Judges 19:1-9 - Sin always goes from bad to worse

The morality of the Israelites was slowly but surely diminishing. In Judges 17, they were sinking religiously and spiritually. An Ephraimite named Micah set up his own religious system that did not resemble what God had instructed them in the book of the Law. He had a graven and molten idol made. He built a shrine and appointed a Levite as a priest. And he set up a system contrary to what God expected. Then in Judges 18, we saw how lawless the Danites were. They annexed the Levite and the idols of Micah and butchered the people of Laish mercilessly and seized the town, and made it their own. They were bullies in a very real sense of the word. For they only dared to take on the helpless and the defenceless. Israel as a society was in a chaotic mess. To think that all these happened shortly after Joshua’s death! The author repeatedly tells us that in those days there was no king. There was no one to rule and arbitrate. Lawlessness had prevailed. 

In chapter 19 we come to another Levite who was unfavourably described. From the account of his life and experience, we will see how the people of God had deteriorated morally. Though the Levite appears to be like the one Micah had engaged as his priest, yet this was probably a different one. He lived in the hill country of Ephraim and he took a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah. And his concubine prostituted herself and offended the Levite, deserted him and came to live with her father in Bethlehem of Judah. Feeling the pain after four months of separation, the Levite came looking for her. When he found her, he gently persuaded her to return to him. She must have relented so the relationship was mended. She then brought him to her father’s house. When the father saw her daughter with his son-in-law and their relationship reconciled, he was overjoyed. So, for three days, they feasted together. He also persuaded the son-in-law to stay for a fourth day. It was not until the afternoon of the fifth day that the Levite and his concubine departed for home.

This account underscores for us the propensity of men to regress. The purpose is to show us how possible it is for the people of God to be so disconnected with Him. They could become so unconscionable and would play the harlot with the world with no reverence for the Lord. We are given a glimpse into how vulnerable to sin the people of God can be when they are out of touch with him. Sin can become so toned down that we become insensitive to the spiritual dynamics of God. If we don’t ensure that we keep in love with the Lord current, we may go from bad to worse in our behaviour. A passage like this tells us just how watchful we need to be of our life so that we can tread gingerly before the Lord. In so doing we will be led to live an honourable life that is pleasing to Him.