Gruesome and Lawless Deeds in Gibeah

The Rev. Keith Lingsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Naples, FL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Judges 19.

How far can a society sink into moral decay and violence? In this chapter is one of the most shocking and disturbing stories in the Bible. A Levite and his concubine traveled through the territory of Benjamin and stopped at a city called Gibeah. There, they were met with a mob of wicked men who demanded to have their way with the man. The Levite gave them his concubine instead, whom he found dead the next morning. The Levite then cut her body into twelve pieces and sent them throughout Israel, calling for justice and vengeance.

The Book of Judges tells the story of Israel's descent into chaos and idolatry, and the subsequent rise of a series of judges, or redeemers, who deliver them from their enemies. The judges are flawed heroes, but they are also instruments of God's deliverance. The book ends with the Israelites in a state of moral and spiritual decay, but it also offers hope for a better future.