'Everyone did as he saw fit.' (Judges 17:6)
The Book of Judges deals with the issue of failure: the nation's failure to trust in God; their failure to keep the law; their failure to capitalise upon the wonderful start that Joshua had given them when they entered the Promised Land. Through the stories of the various Judges, we have seen how the Lord raised up his chosen servants who somehow managed to keep the nation together through its difficult and formative years in the Promised Land. But the writer of this Book doesn't try to hide anything – he gives us the story ‘warts and all’. He wants us to appreciate how bad things had become during this period of the nation's history. So, to conclude the book, he presents two timeless stories, which could fit into any period during the history of the Judges, and which amplify the account of religious and moral decline.
The story of the Judges themselves ends with the death of Samson, at the end of chapter 16, but the final five chapters provides two appendices: two stories which illustrate how low and depraved the nation had become. They are graphic stories, and like much of the earlier content of this book, we may well struggle to understand how they fit with our understanding of the Bible as being the inspired word of God – they seem to be so alien to our understanding of a God-fearing and Christian lifestyle. What edifying message can they possibly give to us? But we must persevere and consider what spiritual lessons we can learn from them.
MICAH’S IDOLS
The first story, which appears in chapters 17 and 18, concerns religious apostasy. A woman has eleven hundred pieces of silver stolen; she curses the thief, who turns out to be her son, Micah, who confesses to the theft; out of gratitude at retrieving her money she turns the curse into a blessing on him and uses part of the silver to make a household god - a graven image; Micah sets up a shrine to house the god, thus displaying complete apostasy to God. But if all that is not bad enough, Micah adds two additional false gods, referred to as an ephod and a teraphim, along with the first idol, into the shrine. These are forms of domestic household gods, and from the book of the prophet Hosea, we know that they were forbidden for the Israelites:
For the Israelites will live for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. (Hosea 3:4)
Micah then entices a passing Levite to come and act as his personal chaplain, based at the shrine. Meanwhile, a group of passing Danites comes across the shrine, steal from it the three graven images, and bribes the Levite into going with them, to be priest to their entire clan. The fickle Levite promptly departs, taking with him his former master's wealth. The group of Danites sets up a town and continue to use the idols, in effect creating a shrine that stands in direct opposition to the house of God, which is in Shiloh. Thus, they contravene God’s commandments and live in open apostasy to the Lord.
What we have in this story is a picture of how low religious worship has fallen in Israel. The making and use of graven images, is in direct disobedience to the Ten Commandments:
‘You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.’ (Exodus 20:4-5)
There is no honour given to Lord, and if the actions of Micah and his mother are despicable, then how much more so are those of the Levite. He accepts a job in a forbidden shrine, and to add insult to injury, has no compunction about deserting his employer, and making off with the graven images, when a better offer comes along. And just when you think that things can get no worse, you discover that the Levite is a grandson of Moses himself, clearly implying that the whole of the religious establishment is corrupt, and that there is no sense of holiness or righteousness left in the land.
DEPRAVITY IN GIBEAH
The first story concerns religious apostasy, the second appendix to the book of Judges (chapters 19 – 21), depicts the moral depravity of the nation. This is a story that you are very unlikely to listen to at Evensong!
This story also concerns a Levite. His wife, for whom he has seemingly little regard, leaves him, goes back to her father, and the Levite comes to take her home. After five days they set off, and stay overnight in Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin. Initially no one offers them hospitality, which in itself, is a breach of the law, which places a strong emphasis on the importance of giving welfare to the stranger. Eventually, an elderly alien takes pity on them – so illustrating how God’s own people are put to shame by the actions of an alien. The next episode, with obvious parallels to the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), sees the house surrounded by men, demanding that the male guest be brought out, with clear carnal intentions implied. The only difference to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is that in those cities, foreigners were culprits. This time, it is Israelites indulging in sexual deviation. The host, panicking for fear of dishonouring his guest, offers the men his own daughter instead, but the Levite intervenes and pushes his wife outside. She is killed by the mob, and the next morning, he asks the lifeless form of his wife if she is ready to depart. He takes her home, cuts her dead body into twelve parts, and posts these pieces to the twelve tribes, by way of demonstrating the reality of what has occurred. The peoples' reaction is shock, 'Such a thing has never happened since we left Egypt' (19:30).
