READING: Judges 19-20
It’s almost hard to believe it happened more than once. That two immoral societies at different times in history would want to sexually use a guest in their community—and that someone would offer his daughter to the immoral people in order to protect the guest—seems strange indeed. One site was Sodom, and the other was Gibeah—but the great sinfulness apparent in the stories seems almost repetitive.
Likely, that was the author’s point. It was not only to describe the depth of sin in both places, but it was also to show that the period of the judges was just as rotten as the period of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot’s day. Indeed, the evil of the people of Gibeah was so great that the prophet Hosea remembered it as a time of great corruption (Hos 9:9, 10:9).
This story is a reminder that not only can we be evil people, but it’s also possible that the sin we so much condemn today could be our sin tomorrow. All of us must follow God with all our being—and at every moment.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you dealing today with any sin you’ve dealt with in the past?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, remind me that I could go the wrong direction, too.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Judges 21-Ruth 1-4
