The Worst Story in the Bible

8/12/2023

Bethlehem Part 2
Read Judges 19 Here

Some stories in the Bible are easy to simplify. They generally follow a satisfying pattern with beautiful resolution at the end. This is because God orchestrated the times and places in the Bible and finds pleasure in resolution and because every person and event in Scripture has lesson and purposes. They are physical pictures of spiritual realities.
  But this story seems the opposite in every way!
  There was a beautiful young woman who belonged to the city of the house and line of Judah; she lived with her father in Bethlehem. Her father cared deeply for her and wanted only the best marriage for his daughter. This is deonstrated throughout the story in many ways. She was dearly loved.
     In a small city like Bethlehem everyone would have known her.   If you lived in Bethlehem at the time, she would have been your friend. She would have been known and loved. You would have rejoiced with the rest of the city when you heard that she had been chosen by a husband. And he was a Levite! He was a spiritual leader of the nation! Later, she became furious with him and left him to return to her father’s house. (Masoretic texts likely insert that she played the harlot as an explanation of the remaining story. LXX A and B, Targumim, Josephus and other manuscripts do not. See Footnotes) I am sure her godly friends and relatives were praying for her and her marriage.
   Suddenly, after 4 months, her husband showed up with a servant and 2 donkeys “to speak his heart” to her. Scripture records that her father was greatly joyed to see her husband come to show he cared and was willing to make the journey to persuade her of his devotion. Her husband spoke so kindly with her that she decided to return home with him. Ahh, yes, and they rode off into the sunset. The end … until the sun set.
   I know this is the way that stories are supposed to end.
   When the sun went down, they were staying at the house of a kindly old man who took them in as guests for the night on their journey to visit to the “house of God.” Even better, the old man had a young daughter for her to talk to. They were enjoying themselves.
   Then they heard a pounding on the door.
Her heart must have been scared. But at least she had her husband who had spent the last five days speaking kindly with her and persuading her of his love and devotion.
Some “men of beliyyaal” which means, “of no value” or “empty” demanded that the owner of the house to “bring out the Levite (that is, her husband) so they could rape him.”
This young girl probably feared for her husband who over the last 5 days had thoroughly gushed with his passionate love and longing for her. It would have been sickening to hear the old man suggest that the men at the door rape the old man’s virgin daughter as an alternative to the Levite. Then, with no right or question, the old man added her to the barter. Then she felt a clenched grip. The Hebrew word here means “strength”. Her husband decided to use his strength. And he used it to seize his wife and throw her out the door!
   Out there in the darkness, she was raped and abused for the entire night. Feeling an unspeakable level of betrayal through a night that seemed without end. The word used for this abuse is the Hebrew word, “to glean.” It was a relentless atrocious attack that started with her being sacrificed by the one who had covenanted to protect her.
   Though she felt everything, she was silent as a lamb through the entire narrative. She never spoke a word.
In the morning, she came to the house where her husband was staying and died with her hands holding onto the threshold. The threshold has a symbolic meaning throughout Scripture as a place of authority, responsibility and protection: Every right that was stripped and gleaned from her life she laid at the threshold where her husband was sleeping.
  Her husband opened the doors in the morning “to go on his way.” Hence, he was not expecting to take her with him. But after he saw his “wife” on the threshold he walked over or past her body and told her to “get up and come” with him. When she did not respond, he took her back home, cut her into 12 pieces and sent her body throughout the nation of Israel.
She was the silent sacrifice. She was taken outside into the darkness and given to people of the nation of Israel to be mistreated. She was betrayed by those who should have protected her.
  The first reference to her in the story was called an Ish-ah, that is, a wife. Whenever she was at her father’s house and under his protection she was referred to as the young woman or girl. Whenever she was with her husband, she was his concubine. However, once he had her away from her home, he introduced her to the old man as his maidservant.
  Well, the story should be better now because, at least, she is dead and away from further pain, right? Wrong! The tribe of Benjamin would not allow trial, punishment, or prevention of the individuals responsible for the rape and murder. The rest of the nation made war against Benjamin, massacred all the women and children and then sanctioned abduction and rape of hundreds more young women who were on their way to worship the Lord at Shilo to replace the wives of the Benjamites that they had massacred.
   This story is so horrible that I always wanted to get past it as quickly as possible.   It is also a story that is so frustrating because the solution/resolution only made matters worse.    However, the story is also fascinating with many insights and prophesies.
  First, her story introduces the Tale of Three Cities. The two competing cities are Bethlehem and Gibeah with Jerusalem between them. These two polar cities continue a life and death struggle for the nation of Israel and the people of God until the time of Jesus. Jesus is the seed of Bethlehem and completed the story that was foreshadowed by each of these power-filled struggles of Bethlehem and Gibeah. Gibeah is the arch nemesis of Bethlehem!   That study is for another time.

Prophetic Parallels with Jesus’ birth and death
   These parallels are not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, they are observations of prophetic pictures which have more packed into them.

