Faithful King
- Sermon By: Sam Cherian
- Categories: Broken Saviors; Faithful King
Bible Passage: Judges 19:20-30
I. Introduction:
1. Judges 1-2: Prologue: Records the inability of the Israelites to drive the inhabitants out of the promised land.
2. Judges 3-16 Deliverer Narrative: God raises up Judges or broken saviours to save the Israelites from their oppressors.
3. Judges 17-21 Epilogue: Israel’s broken relationship with Yahweh and God’s judgement against their blatant sin.The Epilogue is not chronological but thematic and the writer wants to close the book with this thought in mind. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
2. Judges 3-16 Deliverer Narrative: God raises up Judges or broken saviours to save the Israelites from their oppressors.
3. Judges 17-21 Epilogue: Israel’s broken relationship with Yahweh and God’s judgement against their blatant sin.The Epilogue is not chronological but thematic and the writer wants to close the book with this thought in mind. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
II. How should we understand difficult Bible stories like Judges 19? We can look at them in two ways: a “moralistic” view or a “redemptive history” view.
1. While reading this passage one can look at it through a moralistic lens (good and bad behaviours) and we should avoid the urge to do the same.
a. Misses the gospel purpose
b. It creates a false sense of security
c. It hides the bigger story of salvation
b. It creates a false sense of security
c. It hides the bigger story of salvation
2. To truly grasp these passages, we must view the passage through the lens of redemptive history—the Gospel Story urges us to:
a. Recognize the pervasive human depravity evident in these narratives.
b. Be thankful for God’s patience with His covenant-breaking people.
c. Anticipate the perfect redemption that will address all failures.
d. Appreciate the good news of the Gospel, which delivers us from moral impossibility.
e. Humbly acknowledge our own need for change.
b. Be thankful for God’s patience with His covenant-breaking people.
c. Anticipate the perfect redemption that will address all failures.
d. Appreciate the good news of the Gospel, which delivers us from moral impossibility.
e. Humbly acknowledge our own need for change.
III. Read Text: Judges 19:20-30 NIV
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
1. The demand for sexual violence (19:22) The Moral Failure: The men of Gibeah surround the house demanding homosexual rape of the Levite guest. 22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
2. The host offers his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine as substitutes 19:23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
3. The ultimate betrayal by the husband 19:25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and
abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
4. The night of horror and abandonment (19:25b) “They raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.”
5. The desperate reach for refuge 19:26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
6. The callous discovery (19:27-28)27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
7. The calculated dismemberment vs. 29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
2. The host offers his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine as substitutes 19:23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
3. The ultimate betrayal by the husband 19:25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and
abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
4. The night of horror and abandonment (19:25b) “They raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.”
5. The desperate reach for refuge 19:26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
6. The callous discovery (19:27-28)27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
7. The calculated dismemberment vs. 29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
IV. The spiritual failures lead to moral failures and follow a recognizable pattern:
1. First, there’s Initial Compromise, where legitimate and illegitimate elements get mixed together. 17:1-5
2. Second, we see Rationalization, claiming God’s approval for innovations. 17:2 I
3. Third is Institutionalization, making temporary accommodations permanent. 17:10-13
4. Fourth, there’s Multiplication, spreading corrupted practices throughout the community. 18:18-20
5. Finally, the most dangerous stage is Normalization, accepting apostate practices as legitimate religion. 18:30
2. Second, we see Rationalization, claiming God’s approval for innovations. 17:2 I
3. Third is Institutionalization, making temporary accommodations permanent. 17:10-13
4. Fourth, there’s Multiplication, spreading corrupted practices throughout the community. 18:18-20
5. Finally, the most dangerous stage is Normalization, accepting apostate practices as legitimate religion. 18:30
The spiritual failures in Judges 17-18 thus serve as the reason for Israel’s larger spiritual downfall, showing how covenant people can maintain religious forms while abandoning spiritual substance.
The cycle of moral failure that we read in Judges 19 does not end and continues in Judges 20-21.
