We're glad that you're here today. Christmas is right around the corner, right? We're not going to start singing Christmas songs just yet, but I did want to let you guys know that if you're planning to help out with our Christmas program, Carrie is doing handbells. Handbell, if you've been hearing about that or you're interested, they're meeting today. right after pastor's class at like noon in the music room, correct? Music room. So if you're interested in handbells, they're meeting today at noon, right after Sunday school, after pastor's class. So I hope you guys will stick around for that, that are interested. But we're glad you're here. We're glad for those that are joining us online to join us in worship this morning. And we're going to begin by reading scripture. We're going to read from Psalm 146 this morning. I'm going to go ahead and invite you to stand as we read. Our scripture, Psalm 146, says, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes and a son of man in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth. On that very day, his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the hope of the Lord, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners. He upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations, praise the Lord. Let's go to the Lord in prayer this morning. Heavenly Father, just ask for your hand of blessing and favor as we worship you today. God, Lord, I pray that you would turn and our hearts toward you, Lord. Tune our hearts to sing your praise as we wanna see you high and exalted, Lord, as you prepare our hearts to hear from the word later this morning, Lord. And we just ask you to guide us in our worship of you today. It's in your name we pray, amen. Remain standing with us as we begin our singing, as we sing the solid rock. Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. Darkness fills his lovely face. I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. His oath is covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. He shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, homeless to stand before the Lord. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Amen. You sound good this morning, church. Turn to someone and tell them that they sounded good when you heard them singing this morning. you Sing, give thanks to the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King. His love endures forever. For He is good, He is above all things. His love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. For the life that's been reborn, His love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Forever God is faithful. Forever God is strong. Forever God is with us. Forever. Forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Forever God is faithful Forever God is strong Forever God is with us Forever Forever God is faithful Forever God is strong Forever God is with us Forever... Amen. We are thankful that God's love endures forever, even in those times when it seems like everything is falling apart around us. It seems like things might not be going the way we wanted. We know that His love endures. And as this next song says, He is sovereign over us. He is faithful. He is faithful forever. He's with us in the fire. He's with us in the flood, whatever may come our way. He is with us and He is watching over us. He is ruling over us. So I'm going to teach you this song this morning called Sovereign Over Us. There is strength within the sorrow. There is beauty in our tears. And you meet us in our mourning. Working and awaiting. You are working and awaiting. You're teaching us to trust. Your plans are still to prosper. You have not forgotten us. You're with us in the fire and the flood. You're faithful forever. You're perfect in love. You are sovereign over all. You are wisdom unimaginable. Who can understand your will? Leaning high above the heavens. Reaching down endless graves. You surround and you uphold. And your promises are my delight. Your plans are still to prosper. You have not forgotten us. You are sovereign over us. Even what the enemy means for evil, You turn it for our good. You turn it for our good and for Your glory. Even in the valley You are faithful. You're working for our good. You're working for our good and for Your glory. Even what the enemy means for evil, You turn it for our good. ♪ You turn it for our good and your glory ♪ ♪ Even in the valley you are faithful ♪ ♪ Working for our good ♪ ♪ You are working for our good and your glory ♪ ♪ Your plans are still to prosper ♪ ♪ You have not forgotten us ♪ ♪ You are with us in the fire and the flood ♪ Faithful forever. Perfect in love. You are sovereign over us. Your plans are still to prosper. You have not forgotten us. You're with us in the fire. You're perfect in love. You are sovereign over us. You're faithful forever. You're perfect in love. You are sovereign over us. Amen. Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Brian and your team there, Jason, Chase, Carrie, Bev, thank you so much. That was a great song. That was a great song. I hope we sing that many times more, that Sovereign Over Us, that's great. There it says, you know, you are with us in fire and flood. Was that written for Oroville Evangelical Free Church? I'm telling you that, We've been through some fires and floods. We know what that feels like, doesn't it? We know what that feels like. Well, welcome everyone. Good to be together. You are a special group and that includes all of you there. You're all special and good to see you there and some very familiar faces. I met some new people today and I'm sorry I don't get around to everybody, but nice to have Peter and Susan here. Thank you, Peter and Susan. Peter and Susan come from a church over in Seaside and he's a Gideon there. We like the Gideons here, and good to have you. Thanks, Dennis, for bringing them there. That's great to have. And I know that Natalie's been here many times, but I haven't really officially met Natalie, but Natalie, it's good to meet Natalie today. For me, they're nice, always, and another, I'm sure Scott has been here with his kids, but Scott, it was good to see you there, too. I met you for the first time today. Good to see you there. And I forgot your daughter's name. It's Isaac, and it's? Amelia, that's right, Amelia. That's right, good. And I see others that I don't recognize, but welcome there, and good to have you all here. And also, welcome to you online. And I wonder who's out there sometimes. I think, you know, I think Marie watches Reinhardt. Hi, Marie. And John Reichman, I think he watches, I'm sure. I know there's a lot of other people that watch the broadcast. Welcome. Nice to have you online. I look forward to seeing you in person soon. Well, I've got a few announcements to go over. So let me cover a few of those. Let's see. Women's ministry had a great day yesterday, I heard. They called that pray and polish. You notice a lot of things look pretty clean around here. Good job, women look really nice. And I hope you can do another one of those. There are many women's ministry activities. going on, just watch the bulletin. I don't have anything special today to bring attention to, but watch the bulletin. There's prayers going on each week, meetings, and the men had a great meeting this week on Tuesday, and their next King's Men gathering is Tuesday, October 19th. You might wanna get that on your calendar now at 6 p.m., includes dinner and a nice program, get together. Let's see. Fellowship hour, you know, there's a lot of parts of our day here on Sunday that are highlights. I mean, the service is a really incredible highlight and pastor's class is a really highlight, but fellowship hour, that's a good highlight too, isn't it? Fellowship hour. I'm telling you, some of you guys bring brunch out there. I don't think I need to eat for, you know, until dinner time. It's a pretty impressive spread you guys bring, but we, You know, I only expect dry crackers, but, you know, to have all that others, that's pretty impressive. We do need people to continue to look at the clipboard out there and for people to bring things. You know, you don't have to bring the whole thing. It's just bring one item or make the coffee. But if you check the clipboard out there, it's a nice way to get to know other people. And it's really