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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Judg. 19
I mentioned irony in the Bible in yesterday’s reading. Well, here it is again. The Levite, on heading home with his concubine, refused to stay the night at the Jebusite city of Jebus. He mistakenly thought he would be better off staying with his Israelite brothers than with those foreigners. What I find ironic is that Jebus is the city that later became Jerusalem. Which to me makes this story something of a parable, if you will, of how many fail to recognize and take refuge in God because they think they already have Him or because He isn’t what they expect Him to be. Do you see the irony? That is exactly what happened in Jerusalem many years later when Jesus arrived on the scene.
Judg. 20-21
What happened in chapter 20 seems to be one of the few things the Israelites did right in the book of Judges. I say this because the rest of Israel unified against the wickedness of Benjamin. Then they inquired of God before taking action and obeyed what He said. Further, they did not lose heart or conviction in their effort. Even after two straight days of heavy losses, they continued to inquire of God and fight in obedience to Him. Unity, seeking God, and persistence – that sounds like Godly living to me!
I noticed one other thing in chapter 21. The people didn’t take their actions against Benjamin lightly. Instead, they had compassion for their brothers, though the Benjaminites had not done likewise for their brother. That also sounds like a Godly attitude, as God had compassion on humanity, though we disregarded Him. Of course, I’m not so sure about how they handled their compassion for the Benjaminites. I don’t see where they sought God for that solution. I guess the one thing I can say for their plan is that they managed to find Israelite wives for their Benjaminite brothers without breaking their vow.