Is this the way we want to go?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Are you ready for the big finale? I thought I was until I re-read these last stories and wondered why their details hadn’t stuck in my head before. They are messed up. We’ve had evil and good in this book, but this chain of atrocities makes it hard to find hope for redemption in the hearts of men.

I think that’s the point. It’s an inflammatory story, sparked by a singular Levite, wronged by his concubine. He chose to pursue and win her back, and seemed to succeed, but on their journey home they encountered an evil Benjaminite mob intent on rape, who sound just like the people of Sodom in Genesis 19. It’s an obvious parallel to that story which we learn from Ezekiel 16 indicated a much greater evil than a few men’s lust for sex or power. That whole city deserved destruction because they were “arrogant, overfed, unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” So this one crime was an indicator of far greater corruption.

And in the absence of angels to rain down direct, divine judgement, the Levite’s response was to incite a civil war. It’s far messier than what happened in Sodom because Israel gave a tenth of its men to the fight and a tenth of them were killed, even though they consulted God who ordered them and promised victory. God also allowed the tribe of Benjamin to defend themselves with considerable skill. The victory was credited to God, but it looked a lot like a cunning and costly human plan rather than Gideon’s pure reliance on God years earlier.

Think it can’t get worse? Wrong! How about punishing the Benjaminites with an oath, then realising this was too much (just like Jephthah?), then fixing the problem with murder and kidnapping, all in the name of religious faithfulness?

Is this just a story about Israel then? It also looks to me like a story about the world now. This is what happens when people have God in their culture but not in their hearts. In society held together by outwardly godly things but without a way for people to share God’s heart, everyone interprets the law for themselves, if they even know any of it, and does what they see fit. We need a better way.

So what’s the answer? How can we live better? Reading on, the story suggests that maybe the answer is better leadership, a king. But is that enough? The trail mapped out by the Old Testament story points to a need for more, a way walked by a redeemer who can save us.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God wants people to return to him wholeheartedly and can show us why we need more than religion, laws and passion to do so. Jesus shows the real way to God. We need to follow him.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Remember how important it is not just to feel righteous in doing what I think best, but to follow Jesus and be changed by him, loving and forgiving more, for example.

Who am I going to share this with?

My family and people I pray with, especially when we pray about wrongs which need righting.