a great time, Fellowship Hour. I enjoy meeting you all. This week will be a kickoff of Awana. Well, now there's something to pray for, or that's something to plan to participate in, but I wanna, that's a great outreach ministry of this church. Well, we'll fill this church full of kids on most Wednesday nights, and a lot of you will participate in that. It's a great time, Wednesday night, pray for that, participate in that. Tim Giordano and Laura, thank you for your leadership in that. It is a great, so that's starting. We haven't been in, how long has it been, Tim? Been a year and a half since we've had Oana? Man, it's gonna be exciting to get that going again. Thanks, Tim. See, we've got, on October 15th, we've got the Family Fall Festival, and that's where we join with, our church joins with the school, and we celebrate God's goodness and the harvest. You know, I was thinking, what harvest are you guys celebrating anyway? You know, I was just thinking, what are the harvests that we celebrate? And, you know, I was thinking that probably Mark Bates and the school board, they probably celebrate the OCS student harvest. And if you're like Marsha Banford, you probably celebrate the cow meat harvest, or the Banfords, the tree harvest, Or if you're a rice farmer, it's the rice harvest. Or if you're the Sundalls, it's the hay harvest. Or the Johansson, it's the olive harvest. Or for me, it's the wage harvest. I'm a wage earner, so I celebrate my wage harvest. I was thinking about Rob. Rob probably celebrates customer harvest. But anyway, we all have a harvest, don't we? God has provided for us. And it's a chance to celebrate the harvest and the big need they have for that is candy. And so the children are going to make a candy harvest I think on that day. So if you can think about how when you see those candy sales around there think about buying some and I think Elisabelle probably will put up probably eventually put some kind of a bin out there will start filling with candy I imagine. But anyway start getting ready to help us. really bring a blessing that night and maybe you want to participate. October 15th. You know, many years ago, I was blessed, the Freddies invited Susan and I to go to a weekend conference put on by Walk Through the Bible. Do you remember that, Michael and Laurel? We went to the Walk Through the Bible and it was a really quite a life-changing conference, you know, just to kind of cover the main themes of the Bible and kind of think about how they chronologically fit together and just a big overview of the Bible. And it was a real blessing. I would say that that's what the pastor's class is right now. He calls it a journey through the Bible, discovering right now we're discovering the New Testament. And you're certainly welcome to attend and we welcome you. It's 11 o'clock and the pastor's, I think, especially skilled in bringing the themes and sort of the chronology of the Bible and how each book fits in with the others. Today they're studying 2nd Corinthians and so that's the pastors class. Remember we have an offering box in the back. You want to designate an offering put it in a blue envelope. We thank you for your generosity. God has blessed us, blessed us greatly. You know right now the elders when we get together we've been going through a book. called Christian Beliefs. And this last week, the chapter we were in was what is sin? What is sin? And definition there reminded us is it's a failure to conform to God's moral law in our actions, in our attitudes, in our nature. And, you know, in this Psalm we're gonna look at, The psalmist personalizes his acknowledgement of his personal sin and he also acknowledges the sin of Israel and the country. And as I was thinking about that chapter, it caused me to remember how important it was in my life that I understood the deep, personal, profound way that sin affected my life. And, you know, I must say that I understood, I grew up in the church, I understood with my head I understood in my head that I was a sinner, but when I understood with my heart that I really did miss the mark and I really did need, I had a desperate need for a savior, that was a key point in my life. You know, Jesus said, Jesus said, those have been forgiven much, love much. Those have been forgiven little, love little. You know, We need a Savior, don't we? We need a Savior. And we need to be saved from our sins. We really sometimes do not appreciate the marvelous grace that the Lord provides and our unmerited favor that He instills on us and how much we have been forgiven. So for that, we're gonna read Psalm 130. Why don't you stand and we'll read, I'll read Psalm 130. God has given us his word, and it is a holy word. It is a profound word. It's accurate. It's truthful. And Psalm 130, out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy if you Oh, Lord, should mark iniquities. Oh, Lord, who could stand? But with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in his word, I hope my soul waits for the Lord more than a watchman for the morning, more than a watchman for the morning. Over Israel. Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is steadfast love and with him is plentiful redemption and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. May the Lord bless his word and may we be thankful for it. You may be seated. Church, join me in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we adore you, we bless you, we acknowledge you are creator of heaven and earth. Dear God, you are just, you are good, you are faithful, you are forever strong, you are sovereign. Lord, we thank you for your many blessings in our lives. We thank you for the harvest you have brought in our lives. We thank you for our families, our spouse, our work, our school. You provided for our needs, for a home, and for our food. We thank you, Lord. May we give you thanks always for your many blessings to us. Lord, we confess our sins. Lord, I confess my sins. Lord, I recognize that my actions, my attitudes, the things I do do not meet your moral standard. Lord, I see that. And I am thankful that you saved me from my sins and you made me justify before you because there is no other hope. Lord, I thank you for that. Lord, we thank you for forgiveness. May we learn to love you more and more for how you have forgiven us. Lord, we pray for our church to have a spiritual awakening, and we also pray that for our country, our land, our world. Lord, may people realize You may convict us of sin and may we learn to confess. The people may learn to confess our sins and turn from our wicked ways. Lord, we know we are idol makers. Forgive us for being idol makers. Help point out to where we have made idols in our lives or help us to seek your face more and more. Dear God, help us to grow in holiness, unity, joy, and sacrificial service to one another. Lord, we thank you for those who serve the church, in ministry such as the Nakamura's, Richard and Carrie. Lord, may you give them wisdom and strength as they work among the Japanese people in Seattle and the surrounding area. Dear God, bless their ministry. Dear God, help the people that they're ministering to. May their hearts be opened to the good news of the gospel. Father, We do not appreciate how many in the church are persecuted all over the world. Dear God, comfort them. We think of the church that especially under lots of persecution in China and North Korea and Iran, Afghanistan. Lord, pray for those believers. Protect them, Lord, strengthen them. Lord, we pray for our leaders. at our city level, at our state level, at the country. Dear God, may our leaders turn to you and call the people to turn to you and call for your help, Lord. Lord, we need your help. Help these leaders to govern justly and rightly. We pray for leaders within our church. We think of the deacon and deaconesses. May they walk uprightly and in integrity. as they serve the body. Father, we pray for those that cannot be with us today that are homebound. Pray for those we know that are discouraged, that are sick. Lord, may you touch them with your mercy and comfort and grace. May they feel connected to us. Lord, may you help us with this plague of COVID Lord, we need your help. May the leaders call to you and see that you are the solution, and we may not put our trust in