Lesson#19

• MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 78:5

• IN OUR LAST LESSON WE LEARNED THAT THROUGH HISTORY THE FALL OF A NATION FOLLOWS THE SAME PATTERNED SEQUENCE:
• =1= DETERIORATION BEGINS IN THE TEMPLE (OR THE CHURCHES).
• THIS WAS THE THEME OF JUDGES 18.
• =2= DETERIORATION SPREADS TO THE FAMILY.
• =3= DETERIORATION THEN INVADES THE GOVERNMENT.
• IN JUDGES 19 WE WILL SEE THE SECOND STEP…THE FAMILY.
• READ JDG 19:1-2 THE LEVITE AND THE CONCUBINE

• REMEMBER THAT THE LEVITES WERE THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE NATION. THEY WERE THE PRIESTS AND THOSE THAT WORKED IN THE TABERNACLE. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MORAL EXAMPLE OF THE NATION.
• AS WE LEARNED IN OUR LAST LESSON THE DECLINE OF A NATION BEGINS IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. GOD HOLDS THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS RESPONSIBLE.
• YET THIS LEVITE MARRIED A PROSTITUTE.
• ACCORDING TO THE MOSAIC LAW, GOD PROHIBITED JEWISH GIRLS FROM PROSTITUTION. (LEV 19:29)
• IT WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS TO INSURE THAT THEIR DAUGHTERS DID NOT BECOME PROSTITUTES. HOWEVER, WE ARE TOLD THAT THIS PROSTITUTE IN JDG 19 IS FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH.

• READ JDG 19:3-10 THE UNFAITHFUL PROSTITUTE AND THE FATHER-IN-LAW
• THE PROSTITUTE WIFE IS UNFAITHFUL TO THE LEVITE AND RETURN S HOME TO HER TRIBE.
• NOTICE THE ATTITUDE OF THE FATHER-IN-LAW DURING THE FOUR AND A HALF DAY STAY:
• HE KNOWS THAT HIS DAUGHTER IS A PROSTITUTE.
• HE TOLERATES HER UNFAITHFUL BEHAVIOR.
• HE PERMITS HER TO LIVE IN HIS HOUSE WITHOUT A WORD OF CORRECTION.
• HE WARMLY WELCOMES THE LEVITE ACCORDING TO TRADITION.
• NOTICE THE ATTITUDE OF THE LEVITE:
• HE PURSUES HIS PROSTITUTE WIFE AND BEGS HER RETURN .
• HE TOLERATES HER UNFAITHFUL BEHAVIOR.
• THERE IS NO WORD OF RECRIMINATION AGAINST HER.

• READ JDG 19:11-15 THE JOURNEY WITHOUT HOSPITALITY
• THE LEVITE AND THE PROSTITUTE LEAVE THE FATHER-IN-LAW’S HOUSE. THEY JOURNEY PAST THE CITY OF JEBUS.
• JEBUS IS THE ORIGINAL NAME OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.
• NOTICE THEY DO NOT STAY IN THIS CITY BECAUSE IT BELONGED TO THE CANAANITES (THE JEBUSITES WERE CANAANITES WHO LIVED IN JEBUS).
• THE LEVITE AND THE PROSTITUTE STAY IN THE CITY OF GIBEAH IN THE TERRITORY BELONGING TO THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN.
• THE INHOSPITALITY OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN:
• MIDDLE EASTERN HOSPITALITY WAS VERY INGRAINED IN THE CULTURE, ESPECIALLY FOR SIMILAR ETHNIC MEMBERS.
• DESPITE A HOSPITABLE TRADITION, THE LEVITE AND HIS CONCUBINE WAIT IN VAIN IN THE CITY SQUARE FOR AN OFFER OF HOSPITALITY.
• THIS ATTITUDE IS THE RESULT OF IDOLATRY AND VIOLENCE THAT HAS RUN RAMPANT IN SOCIETY.
• IT IS A TIME WHEN THERE IS NO TRUST, NO EXPRESSION OF LOVE, NO CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS. THESE SAME CONDITIONS WILL EXIST IN THE LAST DAYS BEFORE THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• READ ROM 1:29-32
• READ 2TIM 3:1-5

• READ JDG 19:16-21 THE HOSPITALITY OF THE OLD MAN
• FINALLY, THE LEVITE AND CONCUBINE ARE OFFERED HOSPITALITY FROM AN OLD MAN WHO ORIGINALLY CAME FROM THE SAME LOCATION AS THE LEVITE.
• THE OLD MAN KNOWS THE BENJAMINITES IN THAT CITY. HE KNOWS IT IS NOT SAFE TO STAY ALL NIGHT IN THE CITY SQUARE.

