Speak Your Mind

Listen to today’s passage – Judges 18 – 19 

Read along on Blue Letter Bible – Judges 18
Second Milers also read – Revelation 1 – 3;  Proverbs 26; Psalms 126 – 130

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –  Psalm 61:1 – 3

Read the “0326 Evening and Morning” devotion by Charles Spurgeon.

“And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.” – (Judges 19:30)

Judges 19 contains one of the strangest and saddest stories in all of the Bible. In this account we learn of a man from the tribe of Levi that was travelling through Israel with his concubine. In a polygamous society a concubine was a woman that was married to a man, but did not have the same status as the man’s wife or wives. At any rate this man and his wife were looking for a place to stay for the night while they were travelling through the city of Gibeah, which was occupied by the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. For a long time no one would offer them lodging for the night, until suddenly an old man who was also a sojourner in the city offered them food and lodging at his house. During the night, the men of the city attempted force entry into this older man’s home so that they could “know” the man that was visiting. In this case the word “know” meant that the men of the city wanted to have sexual relations with the man. What happened to this man in this story is very similar to what was attempted on the two angels who visited Lot in Sodom (see Genesis 19), which indicated the level of depravity that the men of this place had reached. They are finally content to take the man’s concubine and sexually abuse her all night long until she ultimately dies from their cruelty. The traveling man then takes the body of his wife and cuts it up into pieces and then sends a piece of her body to each of the tribes of Israel. I realize that this is a strange story, but that’s what happened, in a nutshell.

How could a society decay to the point where it would tolerate such wicked behavior?

My attention is drawn to the statement made to the reader in verse 30. We are instructed to “consider of it, take advice, and speak [our] minds”. Why did God tell us to do this after reading this portion of Scripture? I believe the reason is because the wickedness committed by these people from the tribe of Benjamin in the city of Gibeah was so heinous, that God did not want it to be just swept under the rug or passed by. He wants us to think about it, to get mad about it, and to do something about it. By the way, we will read tomorrow in chapter 20 what the rest of Israel does to punish this sin. I won’t spoil the story, but let me assure you that the people of Israel pay a great price for allowing this kind of wickedness to take place in their Land of Promise.

I believe that the advice given by God to the Israelites of that day is good for us today. He wants us to get mad about sin, and then do something about it. We are to speak our minds as well when it comes to condemning sin. This world ought to have no doubt in their minds about where we stand regarding the sin that is taking place in our land, and we ought to go beyond just condemning it with our mouths; we ought also to take action against it.

“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” – (1 Timothy 5:20)

“This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;” – (Titus 1:13)

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” – (2 Timothy 4:2)

Let’s not turn our heads to sin but rather, let’s speak the truth in love and stand against it. 


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Do As You’re Told!

Today’s Passage – Judges 1 – 3 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Hebrews 10 – 13;  Proverbs 20; Psalms 96 – 100

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –  Psalm 34

Read the “0320 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “God Sent Them A Deliverer,”  “Hold the Line,“ and “The Vicious Cycle of Judges.”

Have you ever promised yourself you’d finally break a bad habit, only to let it linger because it was ‘easier’ to manage than remove? That’s exactly what the Israelites did in the Promised Land:

“1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.” (Judges 2:1-5)

The Command God Gave

In Judges 1:22 – 25, God lists the people who were supposed to have been driven out of Canaan by the Israelites, but were allowed to remain in the land. It seems that in most of these cases, the Israelites were in a position of power over these Canaanite people because the text tells us that the Israelites made them tributaries, meaning that they had to pay tax money to the Israelites. If the Israelites had enough power over these Canaanites to force them to pay tribute, then why didn’t they just drive them out of the land as they were told by God to do? They simply did not obey God.

The Divine Rebuke

In our text, in chapter 2, God sends the Angel of the Lord to come and rebuke the Israelites.

This event seems to have happened when Joshua was still alive, and possibly before the Tabernacle was moved from Gilgal to Shiloh. Gilgal was where Israel first camped when they crossed the Jordan and entered the Land of Israel. (Joshua 5:10). Later, the Tabernacle was moved to Shiloh:

“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.” (Joshua 18:1)

The Angel of the Lord is believed by many to be a theophany (an appearance of God), or perhaps, a Christophany (a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ). At the very least, this Angel is a spokesman for God – God is speaking through him. The Angel of the Lord appears throughout the Old Testament and even in the New Testament.

Note the following appearances of the Angel of the Lord and his purpose for appearing:

  • Appearance to Hagar: Proclamation (Genesis 16:7-14)
  • Appearance to Abraham: Proclamation (Genesis 18:1; 22:11-13)
  • Appearance to Jacob: Proclamation (Genesis 28:13; 32:24-32; 48:16)
  • Appearance to Moses: Proclamation (Exodus 3:2-6; 23:20; 33:18-23)
  • Appearance as Pillar of Cloud/ Fire: Protection (Exodus 14:19-21)
  • Appearance to Joshua: Proclamation (Joshua 5:13-15)
  • Appearance to Balaam: Punishment (Numbers 22:22-35)
  • Appearance to Gideon: Proclamation (Judges 6:11-24)
  • Appearance to Manoah: Proclamation (Judges 13:2-23)
  • Appearance to David: Punishment (I Chronicles 21:15-18)
  • Appearance to Elijah: Proclamation (I Kings 19:5-8)
  • Appearance to the Assyrian Army: Power (II Kings 19:35)
  • Appearance to Isaiah: Proclamation (Isaiah 6:1-13)
  • Appearance to the Three Hebrew Children: Protection (Daniel 3:25)
  • Appearance to Daniel: Protection (Daniel 6:22; 7:9-14)
  • Appearance to Zechariah: Protection (Zechariah 1:8-13; 2:8-11; 3:10)

On at least one of these appearances, the Angel of the Lord seems to receive worship from the people involved (see Judges 13:20), which is why he is believed to be Christ in the flesh. Angels don’t receive worship (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). The problem with the theory that the Angel of the Lord is pre-incarnate Christ is that he also appears in the New Testament:

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1:20)

“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” (Matthew 2:13)

“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” (Luke 2:9)

See Also Acts 5:19; 8:26; 12:7; 12:23

There are two more appearances of this angel in Judges (6:11 – 18 in connection with Gideon; 13:3 – 23 in connection with Samson)

This Angel in our text moves from Gilgal (possibly when the Ark was encamped there) to Bochim, which means weeping. The actual location of Bochim is unknown, though some believe it was near Bethel.

The Angel reminds them of God’s explicit warning regarding expelling all the Canaanites. (See Exodus 23:20 – 30 and Numbers 35:50 – 56)

The People’s Response—and Its Limits

At this time, the people expressed their remorse over their failure. They wept. Weeping is a good start, but it must lead to a permanent repentance.

In Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, he expresses the fact that the Corinthians were sorry for their sins, and that their sorrow led to repentance:

“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-11)

Unfortunately, even though the Israelites expressed their remorse and repented at this time, their repentance was short lived. Throughout this Book of Judges, we will see the people of God doing that which is right in their own eyes and forsaking God. True repentance will yield more than just the offering of sacrifices, it will produce obedience:

“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

What Can We Do?

When will we learn that God knows what is best for us? We need to obey what He tells us to do.

  • Identify one area of partial obedience in your life right now (e.g., a compromise you’re tolerating).
  • Pray specifically for strength to fully obey in that area this week.
  • Share it with an accountability partner or journal your progress.

What’s one command from God you’ve been partially obeying lately? How has it become a “snare” in your life?


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