science. We thank you that you have solutions and you have a purpose. Dear God, help end this plague. Lord, and change us. We need to be changed, Lord, by your Holy Spirit. Come change us, Lord. We need to be sanctified in our attitudes, sanctified in our actions. sanctified in the things we love, our affections, change us, Lord, help us to be more like you. Lord, be with the service, remain of the service as we sing your praises and as we hear your word. May we be focused towards you and lifting up our sacrifices of praise and blessing to you as we hear your word preached and as the music sung. We love you, Lord, and we pray these things now in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you Mark. At this time all of our children can be dismissed to their classes at Children's Church. get into our next song which you can see the next song we're going to sing is the title of it's called how deep the father's love for us and as we think about that how how how deep is God's love and this of course the song talks about um that that God God loved us that he sent his son and we and it talks about the the Father's love in sending Christ to die for us. But sometimes we wonder how could Christ have done something like that for us? How could Christ have a heart that is bent toward us sinners? And I just want to share with you, this is a book that has been, we have several copies that were given to churches. Crossway Publishing received a generous gift and they were able to send out however many copies the church wanted of this book. It's called Gentle and Lowly. and it's based off Matthew 11 29 where Christ said of his own heart I am gentle and lowly and this has been a great devotional book I've used over the past few months and we've got several copies that are out on the welcome desk for anybody we have one per family if you'd like a copy of this book please grab it on your on your way out it has been a wonderful a devotional read as we understand the depths of Christ's love and his heart toward us, toward sinners who are really undeserving of that love. And sometimes we can question that. Why would God have such affection toward us? And this book really opens our eyes to that reality that Christ is gentle and lowly in heart. So after the service today, as you're going out, as you're grabbing a cup of coffee out on the welcome desk, grab a copy of that book, and I promise you it'll bless you. if you read that devotionally. But right now we're gonna stand, we're gonna sing this song, How Deep the Father's Love. How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son. to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss! The Father turns his face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One. ♪ Bring many sons to glory ♪ Behold the man upon the cross. My sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice. Fall out among those brothers. It was my sin that held him there. until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. What should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. Amen. You may be seated. Good morning. What a joy to be in the house of the Lord. A joy to be with his people and centered around the fellowship of Christ, the word of God. Even as we were praying this morning for the persecuted church, I don't imagine many of us really had a lot of obstacles that kept us from coming to church this morning, except maybe self-imposed ones. But many believers around the world, even today, choose to gather, running the gauntlet, as it were. And so we need to pray for them. And it's good for us to pray for them and remember the blessings that we have, being able to come freely and joyfully. And let's take advantage of that opportunity. If you haven't already, please fill out the attendance forms and indicate your presence with us this morning. Those of you that are watching online, you can contact the church office to let us know that you're with us this morning, and that'd be a good habit for you to do each week so that we know that you're with us, even as we wait for you to be physically back here with us. As we head into the fall schedule, and as the elders have been talking, men's Bible studies are starting, or men's group is starting, women's Bible studies are starting, we thought it's been a while since we have emphasized those signs of growth at Market Church Community. And so we want to say that we're going to have another church membership class coming up. It's an opportunity for those that come and be a part of us regularly to step up publicly and say, yes, we're going to be part of you and be with you in fellowship and use our gifts and service. And so we have applications already even out in the foyer that you can pick them up. Actually, Brother Carl has some in the back there. Pick one up. If you've not yet joined us, this would be an opportunity to do so. We also want to have baptisms. It's been a while. COVID has kind of shut everything down. And so it's time for us to start planning for baptism. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, but you have not followed him in obedience by going through the waters of baptism, please see me. And we'll get together and talk about what baptism is and have a baptism service and celebration of what the Lord has been doing in your life as a result of encountering him. One of the privileges that we had of spending a number of years in the Arab Middle East was we got to see a lot of history. At least we got to see the ruins and reminders of history. And one of the places that we got to know was Tell el-Hammam. It's an archaeological site that is found approximately where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea. It's a place that offers tremendous insight into life in the Bronze Age, which occurred about 3000 BC, up until about 1500 BC. And it is a great candidate for the city of Sodom. The contours of the land fit the descriptions found in Genesis 14 to 19. And the evidence that they have discovered so far with all of the pottery and other things fits very well with what we see in biblical revelation. And what is significant about this area is that there is a whole layer of rock and sand that shows that it went through a very sudden and catastrophic event that ended civilization in that region, even as civilization continued in regions all around. And it fits in very well with what we see as God's judgment poured out in the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding areas. So why do I begin with this historic piece of data? Because in an age of moral confusion, in an age of outward rebellion against God's order, and God's design, it is good for us to be reminded that there are things that are wrong, that there are things that are aberrant, that there are things that are against the design of God. And so as we go through a very difficult passage in the book of Judges this morning, we are going to see shadows of Sodom. And we have to deal with sexual sin. Now, this has been a challenging book, I think you'll agree. Nobody enters into a study in the book of Judges light-hearted, in a light-hearted manner. But the good thing about the book of Judges is that it forms us to come face to face with the wickedness of man so that the holiness of God is seen in a brighter light and the need of redemption is seen as well. And so we enter a very difficult passage this morning and we're going to take chapters 19 and 20 together. They actually form a unit with chapter 21. I'll hold off chapter 21 till next week when we will finish. that chapter and wrap up what we have done so far in the book of Judges. So I need you to have your Bibles open this morning. There is a lot of text that we're going to cover. I'm not going to be able to take time to read all of it. Most of it is not going to be on the screen. We're just going to kind of do a walking tour through chapters 19 and 20 of the book of Judges this morning. But just to give us a taste and to get us into the flow in favor of the text, I am going to read the first nine verses of Judges 19. And if you're able, I invite you one more time to read in honor of God's word. Please stand for the reading of that word. And the holy and fully inspired word of God says, In those days when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah and was there some four months. Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys, and she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. And on the fourth day, they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go. But the girl's father said to his son-in-law, strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go. So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, be pleased to spend the night and let your heart be merry. And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him till he spent the night there again. And on the fifth day, he arose early in the morning to depart, and the girl's father said, strengthen your heart and wait until after the day declines. So they ate, both of them. And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey and go home. Now, Father, as we have read this text and as you lead us through the rest of it, would you guide us by your spirit? Father, give us ears to hear, eyes to see, minds to understand, and hands ready to apply. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Well, we begin with our first major point, Levite and his concubine. And as I've said this morning, we're just going to be walking and talking through these two chapters. And so we may find ourselves moving a little quickly at times, and that's okay. But our text begins with a statement that there was no king in Israel in those days. That's already off to a bad start because in fact there was a king, but he was not followed or obeyed. Because it has been true in the underlying message all throughout the book of Judges that God is the king. He is also the creator. He is also the judge. He is the one who determines light from darkness, right from wrong, truth from error. By throwing off the restraints of the law, as we have seen the Israelites do, and throwing off God's command for life and conduct, there are no more safeguards to keep them from grievous sin and error. And the need for a good king just becomes more and more apparent in this story. But this should serve as a warning for us today. In our day, where it seems that all that God has defined and held as sacred is under attack, Biblical ideas of marriage are being pushed aside, not just in our own land, all around the world. Even the very ideas of manhood and womanhood are open to discussion today. Insanity is replacing common sense. Moral degradation is replacing moral integrity. And I promise you the results will not be good. Not for the individuals involved, and not for the society affected by these immoral changes. That's what history tells us. But fear not. God's truth will prevail. God's standards will not give in. Though it might be that for a season, sin will exact a very costly price. And Israel will find that out the hard way in Judges 19 and 20. Now in the moral madness that has become Israel, as we've seen in the book of Judges, the problem that begins between a man and his concubine in chapter 19 will lead to an all-out civil war among Israel in chapter 20. Once sin is unleashed, we cannot control it. We think we can manage sin. We think we can tax sin. We think we can control sin. But once sin is unleashed, we do not know the extent of its damage, even something beginning between two people that can eventually affect a nation. Now, it's interesting as we go through these chapters, no names are mentioned except one. Chapter 20, verse 28, we have the name of the priest that is mentioned. And isn't it interesting then that throughout the book of Judges we keep coming across this statement, everyone does what is right in his own eyes. And now we get to two chapters where the names are not mentioned. It's as if the characters represent all of us, or represent all of Israel. Where the unnamed Levite will represent the Levites. The unnamed woman represents all women. The unnamed man represents all men. Israel's in a moral mess. Everyone does what's right in his own eyes. So the story is not off to a good start. A Levite has a concubine. Now by this time in Judges, even the priests are giving up any pretense of living according to the ways of God, acting more like Canaan, acting more like the pagans of the land in which they were to overcome than living like Israel. So, this little phrase, the Levite has taken a concubine, it was common in that day. It's transactional language. The woman was often not given much say in the matter. That theme will come up again and again, that this poor woman has no say in the matter, even though she is the one most directly affected. Now, we've already seen a concubine once in the book of Judges. You remember? Abimelech. who was the son of Gideon's concubine. How did that work out? It was a great catastrophe for the people of Israel. and the fact that a concubine is mentioned here will also show a catastrophe in Israel. As the story unfolds, we have this poor woman who's at the center, but she's not given a name. She's just mentioned as being the concubine of a priest, and time and again is shown no respect by the men in her life, victimized again and again, even by those who should have been her protectors. So we're told that she leaves the priest, And she is called unfaithful. Which leaves a certain idea of impunity upon her reputation. But I think it's more metaphorical than literal here. And the reason why is probably in the bottom of your Bible you have a little note that says early versions or the Septuagint say she was angry with him. that seems to fit a little more of the flow as we look at what's going on in this story. Moreover, in Israelite culture, and in many cultures of that day, there was no way for a woman to get divorced. So if she left her husband for any reason, she was immediately labeled unfaithful, or an adulteress, or something worse, because she was no longer with her husband. Now, it doesn't use the term husband and wife here, but having a concubine was a form of marriage. It was like a second-class marriage. She would be a second-class wife. And all it says is, she left her husband and went back to her father for four months. She remains there, we're told. And in four months, the Levite goes to get her. And we're told that he brings gifts and he speaks kindly to her. And the words there seem to imply that it was his fault. Because if he has to go to her with gifts and speak kindly to her, he has to try to bring her back. Those that study psychological abuse of oppressor and oppressed, would recognize that oftentimes the one who oppresses another will treat them terribly, but then try to woo them back with charming words and gifts, only to see the pattern of oppression repeated again. And I think we see that here in Judges 19 and 20. Perhaps there was some type of an attempt at reconciliation. Perhaps the father-in-law, notice the terms now, it's changed to father-in-law and son-in-law, that shows that this was a marriage, though again, second tier, Maybe they want to have reconciliation. Maybe they want to keep good terms with this man who was still a priest after all in Israel. So if we want to better understand this story and what will happen in the rest of Judges 19 and 20, we need to talk a little bit about hospitality. It's a little bit of a lost art in our culture today. In our culture, You might say the two main themes are a flag that says, don't tread on me, and a sign on the tree out front that says, no trespassing. Neither of them lend themselves very well to hospitality. And yet, hospitality is a critical practice throughout much of the world, and certainly was in the time of scripture. Some of the blessings that Carol and I had on the mission field were experiencing the rich hospitality from Africans and Arabs and those we sought to minister to, who showed us what friendship and companionship and community looks like. But in this context, to not show hospitality was seen as shameful. Because guests would move through an area, and those that would have people come into their area would feel obligated to take care of them. There was the pride thing of protecting the area, and everyone who came in was under their protection. And there was an obligation to provide hospitality. Now, the father-in-law here does show hospitality, and a little bit over the top. You notice it subtly says that they spend three days and then on the fourth day. Well, that was because it