With these chapters, we reach a climax of wretchedness! This sickeningly sinful stretch begins and ends with the words: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6; 21:25). And the main character of each account is from the tribe of Levi; they were commissioned to preserve the law of God.
The Levite Who Launched Mass Idolatry (Judges 17-18)
Micah, an Ephraimite, sets up his own private worship center, counter to the commands of God. When a young Levite from Bethlehem comes by, Micah offers him “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”* to be his personal priest. The Levite jumps at the chance to be a priest for hire.
But sometime later, people from the tribe of Dan pass through looking for a place to settle (They had been unable to conquer the lands allotted to them). They meet Micah and talk with his Levite “priest.” Later, they return with an army, steal his make-shift temple, and make this pitch to the Levite: Come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel? The Levite jumps at the chance! He is moving on up!
In the end, the Levite presides over the most massive and idolatrous worship center in Northern Israel.
The Levite Who Started a Civil War (Judges 19-21)
A Levite follows his unfaithful concubine to coax her home, but he seems far more interested in “letting his heart be merry,” than in her (19:6). On their way, they are given lodging in Gibeah. But, like the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, the men of Gibeah look to “abuse” the visitors. The Levite forces his concubine out the door, and she is “abused” to death all night.
The Levite Who Started a Civil War (Judges 19-21)
A Levite follows his unfaithful concubine to coax her home, but he seems far more interested in “letting his heart be merry,” than in her (19:6). On their way, they are given lodging in Gibeah. But, like the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, the men of Gibeah look to “abuse” the visitors. The Levite forces his concubine out the door, and she is “abused” to death all night.
Incensed, he cuts up her poor dead body and sends pieces to the other tribes in Israel as a way to incite them to battle. What follows is an intense and destructive civil war that nearly exterminates the tribe of Benjamin.
Who’s at fault in all this? Just about everyone; they’re just doing what seemed right in their eyes.
Did anything wholesome and good happen during the time of the Judges? Yes!
Until tomorrow, when we read the book of Ruth!
Pastor Gary
*Ten Shekels and a Shirt is the name of a famous sermon on the dangers of ministering for money and fame.
Did anything wholesome and good happen during the time of the Judges? Yes!
Until tomorrow, when we read the book of Ruth!
Pastor Gary
*Ten Shekels and a Shirt is the name of a famous sermon on the dangers of ministering for money and fame.
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