Judges 19-21

1. A Levite and His Concubine
In this passage, a Levite from the hill country of Ephraim takes a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.  The concubine is unfaithful to him, though, and she returns to her father's home in Bethlehem.  The Levite goes to Bethlehem and is able to persuade her to return to his home, despite the best efforts of her father.  The Levite, his concubine and his servant spend the night with an old man in Gibeah in Benjamin on their way to Ephraim.  Later, some wicked men in Gibeah surround the old man's house and demand to sleep with the Levite.  After much haggling on the part of the old man, the wicked men of Gibeah consent to being allowed to rape and abuse the Levite's concubine.  She dies as a result of her injuries; the Levite dismembers her and sends her body parts throughout Israel, inciting widespread anger.

I was reminded of the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, as homosexuals play a prominent role in both accounts.  Also, I get the sense that God did not approve of the Levite taking a concubine, as that action does not square with his tribe's special relationship with God.  In addition, we see that the old man in Gibeah has a twisted moral compass; allowing the wicked men of his city to rape and abuse the Levite's concubine implies that he lacked a clear conscience.

2. Israelites Fight the Benjamites
In this passage, the Israelites respond to the Levite's grisly deliveries by gathering at Mizpah.  The Levite tells them of the demise of his concubine; they then demand that the Benjamites allow the men of Gibeah to be punished for their actions.  Yet the Benjamites refuse to hand over the men of Gibeah, and they mobilize against the rest of Israel.  The Israelites then go to Bethel and inquire of the Lord on two occasions as to whether they should attack the Benjamites.  In both instances the Lord seemingly allows Israel to attack their brethren, yet they are soundly defeated.  The Israelites then earnestly inquire of the Lord for a third time by weeping, fasting and offering sacrifices; He promises them that the Benjamites will be defeated, and they rout the Benjamites after setting an ambush for them near Gibeah.

Clearly the Israelites were spiritually distant from God at this time, as their desire to punish the men of Gibeah mushroomed into a desire to decimate the Benjamites.  The Benjamites were also spiritually distant from God at this time, as they would not hand over the men of Gibeah to be punished for their evil deeds.  On a side note, the Benjamites, though vastly outnumbered by the Israelites, fought valiantly by defeating them in two battles; yet that was small solace for the survivors after their tribe was crushed in a third engagement.

3. Wives for the Benjamites
In this passage, the Israelites realize that they have committed a grievous error in nearly decimating the Benjamites.  This stems from their taking an oath before the Lord at Mizpah that they would not give any of their daughters in marriage to the Benjamites.  The Benjamites are now on the verge of extinction, so the Israelites initially assist them by finding wives for the survivors among the virgins of Jabesh Gilead (the men of Jabesh Gilead did not join the Israelites in their battles with the Benjamites, so the Israelites sack their city while sparing all virgins).  Yet some of the Benjamites still lack wives, so the Israelites instruct them to go to Shiloh and seize wives for themselves among the girls who will dance in their annual festival of the Lord.

This passage concludes the rather unpleasant book of Judges.  Here, we are reminded of the spiritual poverty that characterized Israel at that time.  The Israelites took rash oaths, sacked one of their own cities (Jabesh Gilead), and sanctioned the kidnapping of innocent girls from Shiloh.  Perhaps the last verse of this passage sums up the book of Judges, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."  Hopefully the book of Ruth will provide some better examples of personal devotion to God...

Judges 16-18

1. Samson and Delilah
In this passage, Samson escapes from a trap that the people of Gaza have laid for him.  Later he falls in love with Delilah, who lives in the Valley of Sorek.  The Philistine leaders bribe Delilah quite handsomely so that she would convince Samson to reveal the secret of his superhuman strength.  Samson initially deceives her by pretending that he can lose his strength by:

• being tied with fresh thongs
• being tied with new ropes
• having his hair weaved into a loom.