was common practice that you would show this hospitality for three days and then afterwards you would speak your business. That is actually still the practice in the Middle East among the Bedouin tribes. You could come through an area and they'll host you and take care of you and feed you for three days, but then on the fourth day they'll say, what's your business? And the expectation is You're gonna stay and there's an arrangement, or you're gonna move on to the next area. So on the fourth day, he wants to leave, and we see that there's this cycle back and forth. The man gets up to leave. The father-in-law says, oh, no, no, let's just have a little more dinner fellowship. Let's just sit down and have a nice meal and a nice drink, and let's make our hearts be merry. It's hot outside. It's gonna be a difficult journey. And the day goes on. Well, you know, you can't start now. I mean, look, the sun's almost going down. I can imagine the conversation, I almost feel like I was in some of them. Fifth day, it repeats itself. And at this point, we're starting to think, is this going to go on like this? We've already seen that the writer of Judges uses a lot of subtle humor, and I think this is one of them. It gets up the fifth day, they repeat the words, and finally the Levite says, no. No. Which will bring us to the next point, which is a sign of hospitality. I'm not gonna read the text, I just want you to follow along as I begin, but I'm actually gonna back up and start in verse nine. In spite of this father-in-law insisting that the son-in-law stay with his daughter, he's not going to spend another night there and he's eager to get home. It seems he's the one that makes the decision alone because he just says no, we're leaving. Now, there's some ominous phrases here that kind of set the tone for what is to come. And you see them in your copy of God's Word in verse 9. We have the first expression, it says, Now the day has waned toward evening. And what's interesting that if we were to just translate this literally, it would mean the day has collapsed. And then the next phrase is, Behold, the day draws to its close. And these are very good translations, by the way, but if we just take them wouldn't it would be the decline of the day. So the day has collapsed. The day has declined. It is night time now or nearing. And isn't that a great sign of the moral climate in which this story takes place. So the Levite leaves along with his party. It is now well past the time when travel should have begun for the day. And as you follow along, they make it about eight miles and they get outside of Jabez, verse 11, which is Jerusalem. But they say, we're not going to stay here because they're those guys. They're not Israelites. We can't trust them. We're not going to spend time with them. We need to keep on moving on. Which brings up another problem. Because by this time in the book of Judges, Jabez or Jerusalem should have been Israelite territory. But the Benjaminites did not do as they were commanded. The Judahites did not do as they were commanded. They did not clear out the land living there. And so as a result, people are living there that should not be living there. And there's still this enmity and hostility between the people of Israel and the people of the land. But the servant wants him to stay, but he says, no, we're going to keep on going. So they go for about another three miles and they arrive at Gibeah, which is an Israelite city. Now, if in fact they had left early in the morning, they would have been able to make it all the way back home. But because they were delayed in leaving, they're now in a place that they didn't want to be in, but they think, okay, we're in Israel, everything will be okay. But they get into the city, and already now we're giving some cues that something is quite off here. Because they go into the city, and there'd be the city wall, and they're sitting inside the city wall, and we are told that no one takes them in. And given the practice of hospitality that was expected as a sense of obligation in that time, the original readers would hear this and say, uh-oh, something's not right with this story. Here they are, inside the city wall, no place to go and people that would be coming in from the day all go by and none of them take them in except we are told finally at the end of the day an old Ephraimite takes him in coming in from the fields now he wasn't from Gibeah so the fact that he wasn't from Gibeah means he probably was working another man's field But he knows what it is to be an outsider then, because he comes in, he sees them sitting there, and he recognizes that he needs to take care of them. They engage in a conversation. Why are you here? Where have you come from? And where can you go? And then he says, do not spend the night in the town square. Now the reason that the priest originally didn't want to stay in Jabez or Jerusalem was he said, we can't trust the people there. We need to go among the people of Israel. Now they get to the people of Israel and they're told, don't spend the night in the town square. Something's off in the story. The Levite says, well, you know, I was just passing through, and he tries to make himself look better than he is by saying, well, I'm actually on my way to the Lord's house so I could be serving him. He doesn't say, I just went back to get my concubine who had left me, and I got delayed. He never is at fault in this story as we see him talk. He always gets around to making himself look a little better than he actually is. But the old man takes them in, and we're We're about verse 18 now, for 18 and 19. The old man takes them in, verse 20, they get the animal set, they eat, they drink after they've washed themselves and they enjoy a meal together. And we are told that they eat and drink and it's a peaceful scene. Finally, we're hoping that something is going to go right. Hospitality is being practiced. Outsiders are being taken care of. There is a peaceful scene going on. And then we have the word, behold, in verse 22. And now we will learn that the problem is not coming from outside the city. You know, those outsiders. The problem comes from inside the city. The problem will come from Israel itself. And thus we have a new Sodom in Israel. So in verse 22, we're told, as they were making their hearts merry, everything's at peace and rest, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. So we're told in verse 22 that they were worthless fellows. Now, what's interesting is that if we translate it literally, we end up with the phrase, sons of Belial. Beli, without, ya'al, worth, beni. Sons of Belial. Sons of worthlessness. This expression is used 27 times in the Old Testament, and it always refers to those who are of bad character, usually of violence, but always up to no good. And isn't it interesting that the Apostle Paul picks up this very expression as a name for Satan in 2 Corinthians 6. Those who are the character of Belial, the sons of Belial, are the opposite of what should be the character of the sons of God, the people of God. And they're clear in their intent. And this is where, you know, we fall back and say, look, this is the word of God. We must preach the word of God, though it makes us uncomfortable at times. I'm not going to read the whole story. I'm just going to read the next part of 22 and 23. Actually, let me just finish verse 22. It says, and they said to the old man, the master of the house, bring out the man who came into your house that we may know him. The ESV tones it down. The King James Version tones it down. The New International Version nails it. Bring these men out that we might have sex with them. Because the word that is used here, to know, was used of Adam, who knew his wife Eve, and she conceived. The intention of the mob is clear. Violent sexual activity of the worst sort. And so think of where we are. This Levite could have gone to Jerusalem, but he was worried that it would be a dangerous place. And now he finds himself within Israel in a place that we'll find out will cause the city of Sodom to blush. And the first readers who hear this story would recognize it's similar to Genesis 19 and say, can you believe this is happening again? But there's one big difference. Solomon and Gomorrah were outside of Israel. This