Parallels with Jesus Life

O Little Town of Bethlehem. This unnamed young woman was from Bethlehem; the town of David and the birthplace of Jesus.

The Father’s house – She left her father’s house and went to a place where she had the right to be protected and loved. Instead, she was abused and killed.

She was betrayed. This point has many factors of similarity. First, she was betrayed by a Levite, and one who had sworn to protect her. Jesus was betrayed the Levitical priests to protect themselves, they decided to kill Jesus because, “If we let Jesus go on like this, the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation.” (John 11:48) and Judas. Judas’ name in Hebrew is also the same name from which we get the name “Jews.” I believe Judas was simultaneously embodying both the betrayal of the nation of Israel and the betrayal of the priesthood. This young woman endured a fate that points forward to the betrayal of a suffering Messiah as prophesied in Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and other passages. If that were not the case, many of these details would not have been recorded in an otherwise obscure story. Many of Jesus’ parables dealt with these same aspects of his own betrayal and death.

On the last day of her life, she was taken from Bet-lehem to Jebus (which is Jerusalem) then to Gibeah of Benjamin. Gibeah was to become the seat of power of Saul. and is often referred to in Scripture as Gibeah of Saul. God draws a clear Juxtaposition between the choosing Israel’s first king, Saul (The rejected king), and his reign, in contrast with the selection of Israel’s second king, David. This young lady was from Bethlehem and was abused and killed by the people of Gibeah after going to Jerusalem and leaving Jerusalem as darkness was rising.

She came to Jerusalem gently and humbly, riding on a donkey. Later, Zechariah prophesies that this will be the manner and method of future King of Israel, when he comes. (Zechariah 9:9-10). This king will bring peace and salvation.

Lessons for Life
   Jesus came to the earth the first time into the very deepest pain, the most debilitating shame and sin so dark that it can be felt. (Exodus 10:21) Jewish sages have argued for over 2,000 years if the Messiah would come like Joseph (ben yosef) or David (ben David) from yudah; as a suffering servant or a ruling lion. Two Messiahs in Judaism: Ben David and Ben Joseph - Jews for Jesus.. Jesus came the first time as a servant to suffer. He was abused, suffered and died. He will come back next time as the King above all kings. Jesus fulfills both. But this story is a narrative reflecting His first coming; from Bet-Lehem to his death in the darkness outside the city of Jerusalem.
   This story is a picture of what we did to Jesus when He came to us. That is why it had to be the worst; it was a picture of Jesus’ birth, betrayal, suffering and death!

Questions for Reflection
   How do I treat Christ and His blood? The people of Israel spoke very well of Christ at first. But once He called them to follow Him in difficulty and in suffering, they turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66). Are you “among those who turn back or among those who persevere and are saved!” (Hebrews 10:39)?   Jesus said, “As you have treated the least of these my brothers (and sisters) so you have treated me.” Jesus loves his people with the passion of His suffering and death. He cares deeply and violently how even the lowest of His people are treated. The way you treat Jesus' people ought to be with value beyond measurement? Do you treat Christ’s children with the contempt of their mere usefulness to your situation?
   Do I fear people more than God? It often feels like we will do what is right whatever the cost. But when the circumstances get “scary,” it is easy to value our own safety, comfort or happiness above all else. When God shows you through circumstancs that your priorities are not a true reflection of His, thank him and ask for forgiveness and for grace to continue to grow in character and likeness of Him.

Footnotes:
1This article analyzes most likely original Hebrew word and verb tense that led to the various manuscript differences of Hebrew 19:2.
Judges 19:2 poses a text critical problem that has vexed scholars for over a century. According to the MT, the Levite’s concubine left her husband and returned to her father’s house in Bethlehem because she had “played the harlot against him.” According to LXXA , the woman left her husband because she was “angry with him.” However, no other Greek, Latin or Aramaic variant of the verse supports MT or LXXA . This article proposes a new hypothesis for understanding the relationship among the various textual variants of Judg 19:2. It will be argued that the earliest Vorlage used the verb עבר in the hitpa‘el form which has the meaning “to be furious”. This Vorlage is reflected in LXXA . Later scribes then read the verb עבר in the qal form that has multiple meanings that depend on context. LXXB translated the verb in Greek with the meaning of “to move on”. In contrast, Pseudo-Philo interpreted the verb with the meaning of “to transgress”. The MT, which emended “to transgress” to “to play the harlot”, represents the final stage in the redaction process
06.pdf (scielo.org.za)
There was a popular error in Jesus day that was similar to what is often called Karma. It has been nomenclated as Chronicler’s Theology of Retributive Justice. That is, that every misfortune that befalls a person can be explained as a consequence of a moral failure committed by that person earlier in his or her life. This fallacy was demonstrated by the apostles when they asked Jesus the question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind.”(John 9:2) And when they told Jesus about Galileans whose blood had been mixed with their sacrfices and 18 men who had died in Sidon. In all three examples Jesus corrected their understanding that the misfortunes were not consequences for sin.

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