Moral Chaos

Intro - PG-13 Warning

Today’s sermon is a tough one. It is a dark and disturbing story. And, quite seriously, this one comes with at least a PG-13 rating for violent and sexual content. Maybe R rated. These are the very last sequence of events in Judges. The come at the end, not necessarily because it is the last thing to happen in time, but because this event in particular echoes down in Israel as one of the darkest and most sinful moments in their history.

Moral Chaos - Judges 19

Judges 19:1–2 ESV

In 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. 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.

Not his wife… his concubine. And she was unfaithful to him. Right away, we have sin and sin, though it is possible her “unfaithfulness” was not sexual unfaithfulness but the act of going back to her father’s house itself. A time of separation, setting the stage for reunion.

Judges 19:3 ESV

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.

Joyous reunion.

Judges 19:4 ESV

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.

And dad keeps son-in-law around. Every day trying to leave and every day Dad throws a feast until it’s too late to leave. This place into the story because finally, on the fifth day, even though it is late in the day, they decide to leave.

Judges 19:10–12 ESV

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. 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.” 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.”

Judges 19:13–15 ESV

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.” So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 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.

This right there is an embarrassment of hospitality. They didn’t have motels, guests or sojourners would wait in the square of these small towns and someone would (should) offer to house them. To someone in the Ancient Near East, the scandal has already begun with these words. Finally someone, a sojourner himself, offers to give him a place to sleep.

Judges 19:16–21 ESV

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. 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?” 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. 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.” 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.” So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

So the men of Gibeah look bad already in the way that they are treating this Levite, and are shown up in hospitality by this Ephraimite.

And then… things get really dark.

Judges 19:22 ESV

As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the 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.”

we may “know him” is a Biblical idiom for “we want to have sex with him.” This is rape. Reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah… but this time it is the people of Israel who are attempting to assault this man and no angels arrive on the scene to save them. These are “worthless fellows” but given their boldness and, later, how they are defended by city and tribe, they appear as representatives of the city. They have no fear of reprisal, they have the power of the mob, and they demand the guest be surrendered to them.

The old man refuses, a man of courage, but a man of twisted morality. He makes a horrible counter proposal:

Judges 19:23–24 ESV

And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”

That’s… not better. In defending his guest, he would sacrifice his daughter and his guest’s concubine. Sick and twisted… and the fact that he specifies his daughter’s virginity is… this is dark, sick and twisted. This is evil.

But the men don’t listen, they continue to want to rape the man, so he acts in his own defense.

Judges 19:25 ESV

But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

Judges 19:26 ESV

And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

Judges 19:27 ESV

And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

He was sleeping? All night… while she...

Judges 19:28 ESV

He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.

The coldness of this guy.

Judges 19:29 ESV

And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

It doesn’t say when or how the concubine died. For all we know, this is the moment of her death. But the man turns her body into a flag of outrage, sending pieces of her to every tribe of Israel, presumably with a messenger to tell the story.

And it has the effect he is looking for.

Judges 19:30 ESV

And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Total Depravity and Moral Chaos (Relativism)

Everyone in this story is sinful:

The concubine is the most innocent, sinful perhaps in her “unfaithfulness” depending on what that means.

The old man has his own brand of morality, but it is sick and twisted, that he would offer his own daughter and an innocent women up to the mob.

The men of Gibeah. What has to go wrong within a man, within a town, within a society to drive them to this? And yet… this isn’t alien to our world, is it? Rape and abuse, men and women victims of the worst within humanity. Absolute tragedy.

Finally, the Levite man. He is no paragon of virtue. He sins in “taking” a concubine. He pushes his own concubine out the door to be raped and abused all night… sleeps, and tosses her on donkey in the morning. He is nothing like a hero, nothing like an innocent. He is at least as guilty as the rest, steeped in sin and darkness.

These are the times he lives in. These final chapters are bringing home what has been a rising theme in the Judges period.

Judges 17:6 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Moral chaos. Moral relativism. And because everyone was “doing what was right in their own eyes”… there was nothing and no one to truly appeal to to say what the men of Gibeah did was wrong. So what does the man do?

Something gruesome. Something dramatic. It is the theater of moral outrage. In the moral chaos of Israel the Levite man resorts to gruesome theatrics in order to generate enough moral outrage to obtain justice. In the moral chaos of Israel the Levite man resorts to gruesome theatrics in order to generate enough moral outrage to obtain justice.

This is what happens when everyone does what they want, with no moral compass or "true north" Anarchy. A competition in outrage theater. This was Israel at the end of the period of Judges. This is our current society. 

We live in a “post-Christian” society (if it was ever Christian in any true sense). There is no moral authority to appeal to. There is legal authority, but legality is not morality. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes. That describes our world.

And without a moral compass, we know where that leads. It leads to darkness. That road doesn’t lead to “freedom for everyone”…

Everyone in this story doing what they want to the extent they have the power to control… and the weaker or more vulnerable they are the worse their lot is.

We should not be surprised when sinners are sinners… And the worst part… the tragic heart-breaking part… these aren’t the heathens. The them. These are the so-called people of God.

The Kingdom of God

There is some light in Judges, some heros, lights in the darkness, moments of restored hope. The book of Ruth takes place during this period, a beautiful story of hope and faithfulness, of adoption into the Kingdom and Family of God. It is the line of the Messiah threaded through the darkness of the Judges period.

The solution to the moral chaos and spiritual darkness of this period isn’t found in human kings. That begins in hope but also devolves into idolatry and darkness.

The solution comes when there is finally a true King in Israel.

Jesus comes announcing the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) is here! What is the Kingdom of God?

Kingdom of God - King’s Dominion - The place where the King’s will is done (dominion). Where what God wants done is done.

Instead of “there is no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” There is a king in Israel, and everyone serves him.

Jesus gives a powerful sermon, announcing the radical availability of the Kingdom of God, and then, bit by bit, he builds a picture of what that Kingdom looks like as it takes root within a person, within a people, within society. How it transforms daily action and everyday attitudes. People of the Kingdom begin to look different, sound different, love differently.

And it radically changes the atmosphere.

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Change the Atmosphere

At dinner several weeks ago, the evening was looking grim. We were out with friends, kids were falling apart, starving and tired and bored. That was wearing on all us adults and we were getting cranky. Food was taking forever… Then it came. And several of the kids tried their food… and it was disgusting. Mac and Cheese… but weird and gross. A night on the edge of disaster.

Enter two heroes. Arabelle got buttered noodles. And without prompting or anything she offers her buttered noodles to her friend on her right, half her food, and he starts to perk up. The friend on her left wants some too, so she dumps the rest off to her and just looks at me, trusting that I will make sure she gets food even if she has sacrificed all of her hers. Logan got crazy colorful drinks and the kids were jealous, so he starts pouring out lemonade, mixing colors, taking orders from all the younger kids.

And the whole atmosphere shifts. As kids are getting food and getting fed, sharing back and forth, and their laughter infects the adults, and it turned chaos into a lovely evening. Their willingness to sacrifice for the sake of love.

That was a little salt and light, a little Kingdom of God in the moment.

Everyone in that story was sinful, but can you imagine someone (anyone) stepping into the story as an island of God’s Kingdom. Someone standing up for God’s Word, God’s Law, someone standing up for love. Even someone willing to fight for what’s right. How could God have transformed the story, transformed the atmosphere through them?

You are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world… and you are in a place of spiritual darkness. Behind a veneer of civility and middle-class luxury there is moral chaos and tragedy happening every day. But Jesus has given you this command and this power:

Be the Kingdom of God, be salt and light, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.