Let's open our Bibles to Judges
chapter 19. Judges chapter 19. Thoroughly enjoyed being here,
enjoyed the music and the songs, and truly enjoyed the fellowship. Judges chapter 19. Pray this evening as we go through
this chapter, verse by verse, I think there's 30 verses, that
our great God may enable us to behold our great Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because all scriptures speak
of Him. I read this chapter some time ago and I kept coming back
to it and I looked over it the other day and maybe the Lord
may be enabled us this evening to worship Him. Here in the book
of Judges, we see, as we read these verses, a description of
the horrible depravity of the man's heart and how far the nation
of Israel had strayed from their God. In verse one, it says, it
came to pass in those days that there was no king in Israel.
Back a couple of chapters in Judges chapter 17 verse 6, it
says, in those days there was no king in Israel. And it says,
but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Now up to this point, they never
had a physical king. They didn't have one until they
chose Saul and then God gave them David. But they had a king. God told them when they wanted
Saul, he says, I'm your king. So what this is saying is there
was no king is, what this is saying is they had forgotten
their king. They had turned their backs on
their God. And then you see the results
of this. This nation had forgotten their God. And to forget something,
as I thought about this, you had to have once time knew something
to forget it. The problem today, as we read
in Romans chapter one, is not that they don't know God. Every
man knows God. They just don't like what they
know about God. And they've changed the truth of God into a lie and
worshiped the creature who was blessed forever. This is what
is always the result when fallen men do exactly what God lets
them do. God is sovereign over all things.
Here we see even over his people. No matter how low things got
and how wicked things outwardly were, God's still in control. He's sovereign over all things,
controlling all things for His glory and for the salvation of
His people. When men do that which is right
in their own eyes, what do you have? You have nothing but anarchy. What is anarchy? It is a situation of confusion
and wild behavior in which the people of a country, group, or
organization are not controlled by rules or laws, and they forget
God, the lawgiver. We're going to do what's right
in our own eyes. Say, well, I think this is what's
right. Larry said, well, this is what I think's right. Okay,
so everybody just does what they think's right in their own eyes,
and that's what they did. God told Moses, he warned them
before they came into Canaan. In the book of Deuteronomy, here's
what he said to Moses. In Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse
16, if you want to turn there. And the Lord said unto Moses,
behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people
will rise up and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers
of the land, whether they go among them. And they will forsake
me and they will break my covenant, which I've made with them. Then
my anger shall be kindled against them in that day. And I will
forsake them. And I will hide my face from
them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall
befall them. So that they will say in that
day, Are not these evils come upon us? And they knew why the
evils had come upon us. They said, Because our God is
not among us. They would know. He's saying
they'll know why this is coming. They're not ignorant. These were
the children of God. These were the ones who had the
law instructed to them. And he said, I will surely hide
my face in that day for all the evils which they have brought
and that they are turned to other gods. And then in verse 20, for
when I shall have brought them into the land, which I swear
unto their fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey, and
they shall have eaten and filled themselves and waxen fat. Then will they turn unto other
gods and serve them. And as we've said this morning,
talk about provoking. And he said, they will provoke
me and break my covenant. And it came to pass in those
days when there was no king in Israel. What I want you to see,
though, we see this is Judges chapter 19, so there's only,
I think, 21 chapters in the book of Judges, so we would think
that this happened after all the judges, after Samson and
all the other judges that God raised up as deliverers to deliver
His people. Not so. What I can understand,
Joshua was probably only been dead about 20 years. Joshua,
who brought them into Canaan. And remember, he brought them
into Canaan and they divided this land which was their inheritance.
Because in Judges chapter 20, the next chapter, verse 28, it
says, And Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, stood
before the ark. The grandson of Aaron still living? When this is going on? I think
that's ironic. So you mean in just a short period
of time, the nation of Israel could become so vile and forget
God so quickly? That's what it's saying. It says in Joshua 24, 33, and Phinehas,
his father, and Eliezer, the son of Aaron, died, and they
buried him in the hill that pertained to Phinehas, his son, which was
given him in Mount Ephraim. Read on verse one. And then this
time, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain
Levite sojourning on the side of Mount Ephraim who took to
him a concubine out of Bethlehem, Judah. And this concubine played
the whore against him and went away from him and to her father's
house to Bethlehem, Judah, and was there four months. I don't know why it refers to
her as a concubine. We're going to see that she was
his wife because it makes reference to her father being his father-in-law
and she played the harlot. What we see here is a picture
of Israel. This is exactly what Israel did. He was married to
Israel. And when Israel went playing
after the other gods, they committed spiritual adultery against God.
