The concubine

Adult topic warning

Every year as I'm reading through the Bible, I know this chapter is coming, and every year I am unprepared for my reaction to it.

If you've ever read the book of Judges in the Old Testament, you are familiar with the story in chapter 19.

A Levite, a man from the tribe of Levi, takes a concubine. This is a woman who is not a wife, but performs a lot of the duties of a wife but with no rights. (Not that women had many rights in those days, but a concubine is equal with a servant.)

The concubine, who is never named, "played the whore against him," and went back to her father's house for four months. Basically she was unfaithful, left her husband, and went home to daddy.

The Levite wanted her back, so he went to her father, who welcomed him. They all stayed together eating and drinking and being merry for five days, then the Levite took his concubine and left with her to go back to his home. I would say "their" home, but nothing was hers. As a concubine, she did not own anything.

Since it was a long journey and they left late in the day, they were not home by nightfall. So they stopped in Gibeah, which was a city of the Benjamites, the descendants of Benjamin. An old man came in from his work in the field in the evening and invited the Levite and his concubine to lodge with him, providing a place for his animals as well. So they all went back to the old guy's place, put the animals to bed, and enjoyed a meal together.

While they were "making their hearts merry," some wicked men from the city (remember, they are Benjamites) came knocking at the door, asking the old man to send the Levite out "that we may know him." That's King James for "have sex with him."

The old man begged them not to do "so wickedly" because the Levite was a guest in his house. Then he did the thing that is so incredibly shocking to me.

He said, "Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing."

At this point in the chapter I have a physical reaction. I feel sick, my throat is tight. My heart rate speeds up and I'm on the edge of panic.

But the men outside wouldn't listen. So the Levite—the man who wanted his concubine back, the one who was welcomed by her father—"took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them."

I can't ever read this story without being overwhelmed by how she—the concubine—must have felt in that moment. Whore or not, she was a woman and she knew what was coming.

She knew.

The Levite knew what those men were going to do to her, and still he handed her over, shoved her out the door. Better for them to abuse her than him.

The Bible says "they abused her all the night until the morning," when she dragged herself back to the house and fell down at the door.

In the morning, the Levite got up and came outside and I can just picture him, standing in the doorway, taking a deep breath of fresh morning air, and then he said, "Up, and let us be going."

"But none answered."

Are you angry? I am.

I'm crushed for this woman. My insides are twisted and churning. Tears are flowing and I want vengeance. I want the Levite to be castrated and then killed along with all the men who did this inhuman, horrific deed.

.

The Levite took his dead concubine home and cut her body into twelve pieces. He sent the pieces throughout all Israel, to all the tribes, to show them what the Benjamites did. He wanted them to know how terrible the Benjamites were.

And again, I stop here and am stunned at his hypocrisy. What the Benjamites did? He's the one who pushed her out the door, knowing what they would do to her.

I continue reading. All the rest of Israel, 400,000 fighting men armed for war, fight against the tribe of Benjamin and eventually wipe out all but six hundred men, who wind up hiding in the hills.

The deaths of 27,100 Benjamites for the life of one concubine. God has made his point that this is not acceptable behavior.

All of Israel vows never to give any of their daughters to Benjamin as wives, so in one generation there will be no more tribe of Benjamin. They will be gone from the face of the earth and I am 100 percent okay with that. I want the story to end right there. Poof. Perverts-be-gone.

But as God always does, he shows mercy where I would show none. He helps Israel conquer a small people group and they save 400 young women to give the Benjamites as wives. This, too, makes me feel sick. Those poor women have no option, no voice. And yet God, in doing this, has kept his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Israel will survive intact with all twelve tribes, despite not deserving it.

The tribe of Benjamin has been instructed forcefully and they won't make that mistake again. Justice has been served and God has been his same merciful and promise-keeping self he has always been.

I should be satisfied. But I'm overwhelmingly sad—sad for the woman who didn't want to be with the Levite in the first place but who had no choice, who went to her dad for refuge and was given back to the man she didn't want, only to then be handed over to evil men who abused her to death.

Every year I ask myself why this story is included in the history of Israel. And this is what God says:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16)

If this scripture is “profitable” as God says it is, what should I learn from it? I read this story year after year and it’s always the same.

Every day when I read God’s word, I ask him to show me some new thing, some little tidbit I’ve never seen or considered before. I want to know and understand the heart of God.

This year I was drawn back to the first verse of the chapter. It says:

And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel …

And then the very last verse of the book, which says:

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Throughout the book of Judges, this is the situation. When there was no king, they ignored God’s laws and did whatever they wanted. You can see this when the old man offers his daughter and the concubine to the wicked men and says, “do with them what seemeth good to you.” It was the attitude du jour.

God did not create this culture, man did.

God was obviously not okay with it and spent the rest of the book making that clear. I’ve said before that just because God allows something doesn’t mean he approves. When people don’t follow God, bad things will be done and people will suffer. This is nothing new.

But it is not what God intended. He wanted only good for his children, so he placed them in paradise—a garden in Eden. Then Adam and Eve did what was right in their own eyes and it’s gone downhill ever since. We see that more than ever today.

So what’s my takeaway from this story this year?

I am reminded of a few things.

1. God’s mercy far surpasses mine.

2. God is a promise keeper. He will always find a way to do what he says he will do.

3. There are things I will never understand, but I know God’s character, so I trust him to do justice even when I don’t see it.

Every year this story will break my heart. It will make me angry and make me want vengeance. Every year I will cry for the concubine.

And every year, God will be the same: merciful, promise keeper, trustworthy.