[0:00] Psalm 88, we can sing verses 1 down to verse 8. Lord, you are the God who saves me. I entreat you night and day. May my pleading come before you. Turn my ear to me, I pray.
[0:13] For my soul is full of trouble, and my life draws near to death. Count it with the ones who perish. I have neither strength nor breath.
[0:24] Sing these verses to God's grace. Lord, you are the God who saves me. I entreat you night and day.
[0:43] May my pleading come before you. Turn your ear to me, I pray.
[0:56] For my soul is full of trouble, and my life draws near to death.
[1:11] And counten with the ones who perish. I am neither strength nor air.
[1:26] To let you know, I am not going before you. To let you know, I am not going before you. God's love, but let you know, I am not going before you. To let you know, I am not going before you.
[1:40] I am not going before you. I am not going before you. May I come from your care.
[1:57] In the lowest virtue cast me, In the darkest days of mine, Fire of this very only, And beneath your face I lie.
[2:29] Closed and wretched taken from me, Lost and turned my heart, High and drop this cave I come, With the impasse in my sight.
[3:00] So join together in a word of prayer. Lord God, we come before you this evening once more, And again we humble ourselves down before you, We understand that we bring to this place All our individual stories, All our individual personalities, All that we have gone through in life, And all that we're going through at this moment, That we bring to this place a variety of worries, And burdens, And pains.
[3:37] We bring to this place a variety of issues, Even at this very moment, Seen and unseen, Known and unknown. Issues that are private to us perhaps, Issues that some here are walking very much on their own.
[3:51] Issues that are issues of great darkness, And great pain, Of great worry, That induce great anxiety. We bring these things just now, Confessing we live in a sin-sick world, Where sin has had its effect in our lives, In situations of health, In family situations, Relationship, Finance, All that we have, And all that we are, We see the effect, That tainting of sin, That destruction of that evil reality, That all that we have is held so lightly.
[4:25] We bring these many burdens, Before you this evening. We come this evening as a people, Who are often, It feels like, At least assailed on all sides. A people who, Seem to face, Situation after situation, And hardship after hardship.
[4:44] We bring just now, Those here this evening, Who are going through these, Hard days, And these dark days. Lord, We bring them before your throne just now. We ask you, Be with them.
[4:54] We ask you, Give them comfort. Give them peace. We bring just now, Those who are grieving. Those who are grieving, That loss of recent weeks, And recent months.
[5:06] We also bring before you, As always, Those who are grieving, The loss perhaps, Of many years, And many decades ago, As the love remains, And as the longing and grieving, Is still strongly there.
[5:18] We bring them before the throne together. We ask for comfort, From the ultimate comforter. Pray just now, For those who are going through, Great family issues, And family hurts.
[5:31] Those who are feeling abandoned. Those who are feeling uncared for, And unloved. Those who are going through, Complicated situations. Lord, Perhaps you alone know, The exact details, Of these situations.
[5:43] We bring them before you, And we ask for them comfort, From the ultimate comforter. We bring before you just now, Those going through, Mental pain. Those going through, Perhaps mental health issues.
[5:57] Those who are, Acquainted with darkness. Those who are acquainted, With days and weeks, And months of hard days, And of tough days. Those who, Perhaps even finding, The strength to get up in the morning, And to even do the basics of the day, Is more than enough for them, We bring them before you.
[6:16] Those suffering physical illness, Those suffering the, Ongoing reality of appointments, And of waiting for phone calls, And of feeling in their own body, The attack, Of pain, And of illness, And of decay, And of decay, Lord, We bring them before you.
[6:35] And we know we can name, Many more situations, Even here this evening. Many more hard situations, Many more painful situations, And we can name only a few, But we bring all these, Situations before you.
[6:49] We bring before you, Just now, Everyone assembled in this place. Lord, You know us, You see us, You understand us. We bring before us, Especially just now, Your people. We give you praise, That even though we find ourselves, Often, Battered, And often, Thrown about in this world, We give you praise, That we have, A solid rock in Jesus.
[7:13] One who does not move, Who does not change. That regardless of diagnosis, And regardless of situation changes, That regardless of, These late night phone calls, Regardless of the panic, And fear we often face, That he is a constant help, A constant Lord, A constant friend, To all who know him, And who love him.
[7:38] We pray this evening, For our friends here once more, Who as of yet, Cannot say that they know you, Or that they love you, As they go through, The trials of this life, The same as we do. We ask that they would, Come to know, A saviour, Who will never abandon them, They will never have to go, Through any trials in this life, Alone, Never again.