is happening inside of Israel. So this old man who had good intentions of wanting to be a good host finds himself in a terrible and desperate situation. Verse 23, and the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, no, my brothers, do not act so wickedly since this man is coming to my house. Do not do this vile thing. And then in a way that just seems almost unimaginable to us, he says in verse 24, behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now, violate them, and do with them what seems good to you. But against this man, do not do this outrageous thing." Oh, you should feel the ugliness, the revulsion that comes off of this story. There's nothing good about it. But this man out of desperation is trying to practice hospitality and protect his guests, but then he does something that is just unthinkable. And so for the second time in the book of Judges, we have a man wrongly offering his virgin daughter out of a perverted sense of obligation. My friends, when people do not follow God, they will follow anything else. what seems right in their own eyes. That was in this verse. In this old man's eyes, it seemed right that he would give even his own daughter, give even this man's concubine, and then he tells them, do what seems right to you. And we look at it and we say, but there's nothing right about this. That's the point. We need to feel the gravity of the ugliness of sin and not whitewash it to think it's not that bad. This is what sin looks like to God Almighty. This is what it looks like in the holy eyes of God. So as he does what he thinks is good, he offers not only his daughter, he offers the man's concubine. tells them to do what seems good to them, and the whole language just says, we have reached the nadir, we have reached the low point in the history of Israel. They violate all the fundamental laws of how we interact as neighbors, how we get along, they've broken the laws of hospitality, they've broken the laws against any type of sexual activity outside of marriage, they've broken the law that prohibits homosexuality. But this mob of worthless fellows, they're not gonna listen. And then this Levite, a priest, who hasn't spoken up to this point, commits an unspeakable act. He opens the door, he throws out his own concubine, much like a man might throw out a hunk of meat to a pack of wild dogs. Rather than defending her, he sacrifices her to save his own skin. And then, to make it worse, if I'm understanding verse 27 correctly, he goes to bed. He goes to sleep. So here is this poor woman. Didn't have much of a choice of being in this second-tier marriage. Didn't have much choice about being taken back and going with the Levite. Is now left to suffer a night of living horror. The language speaks for itself. I've toned it down in verse 25, but if we translate it, it says, they raped her, abused her, and cast her away when dawn appeared. Victimized again and again, and yet somehow, and after this unspeakable crime, she crawls towards the house, stretches out her hands upon the door, and she told she grasps the threshold of the door. Imagine the horror. She stretches out for safety and for hope of protection and finds neither. All she would find is death. The one who could have helped her, a Levite no less, is inside and sleeping. The men in the house who should have acted in a better way are just going on their own way while this woman right outside the house is being treated in the most horrific way. It was nighttime in Gibeah and it was nighttime in the dark hearts of these men. It starts out by saying Israel had no king. But Israel didn't need a king to lead it into moral depravity. They could do it all by themselves. So verse 27, the Levite wakes up and he's ready to get going. And notice how he acts so ordinary. Unconscionable. Nowhere does it say he asks about her condition. Nowhere does it say he inquires about his well-being. He just opens the door to go out and it's when he's about ready to trip over her, he finally says something and what does he say? Get up, let's go. The human heart is capable of the most callous and cold reactions that we could ever imagine. And the sad thing is, is if I don't watch over my heart today and tomorrow and the next day, is I would be capable of the most filthy and the most foul thing. And oh, how I need the grace of God every day. But this man has become the embodiment of what Israel's become. There's no answer from this woman. He picks her up, he puts it on his donkey, he goes on his way. No effort is made to inquire about what happened or to give medical aid or even to inquire if in fact she is still alive because the text is quite ambiguous at this point at when she actually died. The Levite takes her home, brings her into his house. and does another unspeakable act. He carves her up into 12 pieces and sends a piece to each of the 12 tribes of Israel, probably with a note explaining about what had happened, and this would have been a call to arms. And we're not left at this point to celebrate what is going on. This should leave us all on our knees saying, oh God, have mercy. As the tribes of Israel received this most unwelcome package, we're not sure how they received it, how the news got out, how much time has transpired between these despicable events and their discovery of it, but they say such a thing has never been seen in all of Israel, we see in verse 30. mass assault of the most vile kind, the desecration of the woman's body. Her humanity, her dignity have been shattered all throughout this story. And she's a constant victim again and again at the hands of the men around her. She's sacrificed by the one who should protect her. She's nameless. She's a second-class wife. She's a victim of unspeakable crime. And now she's even denied a burial. My friends, when a culture is given over to doing what is right in its own eyes, it is capable of the most vile and grotesque things because it strips away the humanity of others. And the history of warfare of mankind shows that it is the intention often of one group to utterly humiliate the other group, doing the most unspeakable crimes. And this story should repulse us. We should see the horror and the reality, and yet, my friends, do we watch the news today where we hear about the brutal killing of children, the trafficking of women, the horrors of gang brutality? unspeakable crimes one against another. What is the common theme? Each one does what's right in his own eyes. And when we lose the fear of God, men will not respect women, but will only see them as objects of pleasure and selfish satisfaction. When people lose the fear of God, children will not be adored but will be seen as obstacles to women's advancement as the blood flows out from under the doors of the abortion clinics of our land. When God is not feared, neighbors and outsiders will be seen as something to be eliminated and avoided and sent away instead of image bearers of God who could be objects of redemption and who need the gospel. It's good and right for us to be repulsed and abhorred at what's going on in Judges 19. But are we equally abhorred by what goes on even in our own land today? The abortion clinics across our country and in lies that want to redefine even what it means to be a man or a woman or what is marriage. And each of those entities giving claims and lies that are offensive to God, as offensive as these events of Judges 19 are to us. Sodom is in the land. And woe to those who would pretend and proclaim and even defend these practices, especially those who claim to be Christians. This old man was so shocked that he offered his own daughter. Think of the moral decay. We live in a culture today that doesn't want to tell the truth, doesn't want to say what is, doesn't want to proclaim God's ways, and with tears in our eyes, and with pleading in our voices, and with conviction in our hearts, we must reaffirm what God says, and that homosexuality is against the intended order of God. In the beginning, male and female, he created them. And he said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And then he said, for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and the two will become one flesh. That is God's design. Anything else was not part of God's original intention, which means then it could only