Judges 19-21

“Tell us, how did this evil happen?” (20:3). The last, worst story of Judges (the rape and murder of a concubine which provoked civil war) demonstrates the depths of human sin.  The text emphasizes that the crime was committed by Israelites, not their enemies.  A Levite, on the road at night, avoided a town of “foreigners,” thinking it was safer to take shelter in Gibeah, inside Israel (19:12), but Gibeah’s townsmen attacked. Without the Lord, the Israelites were just like their pagan, violent neighbors. 

“Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). Even the Israelites, heirs of Abraham, descended into chaos without the Lord. His grace and truth will heal our spiritual sickness and set us on our feet again.