Skip to content Judges 19: A Call for Moral Leadership May 9 · 16 min ...more
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
93.9K followers
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
93.9K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
No King in Israel: Roots of Moral Anarchy 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word as we look at Judges chapter 19 today, verse 1, and it came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote0:21 mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. Now in the previous 2 chapters, we saw the spiritual compromise. And in this chapter and in the following0:32 chapters, we're gonna see the effects of this compromise as it comes into clear focus through the moral corruption and the political chaos that ensues. Now I'm gonna tell you upfront, these0:44 are among my least favorite passages of scripture. Why? I find them shocking and disturbing, but they're probably there for0:57 a reason, a warning. And I and I actually I hope you too are disturbed by these chapters. Now why do we repeatedly see this phrase, in those days, there was no king in Israel?1:09 Well, as I pointed out, we began the book of Judges. Its very final verse encapsulates this entire 300 year period of history. Verse 25 of chapter 21, in those days, there was1:21 no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. There was no king, no authority, no leader, no 1 to uphold the standard that God had called them to, and as a result, there1:32 was moral and political anarchy. You know, our founding fathers understood this reality. James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, he wrote this. He said, if men were angels, no government would1:44 be necessary. Well, men are not angels. Therefore, government is needed. But I I should mention that Madison went on to point out that government needs guidance too. Quote, if angels were to1:56 govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary, end quote. Need I point out that angels do not govern us? Therefore, constraints are2:08 needed. And, by the way, this is 1 of my concerns today with this libertarian ideology, which rejects the moral guidance from biblical truth that2:19 restrains immorality, and this ideology has has emerged as a very strong influence in the conservative movement today in our country. Now, some may recoil at the statement that I'm2:31 about to make, but it's true. As followers of Christ, we're not called to be conservatives. We're called to be Christians. And and while they have many things in common, the 2 are not2:43 synonymous. Listen to what George Washington said in his farewell address to the nation. He said this, quote, of all of the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,2:55 religion and morality are indispensable supports. But he went on to state a very important point. He said this, quote, and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be3:07 maintained without religion. In other words, morality has no foundation without religion and to be specific, Christianity. So if we want3:19 virtuous people, if we want law and order, that's morality, and that morality must have a foundation. It's called Christianity. And the further we remove god and morality,3:31 from our society, the more lawlessness we're gonna have. And we can't you know, law and order is not a smorgasbord. So I I just want law and order when it comes to business and financial issues. I don't really care about3:44 protecting the unborn. I don't care about abortion. I don't care about marriage. You know? People can do whatever they wanna do. But when it comes to my money, I don't want people robbing me. Mm-mm. Doesn't work that3:54 way. We we embrace it all or we lose it all. And by the way, I have a course. I think I've mentioned this before, my God in Government course I've been teaching for about 30 years. It's now on video, and you4:06 can watch it on video. And if you'd like a link to it, it'd be a great time doing this 200 and fiftieth anniversary. Do it individually. Do it as a family. Do it as a small group. Invite people over, and and and you can4:17 go through it, once a week. But, anyway, I'll send you a link if you want more information. Text course. It's free. Course to 6 7 7 4 2, course to 6 7 7 44:28 2, and I will send you a link. So let me give an example of what I'm talking about when it comes to morality and and the the fact that when we reject morality,4:41 we reject religion, we get lawlessness. You know, society is really increasingly shocked by the violence on our streets. And, you know,4:52 there's there are initiatives after initiatives to try and address it, but it doesn't seem to get any better. And why is that? Well, I I would submit to you it's because we've abandoned the most basic truth5:04 that human life has value because it is created in the image of god. You know, once that truth was disposed of, rejected,5:16 society was able to claim that the life of a child was nothing more than the choice for someone with more power to make. So why are we then surprised if that thinking has spilled over5:29 into our streets, into our classrooms? CS Lewis in the abolition of man, he wrote this. He said, we make men without chest and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We5:41 laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We're getting we're reaping what we've sown. The violence and lawlessness may shock us, but it shouldn't surprise us given how we've rejected biblical truth5:52 when it comes to the value of human life and the authority of God over that life. Alright. Moving on, verse 2. But his concubine played the harlot against him and went away from him to her father's house6:04 at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there 4 whole months. Then her then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeysThe Shocking Outrage in Gibeah 6:16 with him. So she brought him into her father's house, and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. Now what we read here is the father-in-law repeatedly, gets the man to6:28 stay. They I don't know. They did a lot of eating and drinking. I don't know. I'm not I'm I'm not gonna. It's it's curious, but I'm not gonna we're not gonna dwell there. I'm gonna move on to their stop in Gibeah, which6:39 we read about in verse 15. They turned aside there to go into lodge into Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for6:51 no 1 would take them into his house to spend the night. Justin, an old man came in from his work in the field at evening who also was from the mountains of Ephraim who was staying7:03 in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. Now this was the practice of the time. They didn't they didn't have a7:15 motel 6 where someone had kept the light on. They would stay in someone's house even if a total stranger. Hospitality was the mark of a good city even today. Hospitality7:27 is a really big deal in the Middle Eastern culture. I've I've learned a lot. I really have. I've learned personally a lot about hospitality, from my travels in the Middle7:39 East. We we we don't have a clue in our culture as to the importance of hospitality, but let