(The Old Testament book of Judges chapters 19-21)
Once upon a time in the land of Israel a man was traveling with his concubine (second wife) and an employee. It was late in the evening and they needed to stay overnight in a town. They passed up one town because the people were not Israelites. The next town was an Israeli town named Gibeah that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and they stayed the night there.
Hospitality was the expected custom for travelers. The travelers usually had their daily provisions with them. All they needed was a place to sleep. And that’s the way it was with these three travelers. But they were in the town square till nightfall and no one had taken them in. This was a scary situation because of hoodlums and thugs who would take advantage of the travelers.
Finally an elderly man came in and offered them a place to stay. He also offered to feed them.
After nightfall the hoodlums and thugs surrounded his house. They banged on the door and disrupted everything. They told the old man to send the man outside because they wanted to have sex with him. They were not interested in having sex with the woman.
The old man, the host, begged them not to act so wickedly. As a consolation to satisfy the depraved nature of the hoodlums the concubine was given to them. They sexually abused her all night long.
When the traveler rose in the morning his concubine was dead. She laid at the entrance to the house with her hands on the threshold.
The traveler left and carried his dead concubine with him. When he got home he dismembered her and sent a piece of her body to each of the tribes in Israel. He got the whole nation involved in the ordeal.
All the tribes said they had never seen anything like this and asked the man to explain himself. He told his story and asked for justice. The whole nation agreed that the tribe of Benjamin must allow the thugs and hoodlums to be brought to justice. But they absolutely refused to bring the criminals to justice.
This resulted in a civil war with eleven of the tribes of Israel against the tribe of Benjamin. At the beginning of the war everything went against the tribes seeking justice. Multiple thousands (40,000) died for the cause of justice.
Finally, the war turned against the Benjamites and they suffered almost total annihilation.There were only six hundred men left to this rogue tribe.
The minority, the tribe of Benjamin, absolutely refused to bring their criminals to justice. And this is a major problem. Every single tribe of Israel suffered great loss because a small minority would not obey the laws of the land.
This story applies to us.
The Pledge of Allegiance states,
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
It begins with “I” and ends with “all.” What we promise to every citizen of our country is “LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.”
Our justice system has miserably failed us by denying justice for all.
Let me give an example. The perpetrators of mass murder, school shootings, etc. usually receive government protection rather than swift justice. If our government was truly interested in stopping such criminal acts then these criminals would be executed immediately.
Solomon said, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11)
Today we live in a country where people are not afraid to perpetrate crimes against their fellow man. They are unafraid because they know the justice system in America is corrupt and has failed its obligation to serve justice, justice for all.
JUSTICE DELAYED IS NOT JUSTICE DENIED
The scriptures tell us judgment is coming. Justice will be served. God will make everyone give an account of the things done in their bodies, whether good or bad. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
God is also merciful. He is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but desires that everyone come to repentance. The channel of His mercy comes through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All who refuse to accept the conditions established in the scriptures will face eternity in a place that was not designed for them, hell. Hell was designed as an eternal place of torment for Satan and his angels.
Everyone needs to understand their own personal guilt and eternal condemnation for breaking God’s laws. Each person must personally repent, confess their sins to God. Beg for mercy. Trust the substitutionary death of Jesus on your behalf and God will pardon you. He is abundant in mercy to all who accept His terms for salvation.