[7:58] They will go through, All these situations, With one who has, Promised to go before them, And to lead them, And to guide them. We come this evening, Confessing our own pain, But also confessing, And we live in a world, Where there is much pain, We bring before you, The various pain, Of even our own village, The families, And the individuals, In this village, Who are going through situations, That perhaps are so complicated, And so dark, We bring these, Individuals before you, We ask the gospel light, To be shone into their lives, That we would see in Jesus, There is hope, There is life, And there is promise, Of perfect peace, From the God of peace himself, We ask that the gospel, That the gospel goes out, This evening, That we do so in power, Not the power of a man's speech, Not the power of my study, But Lord, The power, That you accompany your word with, That life changing power, I pray especially this evening, As we come to read passages, Which shine such an uncomfortable, Uncomfortable mirror,
[8:59] Onto ourselves, As we see just the, Depravity, And the evil in this world, As we see the evil, That we ourselves, Are very much capable of, Lord you would help us, Not to shy away, But help us, To firm, You'll plant our feet, And to look at these words, And look at your word, And to see that in it, We see the truth, Being reflected back onto us, That you are a God, Who loves your people enough, That you hide, Not these things from us, Instead you show us, The reality, Of the sin sick worldly, That we live in, But more than that, You show us the reality, Of how far, Our sin can go, How depraved, We can be, Lord it's uncomfortable reading, We give you praise for it, Give you praise, Because it, It brings to the forefront, The reality, There are many people, In this world, This evening, Many people just now, Indeed as we read in your word, There will be many women, Even just now, Who have faced, And are facing a similar circumstance,
[10:01] Lord you are a God, Who cares for the helpless, A God, A God who cares for justice, A God who will see, No sin being committed, But is not recompensed for it, We do thank you, You are a God of justice, You are a God of righteous wrath, You are a God, Who is a father, To the fatherless, Who cares, For the widow, Who cares, For the destitute, The abused, And the abandoned, You are close to all, Who cry out to you, You are a God, A God of righteous justice, A God of eternal mercy, A God of ongoing faithfulness, To your people, So in these, Eternal, Beautiful qualities, We come this evening, We throw ourselves down, Before you, We might not, We might not, See ourselves, Reflected perhaps, In our actions, In these chapters, And judges, But we confess, Equally, That we have sinned, Before a holy God, We have sinned, In various ways, And at various times,
[11:01] Before a holy God, That's on your mercy, And because of your mercy, We come this evening, It's in the hope, That we have a saviour, Who has died, For his people, Who suffered, For his people, Who lived a life, Of obedience, For his people, Who rose again, For his people, Who is now enthroned, At your right hand side, Making intercession, For his people, We have all these hopes, This evening, Based in the finished work, Of our eternal saviour, Help us this evening, Help us this new week also, To put into practice, As it were, What we've heard, From your word today, Help us never just to be hearers, But to be doers of the word, Help us to grow, In our knowledge, Yes, But in that knowledge growth, Help us to grow, In our love, And help us to grow, In our practice, In this place, To pray for those, In our homes, Those who are our neighbours, Our friends, Our family, Who as of yet, Have no gospel care, Who as of yet, Have no care of their souls,
[12:03] We pray especially, For those who are, On our minds just now, As we think of our loved ones, Who we are praying, Desperate to come to know you, We pray for them again, Just now, Who bring these names, Before the throne, We cannot save them Lord, And we feel that, And at times, We mourn that, But we know that you can, That you can save, And save to the uttermost, We pray for our congregation, We pray the same, For our wider community, That your name would be known, The gospel would be known, That Jesus would be praised, And glorified, And loved, From home, To home, From catholic, To catholic, From the glen, To gary, In this place, Lord, That would be our vision, That would be our prayer, That would be our hope, That would be our expectation, And we come just now, With that full expectation, We expect at times, And we hope, At times, For so little, But we come to our gracious, And generous, And glorious God, And it's often our small faith,
[13:05] Which limits our prayers, Well with a heart of small faith, We pray as a congregation, Knowing that we cannot do it, But you can, We ask we would see, Days of revival, And days of refreshing, And days of renewal, Indeed from the glen to gary, We would see, Every home in this place, Being touched, With that reality, That you are God, That they must answer to you, That there is no hope, And no help outside of you, But with you, There is a saviour, Provided by you, The Lord Jesus Christ, We ask that his name, Would be known, And glorified, In every home, In this community, Every home in this village, Until we see, These days of revival, These days of, Gospel blessing, Help us to be faithful, In this day of small things, Help us to be faithful, With the small duties, And the small task, You've given us, Of stewarding the gospel well, Help us to have, A missionary mindset, Every one of us, That we were saved to serve, And not saved as it were to sit, Help us to be willing,
[14:05] To go out, And to be involved, And do whatever it is, You're leading us to do, In order that we'd see, Your name glorified, And see the gospel spread, Help us to be faithful, Help us to remember, To keep in prayer, The wider church, We pray for the wider, Free church, Our own denomination, Lord, We thank you for the, Good news of church plants, And of church growth, We also bring before you, The news of, Struggling congregations, And of struggling presbyteries, Where the gospel work, Seems to be such a, A hard work, We thank you for faithful servants, In these places, Faithful men, And faithful women, Faithful ministers, Faithful sessions, A faithful presbytery, Where your word, Is being shared, Week after week, Pray for the wider church, In Scotland, Across the denominations, Pray Lord, For all the faithful, Congregations this day, Who are seeking, To worship you, In spirit and in truth, We pray the same for UK, And the same for our world, We pray as we are part, A small part,
[15:05] Of a world, Wide church, Where you have your people, Every corner of this world, Until the day comes, We join together in glory, Help us all to serve you faithfully, To serve you well, To serve you with self-sacrifice, To serve you with, An unbounding willingness, Or forgive us our sin, As we've prayed already, We commit, That we have committed sin, We confess that we have, Gone against you, We confess that we are sinners, Whether we believe it or not, Whether we want to think about it or not, It does not change it, We are sinners before you, But sinners, Saved by a saviour, For those of us, Who know and who love him, It's in his name, And it's for his sake, We ask his many things, Amen, Let's join together, To read in God's word, A book of judges, As we said, A book of judges, We can read together, Chapter 19, But as we said, Last week and this morning, We'll be looking at 19, 20, And 21, 21,
