Sin On Every Side
August 2023
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The book of Judges accounts for several hundred years between the death of Joshua and the introduction of Samuel. While the majority of the book deals with the events surrounding the judges, the last five chapters change focus.
The Holy Spirit directs our attention to Israel from a national perspective. What of Israel during that time? The following two phrases are notably repeated in response: “In those days there was no king in Israel” and “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
In Judges 19 we read of a Levite who married a concubine only to have her act unfaithfully and depart. The Levite pursues his wife, and he finds that she has returned to her father’s house. Upon visiting the father’s house, the Levite finds a hospitable environment, and they remain there four nights eating and drinking. Even on the fifth day, they traded a safe, early departure for more hours of eating, drinking, and making hearts merry. As night drew near, the decision was made to lodge in Gibeah as opposed to the city of the Jebusites. Sadly, the wickedness in Gibeah amongst his brethren of the tribe of Benjamin was far worse than what the Levite would have found in the heathen Gentile city of Jebus.
The Scripture tells us that vile, worthless sons of Belial came to where the Levite was staying, and they demanded to commit acts of sodomy. In an attempt to appease the evil passions of these men, the daughter of the host was offered. No, this would not satisfy their sinful hearts, so the Levite’s concubine was delivered into their wicked hands. She was raped, assaulted, beaten, and abused. As the morning light appeared, the concubine’s lifeless body lay strewn across the threshold. The Levite would return home in sadness and mourning as he carried the corpse of his wife. Why did this happen? Because the wages of sin is death.
The utter depths of moral depravity would convict the Levite to such a degree that he would now take action. He sent every tribe in Israel a divided piece of her body, twelve in total. This was gruesome, but necessary. Israel would come together against the Benjamites only to suffer defeat on two occasions, losing forty thousand men in battle. At last Israel repented before the Lord, offering up burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the word of the Lord came through Phinehas saying, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand.”
The spiritual and moral principles in this account are both astounding and presently applicable. In every instance of these happenings, we see sin on every side. From the Levite taking another wife, to the actions of the concubine, there was sin. With the lasting libations at the father’s house, and the abominable passions of the sodomite sons of Belial, there was sin. And the sin of pride is evidenced by the armies of Israel coming together to fight this evil, but doing so in their own wisdom and might, which resulted in defeat. Whatever is done outside of faith is done in sin.
If I were to describe a city filled with idols, homosexuality, fornication, murder, hate, and utter disregard for fellow man, then you would think I was describing a heathen city such as Jebus. But that too was the description of Gibeah—a city full of God’s people. The fact of them being a part of Israel did not keep them from sin.
The sins of heathen Jebus were obvious, but what about the iniquity of the Benjamites in Gibeah? Today, we can look at the debauchery and immorality in other nations of the world, but what of America?
Our society has cheapened and virtually demolished the institution of marriage between one man and one woman. We have allowed Hollywood and social media to entertain our minds perpetually. The booze and pill bottles are opened more than Bibles. Homosexuality, transgenderism, and every aspect of the LGBT+ community permeates children’s books in libraries and schools, while corporations have gone woke pushing the agendas. Demonic hate-filled racism is cloaked by terms like diversity, equity, and inclusion. We reward laziness and entitled egos, all the while punishing hard work and stealing success. Teenagers and young people by the thousands attempt suicide every year, while scores of young ladies painfully cut into their bodies just to feel something besides a dull heartache. Millions of Americans battle anxiety and depression, learning to cope by depending on a psychologist. And let us not forget about the millions of babies that are murdered in the womb. What of America? There is sin on every side.
Spiritually speaking, every day in America we are thrusting our children and families into streets littered with the sons of Belial. The result is an abused, beaten, exploited, and raped generation. This generation is now laying at our doorstep. It took something so terrible and awful as the severed member of a concubine to jar Israel from resting in her idols, self-pleasure, apathy, and pride. Has it taken the same thing for America?
God has called His church to stand up as a beacon of light in these dark times. To come against these evils through political means alone will result in defeat. If we try to use humanistic psychology, education, money, or any other of our own means, then failure is inevitable. How do we come against the wickedness? The only answer for sin is Jesus Christ and Him crucified! It was at the cross that sin and the powers of darkness were defeated! Only the power of God is greater than the evil in this world. If you and I will look to the sacrifice, just as Israel did, then I believe we will see the tide of darkness held back for a season. Society is not getting better. Even after the vengeance over the sons of Belial’s evil deeds, Israel continued further into wickedness and idolatry.
We have the opportunity to say to America that although there is sin on every side, salvation is at hand. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
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