Delilah is frustrated by these deceptions, and so she nags Samson until he reveals that he is a Nazirite.  Delilah seizes her opportunity and has Samson's head shaved. The Philistines then capture Samson and lead him to Gaza after gouging out his eyes.

Clearly Samson esteemed the pleasures that he enjoyed with Delilah more than his calling as a Nazirite.  If he had held to his calling as a Nazirite, he would have abandoned Delilah - especially in light of her persistent nagging.  Now I wonder if Samson discovered the Philistines who were hidden in his room after his initial deceptions of Delilah.  If so, did he dispose of them in short order, or did he spare them?

2. The Death of Samson
In this passage, the Philistines have a great celebration at the temple of their god, Dagon, after their capture of Samson; they offer sacrifices to Dagon and praise him. Samson is forced to entertain them at the celebration.  Samson then has a servant place his hands on both of the central pillars that support the temple.  After praying to God for the restoration of his superhuman strength, he shoves the pillars, causing the roof of the temple to collapse - killing himself along with a large number of Philistines.  In fact, it is noted that he killed more Philistines at that time than in all of his other engagements combined.  His family then retrieves his body and buries him in the tomb of his father, Manoah; it is noted that he judged Israel for 20 years.

Most likely the Philistines, including the servant who attended Samson, did not suspect that he could exploit the flaw in the design of their temple.  Now his actions in this case were rather horrifying, as it appears that there were no survivors; how many Philistines died at that time?  Perhaps the Philistines were sufficiently decimated so that Samson's family could come to Gaza and retrieve his body without encountering any resistance.  In any event, God clearly worked through this situation to show His supremacy over Dagon, a false god; the Philistines were engaging in idolatry, and so God worked through Samson to bring the full measure of His wrath on them.

3. Micah's Idols
In this passage, a man named Micah, who lives in the hill country of Ephraim, informs his mother that he took about 28 pounds of silver from her.  She had been concerned about the missing silver, and so she is so relieved that she consecrates her "silver to the Lord for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol."  The image and the idol are placed in Micah's house; he then makes an ephod along with some other idols, and he installs one of his sons as his priest.  Later a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah comes by Micah's house, and Micah convinces him to replace his son as his priest.  Micah remarks that the Lord will now bless him, since he has a Levite priest.

This is a rather bizarre story (on many levels) and it illustrates the utter spiritual poverty that characterized Israel at that time.  Here we have a woman in Ephraim who actually sets aside some of her silver to God so that they can be used to make a carved image and a cast idol.  She clearly lacked a proper understanding of 1) the concept of idolatry and 2) God's wrath toward idolaters, as exemplified by Samson's final act in Gaza.  We also have a man in Ephraim who has a personal shrine and a priest; moreover, he is so spiritually blind that he believes that God will bless him since a Levite is his priest.

4. Danites Settle in Laish
In this passage, the tribe of Dan sends spies into the hill country of Ephraim, since they have not claimed their inheritance in the Promised Land.  Their spies come by Micah's house, and his Levite priest states that God is blessing their journey.  The spies end up in Laish, and they discover that its residents are rather peaceful and unsuspecting.  After they make a report to the rest of their tribe, 600 warriors are sent to capture Laish.  Along the way they stop by Micah's house and convince his Levite priest to become the priest of their tribe.  Micah then rounds up some men to try to stop the Danites, but they are too strong for his small band.  The Danites attack and capture Laish; later, they engage in idolatry using Micah's idols.

This is also a rather bizarre story (on many levels).  Now we first read the story of Dan's capture of Laish in Joshua 19; thus, this passage reminds us of this tribe's failure to honor the Lord and accept his allocation for them in the Promised Land. Thus, the Levite priest displays his spiritual blindness in this case; he should have stated that the Lord was not blessing the Danites' military excursion since they were disobeying him.  In addition, Micah is still spiritually blind as he is determined to stop the Danites from seizing his idols and his priest.  He should have realized that he had been engaging in idolatry; thus, the loss of his idols and his priest was a blessing from God.