have come about as a result of the fall of man into sin. And that's what happened. Romans one makes very clear. It interrupts, as Paul says, homosexuality interrupts the intentions of human sexuality and the design and dignity of men and women as men and women. And therefore, it is against God himself. These are not easy things to say. I don't want to have to say them, but I see a culture that is being destroyed. I see a world that is following down a path that will only lead to pain and disease and destruction. And as the prophets say, if we don't cry out, then it's on us, because we didn't warn people. And so we have to say, homosexuality is sin. So is transgenderism. So is anything in that LGBTQIA alphabet soup. But it is not unforgivable. But it does need to be repented of. We need to see it for what it is. Romans 1 makes very clear, as an illustration of what we see in Judges 19, that homosexuality is the ultimate expression of self-idolatry, of self-expression. It seems good to me. It's right in my own eyes. But then where's the good news of the gospel? If it's only about what I feel and what I think and what is good and what seems right to me, well then where is the truth that will help a person through that? The truth is that Jesus Christ came and bore our sins. We just sang about it. It was my sin that held him there. And as Paul preached the gospel, as he told people that idolatry of all sorts and sin of all sorts need to be repented of, he also wrote to the church in Corinth, which practiced everything that we think is so hip today. They were LGBTQ before we were. And Paul preached the gospel in that environment, and what did he say? Because of the impact of the cross, such were some of you. but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, you were set free. God sets free, God gives back the dignity to men and women that sin has tried to take away. He does not say such are some of you. And so we hold out hope because there is hope and there can be forgiveness. but there will be no redemption without repentance. And so we have to call men and women to repent, just as we have to repent, and just as we repent daily because there are things that we constantly do that offend God. And so we just stand firm, lovingly, tears in our eyes, pleading with people to be reconciled to God. Sodom was happening inside Israel. What would Israel do? And then we get a surprising show of unity. In the first 11 verses of chapter 20, we're told that all of Israel from north to south has gathered together. Now there's probably some exaggeration here, but we're told they come together as one man. And this brings about this irony then in this book of Judges, that it is this one compromised and narcissistic Levite who accomplishes what the other judges could not, and that he actually brings Israel together. And we're told that they gather with the priests, they gather with the leaders, there's an army of 400,000 men. They use the word congregation. It's actually the word, it means the gathering of religious people. This was a religious gathering and a military gathering, and they're united. But then this Levite, once again, doesn't fully tell the truth. He manipulates the truth. He leaves out important parts of the story, especially the ones that would make him look bad. He leaves out the fact that it was him who gave this woman over to this terrible thing. He leaves out that he's the one that left late at night when they should have left earlier in the day. He leaves out that he's the one that decided not to stay in Jerusalem, but they moved on. What would have happened if they had moved on? They would have never ended up in Gibeah. But he doesn't take responsibility for any of it. And then as he tells the story, he says that there were leaders. of Gibeah when they were really worthless fellows. Why is he changing the language? He's exploited his own concubine to save his own skin. Now it seems like he's exploiting the sentiments of the people of Israel to get his own revenge. Be that as it may, he falls out of the picture at this point. And we see that the Israelites are trying to come up with a scheme. They say they're going to give 10% of their men, starting in verse eight down to about verse 11. They're gonna give 10% of their men to take care of the baggage, take care of the supplies. They're getting ready for war. It seems like this is gonna take some time. They're announced as being as one man, which is interesting because this has not happened. And then we get to the story of when did she actually die. Because when he tells the story, he says, and she is dead. And the text is ambiguous in the Hebrew, both when it is first told and here. Was she actually dead when she was lying at the threshold? Or was she still alive? It doesn't make it clear. That's part of the tragedy. It's tragic if she's dead, no doubt about it. It adds to the tragedy if he did nothing about it when she was still alive, and then just cuts her up and sends her out. But the Levite is not the hero of the story here, and should never be seen as such. So after we have the surprising show of unity, we then have a very sad, moving through, a sad show of defiance, verses 12 to 17. The Israelites are determined now, we need to stamp the evil out, we need to do what we can. So they go to Benjamin, they give him a chance to say, hand over the evildoers. And this tribe that had refused to practice hospitality to fellow Israelites, this tribe that had refused to help a woman in great distress, in fact, perpetuated great distress, now they refuse justice to the nation of Israel. You see, their pride won't allow them to admit that the problem was within them. It was in their camp. Oh friends, we have to watch over our hearts. Because truth matters. And the truth of God matters over everything else. I've been in a number of different places where people will say things like, the family over everything. And you can have a scoundrel in the family, but by golly, he's your scoundrel, and so you're gonna protect him even if he deserves punishment. Or, my country, right or wrong, my country. or maybe a more common one, blood is thicker than water. Beware of not being grounded in the truth so that you compromise that truth and make an idol out of something that should not have your first devotion. As the story builds up, they're getting ready for war. We're told that Benjamin has 700 warriors that can sling a stone and hit a hare. They're accurate men of war. We have 400,000 men on Israel, and we think this is going to be great. And yet, for those that understand what has happened in the history of Israel, If we compare the numbers as they were given in the book of Numbers chapter 1 and chapter 26 for how many men of war were eligible in Israel and how many were eligible for the tribes for Benjamin, we see that from Numbers 1 and 26 to now what's happening in Judges 3, I'm sorry, Judges 20, they have lost one third of their numbers. God said that if you go into the land and you do what I tell you, there will be great blessing, including blessing of the womb. But they haven't been. Is it possible here that they're experiencing one of the results of their disobedience? They no longer have the numbers they had before. They've not been obeying God. You see, God commands our obedience over anything else. He doesn't need our numbers. He wants our hearts. And lastly, we have the disastrous outcome, and we're going to have to move quickly, even though we're covering 30 verses. Really, it's just a battle of war. We'll talk about what's happened in the war. So the civil war begins. The fight for the honor is on. But notice that Israel, as they draw near, we might think, okay, it's looking good, because they want to cry out to the Lord. And we're told they inquired of God, verse 18. That should cue us, because if they're in a covenant relationship with God, they would inquire of Yahweh. Every time, that's how it's been done. But notice what they ask of God, Elohim, not Yahweh. They don't say, shall we go up? They're not asking if this is, in fact, His will. They just say, who goes up first? And God gives a very terse response. It's really short in Hebrew, two words, Judah first. But no promise of victory. So it seems that God is gonna still try to get their attention and say, don't