Judges 18-19

What I Noticed Today (Judges 18-19)

Judges 18

Judges 18 opens with the Danite tribe looking for territory to occupy. They had already been granted land by God (Joshua 19:40-48), but they had failed to take over all the land and had even been run out of some of the cities they had occupied.

In verses 2-8, the Danites selected five men and told them to go look for a new land for them to occupy.

• The five men journeyed to Ephraim and ended up at Micah’s house where they met his Levite priest.
• They asked the priest to inquire of God (using the word Elohim) about their journey, and the priest answers that the Lord (using the word Yahweh) says they will be successful.

• The men went to Laish (aka Leshem, Joshua 19:47) and saw the land was good, lacking nothing, and the unsuspecting people had no allies.

In verses 9-28, the men returned to their clans at Zorah and Eshtaol to report:

• They encouraged their brothers to invade the land immediately because it was a good land.
• 600 Danites left and traveled as far as Ephraim arriving at Micah’s house.
• While the 600 men were stationed outside the five spies entered Micah’s house to steal the idols, carved images, and ephods.
• They convinced Jonathan, the Levite priest, to go with them to be their priest.
• Micah chased after them and accused them of stealing his property and taking his priest, but they threatened to kill him and his family, so he returned home.
• The Danites went Laish, killed the people, and burned down the city.
• They then rebuilt the city and named it Dan.

In verses 30-31, the Danites set up their idols and carved images. Jonathan, son of Gershom (Exodus 2:22), son of Moses, was their priest. Jonathan’s sons succeeded him as priests to the Danites until the time of the exile (722 B.C.).

Judges 19

Judges 19 tells the story of a Levite whose concubine ran away back to her father.

• After four months the Levite goes to the father’s house to implore her to come home.
• After five days at the father’s house, the Levite and his concubine set out on the journey home.
• It was late in the day, and he refused to stop at Jerusalem because Jerusalem was still occupied by the Jebusites.

• Instead, they passed by Jerusalem to go to Gibeah, an Israelite city.
• The Levite and his concubine were shown hospitality by an elderly man who invited them to spend the night at his house.
• Worthless men came along and wanted to have sex with the man.
• Instead, the man gave the men his own virgin daughter and the concubine, whom the men assaulted all night.
• The concubine was killed in the assault.
• The Levite discovered her body when he was preparing to leave the next morning.
• He cut her up and sent a piece of her to each of the twelve tribes of Israel to show what had been done.
• The people who saw her agreed some response to the atrocity was necessary.

Some thoughts for further consideration:

• Our lives and our world is no different today. People excuse a small sin, and suddenly a family is in sin, then a neighborhood, a city, and the nation. It doesn’t take long for sin to take hold and pull us away from God’s best! It is indeed a sad commentary, but sometimes Christians treat each other with less caring and less respect than non-believers!

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Judges 20-21