[16:06] Judges chapter 19, It's on page 204, Of the church bibles, Page 204, We can read chapter 19, And remind ourselves, Of the final verse, Of chapter 21, To, First of all, Judges 19, Let's again hear, The word, Of God, In those days, When there was no king, In Israel, A certain Levite, Was sojourning, In the remote parts, Of the hill country, Of Ephraim, Who took to himself, A concubine, From Bethlehem, In Judah, And this concubine, Was unfaithful to him, And she went away, From him, To her father's house, At Bethlehem, In Judah, And was there, Some four months, Then her husband, Arose, And went after her, To speak kindly, To her, And bring her back, He had with him, A servant,
[17:06] And a couple of donkeys, And she brought him, Into her father's house, And when the girl's father, Saw him, He came with joy, To meet him, And his father-in-law, The girl's father, Made him stay, And he remained with him, Three days, So they ate, And drank, And spent the night there, And on the fourth day, They arose early in the morning, And he prepared to go, But the girl's father, Said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your heart, Of a morsel of bread, And after that, You may go, So the two of them, Sat and ate, And drank together, And the girl's father, Said to the man, Be pleased to spend the night, And let your heart be merry, When the man, Rose up to go, His father-in-law, Pressed him, Until he spent the night, There again, And on the fifth day, He rose early in the morning, To depart, And the girl's father, Said strengthen your heart, And wait until the day declines, So he ate both of them, And when the man, And his concubine, And his servant, Rose up to depart,
[18:07] His father-in-law, The girl's father, Said to him, Behold, Now the day has waned, Toward evening, Please spend the night, Behold, The day draws to its close, Lodge here, Let your heart be merry, And tomorrow, You shall arise early in the morning, For your journey, And go home, But the man, Would not spend the night, He rose up, And departed, And arrived opposite, Jabez, And Jerusalem, He had with him, A couple of saddle donkeys, And his concubine, Concubine was with him, When we were near Jabez, The day was nearly over, And his servant, Said to his master, Come now, Let us turn aside, To the city of Jebusites, And spend the night in it, His master said to him, We will not turn aside, Into the city of foreigners, Who do not belong, To the people of Israel, But we will pass on, To Gibeah, He said to his young man, Come let us draw near, To one of these places, And spend the night, At Gibeah, Or Ramah, So they passed on, And went their way,
[19:09] And the sun went down, On them near Gibeah, Which belongs to Benjamin, And they turned aside there, To go in, And spend the night at Gibeah, And he went in, And sat down, In the open square of the city, For no one, Took them into his house, To spend the night, And behold, An old man was coming, From his work, In the field that evening, The man was from the hill country, Of Ephraim, And he was sojourning, In Gibeah, The men of the place, Were Benjaminites, And he lifted up his eyes, And saw the traveller, In the open square of the city, And the old man said, Where are you going, And where do you come from?
[19:46] He said to him, We are passing, From Bethlehem, To Judah, To the remote parts, Of the hill country of Ephraim, From which I am come, I went to Bethlehem, And Judah, And I am going, To the house of the Lord, But no one has taken me, Into his house, We have straw, And feed for our donkeys, With bread and wine, For me and your female servant, And the young man with your servants, There is no lack of anything, And the old man said, Peace be to you, I will care for all your wants, Only do not spend the night in the square, So he brought him into his house, And gave the donkeys feed, And they washed their feet, And ate and drank, As they were making their hearts merry, Behold, The men of the city, Worthless fellows, Surrounded the house, Beating on the door, And they said to the old man, The master of the house, Bring out the man, Who came into your house, That we may know him, And the man, The master of the house,
[20:46] Went out to them, And said to them, No, my brothers, Do not act so wickedly, Since this man has come into my house, Do not do this vile thing, Behold, Here are my virgin daughter, And his concubine, Let me bring them out now, Violate them, And do with them what seems good to you, But against this man, Do not do this outrageous thing, But the men would not listen to him, So the man seized his concubine, And made her go out to them, And they knew her, And abused her all night, Until the morning, And as the dawn began to break, They let her go, As morning appeared, The woman came, And fell down at the door of the man's house, Where her master was, Until it was light, And her master rose up in the morning, And when he opened the doors of the house, And went out to go his way, Behold, There was his concubine lying at the door of the house, With her hands on the threshold, He said to her, Get up, Let's be going, There was no answer,
[21:49] And then he put her on the donkey, And a man rose up, And went away to his home, When he entered his house, He took a knife, And taking hold of his concubine, He divided her, Limb by limb, Into twelve pieces, And sent her throughout all the territory of Israel, And all who saw it said, Such a thing has never happened, Or been seen, From the day that the people of Israel came up, Out of the land of Egypt, Until this day, Consider it, Take counsel, And speak, Just reading, The last verse now, Of Judges, That final verse, 21, Verse 25, To help us summarise, All we've read, And have in these chapters, In those days, There was no king in Israel, Everyone did what was right, In his own eyes, Amen, We give praise to God for his word, It is true, It is perfect, And it is holy, Let's again sing to God's praise, This time,
[22:49] From the Psalter, Scottish Psalter, Psalm 89, Scottish Psalter, Psalm 89, Verses 14, Down to verse 18, Scottish Psalter, Psalm 89, Verses 14, Down to verse 18, Justice and judgment of thy throne, Are made the dwelling place, Mercy, Mercy accompanied with truth, Shall go before thy face, O greatly blessed the people are, The joyful sound that know, In brightness of thy face, O Lord, The ever on shall go, Psalm 89, Verses 14 to 18, To God's praise, Do not sing, Notice in sincere words, Again, The 75 bet από the holy land, The Lord, if youak an air faithful, I should say they're there in the room in the room,
[23:57] Let it go and bless the name of God, CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[25:02] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[26:17] CHOIR SINGS The verse of chapter 21.
[26:51] In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. After what, I was going to check in the diary, but a good while now in Judges we come to an end.
[27:05] It was a cursory glance through Judges. We hit on some of the high points, but mostly the low points of the book of Judges.
[27:15] As it's meant to be. Again, as we said, again and again, it's a book which is meant to be a mirror to show us what we are like. And if that is the case, then Judges ends on the lowest of low notes.
[27:30] We come to these final few chapters. And if you've done your homework last week or today, even reading just now. I mean, I've read this chapter countless times the last few weeks.
