DECLINE OF MORALS. Judges 19 When we see the sad results of a deteriorating society and the apparent breakdown of everything that held the people of a nation or family together, we tend to ask, "What in the world happened?" That is what happened - the world! The decline of moral order in a society is a result, not the cause, of the problem. In Israel, the problem began when they did not carry out the command of the Lord to eliminate idolatry and all its influences from the land God had promised them. He was with them in many ways to help them claim the land He had given them. Others also claimed the same land in what we call "squatter's rights," so they had to be driven out. The influx of hornets was God's first line of attack on their behalf, so they could follow and remove the idols and those who worshipped them, and take what was rightfully theirs.
However, there was a "touchy-feely" attitude then as now, and the people of God seemed to think there was something good in everything if you looked hard enough for it, so don't be too hard on people. When we start to do that "which is right in our own eyes," there is no end to it. A casual attitude toward God and sin, which led to idolatry, was the root cause of Israel's decline. Moral depravity is a result, not a cause. When faith in God begins to disintegrate, that is because of a tolerant attitude toward the world's ways, and then we become participants in religious sin. "It works for them. Why don't we try it?" Before long, religious idolatry is accepted among the people of the Lord.
When faith, and consequently our commitment to truth, begins to disintegrate and decline, the decline in morals soon follows. Departure from the practice of biblical principles causes disunity among God's people as those who hold fast to scriptural practices are seen as old-fashioned and irrelevant to the new day in which we live. "We need to learn to adapt to changing social mores," they say. When that happens, we lose the power we once had and become weak because of our disobedience to God. When we forget God, we forget our purpose for being here. When we forget our purpose, we lose our moral standards. Once our moral standards are gone, any laws men pass—because they see it as expedient and "right in our own eyes"—are easily accepted. When that happens, we become capable of doing anything our depraved nature desires.
The final three chapters of the Book of Judges illustrate the moral decay that corrupted Israel through a story depicting the depraved conduct of various people. A Levite, whose role in national life was to represent God and His interests; a concubine who became a prostitute; a father who offered his daughter to wicked men; a community resembling Sodom—all are part of this terrible story.
The Levite who lived in a very remote part of the hill country of Ephraim let his lust control him and took a "concubine," not a wife, to satisfy his sexual cravings without making a commitment. A concubine was a female servant who was taken simply to bear children so a man’s family line would continue. There was no love involved. She was a slave woman, so it apparently did not bother him too much when she was unfaithful and had another man. The low moral condition of people at that time was such that even a concubine was considered a prostitute.
He had little regard for her, for God's laws, and the standards of righteousness because he "did that which was right in his own eyes." When she returned home to Bethlehem, it probably would have disgraced her family. So, when the Levite, at his convenience, went to get her again from her father's house, her father was glad to welcome him. In fact, he wanted the Levite to stay as long as possible to maintain the appearance of normality in the community and to prevent embarrassment.
When appearances matter more than people, human value diminishes and morality erodes. In ancient Middle Eastern society, women were scarcely more than possessions used for some form of advantage. Idolatry promotes sexual perversion and self-centered lust. It demeans what God intended to be righteous and satisfying, and to bring contentment, joy, and help to each person in a union.
When God's word is neglected, anything becomes acceptable. Instead of following God's laws and God's word, we can grow accustomed to what a depraved society accepts. The challenges of righteousness and godly living have caused many who claim faith in Christ to feel quite comfortable in worldly ways. They drink the world's strong "adult beverages," listen to the world's music, indulge in worldly leisure activities, and are unbothered by the world's kind of speech. Simply claiming to be Christians does not make someone part of God's family.
There is a spiritual connection when true Christians meet that is part of our new nature. “We know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” In a unique way, those who gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone seem to have a desire for hospitality, friendship, and fellowship with fellow believers. When we meet those who live by faith and follow the word of God together, a common bond in our Lord Jesus becomes evident.
The Levite, a religious practitioner, finally left Bethlehem in the afternoon with his servant and his concubine to return to Mount Ephraim via Bethel. When they reached Jebus (Jerusalem), a city still controlled by the Jebusites, he refused to stop for the night, fearing he wouldn't be welcomed and worried for his safety. They pressed on three or four more miles until they arrived at Gibeah, a city in the territory assigned to the tribe of Dan.
