This may be the most disgusting chapter in Scripture. I wondered out loud, a couple of days ago, “How low can you go?” As low as it was then, this chapter is worse.
I think it is no mistake that the chapter begins, “In those days
Every part of this story troubles me.
· The father-in-law whose passive aggressive behavior drove the man, his servant and concubine to leave late at night necessitating them to make only a portion of the journey that first day.
· The town members who refused common courtesy of hospitality and left the traveling trio in the town square until late at night.
· The evil men of the town hunting for sex at any cost.
· The hospitable man who suggests casting his daughter and the concubine out rather than the male servant.
· The traveler who pushes his concubine out the door to the savage men. Then the next morning, steps over her body seemingly uncaring and unmoved by the travesty.
This chapter from beginning to end disgusts me. How low can we go? This chapter tells me that we humans can go pretty low!!!
Lord, this chapter drives me to my knees. I wonder how I would have reacted if I were a character in the story. I would like to think I might have acted differently, but there are no guarantees. I have every bit of human depravity coursing through my veins, just as these folks. Only the grace of God, the blood of Jesus and the on-going sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit separates me from the people in this story.
O, God, thank You. Thank You, Father, for Your grace, for calling my name and saving me. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me by Your blood, for washing me clean in Calvary’s atonement, for entering my life and giving me a new heart and a new standing with the Father. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for filling me, for working in my life day in and day out to make me more like Jesus. O, God, thank You for revealing Yourself to me and for saving me. You are my only defense against rampant depravity.
Hallelujah! I love You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I love You.
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