Thursday, April 16  Judges 19-21; Acts 2

Judges: 19-21  This is basically one long account of a very wayward Israel.  The story is shocking and very hard to deal with. If you have time take some time to do a character analysis of the Levite and Micah.  What do you learn about the Levite? (specifically vs.19:1; 19:21) What Bible passage (hint: from Genesis) does the city of Gibeah remind you of? 

Were the Israelites seeking God’s wisdom? Where was the ark of the covenant?

What was the dilemma for the Israelites and how did they solve it.

Acts 2:  Yesterday, we read that Jesus told the disciples to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit; how was that manifested?  (See also Matthew 3:11)? Where were the believers meeting and what were they dong?

Journal Prompt:  Today we finish the book of Judges.  The final verse is: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” It’s clear to see what happened to Israel when they chose to serve themselves rather than God. What about you?  What is your ‘truth’?

Judges 19:  First of all, the Levites were supposedly – the servants of God, yet this Levite had a concubine.  Secondly, in spite of the fact that he went to retrieve his ‘property’, he was willing to sacrifice her to be raped. Thirdly, instead of burying her body, he cut her up in pieces.

What happened in Gibeah was very similar to what happened in Sodom when the men of the city wanted to have sex with the visiting men.

The tribes of Israel decided to attack Gibeah and kill all of the residents because of their behavior.
It appears that they were seeking God’s opinion – perhaps their worship was distorted, but they did seem to ask God for guidance (v.18, 23, 26-28) 

The ark of the covenant was in Bethel.

The Israelites killed all but 600 Benjamin men (and all of the women and children) which left Israel without one of the twelve tribes.  The problem was when they heard about the situation in Gibeah, the Israelites swore not to ever give their daughters in marriage to the Benjamites.  They realized that the people of Jabesh Gilead (in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh) had not joined them in battle, so they killed everyone in the town (because they were unfaithful to Israel) except for 400 virgins whom they gave to them to the Benjamin survivors, but they were still short 200.  So they instructed the remaining Benjamin men to steal virgins from Shiloh so they could be their wives.  In this way no one was ‘giving their daughters in marriage’ and the Israelites would tell the fathers and brothers that it was okay – they were ‘taking one for the team’ and they were not breaking an oath since the girls were not ‘given’, but ‘taken’.

Acts 2:  Jesus told them to wait to be baptized with the Holy Spirit (1.5) and John prophesied that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  In this chapter we see that the Holy Spirit came upon them and flames appeared above their heads as they were baptized. 

The believers (over 3,000) were meeting in the Temple Courts and in their homes. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to prayer and to praising God, and they shared meals.