In James 4.4 he says, you adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore shall be
the friend of the world is the enemy of God. What happened to
Israel? They began to join with all those other nations and began
to worship their gods and they went what a hoarding after their
gods. And where did she go? where sinners
always go back to. They go back to their father's
house. Who's our father? His name's Adam. Why do we go
back to our father's house? That's where we feel comfortable.
That's where she ran to. And that's where she stayed for
four months. And that's where she would have stayed. But here
we see grace. He's married to this woman. She's
his wife. He's not gonna leave her alone.
We see in verse three, and her husband arose and went after
her. Oh, isn't that grace? Israel
had sinned. We, when God leaves us alone,
do this very same thing, go after the things of this world, after
the things of the flesh. But if you're where he is, he
will not leave you alone. He knows, listen, he knows exactly
where his elect are. He knew where to find her. He
knew exactly where to find her. And he rose and went after her
to speak friendly unto her. He said, well, I thought she's
been playing the harlot. She has. This is grace. What did it say in the book of
Hosea? He says, I will allure her and
bring her into the wilderness and I will speak comfortably
unto her. And when he goes and finds her,
he speaks kindly. To her. What grace? What grace? Friendly unto her and to bring
her again. So why did he go after her? He
went to get her. He knew where she was at and
he went to get her and to reconcile her and to bring her back to
himself. to bring her again, having his
servant with him and a couple of asses. And she brought him
unto her father's house. And when the father of the damsel
saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. Like he was, she maybe been
out on the field and he'd come to where she was at. And then
she brought him to her father. Then verse four, and his father-in-law,
The damsel's father, I want you to see this, retained him, constrained him, didn't want
him to go. And was there, he was there three
days, so they did eat and drink. Notice this word, this word is
here several times in this chapter, and they lodged there. Where'd
they lodge at? In this father-in-law's house.
Why is he even in this house? Why is He even lodging here?
I'll tell you why, because His wife's here. Why did Christ come
to this world? Why did He come into this world?
Because His bride's here. Why did He stay here as long
as He did? His bride's here. And said He abode three days.
Verse 5, And it came to pass on the fourth day that they rose
early in the morning, that He rose up to depart I can see the
Levite and his wife and his servant. They rise up to the park. It's
time to go. We're headed home. This is not
his home. And the damsel's father said
unto him, son-in-law, comfort thine heart with a morsel of
bread, and afterwards you can go your way. Can't you see him?
I can see him looking at him and saying, what you in such
a hurry for? You don't need to leave. You can stay right here.
And they sat down. And did eat and drink, both of
them together, for the damsel's father had said unto the man,
be content. I pray thee and Terry all night,
and let thine heart be merry. And when the man rose up to the
park, his father-in-law urged him therefore, and he lodged
there again. In verse eight. And he arose early
in the morning on the fifth day to depart. And the damsel's father
said, Comfort thy heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until
afternoon. And they did eat both of them
together. Do you not see? He just, he don't want him to
leave. And I think it's a selfish reason. I don't think he has
any concern for his son-in-law whatsoever. In verse 9, And when
the man arose up to depart, and his concubine. And you notice
that he's not leaving without her. He's not leaving without
her. Why? That's why he came to this
place. He and his concubine and his
servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said, Behold,
now the day draweth toward evening. You know, he wanted to leave
that morning. Well, he talked him into staying. Now it's afternoon.
Now it's late in the afternoon, almost getting ready to be dark.
Behold, now the day draweth to our evening. I pray you, tarry
all night. Behold, the day groweth to an
end. Lodge here. Why don't you stay
here another night? And thy heart may be merry, and
tomorrow you can get up early on your way that you mayest go
home." How did he know he was wanting to go home? He had told
him. He may tarry for a while in this
house, but this ain't his home. Why did he come to this house?
Why did this Levite come to this house to get his wife that he
chose and loved and was in a covenant relationship and he come to get
her to take her home? And this man wants to hinder
him. As I thought about this, I couldn't help but think about
You remember when Abraham sent for Isaac a bride? Remember how
he sent the servant? He said, you go back to my mother's
house, and you go back to where Laban lived there, which was
her brother, and said, you go find a bride for Isaac. And he
sent the servant. And he goes and finds Rebecca,
and they go take him home, and when they come into the house,
they stay there for a while, and it says in Genesis 24, verse
54, and they did eat and drank, he and the men that were with
him, and they tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning.
