The last story was bad, but this one does get worse, unfortunately! This next account primarily involves a Levite and his concubine, and when we continue tomorrow we will also find the tribe of Benjamin in the story. Please read Judges 19-21 to get all the details.

The Levite’s exact relationship to the woman is a little fuzzy – the text refers to her both as his concubine, and also as his wife. Anyway, she has left him for some reason, and after a while he follows her and stays with her and her father; after a few days, he decides it’s time to leave her father’s house and get on their way.

When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”

His master replied, “No. We won’t go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.
(19:11-12)

Implication? He wants to stay among Israelites, presumably to be safer. They arrive in Gibeah, and no one will take them in. During these times, strangers to a town would wait in the city square for someone to offer hospitality and let them stay for the night. Finally, an old man comes in from the fields and invites them into his home for shelter. The next events are so appalling I will just quote the text.

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”

The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this disgraceful thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.”

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. Everyone who saw it said, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!”
(Judges 19:22-30)

What does this awful story remind you of? Hopefully, it’s ringing a bell – it’s written very much in parallel with Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. And in both cases, the men who should have been the leaders and protectors in the situation offer the women of the house in exchange for themselves!

It’s also disturbing to note that the Levite apparently slept all night, or at least stayed in bed, until getting up to continue on his journey. You see absolutely no concern for the welfare of this woman. After unspeakable evil committed against her, she apparently drags herself back to the house and dies with her hands on the threshold. He must have stepped over her to get out of the door and then just says, “Get up. Let’s go.”

I hate to leave our look at this horrifying account at this point, but we will finish our discussion tomorrow to keep this from being too long.  In the meantime, consider this – when we wander from God’s Truth, when we lose sight of His standards, when we do only what is right in our own eyes… the consequences are hard to fully understand.

Our society is on the same track.

*Picture from http://www.travelmania.com