Turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 19. An ancient preacher named Miguel Molinos stated:

“There are two kinds of darkness, an unhappy darkness and a happy darkness. The {unhappy} darkness is that which arises from sin. … The second type of darkness is darkness which the Lord allows within our inward part in order to establish and settle virtue …”

When I thought about that statement, I thought about what our Lord Jesus told us. Jesus said,

Matthew 16:24-25 If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When we who love the Lord follow our Jesus, we climb Mount Sinai up steep walls and loose rock, shifting sand. We find our God on Mount Moriah, and are told to willingly give up our Isaac on an altar we build there. We are called to walk the Via Dolorosa – the dusty path our Lord Jesus carried His Cross – as the crowds around us mock and jeer and toss stones. We are called to go “outside the camp and bear the reproach He bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Christians are not called to a life of compromise, pleasing the world around us. We are to stand in the shadow of our God, knowing that the darkness is but brief, and that our God watches over “those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This is why the Scripture tells us who are saved:

James 1:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Your faith will be tested as you go through this life. Is your faith genuine? Trials will prove your faith, or trials will disprove your faith.

There Was No King In Israel

Judges 19:1-2 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehem Judah., and was there four whole months.

God’s Old Testament people is Israel, just as God’s New Testament people is the Church. When Israel was saved from Egypt by God through Moses, Israel was supposed to follow God as their King. God told His people:

Leviticus 26:12-16 (ESV) I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. 14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Israel continued throughout her history – and even today – to reject God as her King. And God recognized this. He said, “Israel has rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

Israel rejected God’s decree in FAITH and DESIGN

Judges 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.

Background: We are introduced to “a certain Levite”. The Levites were a special tribe among the Israelites. The Levites could trace their heritage back to Moses. God called Moses up into Mount Sinai to receive the Law. While he was on that mountain listening to God, Israel was in the valley worrying and fretting. After Moses had been gone forty days, Israel demanded that Aaron, Moses’ brother, make a golden calf (Exodus 32:1) to worship instead of God. On hearing this, Moses comes down the mountain and cries out,

Exodus 32:26 (ESV) … “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” …

Those who came to Moses were the Levites, Moses’ family. From that moment on the Levites were supposed to inherit no land, but the Lord Himself was their inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1-2). Yet Israel in the time of Judges has gone so terribly far from God, that even the Levites are tainted. In Judges 17-18 we read of a false Levite who became “Micah’s Priest” in Mount Ephraim. As we come into this chapter we once more see a Levite who has drifted from God. My commentary notes:

“Webster’s dictionary defines “immoral” as: “contrary to the moral code of the community.” The erroneous notion that man sets his own standards of morality goes all the way back to the Fall (Genesis 3). Actually God sets these standards. He does so based on His love and His desire for the welfare of humanity, and He reveals these standards in His Word. When people abandon God’s standards, life breaks down, unravels, and disintegrates.” (emphasis mine)

Application: The Levites are God’s Priests. If they do not hold to God’s Standard, then the people that are taught by them will not follow God either. Christians are also Priests before God (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6).

The Levite in chapter 19 is not behaving as a priest of God. Priests are to honor God’s Word. God established marriage when He made Eve out of Adam’s rib. The standard of marriage is was set in Eden:

Genesis 2:24 (ESV) Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Our Lord Jesus affirmed this “design” in marriage. He said:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

God set the standard for marriage, and the Levite, representing God, should adhere to God’s standard. But this Levite, we are told,

Judges 19:1 … took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.

A “concubine” was a slave woman who was taken into possession by a man. Concubines were legal mistresses. If they had children, their children had no rights of inheritance when the Master of the house died. The Enduring Word Commentary notes that:

“Many prominent men in the Old Testament had concubines. .. Abraham (Genesis 25:6), Jacob (Genesis 35:22), Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:46), Saul (2 Samuel 3:7), David (2 Samuel 5:13), Solomon (1 Kings 11:3) …”

Yet this does not justify the behavior. Because Abram went in to Hagar, he brought a curse on Israel through Ishmael – a curse that has lasted to this day! God never blessed concubine arrangements. This woman was forced!

Judges 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehem Judah, and was there four whole months.

The KJV Bible says that the concubine “played the whore against him”, the Hebrew Qal Imperfect zānâ, which means “committed sexual sin against, was unfaithful to”. This woman was in a forced relationship, and perhaps she was forced away from someone she actually loved. We don’t know, but we do know she went back to Bethlehem to her father’s house. Why? Because a charge of adultery could cause her and her lover to be killed (Genesis 38:24; Leviticus 20:10; 21:9).

Judges 19:3-4 And her husband {the Levite} arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

The Levite “Husband” went after his concubine. He spoke friendly to her, and offered to bring her back home with him. Did he love her? No, he just sought to entice her back, to use her as a thing and not a person made in God’s image. Outwardly what the Levite did looked noble. He went after his concubine, taking two donkeys and a male servant. The choice of the DONKEY was very interesting. If a king rode into a city on a STALLION, it was to conquer and destroy. But on a DONKEY, it was a sign of peace. The Levite is virtue signaling – but is not sincere as we later will see! We read that “when the father of the damsel {concubine} saw him, he rejoiced to meet him {the Levite}”. The “father of the damsel” treats the Levite as if this was a wedding feast.