He couldn't wait to leave. He got up real early. I can see
him setting his alarm clock and said, we're going to get up in
the morning. You know why he's getting up in a hurry? He's wanting
to leave. You ever wanted to be somewhere?
He said, I can't wait, you can't even hardly sleep at night because
you want to leave. And it said, and her brother,
Rebecca's brother, and her mother said, that close kin, let the
damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten, and then she can
go. And you know what that servant
looked at them right square in the eye, and you know what he
said to them? Hinder me not. We ain't staying here any longer.
We've stayed here long enough. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord
hath prospered my way, send me away that I may go to my master. This man wants to leave and I
think he knows he wants to leave. Listen to me, your close family
and friends, you know what they do? They want to hinder you.
They don't want you to worship God. But I can tell you this,
if you're His and He called you and brought you and He comes
and fetches you and brings you to Himself, you want to be wherever
He is. Wherever it is. That's where you're going to
lodge. So you see the story. He comes
to get his wife. What I see in this chapter, I
see a journey. He's going from Bethlehem, Judah. We know what
Bethlehem is, the house of bread. And he's going to go to Mount
Ephraim, because that's where he's from. It said, that's part of verse nine,
that you may as go home. Verse 10, but the man would not
tarry that night. I can't stay another night in
this place. You ever been in places like that? You were ready
to leave. I can tell you this, if you are
God's, he will make you willing to be wherever he is. But he rose up and departed and
came over against, now watch this, over against Jebus. What
is Jebus? Which is Jerusalem. And there
were with him two asses saddled and his concubine who was with
him. And they that were by Jebus, and when they were by Jebus,
the day was far spent, the day's almost gone. And the servant
said to his master, the Levite, come, I pray thee, and let us
turn into this city of the Jebusites. Let us find lodging there tonight.
Where are we going to sleep tonight? He said, here's a place, it's
called Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And his master said unto them,
we won't turn aside hither. And to the city of a stranger
that is not of the children of Israel, he said, we're not going
to go into that place of them uncircumcised. We will pass over
into Gebeah. Now listen, Jebus. Why is it called Jebus?
Because that's where the Jebusites lived. We forget how long they
dwell in this city. Why were they still dwelling
here? Because they never drove them out. Listen, Joshua chapter
15 verse 63, and as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the children of Israel could not drive them out. But the Jebusites
dwelt with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day."
What did they do? They dwelt side by side. Not only could Judah not, Judges
chapter 1 verse 21, and we're going to see this portrayed in
this chapter also about Benjamin and the children of Benjamin,
didn't drive out the Jebusites. Why didn't they drive them out?
I believe it's because they didn't believe God. I believe if they
had believed God and trusted God, God would have drove out
these nations. And they didn't. Did not drive out the Jebusites
that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwelt with the
children of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day. You said you
mean it, Jerusalem? That's where they dwelt. Together. Side by side. How miserable. Because they wouldn't
drive them out. But one day they're going to
be driven out. It says in 1 Chronicles 11 verse 4, now this will bless
your heart. Those Jebusites have lived in that land for a long
time. And they said they ain't nobody
driving us out. And David and all Israel went
to Jerusalem, which is Jebus. where the Jebusites were, the
inhabitants of the land, and listen to what they said. And
the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you ain't coming in
here. And you know what the next verse
says? Nevertheless, David took the castle of Zion. He took it. When he comes to
conquer you, you can always say, oh, you ain't coming in here.
Oh, you just wait. If He comes to invade your heart, He's going
to conquer you. Isn't it? That's salvation. I
can just see them all. And Samuel says that, he said,
you know what they did on the top of the walls around Jerusalem?
They put the blind in the lane. As a mockery to people, they
said, you can't come in here until you take over the blind
in the lane. You're so weak you can't even overcome them. Nevertheless, David took it over. What's Jerusalem? Oh, the city
of peace. Where does the king dwell? I'll
tell you, in Jerusalem, the city of Zion. But at this point, he
says, we're not going in there. I can see the servant says, I'm
going to wear out. We've been traveling all day
and I give out. Why don't we just go in here
and rest?" He said, I'm not resting in there. Listen to me. You won't
just attend any church. You won't just lodge anywhere.
