Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / March 30 - When a Community Loses Its Conscience

Transcript

March 30 - When a Community Loses Its Conscience · Bible Chat Devotional

0:02
Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
0:06
rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, March 30th.
0:11
Pride, choices and consequences. It is surprising how often pride
0:16
hides behind normal things. It can sound like confidence,
0:19
but underneath it is resistance. Resistance to correction,
0:23
resistance to advice, resistance to slowing down and admitting we
0:28
may not be right. Pride tells us we already know
0:31
enough, already see clearly enough, already understand the
0:34
situation better than anyone else.
0:37
But pride has a way of pulling us into conflict, confusion, and
0:41
regret. Proverbs chapter 13, verse 10
0:44
says by insolence comes nothing but strife.
0:47
But with those who take advice is wisdom.
0:50
That verse is direct and honest. Pride creates friction.
0:54
Humility makes room for wisdom. When we refuse guidance, refuse
0:58
correction, or insist on our own way, we often set ourselves up
1:02
for pain that could have been avoided.
1:05
Then the Book of Judges closes with that sobering statement.
1:08
In those days, there was no king in Israel.
1:11
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
1:14
That line explains so much. When everyone becomes their own
1:18
guide, chaos follows. Judges chapters 19 to 21 are
1:23
hard to read because they reveal how destructive things become.
1:26
When people abandoned God's ways and trust only themselves, Sin
1:30
multiplied. Violence spread, Hearts grew
1:34
harder. But even in the middle of that
1:36
mess, there was a moment when the people went before the Lord
1:39
wept and sought His guidance. That matters.
1:43
It shows us that no matter how far things have gone, turning
1:47
back to God is still the right direction.
1:50
Maybe there is an area of your life where pride has made you
1:52
stubborn. Maybe you have been ignoring
1:55
good advice, resisting correction, or just assuming
1:58
your way is best. Pride can feel strong, but it is
2:01
not safe. Humility may feel harder at
2:04
first, but it leads to healing, peace, and wisdom.
2:07
And your choices matter. Small choices shape habits.
2:11
Habits shape direction. Direction shapes outcomes.
2:15
The way you respond to correction today can influence
2:18
where your life is headed tomorrow.
2:20
God does not correct you to shame you.
2:22
He guides you because He loves you.
2:24
So choose humility, choose to listen.
2:28
Choose to seek God before insisting on your own way.
2:31
There is real freedom in laying down pride and saying, Lord,
2:34
teach me Lord, lead me. Lord, I do not want to do what
2:38
is merely right in my own eyes. I want to walk in what is right
2:42
in yours. Let's pray.
2:44
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me enough to guide and
2:46
correct me. Forgive me for the times pride
2:50
has made me stubborn, defensive, or unwilling to listen.
2:54
Teach me to walk in humility and wisdom.
2:57
Help me seek your direction in every decision and receive godly
3:00
advice with an open heart. Lead me away from regret and
3:04
into the peace that comes from trusting your way in Jesus name,
3:08
Amen. What if the most important
3:11
question in your life deserves more than a shallow answer?
3:14
Does God Exist is a powerful, thought provoking series that
3:18
explores reality, meaning, and truth through reason, evidence,
3:22
human experience, and scripture without preaching pressure or
3:26
assumptions. Book 1, Something from Nothing,
3:29
confronts the mystery of existence itself and asks why
3:32
anything exists at all. Book 2, The Cause Behind the
3:36
Cosmos, examines the origin of the universe and whether it
3:39
points beyond itself. Book 3, Design or Accident,
3:43
wrestles with order and complexity.
3:45
Are they products of chance or intelligence?
3:47
Book 4, The Moral Signature, explores why objective right and
3:51
wrong may require a source beyond human opinion.
3:54
Book 5, The God We Cannot Escape, considers conscience,
3:57
longing, and humanity's persistent awareness of God.
4:00
Book 6, From Reason to Revelation, asks whether the God
4:04
who exists would also speak, and Book 7, Denying God, examines
4:09
the internal tensions of unbelief and the deeper
4:11
implications of rejecting the divine.
4:13
Written in clear, accessible language for seekers, skeptics,
4:16
students, and curious minds, this series invites honest
4:20
reflection and careful thinking. If you're ready to explore the
4:23
question seriously, Order Does God Exist?
4:26
On Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org today.
4:31
Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
4:34
Bible reading plan. Proverbs Chapter 13 verses 9 to
4:38
10 World English Bible The light of the righteous shines
4:42
brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.
4:45
Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is with people who take
4:49
advice. Judges, Chapters 19 to 21, World
4:53
English Bible. In those days when there was no
4:56
king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living on the
4:59
farther side of the Hill Country of Ephraim, who took for himself
5:02
a concubine out of Bethlehem, Judah.
5:04
His concubine played the prostitute against him and went
5:07
away from him to her father's house to Bethlehem Judah, and
5:10
was there for four months. Her husband arose and went after
5:14
her to speak kindly to her, to bring her again.
5:17
Having his servant with him and a couple of donkeys, she brought
5:20
him into her father's house, and when the father of the young
5:23
lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him, his father-in-law.
5:27
The young lady's father kept him there, and he stayed with him
5:30
three days. So they ate and drank and stayed
5:32
there. On the 4th day they got up early
5:35
in the morning, and he rose up to depart.
5:37
The young lady's father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your
5:40
heart with a morsel of bread, and afterwards you shall go your
5:43
way. So they sat down, ate and drank
5:46
both of them together. Then the young lady's father
5:49
said to the man, Please be pleased to stay all night, and
5:52
let your heart be merry. The man rose up to depart, but
5:55
his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there.
5:58
Again he arose early in the morning on the 5th day to
6:01
depart. And the young lady's father
6:03
said, Please strengthen your heart and stay until the day
6:06
declines. And they both ate.
6:08
When the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his
6:11
servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father said to him,
6:15
Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night.
6:19
Behold, the day is ending. Stay here that your heart may be
6:22
merry, and tomorrow go on your way early, that you may go home.
6:26
But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and went
6:29
near Jebus, also called Jerusalem.
6:32
With him were a couple of saddled donkeys.
6:34
His concubine also was with him when they were by Jebus.
6:38
The day was far spent and the servant said to his master,
6:41
Please come and let's enter into this city of the Jebusites and
6:44
stay in it. His master said to him, We won't
6:48
enter into the city of a foreigner that is not of the
6:50
children of Israel, but we will pass over to Jiba.
6:53
He said to his servant, Come and let's draw near to one of these
6:56
places, and we will lodge in Jiba or in Rama.
7:00
So they passed on and went their way, and the sun went down on
7:03
them near Jaiba, which belongs to Benjamin.
7:06
They went over there to go in to stay in Jaiba.
7:09
He went in and sat down in the street of the city, for there
7:12
was no one who took them into his house to stay.
7:15
Behold, an old man came from his work out of the field at
7:18
evening. Now the man was from the Hill
7:20
Country of Ephraim, and he lived in Jaiba.
7:23
But the men of the place were Benjamites.
7:25
He lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfaring man in the street
7:28
of the city. And the old man said, Where are
7:31
you going? Where did you come from?
7:33
He said to him, We are passing from Bethlehem, Judah, to the
7:36
farther side of the Hill Country of Ephraim.
7:39
I am from there and I went to Bethlehem, Judah.
7:42
I am going to Yahweh's house, and there is no one who has
7:45
taken me into his house yet. There is both straw and feed for
7:48
our donkeys, and there is bread and wine also for me and for
7:52
your servant and for the young man who is with your servants.
7:56
There is no lack of anything, the old man said.
7:58
Peace be to you. Just let me supply all your
8:01
needs, but don't sleep in the street.
8:03
So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder.
8:06
Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.
8:09
As they were making their hearts merry.
8:10
Behold the men of the city. Certain wicked fellows
8:13
surrounded the house, beating at the door, and they spoke to the
8:16
master of the house, the old man saying, Bring out the man who
8:19
came into your house, that we can have sex with him.
8:22
The man, the master of the house, went out to them and said
8:25
to them, No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly.
8:28
Since this man has come into my house, don't do this folly.
8:32
Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine.
8:35
I will bring them out now, humble them, and do with them
8:38
what seems good to you. But to this man don't do any
8:41
such folly. But the men wouldn't listen to
8:43
him, so the man grabbed his concubine and brought her out to
8:46
them, and they had sex with her and abused her all night until
8:50
the morning. When the day began to dawn they
8:53
let her go. Then the woman came in the
8:55
dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's
8:57
house, where her Lord was, until it was light.
9:01
Her Lord rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the
9:03
house and went out to go his way.
9:06
And behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen down at
9:09
the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.
9:12
He said to her, Get up and let's get going, But no one answered.
9:16
Then he took her up on the donkey, and the man rose up and
9:19
went to his place. When he had come into his house,
9:22
he took a knife and cut up his concubine and divided her limb
9:26
by limb into 12 pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders
9:30
of Israel. It was so that all who saw it
9:32
said such a deed has not been done or seen.