• READ JDG 19:22-30 THE AWFUL SIN OF THE BENJAMITES
• WHILE THE LEVITE AND THE CONCUBINE WERE IN THE OLD MAN’S HOUSE, THE BENJAMINITES IN THE CITY CAME TO THE DOOR AND DEMANDED THE LEVITE HAVE HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THEM. THE OLD MAN OFFERED HIS DAUGHTER AND THE CONCUBINE.
• NOTICE THE OLD MAN’S ATTITUDE TOWARD HIS OWN DAUGHTER OF WHOM HE IS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT.
• THIS PASSAGE REMINDS US OF THE STORY OF SODOM WHEN THE ANGELS OF FROM GOD STAYED IN LOT’S HOUSE. THEY DEMANDED HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THE ANGELS. LOT OFFERED HIS DAUGHTER INSTEAD.
• FINALLY THE LEVITE OFFERED HIS CONCUBINE TO THE BENJAMINITES.
• NOTICE THE LEVITE’S ATTITUDE TOWARD HIS CONCUBINE WIFE.
• SHE IS NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO PROTECT.
• THEY RAPED HER AND ABUSED HER ALL NIGHT UNTIL SHE DIED ON THE OLD MAN’S DOORSTEP THE NEXT MORNING.
• THE LEVITE FOUND HER DEAD ON THE DOORSTEP THE NEXT MORNING WHEN HE LEAVES THE HOUSE TO CONTINUE HIS JOURNEY.
• IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT TELLS US FROM WHERE HOMOSEXUALITY COMES.
• READ ROM 1:18-28
• HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO AND THE RESULTS OF IDOLATRY.
• HERE IS THE SEQUENCE ACCORDING TO ROM 1:18-28:
• MAN FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AND WORSHIP HIM.
• INSTEAD MAN MAKES HIS OWN GODS.
• WITHOUT RESTRAINT MAN PERMITS HIS LUSTS TO CARRY HIM INTO DIVERSE SEXUAL SINS.
• SEXUAL SINS RUN RAMPANT AND RESULT IN HOMOSEXUALITY.
• THE LEVITE TAKES HIS DEAD CONCUBINE BACK TO HIS HOME. HE DISMEMBERS HER INTO TWELVE PARTS AND SENDS ONE PART TO EACH OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
• DISCUSSION:

WHY DO YOU THINK HE DID THAT? WHAT DID IT PROVE?

• NOTICE THE REACTION OF THE NATION IN VERSE 30.
• THIS WAS THE MOST HORRENDOUS CRIME EVER IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL TO THAT DAY.
• FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, THE LEVITE’S REACTION DEMONSTRATES HOW FAR THE NATION HAS FALLEN AWAY FROM GOD.
• THIS WAS THE LEVITE’S PURPOSE, TO SHOCK THE NATION INTO CALLING FOR A NATIONAL JUDICIAL HEARING.
• THE CRIMES OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN:
• A LACK OF PROPER HOSPITALITY.
• TOLERANCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY
• TOLERANCE OF VIOLENCE
• TOLERANCE OF RAPE
• TOLERANCE OF MURDER
• A FAILURE TO PROVIDE ANY MEANS OF JUSTICE FOR ADDRESSING CRIMES COMMITTED.
• AMONG THE ELEVEN TRIBES, EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT THIS EVENT. THEY CONSIDERED IT, DISCUSSED IT AS A WARNING. THEY SHARED THEIR FEELINGS.
• NOTICE, HOWEVER, THEY DID NOT REPENT AND TURN TO GOD.

• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• THIS HORRENDOUS STORY IS HARD TO READ AND TALK ABOUT, EXCEPT WHEN WE STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE HORRIBLE CRIMES THAT OCCUR TODAY IN THE NEWS…SERIAL KILLERS, DISMEMBERED BODIES, GANG RAPES, HOMOSEXUAL LIFESTYLES. WE HAVE IT ALL!
• BUT WHERE IS THE IDOLATRY IN OUR SOCIETY THAT PRODUCED THESE THINGS?
• WHEN OUR SOCIETY TOOK GOD OUT OF THE SCHOOLS, WE NO LONGER HONORED GOD BEFORE OUR CHILDREN.
• OUR GODS BECAME MATERIALISM, SECULARISM, MODERNISM, AND SELF.
• WITH NO RELIGIOUS RESTRAINT THIS LED TO A SOCIETY WHERE FREE LOVE BECAME THE BY-WORD.
• THE AUTOMATIC NEXT STEP WAS HOMOSEXUALITY.
• WHAT MAJOR PROBLEMS DO YOU SEE WITH THE FAMILY LIFE IN JDG 19?
• WE SEE PERMISSIVISM ON THE PART OF PARENTS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS.
• WE SEE TOLERATION FOR ALL AND ANY KIND OF LIFESTYLE.
• DISCUSSION:

IN WHAT WAYS DO WE SEE THESE SAME THINGS TODAY?

• DISCUSSION:

WHAT SHOULD THE FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN FAMILY LOOK LIKE?

HOMEWORK
JUDGES 20 AND JUDGES 21
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF JDG 19
• IN WHAT SPECIFIC WAYS CAN YOU LIVE A FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN FAMILY LIFESTYLE BEFORE YOUR CHILDREN, YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, OR YOUR NEIGHBORS?

• PREPARATION FOR JDG 20 AND JDG 21
• READ JDG 20:1-48
• WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ELEVEN OTHER TRIBES OF ISRAEL DID CORRECTLY IN HANDLING THE SITUATION WITH THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, AND WHAT DID THEY DO WRONG?
• IN LIGHT OF NEW TESTAMENT LIVING, RATHER THAN SEND AN ARMY, WHAT SHOULD THE ELEVEN TRIBES HAVE DONE?
• IN WHAT WAY WAS ISRAEL’S SOCIETY NOT AS DETERIORATED AS OUR OWN?

• READ JDG 21:1-25
• WHAT WAS ISRAEL’S SOLUTION TO PRESERVE THE FUTURE EXISTENCE OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN?

• MEMORY VERSE: 2COR 5:18