You know why? I knew the master, he said, basically,
it's not safe for us to dwell there. It's not safe. Verse 12, and his master said
to him, we won't turn inside thither into the city of a stranger
that is not of the children of Israel. We will pass over into
a Gebeah, into another city. And he said to his servant, come
and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night.
He said, I want a safe place where we can lay down and find
rest and lodging. Now listen, they didn't have
motels like we do now. Again, after me and Sandy, we
didn't drive that long yesterday. It wasn't that bad, but it was
nice to drive up to the Hampton Inn and go in and find lodging.
To go in and lay down and relax and find comfort and then lay
down last night and get a good night's rest. They said, we'll
go to this city. Why did they go to this city?
Because Benjamites lived in this city. And they passed on, verse
14, and went their way, and the sun went down upon them when
they were by Gebeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. I want you to see
this. He said, this must be a safe
place if there's Benjamites here, if there's children of God here,
shouldn't it? This should be a safe place. This should be
a nice place to find lodging. And they turned aside thither
to go in. and to Lodgen, Gebea. And when
he went in, he sat down in the street of the city, and don't
you see this, for there was no man that took them into his house
to Lodgen. Nobody. You mean nobody would
go out and say, would you come into my house? Does that not
remind you of something? When he came into his own, his
own received him not. There was no room for him in
the end. There was no Lodgen. He comes to this city and there's
no lodging. There's no one to show him hospitality. They'd rather let him just sit
out in the street. No man that took them into his
house to lodge. They did not show this man or
his wife hospitality. What does the word hospitality
mean? It is the act or practice of receiving and entertaining
strangers or guests without reward. They were generous. It's like
if you invited somebody into your house, you'd say, you come
on in. You can sleep in my bed. You
sleep in the best bed. In the morning, I'll come in
there and wake you up and breakfast will be on the table. And you lay down and you don't
have to worry about anything. That's hospitality. You ever noticed, I just noticed
today, you break that word down, what's the first part of that
word hospitality? It's hospital. Who goes to hospital? People
that are needy. I don't know if this is, I didn't
take time to look it up, but can you imagine not going to
a hospital where you never had to pay the bill? Where it was free
healthcare? I guarantee this, everybody would
be lined up, wouldn't they? Wouldn't that be a hospital?
I never thought I'd live to see the day that I seen hospitals
advertising for business. Did you? Hospitals, hospitality. He that is sick needs a physician. And he that is a stranger and
is a sojourner needs a place to lodge. In verse 16, so you see the picture. This man comes to this city,
which is Gebeah. No one offers him lodging. But let me tell you this, God
controls all things. Everything. Verse 16, and behold,
there came out an old man from his work out of the field at
evening, which was also Mount Ephraim. Where was the Levi from?
From Mount Ephraim. And he sojourned in this place,
but the men of the place were Benjamites. Who is this old man? Now bear with me. I believe this
old man is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I know the
world thinks if you say the word old man that he's some old man
bent over and he's decrepit and he's walking around with a cane
and he can't do something because nobody don't let him. I think
this word old means that he is old as eternity. He is the ancient
of days. Because this is how it describes
this man. And behold, there came an old man. Where did he come
from? He's coming from his work. Our Lord came to this world,
in this field, to finish his work. And he's coming back from
his work of the field that evening. And he was from Bountifrium. He sojourned in Gabbaiah, but
the men of the place were Benjamins. And when he lifted up his eyes,
He saw the wayfaring men. I like that word wayfaring. You
know what that is? That's a man that's a sojourner. He's just passing through. You
know what, as I look out over you tonight, you know what I
see? I see a bunch of wayfaring men. Just a bunch of sojourners
just passing through. And this old man happens to see
this wayfaring man sitting in the streets. And the old man
said, whither goest thou? And whence comest thou? I ain't
never seen you around here. Where are you from? Where are
you from? And don't you see this? He said unto him, we are passing
from Bethlehem, Judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim. We're
on a journey from Bethlehem, Judah to Mount Ephraim. From whence I am, and I went
to Bethlehem, Judah, but now, don't you see this? But I am
now going to the house of the Lord. That's why he didn't want to
stay in his father-in-law's house. He knew where he was going. I'm
going, I'm headed to the house of God. And then last part of
verse 18, and there is no man that receiveth me to his house. No man received him. And it's
not changed. Verse 19, yet there is both straw
and provender for our asses. There is bread and wine also
for me and for my handmaid and for the young man which is with
thy servant. There is no want of anything.
