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March 17 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 76

We're finishing the book of Judges today.  The judges have ruled over Israel, but the people have strayed from God.  Things are not as they should be.  By the book, the tribes of Israel have been fighting against one of their own.

Image result for jewish commentary judges 19

DAILY READINGS

Judges 19-21 & Psalm 76

DAILY NOTES

Judges 19

  • No one is given a name in this chapter.  
  • A Levite takes a concubine for a wife.  She gets angry and leaves to go back to her father's house.
  • The Levite goes to her and the father-in-law and he enjoy several days of eating and drinking together.
  • The Levite eventually leaves with his wife and they travel to Gibeah; they get no help from anyone else along the way.
  • They stay at the home of a man from Gibeah.  While they are there, the men of Gibeah rise against the Levite.  
    • The man of the house refuses their attack and offers both his daughter and the Levite's wife instead.  
    • The men "wantonly" rape the wife.  The impression is that she is dead--although the text never explicitly says so (the man does later).
  • The Levite cut the woman's body into twelve pieces and sends it the the tribes of Israel.
Judges 20
  • The Levite makes a case against the Benjamites (Gibeah is part of their territory) and the rest of Israel plan to attack them.
  • The Benjamites are able to win a couple of battles, but are defeated after an ambush.  
  • Six hundred Benjamites escape.  Their escape sets up the events of the following chapter.
Judges 21
  • In order to preserver the tribe of Benjamin, the rest of the Israelites make a way for them to take wives to rebuild their towns--it's a strange story.
Psalm 76
  • God's name is know in Israel because of his judgement and power.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

Hopefully, you're a bit disturbed by today's reading (in particular, Judges 19) and you're wondering what kind of meaning this could have as part of the Bible.

I'm glad you asked.  No, not because I have any concrete God-given answer, but because it means you're paying attention to what we're reading!

As far as I can tell, this story, in all its sickness and troublesome details, illustrates how far the people of God were from God.  We are repeatedly told that they have strayed from and forgotten God.  And they have no king to rule over them.  What are these judges doing?

So, Judges 19, and maybe the entire book, is a reminder of the chaos we can expect when we live our lives away from the holiness of God.

Stay blessed...john

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