[27:41] And even reading it again just now, fresh with yourselves. It's a dark chapter. It's a dark few chapters. It's supposed to be. And really, when you come to the end of a book study, a scripture study, a sermon series, as a minister, you want to end the sermon series on a high note.
[28:02] I hope we will. But we have to end it on a high note in direct contrast to what it is scripture is actually saying to us. There are many, understandably, and in various ways, they struggle with why chapter 19 is actually even in scripture.
[28:27] And it comes down to the fact that you have to understand that we have to understand that, again, it's descriptive. It is God describing what took place.
[28:41] It is God accounting what took place. It is God allowing to be recorded what took place, good or bad. In this case, it's pretty much all bad. As we come to our final section this evening, this is often called the darkest passage of scripture, humanly speaking.
[29:03] And it should make us uncomfortable. It's written to make us uncomfortable. It's recorded to make us uncomfortable. Note what is missing from chapter 19.
[29:17] Or really, I should say, who is missing from chapter 19. We see Israelites. We see Levites. We see God's people. There is no mention whatsoever, of course, of God himself.
[29:31] Literally speaking, and in the text itself, God is very much absent from the minds of his people in our reading this evening.
[29:44] We can just summarize as we go ahead. Again, we're dealing with three chapters. We'll focus mostly chapter 19 because chapters 20 and chapters 21 are the aftermath of chapter 19.
[29:59] They all flow together. They're all because of chapter 19. And we can hopefully end our time focusing on that last verse of Judges. So we join chapter 19 and we have the first character.
[30:11] Now, one thing, and this is obvious, but just in case, let's not forget, these were real people. These are not parables. These are not stories.
[30:22] This Levite was a real man. And sadly, this concubine, this woman, was a real woman. Their experiences were real. Their reality truly happened.
[30:34] They suffered and they saw and they partook in exactly what it is we read here. These are real people. Removed from us by culture and time. Yes, a good few thousand years ago and a good distance away.
[30:47] But they're real people with hopes and dreams. Times of laughter, times of sadness. Times of sadness. Don't disconnect yourselves from the reality. These are real people. And this real man, we find first this Levite.
[31:00] This holy man. Of course, born to serve in the temple. This Levite whose very purpose, whose very calling was to partake in the worship of God.
[31:13] And especially at this time where the land is so full of evil. Where there's so much persecution. Where babies are being murdered and sacrificed. To the gods we've been hearing the last few weeks.
[31:25] Last few months now. This is a man who at this time should be a shining glorious light for God. His whole purpose in life is to serve the Lord in the temple.
[31:36] To serve the Lord however he can. He's a Levite. A holy tribe. A set apart tribe. Who does the Levite have with him?
[31:46] Well he's taken to himself. A concubine. Now, it's a wife of sorts. Literally, you see our translations. A literal translation is she's a small wife.
[32:00] She's a lesser wife. You see the terminology. He has a father-in-law. He's a son-in-law himself. He has a wife anyway. A proper wife.
[32:10] He then has a concubine. A second wife. But he's not married twice really. This second wife. She's much lower value. Much lower class.
[32:22] She's there just to serve the needs of the Levite. If we're being very honest. And very open. This is a woman who has been. Got a hold of.
[32:33] Purchased perhaps. Cajoled perhaps. Because the father-in-law seems quite happy with him. But out of the way. He has this concubine. He has this second lesser wife.
[32:47] Already this Levite is in deep sin. This is a man of God. Who should have one wife. No. He already has this second wife. What a start.
[32:58] Of course it only gets worse. As we carry on. And note he is nameless. And that's important also. This nameless man. Who is supposed to be set aside.
[33:10] To the service of God. In the first two verses. We find out he's living a life. Of complete abject sin. Anyway this man. Has this concubine.
[33:21] Again this woman is unnamed. A young woman we are sure. And we assume she was bought. Or somehow given over. To the Levite. To be his lesser wife. To be just.
[33:32] Really a slave. Of sorts. Based some care for her at least. We see here she's been unfaithful. She has run away also. After being unfaithful.
[33:43] This is a woman who has a life. That's been. We can assume very. Uneasy. It's a difficult life for her. We can't begin to imagine. What her life looks like. This Levite.
[33:54] His wife has run away. So he goes. After her. To find her. To bring her back to himself. To convince her. To come home to him. Here's where we find this section.
[34:04] Taking place. This long section. Which is fascinating. The Levite goes. To the girl's father. And the girl's father. Seems to be quite happy. With the arrangement. He's quite happy.
[34:15] That his daughter. Is with this Levite. He's so happy. He gives him. These days. Upon days. Of outpouring. Of love. And care. Day after day.
[34:26] He plies them. With food. And drink. Of course. The culture of the time. Was to be generous. To your visitors. It's a wee bit like. Our culture here. We still have it. But of course. In years gone by.
[34:37] Whoever came to your door. Was guaranteed. A warm welcome. Guaranteed some food. Guaranteed some time. Well of course. Their culture. In the Middle East. And the culture. We still have it today. In many places.
[34:47] In the Middle East. It's one of hospitality. Without reading. Too much. Into the text. He seems like. A genuinely. Caring man.
[34:58] The favern law. He wants. To do his best. To impress. The Levite. And he has them. For these days. But eventually. Of course. It's time. To leave.
[35:10] And she seems. A concubine. To go. Quite happily. With the Levite. But seems to go. Okay. There's no. Word of a struggle here. So she leaves.
[35:20] With him. We're heading on now. Back. Home. We see that. In verse nine. And the journey begins. And they head. Back home.
[35:32] Man wouldn't spend the night. In verse ten. And note. The journey home. It's a long journey. It's. It's a hard journey. You can imagine yourself. Travelling. Day and night.