What he's saying to the old man, he's basically saying, no man
wants to give us lodging. He said, but we really don't
need anything. He said, I've got straw for the ass. We've got everything we need.
But look in verse 20, I want you to see this. And the old
man said, peace be unto thee. Keep your straw and your provender.
I don't need it. You ought to underline this next
statement, that all thou won't lie upon me. What's he saying? I'll take care of everything. I'll take care of everything. Trying to put myself in the place
of the Levite and the woman. I can see him sitting there in
the street. I can see him sitting down there. I said, what are
we going to spend the night at? What are we going to spend the
night at? And here comes this man. I said, I ain't seen you
around here before. I said, why are you sitting here?
He said, nobody's offered us lodging. He said, we're not dependent
on anybody. We don't really need anything.
He said, don't worry about anything. You come into my house and I'll
take care of everything. And listen to me, that's what
grace is. You don't bring anything. Everything's provided. He says,
that all thou won't lie upon me. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches and glory. Verse 21, so he brought him into
his house and gave provender to the asses, and they washed
their feet and did eat and drink. Can't you see when he brings
him into his house? You know what I thought about here? I thought
about the Good Samaritan. Remember, the Levite and the
priest walked by on the other side, wouldn't offer to help
him, showed him no hospitality. But Christ, the Good Samaritan,
came to where he was at. bound up his wounds, put him
on his own beast and took him to an end. And he said, here,
you take care of him. And he said, if you spend any
more than that, when I come back, I will repay you. I'll take care
of everything. And that's what grace is. He
takes care of everything. Where are we going to lodge?
He puts the roof over our head. He washes our weary, weary feet. Since I found out I was a diabetic,
I have to go to a foot doctor. They don't even want me cutting
my own toenails anymore, which I kind of like that. But one
part I really like is when they pull my shoes and my socks off
and they take lotion and rub my feet. I don't know if anything,
it feels better. And he said, you come into the
house. I'm going to wash your feet. You remember when our Lord
did that? He came and he put a towel around him and he got
down and he was going to wash Peter's feet. Peter said, you
ain't washing my feet. And he washed every one of them.
I can see that old man. He said, Mr. Levi, you sit right
there. And who's this girl with you? She's my bride. I'll take
care of her feet, too. He brought them into his house
and gave them Provender into his ass and they washed their
feet. Oh, they did eat and drink. What do you think they talked
about? They're from the same place. I can see them saying,
what was it like over on Mount Ephraim? I've not been there
in a while. I can see them reminiscing. We've got something in common.
He knows everything about you. And now the picture turns. What
a joyous occasion. They're celebrating, going to
find lodging and hospitality, everything they need under the
roof of this man. He's provided everything they
could ever want. And something happens. Verse
22. Now as they were making their
hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of
Belial, But set the house round about, and beat at the door,
and spake to the master of the house the old man, saying, Bring
forth the man that came unto thine house, that we may know
him." It sounds just like an account
we read in Genesis, doesn't it? Isn't that almost shocking? Almost terrifying. And this,
I want you to see, this is not in the city of Jebus. This is
not where the Jebusites dwell. This is where the Benjamites
dwell. Like I said, this displays the
depravity of men's hearts. Hear this man. Have you ever
noticed, seem like when God gives you rest for a little while,
it don't last long a lot of times. It says they surrounded the house.
They said, we want to know these men. And you know what that means.