force my hand, don't presume upon my grace, don't tell me how I'm going to operate. You go, but there's some lessons along the way. And I think what we learn here is the importance of prayer. We don't see that they really inquired of the Lord and wanted to do His will first. They wanted to do their will and then inquire of the Lord how to do it. So prayer, my friends, is not a last resort. It is the first resource. We go to Him always. Not my will, but Your will be done. So, Benjamin would have been controlling an elevated area. They would have had to come up through narrow canyons, as it were, to get up to where Gibeah was. And so it would be very easy for these men that can sling stones accurately to pick off them as they're coming up the valley. And 22,000 of them die in the first battle. And they start to weep and they go before the Lord. And perhaps now we're starting to see that they're thinking, okay, we need to do it God's way. And they even ask, shall we draw near again to fight against our brothers? And God says, go, but still does not promise victory. And 18,000 more Israelites died, no mention of casualties among the Benjaminites. And now after two humiliating defeats, they are broken. And we're told that the whole army, verse 26, the whole army and all of Israel went up and came to Bethel and they wept. And they sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. No more arrogance, no more presumption. And then they even ask, shall we go out once more? Now they're recognizing we better make sure that we have God's imprimatur on this before we just jump ahead. And then finally, God gives both a command and a promise and says, go up for tomorrow, we'll give them into your hand. And so they set up an ambush. They surround the city. A group of men go and confront Gibeah straight on. Rocks start flying. Some of them get picked off, we're told. Then they start to retreat. And then we see it's on the other foot now. The Benjaminites are saying, oh, we're going to defeat them just like we beat them before. Now they're the ones that are a little bit cocky. They're the ones that are a little bit out there. They come out of the city, which they should not have done, leaving the city unprotected. And now the hordes that were surrounding the city in the ambush flood down into the city and set it on fire. They continue through the city to confront the Benjaminites, who turn around, see that the city's on fire. Those that had fled turn around. Benjamin is surrounded. And only at that point does Benjamin say, we are defeated. But in verse 34, the author of Judges wants to make one thing clear. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. It was not because of their military tactics. It was not because of their great numbers. It was because the Lord finally said, I will give you the victory. But even there then, they didn't learn the lesson. They had won the victory, and now they go into a wholesale slaughter. They were simply to receive the wicked men that had done this. But as the smoke rises out of the city, we see shades of Sodom. We're gonna find out next week that the victory was of the Lord, but the wholesale slaughter of Benjamin was not. Because now there's even another, I should say, difficulty going on in Israel. But as the smoke rises, it is just like Sodom, but it's worse. Because it's now within Israel. My friends, we can't play games with sin. We can't think that somehow we can get beyond that, we can go over it, we're better than that, that somehow we're more advanced, we have more education, we have more understanding. No! The Word of God is always relevant in every generation. And why am I pointing that out? Because just this past week, we saw again that the rebellion against God continues. The ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, appointed their first transgender bishop. Megan Rohrer is a woman who thinks she's a man and has been appointed as a bishop in San Francisco, overseeing 200 ELCA churches in Northern California and Western Nevada. Where do we live? It's happening in our own land. And as I was reading the articles, as for them, this was something to celebrate. And what came up over and over and over again was, this is good in our eyes. They didn't use those exact words, but that was the theme. This is good in our eyes. And then they probably wonder when they go to their national conventions why their numbers continue to go down and why churches are slowly closing as they wave their finger at God and say, we think this is good. What frightens me, my friends, is that one day God is going to wave back to their utter humiliation and eternal destruction if they don't repent. The battle that we see going on in Judges continues. It has continued in every generation. It needs to be fought in every generation. God's ways work. And they're the only ones that bring about human flourishing. As we get to the end of chapter 20, all of Israel's in mourning. This is devastating. And we'll see it next week that it just doesn't get any better. And the book ends with, oh, do we need the Lord? So what are some application points as we get ready for next week? When we remember that doing what is right in our own eyes will lead to chaos. So let us not presume upon God's grace, but live in holy fear before Him. When we are seeking to do what is right, let's make sure that it is right in His eyes, led by His Word under the authority of His Spirit for the glory of His name, not what is right in our own eyes. And there's a great call going out in many places for unity, and I want to say unity is important, but just make sure it is for the right reasons. And those right reasons are the gospel of Jesus Christ and his death, burial, resurrection, ascension, glorification, and coming soon as victorious king. Justice is important, but vengeance is to be left to the Lord. And lastly, we need to trust in the Lord, because without him, there is no hope. We will not save ourselves, We will not be saved by anything human. It is God who is the Savior. And we need to trust him, turn to him, even when the days seem dark, because his light will always shine. Let's pray. Lord, we read earlier that if you were to count iniquities, who could stand? And Father, you have given us a living illustration in the book of Judges that the answer is no one. We would even destroy ourselves and our iniquities and sins. But then we give thanks with the psalmist who says, but in you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. So we thank you this morning that in Christ we have a beautiful forgiveness that we did not deserve. that in Christ we have a hopeful future that is purchased for us, but a great reminder that there is still a need to declare the truth, to walk in the light, to serve you well, to preach the truth. Oh God, would you give us strength this week to represent you well, and would you be pleased to use us in proclaiming a great gospel, For your glory we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand with us as we close out our service this morning with a reminder of the great need that we have to keep in step with the Lord, to trust Him and to obey Him. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do his good will, he abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but a smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sigh nor a tear, can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toll He doth richly repay. Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Then in fellowship sweet, We will sit at His feet, Or we'll walk by His side in the way. What He says, we will do. Where He sends, we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. But to trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey I'm gonna remain down front. If someone would like to come and pray with me when this is all over. This was a heavy message. There's some heavy things to think about. Let's take it to the Lord together if the burden is there. Opportunities to serve in this church, opportunities to join as membership, to be involved in different groups. Make sure you pick up a copy of the book that Brian mentioned, Gentle and Lowly, as you go out. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forevermore. Amen. Let us go in peace and have a wonderful Lord's Day.