V. The Levite’s betrayal points to Christ as the true Levite
1 Timothy 2:5. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus”
Christ as the True Levite fulfills what this Levite perverts
Christ as the True Levite fulfills what this Levite perverts
1. Where the Levite abandons his “bride,” Christ gives himself for the church Eph 5:25
2. Where the Levite sacrifices another to save himself, Christ sacrifices himself to save others Eph 5:2
3. Where the Levite’s actions divide Israel, Christ’s death unites Jew and Gentile Col 3:11
4. Where the Levite uses death to communicate judgment, Christ’s death communicates grace Eph 2:8-9
2. Where the Levite sacrifices another to save himself, Christ sacrifices himself to save others Eph 5:2
3. Where the Levite’s actions divide Israel, Christ’s death unites Jew and Gentile Col 3:11
4. Where the Levite uses death to communicate judgment, Christ’s death communicates grace Eph 2:8-9
VI. The Gospel response to comprehensive moral failure that we see in Judges 19.
1. The narrative in chapter 19 demonstrates that sin has corrupted every aspect of human existence and requires redemption
2. The necessity of substitutionary atonement for redemption: a. The perverted substitution in this passage (innocent women for guilty men) points to the true substitution at the cross (innocent Christ for guilty humanity) (Rom 3:21-26)
3. The comprehensive scope of Christ’s redemptive work: (Rom 3:23; Rom 5:12; Col 1:19-20; 1 Jn 2:2)
2. The necessity of substitutionary atonement for redemption: a. The perverted substitution in this passage (innocent women for guilty men) points to the true substitution at the cross (innocent Christ for guilty humanity) (Rom 3:21-26)
3. The comprehensive scope of Christ’s redemptive work: (Rom 3:23; Rom 5:12; Col 1:19-20; 1 Jn 2:2)
a. Perfect Priest: Where the Levite fails as mediator (Hebrews 7:26)
b. Faithful Husband: Where covenant love fails (Ephesians 5:25-27)
c. True Sanctuary: Where human refuge fails (Hebrews 9:24; Matt 11:28-30)
d. Righteous Judge: Where human justice fails (Acts 10:4; 2 Timothy 4:8) 2
e. Good Shepherd: Where human protection fails (John 10:11)
b. Faithful Husband: Where covenant love fails (Ephesians 5:25-27)
c. True Sanctuary: Where human refuge fails (Hebrews 9:24; Matt 11:28-30)
d. Righteous Judge: Where human justice fails (Acts 10:4; 2 Timothy 4:8) 2
e. Good Shepherd: Where human protection fails (John 10:11)
4. Christ’s redemptive work promises of complete restoration: Every failure in Judges 19:22-30 finds its remedy in the gospel
VII. Conclusion: The darkness serves the light
The darkness reveals:
1. The impossibility of self-salvation – We could have done nothing to fix our relationship with God
2. The necessity of divine intervention – The depth of human sinfulness revealed in Judges 19 makes the incarnation more understandable.
3. The inadequacy of human mediators – Human mediators will fail and the story perfectly illustrates this for us in a graphic manner.
4. The need for perfect leadership – Pointing us to the faithful King who only is perfect and capable to save and lead us.
5. The depth from which grace must rescue – The depth of Israel’s fall makes the eventual restoration more remarkable.
6. The magnitude of the restoration required – Redemptive history points toward a great reversal where the voiceless receive voice, the abandoned find refuge, and the victims receive justice. The concubine’s story anticipates this eschatological vindication.
2. The necessity of divine intervention – The depth of human sinfulness revealed in Judges 19 makes the incarnation more understandable.
3. The inadequacy of human mediators – Human mediators will fail and the story perfectly illustrates this for us in a graphic manner.
4. The need for perfect leadership – Pointing us to the faithful King who only is perfect and capable to save and lead us.
5. The depth from which grace must rescue – The depth of Israel’s fall makes the eventual restoration more remarkable.
6. The magnitude of the restoration required – Redemptive history points toward a great reversal where the voiceless receive voice, the abandoned find refuge, and the victims receive justice. The concubine’s story anticipates this eschatological vindication.
Takeaway:
Place your trust in the faithful King, allowing the gospel to permeate every area of your life.