[35:43] We're heading to a rough climate. It's a rough terrain. It's not easy. Travel. And quite understandably. There's a wee servant with him. And his wee servant. Says to him. Can we not rest here. Of the night. It's getting dark.
[35:54] We're getting tired. It's a long journey ahead. We're not very safe. Can we not rest. Here. With the. Or close to the Jebusites. And Jabez. Of the night. But understandably.
[36:05] The Levite. Says. Well no. We're not safe here. Let's go instead. To where our people live. We're close enough to Gibeah. We can make it to Gibeah. There's Israelites there.
[36:17] If we find Israelites. We'll be safe enough with them. They're God's people. The people of Israel. Are there. At the end of verse 12. We see that. His master said to him.
[36:28] The servant. We will not turn aside. To the city of foreigners. Who do not belong. To the people of Israel. But we will pass on. To Gibeah. In other words. We'll be fine there. We'll be safe there.
[36:39] God's people are there. God's chosen people of Israel. They dwell in that area. That's safe enough. So we see of course. They press on.
[36:49] Through these Philistine run areas. These Philistine inhabited towns and villages. These places where the master of the Levite thinks are unsafe.
[37:00] And they crack on and arrive. Assuming they'll be welcomed safely to Gibeah. To this town of Benjamin. Where the Benjaminites live. A town where they have their fellow Israelites.
[37:13] Those who know God. Who worship God. Who serve God. Like the Levite. Tries to do. Of course we know there is no friendly welcome for them.
[37:25] They arrive to the town of Gibeah. And we see that. It's apparent from the wording. They've tried to find somewhere to stay. But no one. We see in verse 15.
[37:35] As the old man asks them. They turned aside there. To go and spend the night in Gibeah. Sat down in the open square. For no one took them into his house.
[37:46] They've asked around. They've searched around. No one has shown them any care. Any concern. The people of God have not loved them. These Israelites have not loved them.
[37:57] They're spending the night out in the cold. They're well prepared. They're okay. They're quite happy to do that. It seems. They've got supplies. They've got provisions. They're a travelling party.
[38:10] Until this old man. This aged man appears. Who seems very concerned. Doesn't he? As he approaches this foreigner. This unknown man.
[38:22] In the city square himself. And his servant and his wife. As he approaches this small gathering. This old man is very concerned. That they do not spend the night in the square.
[38:34] Very concerned. We see the wording here. And the wording is even more emphatic. In the Hebrew. It's much more short. He's not as verbose. He's saying a lot less. We see here verse 20.
[38:46] Only do not spend the night in the square. Quite literally in the Hebrew is. Do not stay square. Do not stay in the square. Come to my house.
[38:57] Do not stay here. And our minds. Our minds are then drawn. Or should be drawn. And are supposed to be drawn back.
[39:08] To a situation. Where this exact same thing took place. Elsewhere in scripture. Genesis chapter 19. Verses 1 down to verse 3.
[39:19] We see almost the exact same situation. Scenario. Taking place. Where Lot. Says to the angels. Genesis 19.
[39:30] Verses 1. Down to verse 3. The two angels came to Sodom. In the evening. Of course remember the angels were looking as normal men. They came to Sodom in the evening.
[39:41] Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them. He rose to meet them. And bowed himself with his face towards the earth. And said. My lords. Please turn aside. To your servants house.
[39:52] And spend the night. And wash your feet. Then you may rise up early. And go your way. They said. No. We will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly.
[40:05] So they turned aside to him. And entered his house. And he made a feast. And baked unleavened bread. And they ate. This kind old man.
[40:17] Is being kind. There's an undertone. There's a pleading tone. To his begging of him. To come to his house. Do not stay. Where you can be seen. Or noticed. Unfortunately.
[40:30] They've been seen. They've been noticed. They've already been. As it were. Door to door. Trying to find somewhere to stay. We saw that. In the text. They found nowhere. Implying they searched for somewhere.
[40:41] It's known. That they're there. And night time. Is drawing in. But we see. They washed their feet. They ate. And. They drank.
[40:56] Verse 22. We see the evil men. Of this evil town. As they're making their hearts. Merry. Their loving life. In this old man's house.
[41:06] They're having their wine. They're having their feast. Life is going well. As they're making their hearts. Merry. Behold. The men of the city. Worthless fellows.
[41:17] Surrounded the house. Beating on the door. Now. There's already plenty of sin. In this story. You've got a Levite. Who's ruined his vows to God. You've got a concubine.
[41:28] Who's unfaithful. You've got all the sin. And all the evil already. But we know. And we know. Sadly. This account. Now. Takes. As it were. This.
[41:38] Grim. Turn. Brothers and sisters. And friends. I assure you. My every fiber. My every thought. Wants to word this. In a more. Of a section.
[41:49] In a more palatable way. Both for my sake. To be honest. But also. Our sake. As a congregation. But we're handling God's word. And if we change God's word.
[42:00] To make things more palatable for us. We are in great sin. God's word is God's word. He's recorded as he's recorded it. And we must preach it. And listen to it. And read it.
[42:11] As it's given to us. And the truth is. We can't avoid. This section. We can't just skip past it. Because. It is there to show us. The reality.
[42:21] Of evil. The reality. Of the depravity. Of what sin. Unchecked sin. What it leads to. What rebellion. Truly. Leads to.
[42:33] The men of Gibeah. Come to the door. They knock on the door. And they demand. What? They're hammering on the door. They're desperate.
[42:44] To see. And meet this foreign. Travelling man. Why? At the end of verse 22. They're saying.
[42:54] As they're shouting. And banging on the door. Bring out the man. Who came into your house. That we may know him. There's a reason. Our minds are supposed to go back.
