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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 8 July 2025:
Judges 19:1 — In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
The story begins with the familiar and ominous refrain, “In those days, when there was no king in Israel.” It reminds us that what follows occurs in a time of moral and spiritual anarchy. This Levite, a man who should have modeled faithfulness and covenant obedience, instead takes a concubine—a second-tier wife. This arrangement already signals moral compromise, and we are prepared for more.
This man is not painted as heroic. He is passive, morally ambiguous, and spiritually unanchored. The spiritual leadership of the nation has become self-serving and corrupt. As goes the leadership, so goes the nation.
- Hosea 4:9 — And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
Judges 19:2-10 — And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah.
The relationship between the Levite and his concubine is marked by brokenness. The woman “was unfaithful to him” (v.2), though the Hebrew could suggest she was angry or left him, not necessarily adulterous. Regardless, she departs and stays away for four months. The Levite then goes to speak kindly to her and bring her back. At first, this may appear noble. But as the story unfolds, his motives appear more rooted in ownership and social standing than love. He stays at the father’s house, entertained and delayed, indulging in extended hospitality. Yet, he shows no spiritual awareness, no prayer, no Scripture, no sense of God’s purpose. The entire narrative is absent of divine reference. It is a man-centered story in a God-rejecting culture.
- 2 Timothy 3:5 — Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Judges 19:11-21 — We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners… but into Gibeah.
This ironic and tragic decision shows the Levite’s misplaced trust. He refuses to stop in Jebus (Jerusalem), a city of foreigners, and insists on stopping in Gibeah, a city of fellow Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin. He assumes safety among “God’s people,” yet finds abuse and depravity. The people of Gibeah, like Sodom, threaten to assault the Levite. The irony is glaring: the covenant people have become like the wicked cities God once destroyed.
- Romans 2:24 — The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
- Matthew 11:23-24 — “…It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Judges 19:12 — And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.”
Again, the Levite believed that God’s people would be more trustworthy than unbelievers, but he was wrong. Today in America, the statistics on destructive and anti-social behaviors are almost identical within the church as within the secular society. What does the book of Judges have to say to us today?
Judges 19:22 — Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.
There is no limit to the depths to which people can sink when they turn from God. Sexual perversion is one of the most mentioned traits of the ungodly.
Judges 19:22-26 — So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning.
This is one of the darkest moments in Scripture. The Levite gives over his concubine to be raped and abused all night to save himself. He shows no courage, no protection, no prayer. He treats her as expendable.
This is not merely an account of individual depravity; it is a national collapse of covenantal ethics, compassion, and justice. Israel, without king or godly leadership, has become worse than the pagan nations they were called to displace.
- Philippians 2:3-4 — Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Judges 19:24 – Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”
The man was willing to sacrifice the women, even his daughter, to the sexual perverts in order to protect the Levite. Morality had come to a point in society where God’s people were willing to compromise on one horrific sin in order to prevent another horrific sin. Today, we run the risk of giving in to sin after sin without realizing that it will never be enough to appease the ungodly. There is no compromising with the ungodly.
Judges 19:27-30 — And he said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer.
The Levite finds her collapsed at the door. His words are chillingly cold: “Get up, let us be going.” There is no indication of grief, prayer, or repentance. He takes her body home, dismembers her, and sends the parts throughout Israel as a call to outrage and justice.
The horror of what has occurred is meant to shock Israel into awareness. But the deeper message is that a nation which once walked with God has plunged into unspeakable wickedness.
- Romans 1:28-32 — And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind….
- Proverbs 29:18 — Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint.
Judges 19:30 — Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.
The Levite had to do something shocking enough to get the nation’s attention. To that point, no one seemed to care that the land had become so depraved.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 8 July 2025: Judges 19 is one of the most disturbing passages in all of Scripture. It shows us what happens when God’s people reject His authority and each person does what is right in his own eyes. The result is not just individual sin, but societal collapse.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 