In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. [Judges 21.25]
The story that precedes Judges 21.25 (all of today's One Year Chronological Bible reading) is absolutely horrible. It is unthinkable that the Levite would push his concubine out to an enraged group of homosexuals to be literally raped to death.
It must be understood that the setting in which all these events were taking place was Israel's occupation of the Promised Land without having annihilated its idolatrous inhabitants. God was very clear in His warning that doing so would open the door for gross idolatry among His people and consequently every shameful ungodly thing that accompanies it.
“So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. Rather, cling tightly to the LORD your God as you have done until now. [Joshua 23.6-8]
But, without a king, there was simply no designated leadership to abide by everything Moses wrote. The leadership of a king was defined earlier in Israel's history:
“When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the LORD his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. [Deuteronomy 17.18-19]
A king would serve as a focal point for God's laws to be honored among all the people - as long as that king was true to God's laws himself. But, that's another story that will be seen soon enough as Israel's history progresses beyond Judges...
Sufficient for this article today is that Israel had disregarded God's warning against intermingling with the idolatrous occupants of Canaan and today's appalling story is just one more example of how that intermingling played out.
Homosexuality is at the heart of the story of the Levite and his concubine in today's reading. The very fact that it is politically incorrect to make such a distinction in American society today is proof positive that the USA (and every other country that embraces homosexuality) is just as guilty of idolatrous intermingling as was Israel.
Are we beyond the point that God's Word can change our hearts and minds about idolatry? Will God's people stubbornly insist that the plethora of idols today (easily identifiable by their offerings to do for God's people what God jealously said He would do for us Himself) is just the way it is? Will no one associate the overwhelming powerlessness of the Church today (compared to Jesus - not each other) with the stubborn rebellion of idolatry repeated over and again in the Bible (refusing to trust God alone)?
Jesus left no room for anyone to reason (through education, common sense, emotion, or otherwise) what is, or what is not an idol in his or her own life. Jesus simply said:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
In just today's One Year Chronolectal Bible reading alone, more than 65,000 people died. How can we read this and fail to see the gravity of the situation described? Idolatry leads to death! And, it was not only from the offenders that death occurred (from the tribe of Benjamin), but also from the entire nation (Israel) of which those offenders were citizens!
Homosexuality is only one symptom of idolatry. Paul provided to Timothy a general list of other symptoms:
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! [2 Timothy 3.1-5]
Before the list to Timothy above, Paul was a bit more descriptive in his letter to the Romans:
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. [Romans 1.18-32]
Look closely at the sentence above: "And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles." Before defending ourselves as "idol-free,' should it not concern us how the (made) industries of debt, insurance, medicine and technology utilize images to identify themselves? They use people in most all their advertisements, while some use birds (emus?) and animals, and others use reptiles (snake on a stick, and lizards). But far more damning than their symbols is that the benefits they all provide (at a notable cost) are all benefits God promised (for free) to those who trust Him alone.
What more evidence do we need that society is rife with idolatry when all the shameful things Paul listed to the Romans are commonplace among us today? And what's more, are not all these shameful things justified by those who embrace them as things their hearts desired?
And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. [Romans 1.23-24]
Why do we not see this? Because we do not know the Bible! Oh sure, we may know the tenets of whatever denominational preference we hold, but we remain willfully ignorant of the whole Bible and Jesus Christ Whom it reveals.
The sin problem of man is idolatry. The solution Jesus boldly declared is repentance and faith (described in word in Mark 1.15 and in action in Matthew 16.24):
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” [Mark 1.15]
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
I apologize if my tone is harsh here. However, I will not apologize for the Bible passages quoted. They are neither misquoted nor taken out of context. They are from the Old Testament AND the New Testament and consistently reveal the sin problem of idolatry. Jesus' demand to give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Me is no less exclusive than God's 1st Commandment (You must not have any other god but me).
Will we follow our king, Jesus, or will we continue to do whatever seems right in our own eyes?
In the telling widespread and overwhelming absence of a king - the King, Jesus, the WHOLE Word of God, the horrible story of Judges 21 is, sadly, our story. The cause is idolatry and the effect is every evil and vile thing Paul described above existing in our society - void of the Jesus-mirroring, indisputable power of God.
Father in heaven, may Your Word open our eyes to its Truth, Jesus. May we be found genuinely giving up our own way (idolatry), taking up our cross (faith in You ALONE), and following Him. So be it.
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