They were making their hearts merry, when behold, the men of the city, sons of Belial, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
At night the men of Gibeah surround the old man's house and demand his guest. It raises the hardest question in the book of Judges: how did God's own people sink this low?
The ESV calls them "worthless fellows." Older translations read "sons of Belial."
The Hebrew word means "worthless, lawless." It is not a proper name. It personifies evil, so we have "son of Belial," "daughter of Belial," and so on: Deuteronomy 13:13; Judges 19:22; 1 Samuel 1:16; 1 Samuel 25:17, 25; and others. The New Testament sets it in contrast to Christ, as if it meant Satan (2 Corinthians 6:15). There the word is Beliar.
The demand at the door recalls Sodom. But the city making it belongs to God's people.
A second account of terrible moral atrocity follows. It begins in Judges 19 with words much like the opening of Judges 18. The first fact that comes out is that Gibeah of Benjamin was hardly better than Sodom or Gomorrah, on which the LORD rained fire and sulphur for their uncleanness.
One difference makes Gibeah worse than Sodom.
A frightful thing followed. The impure passions of men who bore the name of the LORD matched in horror those of the accursed city. Such things happening in Israel were worse than the history of Lot. As dead flies make the ointment stink, so the corruption of the people of God is the worst of all. What is more, we see no intervention of angels to deliver the righteous.
The chapter opens by telling us there was no king in Israel. That note is the diagnosis, not the date.
Moses taught the people how to behave once they had taken the land. He said plainly, "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes" (Deuteronomy 12:8). Three hundred years after this warning we find the people in the land. But the closing chapters of Judges record a low moral condition, marked by gross corruption and violence. Two causes lie behind it. First, they had thrown off the authority of God as their King. Second, and as a result, every man was doing what was right in his own eyes.
The old man offers his own daughter to the mob instead. That is not courage but the reflex of a man settled in a corrupt city.
Determined wickedness raises its head. This old man has settled down in the evil city. Notice how he can only think of appeasement as a way to meet the evil. He is ready to sacrifice his own daughter, copying the faithless folly of Lot (vv. 22-24). But this was not his right to do. Nor is it our right to make any compromise whatever with evil. Still, if we tie ourselves to it, it makes cruel demands on us, and requires us to surrender what really belongs to God... How can we dare to agree to the smallest evil to avoid (as we hope) a greater one? Are we so foolish as to think we can subdue evil by allowing evil?
The mob asked for the Levite. He hands over the woman instead.
However, the faithless, cowardly Levite sacrifices his concubine to save his own neck. The evil shows itself in all its horror. It breaks out in cruel violence and moral corruption. In Sodom the angels had held such things back, but in Israel nothing stops it reaching its dreadful extreme of iniquity.
One thing is missing from the whole night: nobody calls on God.
The Levite gave up his wife to dishonour. An appeal to God could have prevented this, remembering His protection in earlier days. Could He not have struck the people with blindness, as He did before? But no cry of anguish went up to Him. From the heart of the Levite to the LORD, the way was barred.
God did not stop the evil that night. That is not the end of the story.
God allowed the evil to run its full course. But, as the following chapters tell us, out of this frightful evil He brought glory to Himself.
- Cause. Israel threw off God's rule as King. Every man then did what was right in his own eyes, and this night followed.
- Character. The word for these men means worthless and lawless. In the New Testament, Belial stands opposite Christ.
- Contrast. Gibeah repeats Sodom, but no angels step in. Corruption among God's own people is the worst of all.
- Compromise. The host bargains with evil and offers what was not his to give. You cannot subdue evil by allowing evil.
- Conclusion. God let the wickedness reach its full extent, and then drew glory to Himself out of it.
And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brethren, I pray you, do not wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this villany.
In Gibeah, a town of Israel, an old man steps out into a mob at his door and begs them, calling them "my brothers." His words sound decent, but the rest of the chapter shows how little decent words achieve once evil has settled into God's own people.
The shock of the verse is where it happens. The men at the door are not pagans but Israelites, and the writers trace the parallel back to Lot at Sodom.
The impure passions of men who bore the name of Jehovah equalled in horror those of the accursed city. Such things happening in Israel were worse than the story of Lot. Dead flies make perfume stink; in the same way, the corruption of the people of God is the worst corruption of all. Moreover, we do not see any intervention of angels to deliver the just.
The man pleading at the door is not even a local.
In Gibeah no one would show them hospitality. At last an old man took them in — himself a stranger there, from the hill country of Ephraim. How much like the wicked city of Sodom this city of Israel had become!
Lot once stood at his own door in Sodom and spoke to a mob the same way. One writer traces his choice back to a lost trust in God.
Lot goes out to plead for his guests, to reason with his fellow townsmen (sadly, he calls them "brothers"), and offers his two daughters. For he has lost the simplicity of faith. The scene is full of difficulty, danger, and wickedness on every side, yet he does not look only to the Lord. He uses worldly wisdom instead, and picks what he thought was the lesser of two evils.
Notice what the old man reaches for: first persuasion, then a swap of victims.
When determined wickedness raises its head, look at this old man. He has settled down in the evil city, and the only way he can think of to meet the evil is to make peace with it. He is ready to sacrifice his own daughter, copying the faithless folly of Lot. But this was not within his rights. Nor is it within our rights to make any compromise whatever with evil. Still, if we are linked with it, it makes cruel demands on us, requiring that we surrender what really belongs to God.