[43:04] To Sodom. And the angels. This is. An exact situation. An exact. Repeating. Of the exact same situation.
[43:16] The men of this area. The men of this town. They want. To abuse. This man. Now. We can word it. Any other way you want. And our English translations.
[43:27] Word it quite carefully. But to the Hebrew reader. And to those who read this account. When they say the word here. To know this man. There is no.
[43:39] Padding there. There is no palatability there. It is clear. What they're saying. Just as the men of Sodom. Wanted to know the angels. The men of this town. They want to know the man.
[43:51] The exact same wording. As Adam knew Eve. And the bare children. We know what they wanted to do. With this man. There is dark evil here.
[44:02] And there is a town wide evil. It's a large gathering. Not all the town perhaps. But a good number of these men. Of the town. Are surrounding.
[44:13] This house. But note. The men on the inside. Aren't any better. Not once. We see the old man. Bargaining.
[44:24] For a second. Not once. Do we see these men. Trying to fight their way out. Not once. Do we do anything other than what. What is their only solution. The old man says.
[44:35] My daughter is a virgin. This man is a concubine. Take them instead. What kind of father is he? What kind of man is he?
[44:47] The evil inside of this home. It's just as bad as the evil outside it. In the end. This Levite. This holy man of God. He throws out.
[44:58] His mistress really. To these men. Hoping that will keep. The peace. Hoping that will. Will keep my way. Long enough. He throws.
[45:12] Them out. He throws her out. To save the concubine. And again. We read. The scripture. Scripture. As much as it makes us uncomfortable. Scripture records.
[45:24] What took place. The men would not listen to him. So the man. Verse 25. Seized his concubine. And made her go out to them.
[45:35] And they knew her. And abused her. All night. Until the morning. As the dawn began to break. Let her go. And note that. And it's supposed to be horrifying.
[45:47] And pitiable. And dark. And as the morning appeared. The woman came. And fell down at the door. Of the man's house. Where her master was.
[45:57] Until it was light. And look how he finds her. Hers is there. Verse 27. With her hands. In the threshold. She just got.
[46:09] To the edge of the door. But she didn't get. In again. Contrast that. To the master. Who seemed to have slept. Quite well that night. The master.
[46:20] Arose up in the morning. He's quite chirpy. He survived at night. He had his wine. He had his food. Right. Carry on journey. Let's get home. No word it seems.
[46:31] Of what took place. During that night. He slept quite well. It seems. And he finds her there. Almost an inconvenience. To him. And he says to her. No word of what happened.
[46:43] No word of. Of sympathy. His first words. To this abused woman. To this assaulted woman. Get up.
[46:53] Let's be going. Get up. Let's go. Literally. Get up. Let's go. No care. No love. Just. Evil.
[47:06] Well she's. She's passed away. Clearly. There's no answer. As the writer. Carefully words it. She's died. The abuse has been so. Horrifying.
[47:16] This woman hasn't survived the night. Quite simple. Or she's died. At some point. In the journey home. Because of the abuse. Side of the way. This woman hasn't survived. The evil she encountered.
[47:27] But. It gets bad. And it goes worse. And of course. Look what this man does. And you read this.
[47:37] You think. What is going on here. But. Evil has no logic. Sin has no logic. Really. He gets home. And to show. The other tribes of Israel.
[47:48] How evil. Benjamin was. How evil the men of Gibeah were. How they mistreated him. He cuts her up. His abused.
[47:59] Dead. Mistress. He cuts her up. And he sends her body parts. To the other tribes. To show what took place to him. Evil. Disgusting. Twisted.
[48:11] Sin filled. Dark hearted logic. As that brother was saying. Just now. We came through. It almost proves.
[48:21] The authenticity of scripture. Because you would never include this story. If it wasn't true. If you were trying to make up a religion. You wouldn't include this stuff. You would not include it.
[48:32] But it's there. Because it happened. It happened. Because we are sinners. So of course. This woman.
[48:44] She's. Abused in life. And even in her death. Her body is disrespected. And she's. Her body parts. Are sent. Are effectively posted. To the other tribes of Israel.
[48:55] Of course. The other tribes. To summarize chapter 20. It must be a summary. But just to summarize quickly. Chapter 20 then. Is. Is Israel then. The other tribes.
[49:07] They hear the story. They hear the account. And of course. They are horrified. As they should be. They are. Traumatized themselves. As they hear of the evil. Of Benjamin.
[49:19] People of Israel. Said to man. In verse. Three. Tell us. How did this evil happen? Now. No time. Just now. But. If you have time. Look how the man answers. In verse four. Chapter 20.
[49:30] It's very convenient. Somehow he is. Not involved. Anyway. That's a different sermon. A different day. But. It's amazing. How quickly. We remove ourselves. From our own sin. But anyway. The wider Israel.
[49:42] Now. He hears. Of evil. That took place. So. In summary. The rest of Israel. Now. Begin. Warfare. Against.
[49:52] Benjamin. Against. This tribe. The. The. The horror of it. The evil of it. It. Makes them rise up. Together. And finally.
[50:03] Just finally. Now. We see God. Being consulted. Somewhere. In these chapters. The other tribes. Gather together. A fighting force.
[50:13] And they go. To consult with God. In verse 18. They go to Bethel. And they say to God. Who shall go up first. To fight. Against the people of Benjamin.
[50:25] The Lord said. Judah. Should go up first. But we see. Israel faces. A real onslaught. From Benjamin. Benjamin.
[50:35] Will not give up. These men. And because of that. Israel. The rest of Israel. Now fight. Against. Benjamin. And say. Well. They lose. The first battle.
[50:45] Really. Israel. Loses. Against. The tribe of Benjamin. And they're sent home. Crying. Sent home. Sent packing away. Israel tries again. And. They have more.