Judges 19:5-6 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

As the fourth day comes, the Levite tries to leave, but the concubine’s father wants the feast to continue. The Levite stays until late in the day – then decides that he MUST leave. The father begs them to “tarry all night”, and start out fresh in the morning. The Levite takes him up on this.

Judges 19:7-9 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.

The Levite tried to leave on the FOURTH day, but the father talked him into staying the night. When he rose up on the FIFTH day, the father once more showed GREAT HOSPITALITY, and held the family till the evening. When “the man {the Levite} rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant”, the father tried to get them to stay just one more night, and to leave on the sixth day. Had the Levite done this, the trip would not have descended into horror. But he had been held two days beyond what he wanted to be gone, and so demanded that they depart as the sun set. This was a bad decision. The devil does some of his most evil work in the darkness.

The Devil Does His Best Work In The Darkness!

Judges 19:10-12 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

As the Levite, his male servant and his concubine travel, the sun is quickly setting. They come first to Jebus or Jerusalem. When Joshua went into the land, God decreed that the Jebusites – the descendants of Jebus, the third son of Canaan – be cast out of the land.

When Joshua entered the land the children of Judah fought and took Jerusalem or Jebus (Judges 1:8), but the Jebusites would later take it back. King David would totally conquer Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 5:6-10) in time, and would buy the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:16-25) as land for his son Solomon to build the Temple on. The male servant tells the Levite, “let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it”. This was sound advice. It is possible that the male servant came from that area, and knew some people there. But instead of turning into Jebus, the Levite says “we will pass over to Gibeah”. Gibeah is about 3-5 miles further away – and the sun is setting fast!

Judges 19:13-15 And {the Levite} said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

The sun has set, and the Levite takes his small group into Gibeah. His servant had begged him to spend the night in Jebus, but the Levite was certain he’s get better treatment from the Jews of Gibeah. We are told “there was no man that took them into his house to lodging”. The Levite had food and supplies. He just needed a place to shelter, to get out of the dangerous streets. But these Benjamites refused to help him.

The Levites had compromised their faith in God, and this compromise, like poison, leached out into Israel.

Leviticus 19:33-34 (ESV) When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself… I am the Lord your God.

Throughout the Bible the believer is commanded to show hospitality.

1 Peter 4:9 (ESV) Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Hebrews 13:2 (ESV) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Strangers in our midst might be ANGELS UNAWARES. The inhabitants of Gibeah were supposed to show hospitality to strangers – and certainly to show hospitality to the Levitical Priests. Yet they were turned away.

Judges 19:16-20 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem Judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehem judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

The Levite sees an old man coming home from his work, who was “also of mount Ephraim”. These two men are from the same area. The Levite explains that he only wants lodging for the night, that he has all the sustenance he needs for himself and his group. The Levite highlights this by saying, “I am now going to the house of the LORD”. That is, he is returning to Shechem where the Tabernacle is. The old man invites them into his home.

But the story doesn’t end here, but gets very sickening very fast!

Sexual Sin Is Devilish, Destructive And Deadly!

The Levite took a concubine, a mistress, in the midst of his marriage. This is sin. The concubine was sexually unfaithful to the Levite, and ran away from him. This is sin. Now we see something that rivals Sodom and Gomorrah:

Judges 19:21-22 So {the Old Man} brought {The Levite} into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

Word Study: In the darkness of the night, the “men of the city, certain sons of Belial” come up and start pounding on the door of the old man’s home. This mob of men want to rape the “man that came into thine house”. They said, “that we may know him”. The word translated “know” is the Qal Imperfect of yāḏaʿ, literally “to know CARNALLY”. This is almost exactly what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19.

In that story, God sent two angels to Sodom in the evening to meet with and rescue Lot and his family. When the angels – which looked like handsome men – went into the home of Lot, homosexuals demanded:

Genesis 19:5 (ESV) … “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them….”

This is the exact same Hebrew Word used for “know”, the Qal Cohortative of yāḏaʿ. Though Lot offered his two daughters to these perverted men, they demanded the “men” to rape them. The Enduring Word Commentary notes,

“The picture is clear: During the time of Judges, Israel was as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah.”

The Bible is very clear that homosexuality and lesbian behavior is a product or offshoot of idolatry. The Apostle Paul spoke of this evil sexual sin in:

Romans 1:24-28 (ESV) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

The Progressive, Liberal, Humanist mindset pushes sexual sin as something to be “PRIDE” filled over. We should NEVER show PRIDE over SEXUAL SIN.

Judges 19:23-25 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

Neither the father, the head of the household, nor the Levite loved the Lord. Had they loved the Lord, they would have fought to the death to protect the women. Instead, the women were offered up for degradation and evil. The Levite pushes the concubine outside like an animal offered up to be sacrificed.

Word Study: The Bible says, “they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go”. They “knew” her, the Hebrew Qal Imperfect yāḏaʿ. They “abused” her all night long, the Hithpael Imperfect ʿālal, which means “to severely defile, to ruthlessly abuse”. They tormented and beat on this woman until the sun rose, satisfying their perverseness.

This is murder, a violation of God’s 6^th commandment. This is fornication and rape, a violation of God’s 7^th commandment.

Judges 19:26-30 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

The God Who loves us recorded this event to tell us how horrible sexual sin is. It is no trifle, no “lifestyle choice”. It is a black, dark road of perversion that destroys its vessel. Flee fornication (1 Corinthians 6:18). Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you (James 4:8). Do not be deceived! Amen.