Hospitality; public acceptance was highly valued in those areas and times, even though women faced mistreatment and dishonor. The Levite and the old man from the same hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah, were very similar. Both were selfish, lacked courage, sought to avoid conflict, and were willing to disobey God's laws. The Levite and those with him would have been safer with foreigners than with the Benamites in Gibeah. Not only had there been a serious breakdown of normal oriental hospitality, but homosexuality was widespread in that community. The description of that night echoes the events at Sodom when Lot lived there. Sexual perversion exemplified the idea of “every man doing that which was right in his own eyes.”
For a man to be raped by a group of men would have been an unbearable humiliation, but offering a concubine and a virgin daughter as a solution to the problem shows how depraved those two men were. The extent of their moral corruption reveals how hardened and desensitized their consciences had become, and how cold their hearts had turned. The house owner was outraged by the perversion of homosexuality but was callously indifferent to handing over defenseless women to be brutally violated.
The Levite’s hard heart was revealed when he opened the door and saw his concubine lying there. His command to her to “Get up; let’s go,” exposed his lack of compassion and mercy. When people ignore the sanctity of life, moral standards, and the value of every individual, the true state of their soul is shown. Evil thoughts and actions reveal the callousness of humanity and a complete misunderstanding of what love is. When moral corruption takes hold, brotherly love disappears.
When social protocol holds more authority than justice, righteousness, and compassion, we see that moral convictions have been replaced by evil. Israel failed to be guided by God's moral law and instead made laws that suited themselves. When that occurs, lawlessness takes over and atrocities happen. In Gibeah, that concubine was raped repeatedly until she died. The Levite took matters into his own hands by sending twelve pieces of her body to all the tribes of Israel. The desecration of her body was horrible, but even worse, he used it to fuel his own revenge. That terrible act spurred the entire nation to confront their responsibility to address the immorality they had become accustomed to.
The Levite is depicted throughout the story as a wicked, selfish, insensitive, and cold-hearted man. It is a sad reflection of our times when unborn and living children are cut up and removed from their mothers’ wombs through legal abortions. In many places, this mindset is completely accepted. The sanctity of human life is not understood by sinful mankind. God’s view of every person is that their soul is more important than the entire material world.
We may gradually cease practicing God's will without realizing its effects on us or others. Soon, my actions and thoughts might begin to undermine others, and the idea that "majority rules" becomes the standard for how we're expected to live, rather than adhering to what God's word and will prescribe. When we intentionally replace God's way of religious activity with our own, we commit spiritual anarchy, which leads to moral decline and decay. What happens to individuals is quickly accepted by nations, and the guidelines God has established and passed down through generations are abandoned, opening the door to terrible evil. Perversions are then accepted and eventually defended. Those perversions later become laws, seen as essential and right, as a means to achieve freedom. Ultimately, the freedom to do evil along with the freedom to do right results when "every man does that which is right in his own eyes."
Faith in God seemed to fade in Israel, but no one appeared to notice. The way people lived suggested they didn’t believe God was real. This same attitude spread throughout the country as its unity started to break down, and there was no longer any true worship as God intended. It took a terrible crime to make people think and question why everything had gone so wrong. When God is ignored, people begin to act as if sin isn’t serious and commit unspeakable acts. Loss of purpose and dignity causes hearts to harden beyond repair.
Who would think that two men could be so cowardly as to send a woman to die so they wouldn’t be embarrassed and humiliated? They didn’t want to get hurt, so they sacrificed her and the young virgin daughter. The body on the step in the morning did not move them to compassion and concern, but to anger against others for what they had caused to happen themselves. Protocol was more important to them than the moral convictions they lacked.
When a person turns away from God and begins to commit evil acts, it becomes very difficult to return. God has His standards clearly outlined in the law; they are there for us to follow. When those standards are ignored, innocent people often suffer. Millions of infants have died in this country to satisfy the sinful desires of their parents.
To awaken the nation of Israel, a man desecrated a woman’s body with the intent of inciting revenge. Whatever drove him to commit such an act reveals how low a person can sink in pursuit of vengeance. When God is forgotten and the effects of sin are ignored, people drift further away. They no longer care what others will say if they get what they want.
We must never become accustomed to evil around us: turn it off if it appears on the TV or computer. Turn away, run, and flee if it comes near in any way. Even though I pray and trust in my Lord, I fear what might happen through me. I must keep my heart, my will, and my mind focused on the Lord and what He calls me to do. If I can trust Him amidst the disintegration around me to protect and guide me straight through.