Readings for today: Judges 19-21
Today we encounter some of the most difficult material in all of Scripture. We see Israel at her lowest point. She has forgotten Yahweh. She has become like the pagan tribes around her. She is more focused on her own gratification than she is on serving and honoring the Lord. Her world is full of idols and sexual perversion and violence. Yes, she still goes through the motions. She still makes her sacrifices. She still prays. Fasts. Appears before the Lord at the appointed times. But it’s all empty at this point. Everyone is doing what seems right to them. They are all following their own ways. They are plumbing the depths of sin. They are pushing the boundaries of evil. Unspeakable atrocities are taking place in Israel such as the gang rape of a woman whose body is then dismembered resulting in a genocidal war that basically annihilates an entire tribe. It’s madness.
One of my favorite books is the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. With penetrating insight, he describes the nature of man. Given the right conditions. Given the right set of circumstances. We will all succumb to temptation. In the book, Kurtz sets himself up as a god to be worshipped. He exploits those around him. He uses them for his own personal gratification and enjoyment. He is evil and selfish and insane. Towards the end of the story, he finds himself dying as he “returns” to civilization. His life flashes before his eyes. He reflects back on all he has done. And his final words are, “The horror! The horror!”
Horror. It’s a good word to describe what we read today from the book of Judges. There simply is nothing redemptive in the story. Nothing good. Nothing godly. Man’s inhumanity to man is on full display. It’s dark. It’s evil. It’s terrifying.
Horror. It’s a good word to describe what’s going on in our world today. One only has to scroll through a Twitter newsfeed or watch cable news to see the hate that leads to violence that leads to death and then return the next day to watch the cycle repeat itself.
Horror. If we’re totally honest, it’s a good word to describe what goes on in all of our hearts. All of us are perpetrators. All of us are victims. We are the Levite. We are the concubine. We’ve sacrificed others and we’ve been sacrificed for the sake of self-protection and self-gratification. In the Bible’s judgment, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-18)
Perhaps it’s providential that we read this section of Judges as we head towards Holy Week. A season we dedicate to reflection on the horror of the Cross and the death of God. We reflect on the price Jesus paid. The blood He shed. The penalty He bore. We reflect on the suffering He endured. The pain He experienced. The heartbreak of betrayal. We reflect on the depth of our sin. The depravity of our nature. The darkness of our hearts. We reflect on the cost of our salvation. On what it took to redeem us from sin and death. To deliver us from evil.
Of course, we also reflect on our salvation! God plunging Himself into the horror of our condition! Plunging into the depths of our darkness! Immersing Himself in the breadth of our madness! Embracing us as His own! In Christ, there is hope for the Levite and his concubine! In Christ, there is hope for the Kurtz’s of our world! In Christ, there is hope even for us! And that hope is found in Jesus!
Readings for tomorrow: Ruth 1-4