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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 881 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Most Horrific Bible Stroy - Wisdom Wednesday


Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 881 of our Trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.  Creating a Biblical Worldview is important in order to have a proper perspective on today’s current events.  To establish a Biblical Worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word.  Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors.  In order help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in Gods Word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser.  He has compiled these essays into a book titled  ’I Dare You Not to Bore Me With the Bible.’

We are broadcasting from our studio at ‘The Big House’ in Marietta, OH.  One factor that supports the authenticity of God’s Word is that it includes narrative that the good, the bad, and the ugly.  In today’s essay, we will take a closer look at one of the stories that is both bad and ugly but also leads us to a truth that we need to understand.  In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to explore Judges 19-20 where God’s Word presents a tale that is considered:
The Most Horrific Bible Story
“In those days, there was no king in Israel.” This line, repeated throughout Judges, frames the horrific tale of the Levite and his concubine. The grim details of this story showcase the anarchy and spiritual decay of the period, but this story is not just a cheap thriller.

When reading this story, our attention fixates on the grim details of murder, rape, war, and abduction. But there are crucial, less repugnant elements which includes tribal affiliations and the locations of events. The story was designed to prompt readers into favoring kingship, the people needed a Messiah, a savior.

The book of Judges does not name its author: it was likely written after the time of David. All of these elements add up to not only a rationale for kingship—but a polemic for the superiority of a king from Judah (David), not Benjamin (Saul) or Ephraim.

By the time Judges was being written, Saul had already failed God as a spiritual leader. Anyone reading the story would be prompted to follow God's new choice of kingship, the line of David. Any other ruler would spell chaos, evil and tragedy.  I am going to summarize this passage, but I would encourage you to read Judges 19-20 to get the full spectrum of this horrific story which is a precursor to the kings of Israel which culminates in Jesus Christ as the King of Kings.



The Events in the Story
What Does This Teach Us?


In Judges 19-20 a Levite is retrieving his fugitive concubine from her father's house in Bethlehem, located in the tribal territory of Judah.

The concubine’s father, who is from Judah, treats the Levite with warm hospitality.
The Levite is shown warm hospitality in Judah, David's tribe.


The Levite and his concubine travel home to Ephraim. On the way, he has the option to stay in the city of Jebus, a Benjamite territory.

He decides not to remain since Jebus is under the rule of Gentiles, non-Hebrews.
The Levite could have stopped in Jebus— which is later known as Jerusalem. It is a missed oasis in the hellish sea of Benjamin.


He journeys on to Gibeah, also a Benjamite territory. In Gibeah, an old man—also from Ephraim—offers refuge to the Levite and his concubine 19:15-16