Will You Speak Up?

"Everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it! What are we going to do? Who’s going to speak up?” (Judges 19:30, NLT)

The Levite and the concubine. So much tragedy; so much sin throughout the 19th chapter of Judges. The Levite had taken a concubine. This was acceptable behavior in Israelite society, but it was never God's original intent. The concubine was unfaithful. She returns to her father's house, and the Levite goes to get her. It is upon this return trip home that we find the two needing a place to stay for the night. An old man comes to the town square and offers them a place to sleep. While they were there, a crowd of men came to the house, much like what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah, and demanded for the Levite to come outside, so they could have sex with him.

What happens next, and concluding the chapter, is a set of horrible events. The Levite pushed the concubine out the door to the crowd of men. They raped and abused her all during the night. At dawn, they let her go, and she is able to make it back to the house, but collapses at the door and dies. In the morning, the Levite finds her body, and takes her back to his home. Once there, he cuts her up in twelve pieces and sends one piece to each of the tribes of Israel.

In today's society, numerous criminal charges would have been brought forth. Rape, abuse, murder, complicity to commit murder, mutilation of a corpse. What happened to these men? We don't know. But, we do know what happened to that concubine. Because of the selfishness and cowardliness of the old man and the Levite, she was subjected to abuse. They didn't want to get hurt, so they sent her out. They allowed this tragedy to occur. Then, she had to practically crawl back to the house, just close enough to place her hand upon the threshold. She probably didn't have enough strength at that point to even knock on the door before dying. And, then to have her body dismembered. The imagery is horrific.

We read and hear of terrible crimes happening all the time. But, do we become numb or at times lethargic, to such happenings? Are we speaking up loud enough to try and prevent these things from happening again? Are we allowing those that are hurt and abused to come to our doorstep, our threshold, and then just say "Get up---Let's go!" without showing compassion or empathy? May it never be. May we be that safe haven that a person can come to in their time of need. May we be that voice that is willing to "speak up and out" against the travesties in our society.