They thought, we just want to know them. We want to know them. We want to know them. When the man was enjoying the
hospitality of this gracious man, While they were fellowshipping
together, these sons, it calls them sons of Bilal. What does
that mean? They were very wicked, lawless,
worthless creatures. Men under the influence of Satan
and their own lust. Like I said, these are supposed
to be the children of Israel. And God had warned them about
this also in the book of Deuteronomy. Listen, Deuteronomy 13, 12. If thou hear say in one of thy
cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there,
saying, Certain men, the children of Bilal, are gone out from among
you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of that city." You know what
they would say to them? Let us go and serve other gods
whom we've not known. They want to take you away from
God Almighty. Then shalt thou inquire, and
make search, and ask diligently, and behold, if it be true, and
the thing certain, and such abomination is wrought among you, thou shalt
surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of
the sword, destroying it utterly. All that is therein, and the
cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword, you don't leave
anything left whine, but call it to fester. It's a poison. It's a disease called sin. Listen, the character of these
wicked men is seen. Not only did they suffer no hospitality
to the stranger, who did they say, bring that man that came
under your roof, you bring him out. And we want him. but they were ready to violate
the sanctity of the hospitality of the old man's house by their
brutal violence. Read on. Verse 23. And the man, the master
of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, nay, my brethren,
nay, I pray you do not so wickedly. seeing that this man has come
into my house. He's come under my roof. Do not
thou folly. Behold, here is, now I can't
explain this. Behold, here is my daughter,
a maiden, and this man's concubine. Them will I bring out now and
humble them. Humble ye them and do with them
which seemeth good unto you. But unto this man, do not sow
a vile thing. But the men would not hearken
unto them. They won't listen to reason. But the men would not hearken
to him. So the man, the man, the Levite, took his concubine
and brought her forth unto them. Like I said, I can't explain
that. I can't explain it. And he brought
her forth unto them, and they knew her and abused her all the
night until the morning. And when the day began to spring,
they let her go." Horrifying. We can't even to
imagine what happened to this woman. And that morning, All men love
darkness because their deeds are evil. They let her go. Then
came the woman in the dawning of the day, and she fell down
at the door of the man's house, where her lord was, till it was
light. I can see, and there's something
here, I can't see it yet, maybe one day I'll see it. In her last
breath, she's going to her husband. She knows where he's at. She's
going toward that house. And when she gets to the door,
she collapses and dies on the threshold. And her Lord rose up, verse 27,
in the morning and opened the door of the house and went out
to go his way. And behold, the woman, his concubine,
was falling down at the door of the house. and her hands were
upon the threshold. And he said unto her, get up,
let us be going. But none answered. He must have
just thought she was laying there asleep. And none answered. Then the man took her, won't
you see this, and he took her upon his ass. And the man rose
up, and he get him to his place. Can you imagine that journey
home? I said, can you imagine that
journey home with his dead wife? And when he was come to his house,
what's he going to do? Is he going to make funeral arrangements?
No. He took a knife and he laid hold
on his concubine and he divided her together with her bones into
12 pieces and sent her to all the coast of Israel. He sent
a piece to every tribe of Israel. You know what he did? Verse 30, and it was so that
all that saw it said there was no such thing done nor seen from
the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land
of Egypt unto this day. Don't you know they thought,
what in the world does all this mean? Now just think for a minute.
If that went on in Gibeah, what's going on in all the other tribes?
They're not exempt. This is just one small incident. And he sends this piece of this
woman to all these tribes. And they said, nothing's ever
happened like this. Now look in the last part of
verse 30. Consider this. You consider this and you take
advice. He's speaking. You know what
I see here? Now you listen to me. God's getting
their attention. God will get your attention. He got their attention. I guarantee
you, when they got it and said they got it in a box or something,
it come in the mail, I guarantee everybody said, what? What does
this mean? What does this mean? Take advice
and speak your mind. Consider it. Take advice. He has now got Israel's attention. As I was thinking about this
message, it was kindly ironic. I saw on Sandy's desk the other
day was a bulletin from where I'd done when I was back at Covenant
of Grace back in 2010, and on the back of the bulletin was
an article. It just happened to be by your
pastor. You know what the title of the article was? What will
it take for God to get your attention? You remember that when Absalom
set Joab's fields on fire? Israel is God's elect people.
