Judges 19:30 And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!”

 

    When I think back on all my classroom experiences, I can think of plenty of times kids were outraged when a rule was broken. You might find that surprising, but it’s true. Usually, though, the greatest outrage was reserved when the rule that was broken was one of their own! Kids who generally cared not a whit for ‘school rules’ were deeply incensed if their own line was crossed!

    Judges 19 and 20 is one of the saddest, most disturbing stories of the book or even the Old Testament. Israel was far from living up to the promise and hope for them since entering the Promised Land. As you read through the book, a refrain develops: “In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” There are any number of terrible things that occurred, but in today’s verse, they seem to have decided, “this is too much.”

    They were outraged! They weren’t outraged in earlier days, when Micah made his own god and then worshipped it. Nor when the tribe of Dan stole it from him, enshrined it, and worshipped it for hundreds of years. They weren’t outraged at the behavior of the men from Gibeah. There had been plenty of things that deserved outrage that never really got their attention. But this, (in their minds) was too much!

    When we read that, “there was no king in Israel” it is literally accurate. But it is metaphorically false. The real problem was that there was an abundance of kings! Everyone was their own king! They decided what was right and wrong. They created their own set of ‘commandments.’ They had abandoned God and His word and lived by their own ideas. 

    People still do this. They don’t like all those ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ in the Bible. But, be assured, they have their own set of ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. And when someone breaks their personal ‘commandment’, they may issue forth in righteous anger!

    How much simpler, and better in every way, would life be for us if we crowned God the rightful King of our life and followed His ways? Jesus told us in Matthew 11:30, “For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” 

    A life without rules is an illusion. It’s a lie from Satan. We should ask ourselves, “Am I more outraged when God is offended, or when I am?” 

Blessings,

Pastor Russ