Judges Chapter 19

Judges chapter 19 describes a traveler who is staying overnight in a stranger's home. Wicked men of the town pound on the door and demand they be given the visiting man so they can have sex with him. Eventually they send out the visitor's concubine who is raped and killed.

What kind of story is this to have in the Bible?

First we need to get a broad overview of this book. The first two chapters of the Book of Judges are introductory. Starting in chapter three we see a pattern that is repeated throughout the book. The Israelites turn from God and start "doing what was right in their own eyes". Things get bad. The Israelites finally turn back to God and plead for Him to save them. God then raises up a righteous judge (a "judge" was a ruler) who leads Israel back to righteousness again.

This pattern is repeated a number of times, continuing through chapter 16. Each time Israel turns away from God they sink deeper into sin and evil.

Starting in chapter 17 the book of Judges stops the chronological telling of the history of Israel and presents two stories that illustrate how far Israel has fallen.

The first shows how deep Israel has gone into idolatry, when a Levi, who is only supposed to serve in the Temple, becomes the personal priest for a man who is worshiping idols. Although in our culture today we can not feel the shock of this, chapters 17 and 18 present the story of a tremendous spiritual evil.

Starting in chapter 19 we read about an unbelievable moral evil. This story is included as an illustration of how far Israel has fallen.

Why does the man send out the concubine? Because in the culture of the people surrounding Israel, a culture Israel had adopted, women essentially had no value. Women existed simply to serve men, and be used and abused as men saw fit. Please note, THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL. This is the way pagans live, and it is typical of pagan cultures around the world. The reason why this particular story is included in the Bible is because it illustrates how the man, on the surface is appearing very Godly--for example he won't stay overnight in a non-Israelite city. Yet, at heart is he has completely accepted and is participating in the pagan culture, even to the point of the death of someone who is made in the image of God, and who thus is precious and loved by God.

Notice the last line of the book of Judges: "In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit."