1. A Levite in Ephraim married a trophy wife, and she played the whore. He went to get her and started home , but stopped in Gibeah, A Benjamite city . 8-22-10 Christians should be the friendliest people; God is our Father, God is Love , We should have the traits of our Father.

2. 16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of Mount Ephraim ; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites .

3. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem-judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehem-Judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord (Shiloh) ; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.

4. The Levite lived in Ephraim near Shiloh, the house of the Lord.

5. 18b and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of anything. (TLB) 18 "We’re on the way home from Bethlehem, in Judah," the man replied. "I live on the far edge of the Ephraim hill country, near Shiloh. But no one has taken us in for the night, 19 even though we have fodder for our donkeys and plenty of food and wine for ourselves."

6. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.

7. 22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city , certain sons of Belial (wickedness, worthlessness) , beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him (have sex with him) . The nation of Israel had backslid into sin and depravity, but these Benjamites Had sunk the lowest of the low.

8. 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay , I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. Hospitality was a sacred trust to decent people, But they should have valued the women as well as the men. Culture and custom does not make right.

9. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was , till it was light. They took turns raping her through the night; She crawled to the man's house at dawn, And died on the doorstep .

10. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way : and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. In my mind, he is as vile as the Benjamites; He gave her to them. He didn't go out to find her; he went out to go home .

11. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

12. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.

13. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds .

14. When God's people backslide , they are often meaner than unbelievers. They know the Way of Righteousness, and have chosen the path of self and of sin . This account is just one example to illustrate the depravity into which the children of God had sunk in this time of anarchy in the land.

15. The Way of Sin

16. These Benjamites in Gibeah were perhaps the worst in the nation, But the entire nation was sunk into the mire of sin . But each time their backsliding was worse, And they took longer to repent. In the times when they did cry out to God, He would deliver them.

17. Jeremiah 3 6 The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. 7 And I said after she had done all these things , Turn thou unto Me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it . 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away , and given her a bill of divorce ; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. Assyria 722 BC

18. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whore-dom , that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks (idols) . 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. Judah was worse than Israel, because she pretended to return to God, but continued in her sins. People take sin lightly, but God does not take sin lightly ! God forgives sin, when we truly repent, but never overlooks it.