And let me tell you this, if you're his, he will not leave
you alone. Thank God he won't. I can tell you this. Listen to
me. If God intends to get your attention,
he'll get your attention. He got their attention. And I
can see everybody, what does all this mean? As we see everything that's happening,
what does all this mean? I'm going to read a few verses
from chapter 20. And I think this is ironic too. He divided
this woman into 12 pieces, separate pieces. Verse 20, verse 1 chapter
20, then all the children of Israel went out and the congregation
was gathered together as one man. Did he bring them together? What
brought them together? This right here. He did this, and he brought them
together. From Dan, even to Beersheba,
with the land of Gilead, and to the house of Mizpah. And the
chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel,
presented themselves in the assemblies of the people of God. 400,000
footmen that drew the sword, 400,000 men. Now the children of Benjamin
heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpah. Then
said the children of Israel, tell us, tell us, how was this
wickedness? What happened to cause all this? What happened? See, they don't
know, they've not been informed yet. Verse four, now watch this. And the Levite, the husband of
the woman, that was slain answered and said, I came to Gebeah that
belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. We came
to this city to lodge. And the men of Gebeah rose against
me." Who did they rise against? He said, they rose against me. Sin is sin against God Almighty. We don't want him reigning over
us. If man could, if he could get
to God, he would jerk God off his throne, but he can't. So
what does he do? He gets her bride. He wants to
destroy her. Isn't it? And that's what he
would do if he could do. And listen, and the men of Gebeah
rose against me and beset the house round about upon me by
night, and they thought, they thought to have slain me. So is there any question what
this is about? Is it not what the gospel reveals?
That it is sin against God. He said they sinned against,
they wanted to slay me. And my concubine have they forced,
and she is dead. That's why all this came about.
And I took my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout
all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed
lewdness in following Israel. Behold, you are the children
of Israel. Give here your advice." And basically he looks at him
and said, what are you going to do? Give your advice. What are you going to do? What
are you going to do? And here it is again, and the
people arose as one man, saying, we will not, we will not, any
of us go to his tent, neither will any of us turn to his own
house. And what goes on, They decide, let me see, verse 11,
so all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit
together as one man. And the tribes of Israel sent
men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin saying, what wickedness
is this that is done among you? Now therefore, now they're talking
to Benjamin. Now therefore, deliver us, the
men of the children of Balaam. Bring those men out that they
can be punished, that justice might be satisfied. which are
in Gibeah, that we may put them to death. Why should they put
them to death? That's what God said do. And
put away evil from Israel. But the children of Israel would
not hearken to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.
Do you know what they did? The rest of the tribes gathered
against Benjamin. They go up once. They said, God,
do you want us to go up? And they went up. Who won? Benjamin
did. Benjamin defeated all Israel,
the other 11 tribes. They said, do you want us to
go up again? God said, go up. What happens the second time?
They get beat again. That's like us thinking we can
take on things in our own strength. God intends to bring you to himself. Verse 24. No, verse 23. You picture this. They've done
lost twice. Now, man, that would get your attention, wouldn't
it? Wouldn't that get your attention? It'd get my attention. These men are
dying and it seems like these Benjamites are winning. And the
people, verse 23, and the children of Israel went up and wept before
the Lord. until even, and asked counsel
of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to battle against the children
of Israel, or Benjamin, my brother? And the Lord said, Go up. And
the children of Israel came nearer against the children of Benjamin
the second time. And Benjamin went forth against them out of
Gebeah the second time, and destroyed down to the ground the children
of Israel. Again, 18,000 men, all that drew the sword, then
all the children of Israel. Do you see that? Who all went?
Then all the children of Israel. And all the people went up and
came to the house of God. Did he get their attention? Did he bring them to himself?
Listen, that's what this is all about, to bring you to him. And
they came to the house of God, and they wept, and they sat there
before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And the children
of the Israel inquired of the Lord. Why did they inquire of
the Lord? For the ark of the covenant of God was there in
those days. Why are they here? That's where
the mercy seat's at. And here it is, and Phinehas,
the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, stood before the ark in
those days, saying, shall I yet go again up against Benjamin
and against the children of Benjamin, my brother, or shall I cease? God, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? And the Lord said, go up. For tomorrow will I deliver them
into thy hand." It will be different the third
time. You know what they did? They went up, and they delivered
them, and they purchased Israel, and they were so many of the
Benjamites left. I mean, there was just a handful
left, like 600 men that run and hid in a cave. Now, can you imagine?
These are children of God! What's going to happen to this
tribe? And you know, they also took a covenant and they said,
we're not going to give them our wives. Well, if they don't
give them wives in just a short while, they're going to die out.
But then their hearts begin to break to think that one tribe
out of Israel would not be anymore. And you read chapters, that's
the chapter 20 and 21 and you'll see what happens. But all this
happened, and listen, everything happens to bring us to the feet
of our Lord and to bring us to the mercy seat where justice
is satisfied. Or we would all perish. Where do we see ourself in that
story? By nature, we are all children of Belial. If God listened
to me, if God left us alone, it's untelling what we would
do and what we would become. But God loves his people and
he keeps them forever. Amen.