9:35
From the day that the children of Israel came up out of the
9:38
land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel and
9:41
speak. Then all the children of Israel
9:44
went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from
9:48
Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead to Yahweh at
9:51
Mizpah, the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes
9:55
of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of
9:58
God. 400,000 footmen who drew sword.
10:02
Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of
10:04
Israel had gone up to Mizpah. The children of Israel said,
10:08
Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?
10:10
The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered,
10:13
answered. I came into Jibah that belongs
10:16
to Benjamin I and my concubine, to spend the night.
10:19
The men of Jibah rose against me and surrounded the house.
10:22
By night they intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine,
10:26
and she is dead. I took my concubine and cut her
10:29
in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of
10:32
the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed lewdness and
10:35
folly in Israel. Behold, you children of Israel,
10:38
all of you give here your advice and counsel.
10:42
All the people arose as one man saying, None of us will go to
10:45
his tent, neither will any of us turn to his house.
10:48
But now this is the thing which we will do to Jiba.
10:51
We will go up against it by lot, and we will take 10 men of 100
10:55
throughout all the tribes of Israel, and 100 of 1000 and 1000
11:00
out of 10,000 to get food for the people that they may do when
11:04
they come to Jybra of Benjamin, according to all the folly that
11:07
the men of Jyba have done in Israel.
11:10
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit
11:13
together as one man. The tribes of Israel sent men
11:16
through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What
11:19
wickedness is this that has happened among you?
11:21
Now therefore, deliver up the men, the wicked fellows who are
11:24
in Jaiba, that we may put them to death and put away evil from
11:28
Israel. But Benjamin would not listen to
11:30
the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.
11:33
The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out
11:36
of the cities to Jaiba to go out to battle against the children
11:40
of Israel. The children of Benjamin were
11:42
counted on that day out of the cities 26,000 men who drew the
11:46
sword, in addition to the inhabitants of Jaiba who were
11:50
counted 700 chosen men. Among all these soldiers there
11:53
were 700 chosen men who were left-handed.
11:57
Every one of them could sling a stone at a hare and not miss.
12:00
The men of Israel, besides Benjamin were counted 400,000
12:04
men who drew sword. All these were men of war.
12:07
The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel and asked
12:10
counsel of God. They asked Who shall go up for
12:14
us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?
12:16
Yahweh said Judah first. The children of Israel rose up
12:20
in the morning and encamped against Jaiba.
12:22
The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the
12:26
men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Jaiba.
12:29
The children of Benjamin came out of Jaiba and on that day
12:33
destroyed 22,000 of the Israelite men down to the
12:36
ground. The people, the men of Israel,
12:39
encouraged themselves and set the battle again in array in the
12:42
place where they set themselves in array.
12:44
The first day the children of Israel went up and wept before
12:47
Yahweh until evening. And they asked of Yahweh saying,
12:51
Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of
12:53
Benjamin, my brother? Yahweh said, Go up against him.
12:57
The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin
13:01
the second day. Benjamin went out against them
13:03
out of Jibah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of
13:07
the children of Israel again 18,000 men.
13:10
All these drew the sword. Then all the children of Israel
13:13
and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and wept, and
13:17
sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until evening.
13:21
Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings
13:24
before Yahweh. The children of Israel asked
13:26
Yahweh for the Ark of the Covenant of God was there in
13:29
those days. And Feinhas the son of Elizar,
13:32
the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, Shall
13:36
I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin
13:39
my brother, or shall I cease? Yahweh said, Go up, for tomorrow
13:43
I will deliver him into your hand.
13:45
Israel set ambushes all around Jaiba.
13:48
The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin
13:51
on the third day and set themselves in array against
13:54
Jaiba as at other times. The children of Benjamin went
13:58
out against the people and were drawn away from the city and
14:01
they began to strike and kill of the people as at other times in
14:04
the highways of which one goes up to Bethel and the other to
14:08
Jaiba in the field, about 30 men of Israel, the children of
14:12
Benjamin, said, they are struck down before us as at the first,
14:16
but the children of Israel said let's flee and draw them away
14:19
from the city to the highways. All the men of Israel rose up
14:23
out of their place and set themselves in array at Bail
14:26
Tamer. Then the ambushers of Israel
14:28
broke out of their place. Even out of Mare Jeba, 10,000
14:32
chosen men out of all Israel came over against Jaiba, and the
14:36
battle was severe, but they didn't know that disaster was
14:39
close to them. Yahweh struck Benjamin before
14:41
Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin
14:45
that day 25,100 men. All these drew the sword.
