancient code is echoed in Hebrews: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).  

Applications
Hospitality & God’s Law: While the men of Gibeah clearly have the greatest sin, the Levite and the man of Ephraim reveal certain pagan habits of thought (also Lot in Sodom) – the idea that handing over a wife or daughter was a lesser evil than being sodomized or murdered. In the ancient world, and in some honor cultures to this day, allowing a woman to take the hit was considered more honorable – perhaps in this case especially because the concubine had been unfaithful. But God’s law protects the lives and honor of women just as much as men, thereby teaching a very different honor code.    

While we do not face that exact kind of pressure at the moment, there are temptations to sacrifice your family for hospitality. Of course, Christians are to be given to hospitality, but your first duty is to your family (1 Tim. 5:3-8). True religion is care for orphans and widows, but the first rule is to not create any new ones. Hospitality is to be an overflow, not stealing from your family.

Hospitality and Immigration: We might be tempted to think that this kind of barbarity only existed in ancient times, but we have recently been treated to the disclosure of gang rape of Israeli women during the October 7, 2023 Palestinian attacks as well as rape gangs in the United Kingdom. Part of the scandal in the UK was the fact that it was covered up by law enforcement for fear of being accused of racism or religious bigotry, since most of the perpetrators were Pakistani and Muslim. 

But cultures that celebrate polygamy, child-brides, and the second-class legal standing of women and non-Muslims will feed the baser instincts of men. And just to be clear: part of the point of this story is the fact that no race or religion is exempt from this threat. But if you’ve adopted two kids from another country, it is not racist or bigoted to call a moratorium on adopting more kids – especially if you have good reason to believe they are troubled and you already have your hands full. And the same thing is true of immigration. 

Our Vile Affections: Part of the reason we need a moratorium on immigration is because we have our own in-house violent sexual predators in the form of the LGBT movement. Scripture presents sodomy and homosexual sin as not merely unnatural and vile, but these sins are inherently violent – they are sadistic and masochistic – delighting in harm and self-harm, as illustrated by Genesis 19, Judges 19, Ezekiel 16. As Jesus said of Jerusalem, “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement, than for thee” (Mt. 11:24). The blood of millions of unborn babies cries out alongside the destroyed lives of millions of more children lied to, abused, and chemically and physically maimed. We may not have Pakistani groomers, but we have drag queens grooming children in public libraries.

Our Plague: There is something like the story that Nathan tells David in this story for us – the twelve pieces of the woman are put on display to shock and awaken. There ought to be a kind of rising rage about the men in this story. And there is a plain sense in which a minister of the gospel is authorized to point and say, “you are the man.” The amount of sexual debauchery and filth that fills the screens of professing Christian men puts us right up there spiritually and morally with the Levite and the men of Gibeah. Christ teaches that holy men need a kind of holy rage to deal with this sin – plucking out eyes and cutting off hands – that means doing extreme things – getting rid of phones, quitting jobs, doing whatever it takes – confessing and repenting. We need generations of men who will say with Job, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a maiden?” (Job 31:1).

Conclusion
What is remarkable is how the Gospel takes so much of this story and gloriously inverts it. We are the unfaithful wife – playing the whore with all our sins, and God came for us: God came for His own, but His own did not receive Him.  

But instead of turning us over to the death and Hell our sins deserve, God offered His only Son in our place. 

We rightly flinch at the thought of a brutally raped woman cut into twelve pieces, but the Cross is an even greater atrocity. We killed our Maker. We crucified our King. And all of our unfaithfulness was laid upon Him. For He made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

A different code of honor indeed. 

Prayer: Father, make us generations of men and women who are faithful to You and to our marriage vows. Grant us a joy and hospitality in our families so that we have joy and hospitality to share with those around us. Have mercy on our nation, so that we might not be overrun by those who hate You. Turn us back to You, for the honor and glory of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray…