Judges 19-Ruth 1
Perverse Things in the Name of Religion

Chapters 19-21 of the book of Judges are some of the most disturbing passages in all scripture. It begins with the story of an unnamed Levite who is seeking to restore his relationship with his estranged concubine. So far, so good. After he does so, he, his wife and servant travel off and eventually search for a place to stay the night. Determined they would not stay the night in a city of gentiles, they travel to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. There, they meet a kind man who offers to take them in for the night. Again, so far, so good.

In the evening, though, much like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, "men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, 'Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him,'" (Judges 19:22). The man of the house instead offered his daughter and the Levite's concubine. Verse 25 tells us that these men of the city abused the concubine.

All of this is disturbing enough, but what takes place next is even more startling. The Levite, seeing this abused wife he chased after at the door the next morning, said, "Get up, let us be going." Discovering her to be dead, he cuts her body into 12 pieces and sent them across the land to rally the nation's anger! War ensues, and the tribe of Benjamin is almost wiped out. The story comes to a sad and worrying conclusion when the other tribes realize one of their own would soon be extinct. They agreed to kill their brethren from Jabesh Gilead and take their wives and daughters to give to the Benjaminites; still, some Benjaminite men had no wives, and they were then allowed to kidnap the daughters of Shiloh.

It must be understood in this whole sordid too place without the approval of God-in fact, it took place with God's certain displeasure. Here we find people who seem to be so concerned about God, but who in turn do the most ungodly of things.

The great lesson here is just how far people can fall from God when they follow their own will; yet still think they are acting in accordance with the will of God. It is easy to think of extremes that exemplify this: people who kill in the name of God, who seek to spread their religion with the sword, rather than with the word. But, it is far more uncomfortable, but necessary, for us to bring such application closer to home. How different are we when we turn to perverted lust without hesitation, yet bow our heads among the saints as if we have done nothing wrong? When we turn to alcohol or drugs, but still profess the name of Christ? When we talk to others about how much we love God, but turn our eyes from those in need?

The life of the Christian must be a life that is genuine, and genuinely guided by God all the time. It is not a life of perfection-far from that. What saves us from coming to the point of the Levite and Israel is a deep love first for God's word and an examination of ourselves by it. Only then will we be able to painfully see troubling behavior in ourselves, and only then will we know what to do about it.