[One-Verse Meditation]

Judges 19:22 (NIV) “While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, ‘Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.’”

[Meditation]

This scene from Judges 19 is reminiscent of the wickedness of Sodom, which God judged with fire. The same shouts that the men of Sodom directed at Lot’s house are repeated here in Gibeah.

“They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.’” (Genesis 19:5)

This terrible cry, “so we can have sex with him,” is a declaration that completely demolishes God’s created order. For them, God no longer existed (even though they were Benjamites). This is not just about one specific sin; it shows that when we have no king, this is what we become when we forget God. Even successes and achievements that look impressive and wonderful from a worldly perspective are, if their motive is to enthrone ‘oneself,’ rooted in the same self-centered desire to “have sex with him.”

This episode makes us question our ‘way of seeing.’ We judge by what we see, and we either rejoice or despair. But what if our very vision is distorted? When we do not have God as our king, our eyes see the world through the lens of our own desires. We see everything as a tool and a means for ‘me.’ The end of that distorted vision is the destructive sin of “we can have sex with him.”

That is why we must return to the Word—the Word of truth that corrects our distorted vision and allows us to see the world clearly. It is so that Christ Jesus, the Word who came to this earth, may become our King.

[Prayer]

Lord, help me today to see myself, and to see Christ Jesus, so that I may know where I stand. And so, let this be a day of walking rightly, with the Word of God as my guide. Amen.
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[Daily Reading]

Judges 19:16-30