'Tis a Puzzlement

Judges 19 and 20 is a puzzlement to me. Why does this story have its place in the Bible? This concubine, it never records what she said or thought. Yet she was used in such a provocative way. Her Master wasn't the one teaching the lesson, I don't think. He was selfish and afraid to be given up to the men of the town, yet he gave the woman he loved to them. He slept while they raped her all night. No, it wasn't this cowardly man that teaches the lesson in my opinion. Its the concubine. She died for her Master, we don't know if it was willingly or not, but we do know that she died and her body was cut up and sent throughout Israel to jolt them into action.

What impresses me about this concubine was that she made it to the threshold of the house before she died. I'm not sure why that speaks to me so much. She could have died in the street while they used her. But she held on, she made it back to her Master. The Bible never says she cried out to him at dawn, it says she lay there till light. Its almost as if she had a peace and understanding that this was for a reason, that in her darkest hour she had a purpose. To be raped once, is not an easy thing to deal with. You can't just *SNAP* get over it. Imagine being raped repeatedly by many of the men in town... and still holding on. Telling yourself you have to make it to the threshold of your Master's house. That speaks volumes to me. More than I can articulate here.

Then to see the other men in the tribes of Israel rise up and avenge her, a concubine. Because you see they weren't pagan men that raped this girl. Read it...it says they specifically skipped the pagan town and went to a town full of God's people. Those men knew God's laws. To see the righteous men of Israel want to deal with the matter, that represents alot to me too.

Look at it this way...that concubine was like so many girls and women in today's time. They are with a man who knows God's laws and God's will, yet they mistreat her and abuse her. The rest of the people in the town that did nothing....they are like the world and other church folk...they look the other way when they know something is wrong. We let so many of our women slip through the cracks, they die abused and broken. It takes strong Godly men to rise up and avenge them, teach them there is something better, go after those who knowingly do what is wrong and deal with them. And maybe its not that you kill the man that did wrong, but you confront it, don't look the other way. That woman is laying her life at the threshold...don't sleep through her time of need. Because then its too late...you end up mourning her rather than seeing her grow into the woman she was always ment to be.

I have found there are Men in this world that will stand up. Men that will treat you like a Queen, even after all the mess you have been through. And at the same time there are men who only want to abuse and still other who will never speak up and take his rightful place. You have to decide which will you be? Which one will you teach your sons to be? Which one will you allow your daughters to be with? Which one will Women allow to speak into their lives?