14:50
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck, for the
14:53
men of Israel yielded to Benjamin because they trusted
14:56
the ambushers whom they had set against Jiba.
14:58
The ambushers hurried and rushed on Jiba.
15:01
Then the ambushers spread out and struck all the city with the
15:04
edge of the sword. Now the appointed sign between
15:07
the men of Israel and the ambushers was that they should
15:10
make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.
15:14
The men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to
15:17
strike and kill of the men of Israel about 30 persons, for
15:20
they said, Surely they are struck down before us as in the
15:24
first battle. But when the cloud began to
15:26
arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites
15:30
looked behind them, and behold, the whole city went up in smoke
15:33
to the sky. The men of Israel turned, and
15:36
the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that
15:39
disaster had come on them. Therefore they turned their
15:42
backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness.
15:45
But the battle followed hard after them, and those who came
15:48
out of the cities destroyed them in the middle of it.
15:51
They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and trod them down
15:54
at their resting place as far as near Jaiba.
15:57
Toward the sunrise, 18,000 men of Benjamin fell.
16:01
All these were men of valor. They turned and fled toward the
16:04
wilderness to the rock of Rimmon.
16:06
They gleaned 5000 men of them in the highways, and followed hard
16:10
after them to Jidam, and struck 2000 men of them, so that all
16:14
who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the
16:17
sword. All these were men of valor, but
16:20
600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of
16:24
Rimmon, and stayed in the Rock of Rimmon for months.
16:27
The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin and
16:30
struck them with the edge of the sword, including the entire
16:33
city, the livestock, and all that they found.
16:36
Moreover, they set all the cities which they found on fire.
16:40
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, None of us
16:43
will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.
16:46
The people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before
16:49
God and lifted up their voices and wept severely.
16:53
They said Yahweh the God of Israel, Why has this happened in
16:56
Israel, that there should be 1 tribe lacking in Israel today?
17:00
On the next day the people rose early and built an altar there
17:04
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
17:07
The children of Israel said who is there among all the tribes of
17:10
Israel who didn't come up in the assembly to Yahweh?
17:13
For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn't come
17:15
up to Yahweh, to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
17:20
The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin, their brother, and
17:23
said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.
17:26
How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have
17:29
sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them of our daughters to
17:32
wives? They said, what 1 is there of
17:35
the tribes of Israel who didn't come up to Yahweh, to Mizpah?
17:38
Behold, no one came from Jabish Gilead to the camp, to the
17:42
assembly. For when the people were
17:43
counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabish
17:47
Gilead there. The congregation sent 12,000 of
17:50
the most valiant men there and commanded them, saying, Go and
17:55
strike the inhabitants of Jabish Gilead with the edge of the
17:57
sword, with the women and the little ones.
18:00
This is the thing that you shall do.
18:02
You shall utterly destroy every male and every woman who has
18:05
lain with a man. They found among the inhabitants
18:08
of Jabish Gilead 400 young virgins who had not known man by
18:12
lying with him, and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh,
18:15
which is in the land of Canaan. The whole congregation sent and
18:19
spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of
18:22
Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
18:24
Benjamin returned at that time and they gave them the women
18:27
whom they had saved alive. Of the women of Jabish Gilead,
18:31
there still weren't enough for them.
18:33
The people grieved for Benjamin because Yahweh had made a breach
18:36
in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the
18:39
congregation said, How shall we provide wives for those who
18:42
remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin.
18:46
They said there must be an inheritance for those who are
18:48
escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from
18:52
Israel. However, we may not give them
18:54
wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn,
18:57
saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.
19:01
They said, Behold, there is a feast of Yahweh from year to
19:04
year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east
19:08
side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on
19:10
the South of Lebanon. They commanded the children of
19:13
Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards and see
19:17
and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the
19:21
dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch
19:24
his wife of the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of
19:27
Benjamin. It shall be when their fathers
19:30
or their brothers come to complain to us that we will say
19:33
to them, grant them graciously to us, because we didn't take
19:37
for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to
19:40
them, otherwise you would now be guilty.
19:43
The children of Benjamin did so and took wives for themselves,
19:46
according to their number of those who danced, whom they
19:49
carried. Off they went and returned to
19:51
their inheritance, built the cities and lived in them.
19:54
The children of Israel departed from there at that time, every
19:58
man to his tribe and to his family, and they each went out
20:01
from there to his own inheritance.
20:03
In those days, there was no king in Israel.
20:06
Everyone did that, which was right in his own eyes.
20:10
Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
20:13
everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
20:16
you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
20:20
you won't miss the next conversation.
20:22
Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
20:26
walking daily with Jesus.