What About All The Violence In The Bible?
Good Morning Friends,
There is something in human nature that is drawn to disgraceful violent acts. Millions will tune in to exclusive stories about both the victims and the perpetrators which give people’s inside stories with the dirty details. We are voyeurs when it comes to the stories of public massacres and it does not seem that healthy. All this should not surprise us. We are fallen creatures. But what is disturbing is that we cannot escape its presence, even when we turn to the Bible for refuge. What About All The Violence In The Bible?
Scripture: In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite, residing in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. Then her husband set out after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. When he reached her father’s house, the girl’s father saw him and came with joy to meet him. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and he stayed there. On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Fortify yourself with a bit of food, and after that you may go.” So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?” When the man got up to go, his father-in-law kept urging him until he spent the night there again. On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave; and the girl’s father said, “Fortify yourself.” So they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate and drank. When the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day has worn on until it is almost evening. Spend the night. See, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early in the morning for your journey, and go home.” But the man would not spend the night; he got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it.” But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will continue on to Gibeah.” Then he said to his servant, “Come, let us try to reach one of these places, and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.” So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin .They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night. Then at evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. (The people of the place were Benjaminites.) When the old man looked up and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city, he said, “Where are you going and where do you come from?” He answered him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home. Nobody has offered to take me in. We your servants have straw and fodder for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and the woman and the young man along with us. We need nothing more.” The old man said, “Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.” So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, and ate and drank. While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a perverse lot, surrounded the house, and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may have intercourse with him.” And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Since this man is my guest, do not do this vile thing. Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do whatever you want to them; but against this man do not do such a vile thing.” But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. As morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light. In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. “Get up,” he said to her, “we are going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home. When he had entered his house, he took a knife, and grasping his concubine he cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. Then he commanded the men whom he sent, saying, “Thus shall you say to all the Israelites, ‘Has such a thing ever happened since the day that the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, and speak out.'”
Judges 19:1-19:30 (NRSV)
You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Exodus 20:13-17 (NRSV)
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 (NRSV)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
Luke 2:13-2:14 (NRSV)
Message: Contrary to popular belief, the Bible’s narrative does not always demonstrate the corrective acts of God in the text but also includes the horrors of the world. Atrocities fill the narrative pages of the Bible, at times so revolting that even today they create a nauseating sensation. But friends, they set the stage for a new message to be delivered. Judges chapter 19 is such a stage setting passage. Still we wonder why all these uncensored stories of genocide, murder, rape, and incest are part of the Bible. We wonder if it would have been better to delete these stories because they are so offensive. But there is no escaping these stories. We cannot read the Bible and escape the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, her husband. Then there is the story of Jacob’s sons who murdered a whole village because one of its men raped their sister… Or the command: “Go destroy such and such city and kill them all, men, women, children”…Where is God in all of this? Why did God not intervene in that moment to provide a different way? We ask why God is apparently silent in the face of these evil atrocities. Then we realize that such sickening stories are in the Bible to be reconciled by the message of the cross. Only then do we find answers as we compare man’s way with God’s…the reality of our lives with a better way. Friends, the cross is how God sets things right. So too when we see acts of violence today, we go through the same questions and need to be drawn to the same conclusion despite objections. Friends, in dealing with human despair and suffering God sent his son to die for every sinful violent act both past, present and future. It is not sanitized it is not pleasant. It is death on a cross but it is also the offer of a different kind of peace…something better than the world can offer. Today’s passage does not bring tranquility and calmness and happiness. God is nowhere to be found in the storyline of Judges 19. To try and insert into its narrative our vision of what should have happened is really a bit pathetic and meaningless. Friends, we cannot wish this experience of violence away. God has to intervene. Our ways without God are rubbish. Only an act of love can save us.
Pray that hate not define us. Pray we realize that visualizing a better world with peace only takes us so far. Pray we realize that better laws alone do not bring peace. Pray we realize that the pain we feel is more about our own sins than the sins of others. Pray that we realize there are some problems we cannot fix on our own but that we need God’s help. Pray we gain a peace the world does not offer. Pray our hearts are not troubled and afraid because we trust in God’s solution not our own. Pray we realize that part of the reason people don’t accept God’s concept of peace is because it doesn’t make sense to them. Pray we realize that peace of mind is beyond having the right job, the right spouse, and the right co-workers. Pray we realize that peace is not so much about what we do but what God does. Pray we not so much think on things we wish were true but on what is true. Pray we know that God is for us and with us and in us. Pray we have the peace of God, which transcends all understanding and guards your hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Pray our peace has a purpose.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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