Horror overshadowed me as I read this chapter. Adding up the numbers….40,000 Israelite men and 25,000 Benjamite men were cut down in 3 days of battle. 65,000 men in three days… the cries, the pain, the families. Oh my! This does not include the destruction of the town of
I found myself thinking: God judges sin. Eventually God judges sin.
Reading this and other passages, some people respond, “How could God sanction all of this killing?” My thoughts go in a completely different direction. I think about how God judges sin. Evil behavior garnishes God’s wrath.
Evil behavior is not limited to the despicable behavior of the men of Gibeah and how they mistreated the man’s concubine. Evil behavior from God’s point of view –which is the only point of view that truly matters- is any behavior that breaks God’s law.
As I think about this, I find my life in jeopardy. I have broken God’s law. I deserve God’s wrath. And, yet, thanks be to Jesus, I have been saved from God’s wrath through faith in the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. And so I sit this morning thanking and blessing the Lord for His gift of salvation…
Lord, my fate could be like that of Gibeah… death and destruction. And not merely physical death but also eternal death and destruction. But thanks be to You I do not fear the grave, because my Savior, Jesus lives! And He will bring me with Him into glory when I breathe my final breath here on earth.
Lord, to You I offer my life today and daily. I pledge to live in such a way that people near and far hear about You and when I fall short of Your will, I will turn to You and confess my sin, receiving Your gift of forgiveness as promised in 1
Praise be to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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