Social Disintegration – Part 1

Judges 19:1–21

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ² And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. ⁴ And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. ⁵ And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶ So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. ⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl’s father said, “Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.” ¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.” ¹³ And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night. ¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes and 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?” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of the Lord, but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

We have 3 remaining chapters in Judges and I just want to warn you – it’s not pretty and most assuredly not uplifting. This story is one of degradation, civil war, and avoidance of God. It will be my goal to journey through this portion of Scripture rather quickly over the next few days. Verse one of this chapter tells us that Israel had no king, either human or divine. They were on their own morally and spiritually. In these opening verses, we are introduced to a Levite and his concubine (wife). They become the spark which will lead to terrible violence and bloodshed internally for Israel.

We meet another Levite whose residence is not one of the 48 cities appointed by the Lord as “parsonages” for his public ministers. The man took a woman of Bethlehem as a concubine. This was a valid marriage, but the woman did not share an equal status with the Levite. Why, we don’t know. Perhaps the Levite had another wife. Or perhaps the woman had been forced to sell herself to pay a debt. Whatever the situation, the marriage had problems. We find the concubine separated from her husband for four months, having left him to go back to her parental home in Bethlehem. The Hebrew text suggests sexual unfaithfulness on her part. If this were true, a Levite was required to put away his wife. Yet we find the Levite traveling to Bethlehem to effect a reconciliation. The Hebrew says he returned “to speak to her heart.”

Lawrenz, J. C. (1997). Judges, Ruth (p. 190). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

We find a few things going on here culturally. The people had most certainly learned how to play fast and loose with the way that God had intended marriage to take place and to be lived out. That this woman would feel free to return to her father’s home and yet still be marriage seems odd to us. But that was not uncommon. Remember that Samson’s first wife from Timnah did the same thing and was even subsequently given to another man! But this Levite goes to retrieve his concubine and on their travels home, they will run into deadly danger which we will examine tomorrow. For now, we meet a Levite who seems to be a kindly albeit foolish man. He chooses to head out on the journey home late in the day. This will lead to terrible events for him and his concubine.

I would love to be able to say some wonderful and encouraging things about the love of Jesus and the power of God at this point. But there is nothing like that to say here. When a people have decided to abandon God, those words don’t come into play. Instead we must let this story marinate and that is just what we will do. If you are wondering what happens next, read ahead.