Day 096- The Bible Recap

When reading through chapter 19 I felt like the wickedness had become so great in the land that the inhabitants had grown numb to it. A Levite, who should honoring the LORD, instead took on a concubine. He eventually gave that concubine up to be beaten and raped to save himself. Even the way he spoke to her not knowing she had already passed away showed zero compassion. And in the end he chopped her up in pieces without a second thought. Truly evil and heartbreaking!

A civil war broke out between Israel and the tribe of Benjamin over the rape and murder of the Levite's concubine. They called for the men of Gibeah to be brought to justice but the Benjamites refused to give them up. A back and forth war ensued...the Israelites lost men but eventually the tribe of Benjamin was defeated. At one point in time all these tribes were travelling together under the guidance of the LORD...and now they were making decisions based on their own feelings and what was right in their own eyes.

And in the end, this civil war just ended up creating yet another dilemma. Almost the entire tribe of Benjamin was destroyed and the other tribes would not let their daughters marry them. The fear or virtually going extinct led them to kill even more men and kidnap young women.

Verse 25 summed up Judges..."In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." And there was certainly no presence of King Jesus among them!