In the final chapters of Judges you find a convoluted story, as sordid as any you’ll find. Let’s do an inductive study of these chapters. Start by identifying what is said. Then try determining what it means. Finally answer the question, What difference should this make in my life?
The story starts out in chapter 17. Micah stole some silver from his mother and then returned it. In gratitude she dedicated it to the Lord and had a silversmith construct an idol which was put into Micah’s house. When a Levite passed by Micah hired him as his priest.
The plot thickens in chapter 18 when some Danites, passing by, persuaded Micah’s priest to go with them and become their priest. They took the idol from Micah’s house and set up worship in their territory instead of going to Shiloh to worship.
In chapter 19 a Levite traveling home from Bethlehem with his concubine stops in Gibeah. He’s invited to stay with an old man overnight. When confronted similar to what happened in Sodom, his concubine was compromised, abused and left for dead. The Levite took her body home and sent parts of her body to all the areas of Israel.
Chapter 20 describes how Israel rallied to punish the culprits in Gibeah. When the tribe of Benjamin stood up for their fellow Benjamites war broke out and almost all the tribe of Benjamin was obliterated.
The book closes with Israel coming up with a plan to help the tribe of Benjamin survive. In our next visit we’ll try to understand all of this.
