What is the meaning behind Judges chapter 19?

The Bible, the good, bad, and the ugly. This scripture is totally haunting and makes no sense to me. Since it’s Old Testament, maybe it’s not supposed to make sense? What do you think?

I blogged about Lot years ago. This scripture reminds you of Lot, only worse.

I don’t recall hearing a pastor mention this scripture, ever. Have you?

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Judges Chapter 19

A Levite and His Concubine In those days Israel had no king.

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.

5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.” 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.

9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.

11 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.”

12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.

16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”

18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.[a] No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”

20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

22 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.”

23 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 outrageous thing. 24 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 as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”

25 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. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

27 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. 28 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.

29 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. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”

Have you ever heard a pastor, or speaker, talk about this scripture?

Genesis 2: 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Adam’s choice – do you have any thoughts or insight about this?

Adam had a choice and he blew it. He was told not to eat from the tree of knowledge.

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

So Adam and Eve ate from the tree, drawn into temptation by the serpent. I’ve often wondered, what would have happened if they’d NOT eaten from the tree of knowledge? Would all of us be in paradise right now, eating as much fruit and veggies that we wanted, not having to toil in the soil? Would we be happy, carefree, birthing children with no pain?

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Or would someone, one of Adam’s and Eve’s offspring, mess everything up by eating from the tree of knowledge? I think about Cain murdering his brother Abel. If Adam and Eve had obeyed God, later, would Cain have eaten from the tree?

I also wonder about Adam’s and Eve’s salvation? Their disobeying God was blatantly wrong. In the Old Testament, people must abide by strict rules. If those rules are broken, they could die, with no hope of salvation? Christ’s coming is foretold in the Old Testament. Yet, I’m unaware as to if Adam and Eve can be saved since they were perfect?

All of us are sinners and we have the hope of salvation through our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we were perfect, in the Garden of Eden, would we have been tempted, and made the wrong choice, like Adam and Eve?

What would it be like to wrestle with God, face to face?

Genesis 32: 22-31

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

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My goodness, when I think about Jacob, wrestling with God…makes me stop and wonder….

Wrestling is a sport that takes a lot of strength and endurance. I remember watching wrestling matches back in high school. The cheerleaders would do their cheers sitting on the floor. I suppose that made things more authentic since the wrestlers were struggling on the floor.

I just can’t imagine wrestling with…God…all night. I think Jacob was stronger then men nowadays. Also I don’t think Jacob really knew with whom he was wrestling, or why?

God reveals himself, letting Jacob know that he has been blessed. I’m not sure why God asked Jacob his name? I guess He just wanted to hear Jacob speak his name.

I wonder what God looked like while wrestling with Jacob? I believe he physically resembled Jesus in the New Testament.

Another thing that was weird, Jacob was able to overcome God, until God damaged his tendon. Why did he damage his tendon?

So, read the scripture below and let me know if you have any thoughts about it.

What do you think it would be like to wrestle with God all night?

Have you ever read a scripture that made you angry?

Well, reading the Old Testament makes me angry – sometimes. It’s so difficult, trying to make sense of scriptures, well….that make no sense! Read Judges 11:29-38:

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah was obviously not very smart. He asked the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

But making a deal with the Lord, such as this, he must have known that SOMEONE would be coming out to greet him when he returned home. Can you imagine, making such an offer to God? Could he not have offered to slaughter his entire herd of sheep or goats….something or someone other than a human being who would come out to greet him?

It’s not as if a chicken or a cow was going to come out of the house to greet him, right? Did Jephthah think that the Lord would not accept an alternate sacrifice?

Jephthah’s daughter…she stated: 36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

She wants to weep because she will never marry??

I’d be weeping because I don’t want to be dead! Imagine if someone was going to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger…as a sacrifice to God. Yeah, I realize guns did not exist back then, but, I’m just using this as an example – so that we can try to relate to the situation.

If you knew you were going to die….I’d be weeping because my life would be cut short. I don’t want to be dead! I’d be mourning the loss of my own life, mourning all that I’d be leaving behind.

After two months… 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

So, he killed his daughter? Sacrificed his only child? Is Jephthah’s daughter in Heaven with Jesus? After all, she told her father to obey the Lord: 36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.

Jesus had not yet come to earth, but, his coming was foretold in the Old Testament. Since He’d not yet come, do those, such as Jephthah’s daughter, have the gift of eternal life in Heaven with our Creator?

I also thought about Abraham and Isaac. Why did God stop Abraham from sacrificing his son, but, he did not grant the same to Jephthah?

So, do you have any scriptures that make you angry, sad, or just make you wonder? Maybe wonder that some questions won’t be answered until we get to heaven?