Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / September 25, 2026 - Judges 19 & Proverbs 16:5-8

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September 25, 2026 - Judges 19 & Proverbs 16:5-8 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tyler Sandborn, Student Ministry Director at Compass Bible Church South Valley.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Friday, September 25th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word, Judges nineteen.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: In those days when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill countries 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 for four months.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: He had with him his servant and a couple donkeys, and she brought him into her father's house.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the two of them sat and ate and drank together.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the girl's father said to the man, Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And when the man rose up to go, his father in law pressed him till he spent the night there again.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: 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 the day declines.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: 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 towards evening, please spend the night.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Behold, the day draws to its close.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Lodge here, and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey and go home.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: But the man would not spend the night.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus, that is Jerusalem.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: When they were near Jebus the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And his master said to him, We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he said to his young man, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Rama.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So they passed on and went their way, and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field that evening.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: The men of the place were Benjaminites, and he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveller in the open square of the city, and the old man said, Where are you going?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And where do you come from?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he said to him, We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: I went to Bethlehem and Judah, and I am going to the house of the Lord, but no one has taken me into his house.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have straw and feed for our donkeys with bread and wine for me and your sir your female servant, and the young man with your servants.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: There is no lack of anything.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the old man said, Peace be with you, I will care for all your wants, only do not spend the night in the square.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door, 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.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: 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 has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let me bring them out now.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the men would not listen to him.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them, and they knew her and abused her all night until the morning.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: And as dawn began to break, they let her go, and as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house, and he went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: He said to her, Get up, let us be going, but there was no answer.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And when he entered his house he took a knife, taking hold of his concubine, he divided her limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And all who saw it said, Such a thing has never happened or have been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Consider it, take counsel and speak.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs sixteen verses five through eight.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Be assured he will not go unpunished.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: By steadfast love and faithfulness, iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how you can read Judges chapter 19 and not feel sick to your stomach.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: After reading this chapter and preparing to comment on it, my my stomach is is uneasy and I feel nauseous, and it's it's a a dark spot, uh a stain on on Israel's history and their um their dealings with each other and with with with God.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a time when everyone was doing what was right in their eyes, there was no king in Israel, and lawlessness and wickedness uh defined the culture as a whole.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And although we don't see every person doing wicked deeds like we do in this chapter, uh broad sweeping, people were sinning and doing what was right in their own eyes.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Considering the the account here of this Levite and his concubine, and I can only think of uh disobedience, uh, a man who already has uh has a wife and is takes on a concubine, a mistress, and this this is not pleasing to the Lord.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: We don't see anywhere in scripture where concubines are commanded by the Lord.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: We see in the scriptures that one man should be with one woman, then they shall become one flesh, and this is a marriage covenant that the Lord does approve of.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: We we don't see God commanding one man, one woman, and and concubines on the side.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's not God's design, that's not God's plan, though we do see many of God's faithful servants, uh, David, Abraham, Solomon.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's a handful of of God's people that are prominent figures in the scriptures that do have concubines in.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a way that we can see God's people acting out in disobedience, wandering and straying from from his plan, his design, and his commands.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: The Levite in this chapter does respond in a in a way that is honorable when his concubine is is unfaithful.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: He desires to go speak kindly to her to bring her back, and that is maybe a lone spot of kindness in this chapter, but the remaining parts of this chapter cause us to shake our head in in horror.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And as the the chapter concludes, we see this Levite um not not standing up for honor not standing up.