[50:56] Impact. And they have. Lose more men. And eventually. Israel changes tactics. And they destroy. And begin to attack.
[51:09] Benjamin. But note. What takes place. God. Of course. There's no. There's good justice. In. The men.
[51:20] Being. Attacked. For the evil. They did. These are abusive. These are rapists. These are evil men. But Israel. Goes. Too far.
[51:31] And they lay waste. To the towns. Of Benjamin. They lay. We. We. We. Lay waste. To the whole area. City. To city. And.
[51:42] Town. To town. Verse 48. At the end of chapter 20. And the men of Israel. Turned back. Against the people of Benjamin. And they struck them. With the edge of the sword. The city.
[51:52] Men. And beasts. And all that they found. And all the towns. That they found. They're told. And they're allowed.
[52:03] To. Bring justice. To the abusive. Evil men. In Gibeah. Instead. They're so. Full of. Anger.
[52:13] And evil. They destroy. The whole tribe. Of Benjamin. Town. After town. They burn down. Towns. Had nothing to do. With the situation. They get burnt down. These are our countrymen.
[52:24] These are our fellow Israelites. They're just burning. Everything they find. And that sin. That evil. Leads. Of course. Then. To more evil. And.
[52:35] Judges. Ends. With the strangest chapter. The strangest chapter. Really. Benjamin. Has now. Of course. They've been destroyed.
[52:46] Almost. Most of our men. Are gone. And. Plenty of our women. Have been killed. Too. So. Benjamin. Have a problem. The tribe. Have a problem. There's no woman. Left. To have wives.
[52:56] To find wives. They want wives. But there's no woman. Left. We've all been killed. By the Israelites. Of course. They won't get. Women.
[53:07] From the other tribes. Perish. A thought. Suddenly. Now. Suddenly. Israel. Thinks. It's a bad idea. To find women. And wives. From the Philistines. And the other tribes. They've had no problem. The past.
[53:18] 200 years. Before this. But suddenly. This one area. They find their conscience. We can't find wives. For Benjamin. From the other tribes. Outside of Israel. And Israel.
[53:28] Feels sorry. For Benjamin. They feel sorry. For the. The fact. They've killed. Half their tribe. Or not more. So.
[53:39] We see. Here. The rest of Israel. Have this. Amazing idea. How to find. Wives. For Benjamin. How do we find. Wives. This tribe.
[53:50] With which. We killed. Most of our women. Well. Which. Of the other tribes. Of Israel. Didn't help us. What. Your tribes. Of Israel. Didn't rise up.
[54:00] To fight. Against Benjamin. At the start. Of all this. Which of the sect. Which of the gatherings. Well. They. They. They. They. They do. A. A.
[54:11] A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
[54:21] A. Verse 12. Chapter 21. And they found among inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead. This tribe this gathering which didn't help them at the start. Which didn't join the fight against Benjamin.
[54:33] They found in this tribe 400 young virgins. And they steal the woman. They just take them and give them to Benjamin.
[54:44] in summary so far in response to that one concubine and the abuse she faced Israel then destroys not just one town many towns and then assists and comes up with a plan which then steals 400 girls to give and take and give to men I can add commentary but what commentary do you add?
[55:17] the depravity of man it gets worse Benjamin says it's not enough we need more women Israel give us, find us more women Israel feels sorry for them and again verse 15 the people of Israel had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel we're not happy with God's justice to then go against God's justice they try and think how to find even more women for Benjamin to steal and have their wives and it gets dark now it gets really dark Israel now hatched a second grand plan look at this verse 19 so they said behold there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh which is north of Bethel on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Libanoa and they commanded the people of Benjamin saying go and lie in ambush in the vineyards and watch if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance the dances then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin so they've stolen 400 women from this tribe which didn't help they now find the rest of the women by snatching by kidnapping by stealing women young girls who are going up to worship God they're going to worship God and on the way to worshiping God the way home from that worship
[57:08] Israel advises Benjamin they're on their own there they'll be dancing they'll be full of joy they won't be aware you go kidnap them then that'll work for you it's just evil so much evil the abuse of these women it's dark it's very dark isn't it the people of Benjamin verse 23 did so and took their wives according to their number from the dancers whom they carried off now you note the wording there whom they carried off they dragged them away these aren't willing women happy to be married to these Benjaminites no these are poor girls who are walking home singing and dancing praising the Lord and they're kidnapped and they're dragged away against their will to a foreign place basically miles away from their home yes they're all Israelites but they're different cultures completely being dragged away their parents their fathers their brothers having no idea what's happening to them really and they're dragged away to be made wives to Benjaminites and it ends with the verse we have in those days there was no king in Israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes there was no king that was true of course locally but it's also true morally because the lack of a king it represents the people had no guidance they had no understanding they had no one to hold them accountable for their waywardness and we saw we said we start the book of Judges encompasses 200 plus years and these 200 plus years we saw nothing but sin and rebellion and sin and rebellion that cycle
[59:11] God rescues his people and they engage in worse sin they cry out God rescues them they engage in worse sin and so on and so on and the most terrifying thing with the final few chapters is you'll note there's no judge there's no one coming to save Israel anymore why is that?
