Judges 19:29–30: “When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and dismembered her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. And so it was that all who saw it said, ‘No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak up!’”

May 3rd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The end of the book of Judges is further evidence of how far the people of God had strayed from following the Lord as they continued to live their lives as they saw fit. This story of the Levite and his concubine is full of indifference, rape, and murder, and is without a doubt a low point in the nation’s history. The events are very close to those that took place in Sodom and Gomorrah, which resulted in the destruction of that entire city and people (Genesis 19). Only this time, instead of it taking place among pagans, it was God’s own people committing such horrible acts.

When the Levite found that the Benjamites, in the city of Gibeah, had raped and murdered his concubine, his selfish heart was finally shocked into action, and he did a radical thing in order to startle the rest of Israel into action. As horrible as it seems, he cut up her dead body as a priest would divide the carcass of a sacrificial animal. He then sent a twelfth part of her body to each of the twelve tribes, including the leaders of the offending tribe, Benjamin. This black night of horror made such a powerful impact on Israel that even centuries later the prophet Hosea recalled the depth of Gibeah’s corruption: “They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (Hos. 9:9). King Saul used a similar technique years later at Gibeah. In that case, though, Saul cut up a pair of oxen and circulated the parts throughout Israel to raise an army (1 Sam. 11:7).

As the Levite had hoped, most in the nation of Israel were incensed. It was certainly a grotesque way to deliver a message, but it finally brought the people to a point where they were willing to say, “enough is enough.” They were ready to bring to justice those who had committed the atrocity. This story began with “In those days, Israel had no king.” Thank God that by His grace He has given us a righteous King, Jesus Christ, to rule over our lives, and we need never live in a day where there is no King to rule over us. However, we can still run the risk of ignoring our King and doing “what is right in our own eyes.” But when we do, we only get deeper and deeper into trouble.

“LORD, please be King in our lives and use us to lead others to You this day.”