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's coward, he's cowardly, and he does not uh defend his uh his concubine, he doesn't defend her honor, he doesn't defend her her livelihood, and and ultimately she dies, and he goes on to um to dismember this this woman, this this image-bearer of God, and and does horrible things, uh sending sending her remains to the different parts of Israel, and and this just underscores the the wickedness, the brutality of sin and the the darkness that is that is ever present in the in the book of Judges, as we see God's people doing awful things, doing what is right in their own eyes, sitting grievously uh against the Lord.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we see the wickedness that is infiltrated the people of Israel throughout the different tribes.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a very dark spot in Israel's history.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Justice and wickedness and sin are very much the themes that are on my mind, and we look forward to a time when perfect justice will be served, when when all people will uh have to give an account for their lives, and and the only people at that day that will go free, forgiven, are the ones who have Jesus Christ, who have uh lived and trusted in faith in God.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: And on that day, it's the people of faith who will who will be forgiven, the people who have placed their faith in God, both Old Testament and New Testament, and current day believers, the people of faith will be uh the people that are are forgiven, those who have placed their trust in in God, um, both in the in the sense of following him, uh trusting him for salvation, uh, trusting him for forgiveness of sins.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: As we draw near to the book of Judges, we long for uh a redeemer, someone to to end the the misery, the wickedness, the sickness that is that is so present in this book, and we look forward to Christ, look forward to the Messiah who will who will rescue and deliver uh his people from their sins.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Our Proverbs section today, verses five through eight, uh, draw our attention right out of the gate to uh to the arrogant hearts, to those who would be choosing uh their way, their own, their own path instead of the Lord's, looking at God's word, looking at the created order, and saying, My way's best, my way is better.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And as we look to the the book of Judges, we look to our world today, and we we see the wicked things that are that are happening, we do have a hope.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: We do have a a confidence that God will not let the guilty go free.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: We we have a confidence that all wickedness, abominations to the Lord will not go unpunished.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: As we look to verse six, we think about the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: By steadfast love and faithfulness, iniquity is atoned for.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And by the fear of the Lord, one turns away from evil.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we think about the gift of faith that God gives to those who would believe in his name, and from there we are able to turn away from from wickedness, from a sinful life and a life that is turned to God and submission to him, seeking to please and obey and to follow him.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's only by uh by God's grace that this is able to happen.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's only by the gospel and God opening our eyes to our need for a savior that this is accomplished.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: By steadfast love and faithfulness, this is the life of Christ.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: He was faithful, he was abounding in steadfast love, and he is uh accomplished all that he intended to accomplish on the cross through his perfect life.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness and atonement is available through the shedding of his perfect blood.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Going on to verse 7, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, this is just uh an encouragement to us as we look at uh our our life of obedience and our our trust in God's plan for sanctification, as we look forward and to obey him.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're commanded to pray for our enemies, to uh to make peace, to to make an appeal to men and and call and call them to repent, call them to turn to God and be at peace with him first and foremost, and and as a result, we can have peace even with our enemies through through the grace of God, through his forgiveness that he extends to us.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it may be difficult to think about right now the people that have offended you, that have sinned against you uh grievously.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we we too once upon a time were enemies of God, sinning grievously against him.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and as we think about that, we can look to our enemies and and be at peace with them, knowing that they might sin against us, they might do awful and horrible things, wicked things to us.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: We can be at peace with them if they were to uh turn to Christ, if they were to uh to to follow him and not follow their own ways, not not the the arrogant desires uh of their hearts, as we look to verse five.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: We can be at peace with mankind, we could be at peace with them because God has made first peace with us.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh our final verse today, verse eight, better is a little with a righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's about this contrast here of being content and and being in right standing with God uh with little as opposed to great revenues with injustice, uh, great revenues, great wealth, great riches, great inheritances with a sin-filled life, with gains that are made unjustly.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that we go about pursuing um just the way we earn a living, employ others, and if we're self-employed or working for um an employer, we have we have a way to go about it that is pleasing to the Lord, that is full of integrity, uh, full of of honor that would point others to the Savior.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a great opportunity uh just to be reminded that there's there's a life beyond this one.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I seek to to honor the Lord.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: We we can lay up treasures, we can lay up rewards for ourselves, um, both, yes, in this life, but more importantly, uh the next life and in the way that we leave a legacy uh and leave um leave our children and our our children's children uh a role model to follow as we follow Christ and make disciples in his name.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that was an encouragement to you today.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.