[59:33] because Israel up to this point were fighting the enemies the Philistines and the Gibeonites the Perizzites the Jebusites they're fighting the enemy outside of Israel all the evil we've seen this evening it's all from within Israel there's no judge coming to save them there is no help coming for them they have been left to their own sin left to their own evil left to their own darkness here we see just a glimpse of an unchecked sinful reality when God pulls back even the slightest amount away his goodness we are left doing what it is we want to do there was no king in the land and we know as you turn just a few pages we know that soon enough as the first book of Samuel starts we know soon enough they will have a king and soon enough the kingly line will begin for Israel and they have king after king
[60:44] Saul and David and so on of course the truth is the whole book of Judges is to point us not to the lack of an earthly king but to point us to the reality that without truth that without God that without turning to God that we are so evil we are so full of sin the book of Judges shows us that greater than any as it were mortal king that the people need the book of Judges shows us that we need and truly need a king not a human king eternal king one that will be a judge a true judge eternal judge one that will keep and look after and love his people one who will destroy sin who will triumph over it
[61:46] Revelation chapter 19 speaks of course of the great judge which the book of Judges looks towards Revelation 19 a section from verse 30 and a section from verse 60 and speaking of course Jesus he is clothed in our robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the word of God on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords in summary the last good few months now the book of Judges is quite simple we are evil people living in an evil world and left on devices we only do evil left on devices we only want evil yes there's glimmers of hope and glimmers of goodness and glimmers of some joy at times but the direction is downward on our own very much downward we live my friends and brothers and sisters and you don't have me to come and tell you this turn on the news and the reality is even in your own experience we try to be very careful in how we address the issues in these chapters because we think these issues are far from home they're not and again we don't know people's stories
[63:12] I'm not saying this specifically because I truly don't know but we are very mindful are we not in our own community in our own island our own nation there are girls like this concubine who have faced just the same level of abuse and the same level of evil there are men and women who face the same level of evil but also men and women who are capable of doing the same level of evil because we are these men and we are these women and Calvin said it but I don't think he started it but the seed of every sin is in our hearts we condemn evil when we see it and we bring it to a God of justice we do not stand for it not for a second at the same time don't think we're above it we all have a capability whether we believe it or not of doing incredibly horrendous things every one of us we live in an evil world and we need a king we need true justice and yes there is justice in this world but true justice is only found of course in Jesus even at times in the book of Judges it felt there was no king even though there was no king in this day there was no king in Israel the truth is there was a king and that king saw his people there's times we think there is no king in this world there is such evil there's times perhaps in our own lives and I don't know what situation you've gone through or going through or might go through
[64:53] I have no understanding of it you think there is no king there is a king and he sees it all and he knows it all and the king is a good king and he will judge righteously and he will destroy his enemies he will and he will save his people he will if nothing else at the end of this series in judges as we leave this place with the evil very much at the fore of our reading we can answer the last verse and say perhaps there was no king humanly speaking but there was a king and the reality is we all must come to know this king he has made himself knowable and this king is a king of full and true justice and there are many there are many who sadly will not receive justice this side of glory there are many abusers many evil men and women who will not face justice this side of glory the truth is if their punishment is not placed on christ if they don't come to christ they will face justice they will face justice we worship a just king and he is the king of kings who sees all things who knows all things dear friends there is justice in this world it is found only in
[66:32] Jesus we have come to the end of a long study we have come to the end of a tough study at times I am sure for us but let's leave this study knowing that there is a king there is a king who is not harsh who is not far removed who is not unknowable but is a king who is close to his people who is close to all the cry out to him and God willing if you have time even when you turn to read in the book of Ruth you see and this is important as we go on next week for the Lord's help look at the first few words first few verses of Ruth in the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land see all the evil all the pain all the misery we have been reading about the last few months who are normal Christians normal Jews normal people who love the Lord and who are seeking the
[67:33] Lord who are seeking the Messiah who are seeking the coming saviour and we see Ruth and we see that even God is working out his plan even in normal people and we see this next week as we begin to look at the lineage of Jesus in the day of the judges when there is no hope when there is no help where everything feels dark and slow and quiet God is working out his plan in the days of the judges on Ruth Ruth ends with the great glorious truth isn't it that Ruth had a child did she not they named him Obed Obed the father of Jesse the father of David of the line of Jesus even in the darkness of judges God is working out his eternal plan to save his people have no fear have no doubt
[68:40] God is in full control even the most unlikely of situations he's working all things out for his glory and for the good of those who love him let's bow our heads and a word of prayer Lord we come before you this evening and we confess that we have dealt with passages which spark in us perhaps such horror and such disgust which are difficult to read and difficult to process and we at the start of us thinking Lord we take just now especially to your throne those in our world and those in our island and perhaps even those who are known and attached to this congregation Lord you alone know who have gone through times of abuse and times of sadness and times of great horror in our lives Lord who have faced situations that are so unthinkable and so horrifying we know Lord you're a God who cares for the abused who cares for the pain who cares for those who feel like no one cares for them we bring first of all these
[69:42] Lord these situations before you these complicated situations we bring before you Lord we thank you for the book of Judges we thank you for it we've had this time together to see the reality of what we are as humans pointed back towards us again and again but ultimately to see that you're a God a good God and a just God and you are bringing your plans to a full fruition despite what we might think or see or even understand and to go forward Lord for the next few weeks as we're reminded and look forward to our Saviour to the one who has promised from the very start have our hearts be filled of joy and peace as we know that the King truly did come and there is now a King in the land and he reigns and rules supreme ask his things in and through and for that King's glorious name and for his sake Amen let's bring our time to conclusion sing in the
[70:43] Scottish Psalter Psalm 147 Scottish Psalter Psalm 147 Scottish Psalter Psalm 147 we can sing verses 1 down to verse 8 this great psalm of comfort to God's people to those who cry out to him praise ye the Lord for it is good praise to our God to sing for it is pleasant and to praise it is a comely thing just reading verse 3 together those that are broken in their heart and grieved in their minds he healeth and their painful wounds he tenderly upbinds Psalm 147 verses 1 to 8 to God's praise earth and to earth and H
[71:56] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[72:58] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.
[74:02] Thank you.
[74:32] Thank you. Through breakthrough,