Because of its failure to uphold God’s standards, the rest of the nation ostracizes the entire tribe of Benjamin, and virtual civil war ensues. The Benjaminites are almost wiped out in battle, so much so that near the end of the story the whole nation had to work out a plan to provide wives for the men of tribe in order that this twelfth tribe will not be completely eradicated, which would have incurred God's wrath for failure to maintain all twelve tribes.
But note how the people take matters into their own hands. First, during the period of civil war, the other tribes swear a rash oath not to provide wives for the tribe of Benjamin, and nearly annihilate the tribe. Then they complain to God that the tribe will therefore become extinct - as if this were somehow God’s fault. They devise a scheme to kidnap women attending a religious festival in Shiloh, the center of worship, where the Tabernacle was located. No one prays, considers Scripture, or consults a priest - they simply do what they think should work, assuming that the ends will justify the means. In so doing, they trample on any notion of human rights. The forcible abduction of hundreds of young women is barely indistinguishable from rape, yet there is no cry of outrage over this atrocity. Women are devalued and treated as objects, without any care for their personal needs or feelings. The Benjaminite’s actions are reprehensible – catching women and literally carrying them off as wives.
Some generations later, when Samuel was led to anoint Saul, we know that the tribe of Benjamin was still the smallest of the tribes:
‘Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel?”’ (1 Samuel 9:21).
There are consequences to actions. We too, are being warned that we must never neglect God’s standards.
The sad reality of both stories is that the land of milk and honey has become a land of bloodshed and bitterness. Corruption, sexual immorality, and unadulterated wickedness have become the order of the day. We see religious, moral, and political confusion. The land was in anarchy. Not just individuals, but the whole nation has degenerated into wickedness and godless ways. All this reminds us that when individuals begin to lose their way, there is a cumulative effect. Wrong decisions lead to further wrong decisions. A society is only as strong as the individuals who comprise it. 'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for the good men to do nothing.'
The sad reality of these chapters book is that the people no longer had any boundaries. Judges 21 ends by saying, ‘Everyone did as he saw fit.’ This lack of boundaries did not lead to freedom, as many may have been expecting. It resulted in anarchy. No one was safe. The nation was in serious danger of imploding. There is a clear warning here – we must love God and respect one another.
These final five chapters show us exactly what can happen when we make ourselves our own final authority. We may feel embarrassed that these chapters are even in the Bible, but they remind us then when we forsake God’s plans, it is easy to slip still further away from Him.
How easy it is to throw our hands up in horror as we look at our own society, and say, 'Things aren’t what they used to be. We are surrounded by evil. Somebody should do something about it.' The Book of Judges offers a reminder to us that just as one righteous person can effect a great change for good, so too can one evil person bring others down and cause untold damage.
So easily, we can hold up our hands in horror, and decry the state of the world, and the fact that no-one is doing the right thing, but we must never look 'out there' for that some one. Each of us must be willing to stand up and do ‘good’ wherever we are. How can we be kind to the alien? How can we show love to the widow and the orphan? How can we ensure the continuation of upright and godly worship? We can pray, we can show by our example that it is possible to live by God's standards. We can look to our own neighbourhood and discern ways in which we can make it a more caring, more equitable place in which to live. How can we ensure that the honour of the Lord's name is maintained? We can continue to be part of a worshipping community, and as we worship, we can draw in others around us, and lead them towards God.
The story of the book of Judges is a sorry tale of a nation that has lost its way. But God continues to love His people, and He raises up leaders who draw them back. In many ways, it provides a picture of the story of the church over the centuries. How many times has the church lost its way, but the Lord has constantly sent along a Luther, or a Wesley, who has instigated revival, and brought the church back to its knees.
We too, live in an age which has wandered far from God and His commandments, and which is demonstrating signs of moving away further still. Our only hope is to repent for the sins of the world, pray for revival, and honour the name of the Lord our God in our lives and community.
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