The same writer presses the question at us: can evil ever be subdued by allowing evil?
How can we dare consent to the slightest evil in order to avoid (as we hope) a greater evil?... Where is our faith in the living God, whose power alone is able to meet the challenge of sin?
Between the plea of verse 23 and the horror that follows, there was another road open — and it was never tried.
Like Lot, the man who took the Levite in speaks at the door. He accepts one evil to avoid a worse one. This is bound to be how believers act when they go on with the world... The Levite gave up his wife to dishonour. An appeal to God might have prevented all this, remembering how He had protected them in earlier days.
The nation later rose in fury over this night. Kelly asks why the idol worship set up by Micah, told earlier in the book, never stirred the same fury.
Note that what drew out their unanimous condemnation was not an outrage done to God's name. Where was the just horror at the idolatry of Micah?... Men then, as now, feel nothing for a lie or a libel against God; they are sensitive when their own rights are touched. But He knows how to wake them up from such disgraceful insensibility.
God does not edit this night out of His book, and He does not let it be the last word.
God allowed the evil to run its full course. But, as the following chapters tell us, out of this dreadful evil He brought glory to Himself.
- Settle — The old man had made his home in a corrupt city; that choice, not the mob, is where his helplessness began.
- Plead — Settled in evil, he had only soft words left, and the offer of his own daughter in place of his guest.
- Compromise — Taking one evil to avoid a worse one is how believers act when they go on with the world. It is never within our rights.
- Surrender — Evil makes cruel demands on anyone linked with it. In the end it takes what really belongs to God.
- Appeal — Nobody appealed to God. His power alone is able to meet the challenge of sin, and He still drew glory out of the ruin that followed.
Behold, my daughter, who is a virgin, and his concubine; let me bring them out, and humble ye them, and do to them as is good in your sight; but to this man do not so vile a thing.
A Levite is staying the night in Gibeah, and now the men of the town are pounding on his host's door. The old man's answer — offering them his own daughter and his guest's concubine — shows how far God's people had sunk, and why bargaining with evil never works.
The night in Gibeah repeats an earlier night in Sodom, where a mob surrounded Lot's door and he offered them his daughters. One writer notes the one thing missing here:
Then comes the horrible outbreak. It makes the Levite realise that the Israelite city is as bad as any Canaanite one. The whole thing repeats the outrage at Sodom, but without the angels who kept things safe there. The old man, their host, repeats Lot's offer.
Another writer says the sin here was worse than Sodom's, because these people carried God's name:
A frightful thing followed. The impure passions of men who bore the name of Jehovah matched in horror those of the accursed city. Such things happening in Israel were worse than what happened in Lot's day. As dead flies make the ointment stink, so the corruption of the people of God is the worst of all. What is more, we see no angels stepping in to rescue the righteous.
The old man calls the mob's demand outrageous, then offers an outrage of his own to stop it. One writer traces that back to where he had chosen to live:
When determined wickedness raises its head, notice this old man. He has settled down in the evil city, and the only way he can think of meeting the evil is to appease it. He is ready to sacrifice his own daughter, copying the faithless folly of Lot (vv. 22-24). But this was not within his rights. Nor is it within our rights to make any compromise whatever with evil. Still, if we tie ourselves to evil, it makes cruel demands on us and requires us to surrender what really belongs to God. "O you who love the LORD, hate evil!" is the divine decree (Ps. 97:10)... How can we dare consent to the slightest evil to avoid, as we hope, a greater evil? Are we so foolish as to suppose that we can subdue evil by allowing evil?
The host never turned to God for help. One writer weighs what that cost:
God kept this man from seeing his house defiled by these vile men, but he could see no other way out. The Levite gave up his wife to dishonour. A cry to God, remembering His protection in earlier days, might have prevented it all.
The host makes the offer, but it is the woman's own husband who hands her over. One writer does not spare him:
The Levite, for the sake of his own safety, abandons his concubine to the insane fury of the crowd. The morning finds her dead, her hands stretched out over the violated threshold, pleading and in vain.
The host tells the mob to do what seems good to them. One writer traces that way of thinking back to two causes:
Three hundred years after Moses warned them, we find the people in the Land. But the closing chapters of Judges record a low moral state, marked by gross corruption and violence. That low state came from two causes. First, they had cast off the authority of God as their King. Second, and as a result, every man was doing what was right in his own eyes.
Israel rose in outrage after that night. One writer points to what had never stirred them:
Notice that what drew out their unanimous condemnation was not an outrage done to God's name. Where was the right horror at the idolatry of Micah? On the contrary, it was courted and continued down to the captivity. Men then, as now, feel nothing for a lie or a slander against God; they are sensitive when their own rights are touched. But He knows how to wake them up from such disgraceful insensitivity.
Even so, the story does not end in darkness. God did not stop the evil at the door:
God allowed the evil to run its full course. But as the following chapters tell us, He brought glory to Himself out of this frightful evil.
- Cause — no king. Israel had cast off God's authority. So every man did what was right in his own eyes, and Gibeah is where that ends.
- Compromise — no rights. The host offers what was never his to give. You cannot subdue evil by allowing evil.
- Cowardice — no faith. Neither host nor Levite appealed to God, though He had protected His people before. No angels came, because no one asked.
- Conscience — no consistency. Israel stayed calm through idolatry and exploded over an injury to a man. We feel our own rights far more than God's honour.
- Conclusion — no waste. God let the evil run its full course, and still brought glory to Himself out of it.