me move on. Verse 20. And the old man said, peace be with you.7:52 However, let all your needs be my responsibility. Only do not spend the night in the open square. Now this is a very, very similar situation that we, read about in Genesis chapter 19. The man who was from Ephraim8:04 was just living there, and and as a result, he was he was very sensitive to the the perversion and the danger, just like Lot was in Sodom. He apparently had not become8:16 inculcated with the prevailing perverse culture. You know, as Christians today, we are in the world, but we're not to be of the world. What what happens around us should shock us. Should we shouldn't be8:27 comfortable with it. You know, as Jesus prayed in in John chapter 17 verse 15, he says, and I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil 1. And a8:39 part of keeping us from the evil 1 is that we don't think that way. We don't accept evil. That it we we we're resistant to evil. We don't become comfortable with evil. Verse 22.8:51 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city perverted men, homosexual men, men wanting to to well, so we'll read here. They surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of9:03 the house, the old man, saying bring out the man who came to your house that we may know him carnally. Now there there there is no mistaking of their intention.9:14 Right? This speaks to the moral corruption that follows spiritual compromise. What follows is shocking. It's it's shocking coming from the pages of9:26 scripture, but I have to tell you, it it kinda reads like today's headlines. Verse 23, but the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said, no, my brother. And I beg you, do not act so wickedly,9:38 seeing this man has come into my house. Do not commit this outrage. Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine. Let me bring them out now. Humble them and do with them as you please, but to this9:50 man, do not do such a vile thing. But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them, and they knew her and abused her all night until morning. And when the day10:02 began to break, they let her go. Now I have to say the actions of these 2 men inside the house were inexcusable. Again, this is the same compromising behavior that we saw in Genesis10:14 chapter 19, where they were willing to not protect the women and children, but sacrifice the women and children. Before I continue, let let me ask this question. Why do we find10:25 this behavior unacceptable or reprehensible? I mean, that was the mindset of that day. And, frankly, in some parts of the world today, it remains that way. What10:37 changed? Why do we see this differently? Well, I'm a tell you what changed it. It was the gospel. Christianity gave rise to western civilization, which placed value on every every human being.10:49 Western civilization birthed out of Christianity is what elevated women to equal status. I find it a bit ironic. It was, I guess, about 8 years11:01 ago. The media and and others on the left were celebrating that women were given the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Now they still weren't allowed to go many places. I guess they had the freedom to drive around11:13 the block, but they celebrate that, but they talk about how women are being repressed because of Christianity. I mean, don't accept this false claim that Christianity's11:25 patriarchal system has enslaved women. That is a talking point for those who, a, ignore the truth or, b, are just ignorant of the truth. I mean,11:37 that that that that said, let let me just throw out here for consideration what is happening to women and children as we move away from god's truth, that foundation of western11:49 civilization. We we are seeing very similar disregard for women and children today. Now we do all of these things. We have these months to to mark these different12:01 bad things that are happening, but we tolerate this sin. I mean, consider this. Human trafficking and slavery. There are estimates that more people are living in slavery today than12:13 at any other time in history, and many of them are for the purposes of sexual exploitation. And it's not in foreign countries. It's not just in foreign countries. That's happening right here. Pornography.12:25 You know, contrary to the claims that are made, it is not a victimless crime. In fact, it fuels some of the human trafficking. Grooming that's taking place in our public school classrooms and online.12:38 You know, the transgender craze that, government, up until just recently, was promoting. In fact, in some states, it still is. And and this was leading many, many children down a destructive path of12:50 sexualization and confusion. And then I could always throw out the boy scouts. So much abuse that lawsuits drove them into bankruptcy. Alright. Verse 26. Then the women came13:02 as the day was dawning and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was till it was light. Now what this Levite does next is unthinkable. But in the midst of13:13 spiritual compromise and moral corruption, something had to shock the people to the reality of where their tolerance for sin had taken them. And and so I I I leave you with this13:25 question. How calloused has our culture become? How tolerating of sin have we become? What will it take to get our attention?A Callous Culture and Prayer for Awakening 13:38 Father, we thank you for your word, and, Lord, I'm I'm sure I'm not alone as we pray this morning, but this is a this is a very hard passage of scripture to to comprehend and to take.13:51 But, lord, I pray that we would understand that this is here for a reason, I think, as a warning to us that this is what happens when you reject your truth in your ways. And I pray, father, that our nation would14:03 rediscover in this 200 and fiftieth anniversary, rediscover your word. And, lord, not and I'm grateful for the many things that are occurring in our in our our country even14:15 even now as we, are celebrating this 200 and fiftieth anniversary, and there's a lot of events recognizing, lord, our dependence upon you. But I pray, lord, it would go beyond just14:26 drawing close to you with our lips. I pray, lord, it would be more than that, that we would draw nigh unto you with our hearts and our actions would reflect it, that we would align ourselves with14:38 truth. We would reject that, lord, which is counter to your truth. So, father, I pray. May the Holy Spirit continue to lead us on this journey, helping us to understand14:50 how to apply the principles of your word to our lives in this world in which we live, that we might glorify you. And Lord, bless all those who are on this journey. May you strengthen them, encourage them, and lord, use15:02 them for your kingdom and for your purposes. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me, and until next time, keep standing on the word.15:13 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:25 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 No King in Israel: Roots of Moral Anarchy6:09 The Shocking Outrage in Gibeah13:38 A Callous Culture and Prayer for Awakening
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.