What Is Less Than Nothing?

Today's Daily Reading Is Judges 19:

First of all, what is a Levite doing taking on an additional sex partner? (v.1)

Exodus 20:14 (NKJV)

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:17 (NKJV)

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

Proverbs 6:32 (NKJV)

32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.

Leviticus 19:29 (NKJV)

29 'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:16 (NKJV)

16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."

1 Timothy 3:2 (NKJV)

2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;

Consider that Samuel points out that this story begins and ends upon the hard truth that there was no king in Israel, and therefore it is the cause of all the confusion about the tribes using their liberty to exercise vengeance on each other when all are doing what is right in their own eyes judging apart from what is written. (v.1) (21:25)

But again, let's also consider the level of corruption in the Levites as the explanation for the evils being permitted to fall upon the children of the promised land.

The Levite was to be the spiritual example and father of the tribes by the representation of both parties involved in the covenant created at Sinai. Therefore in what ways is this Levite living in rebellion to that covenant according to what know in this verse? (v.1)

Leviticus 25:33 (NKJV)

33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

Numbers 3:9 (NKJV)

9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel.

Numbers 3:12 (NKJV)

12 "Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine,

Numbers 8:23–26 (NKJV)

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting; 25 and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more. 26 They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties."

Numbers 35:6–8 (NKJV)

Numbers 35:7 (NKJV)

7 So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land.

Deuteronomy 14:27 (NKJV)

27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

Deuteronomy 14:29 (NKJV)

29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Deuteronomy 17:9 (NKJV)

9 And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

Deuteronomy 18:6–8 (NKJV)

6 "So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses, 7 then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.

Deuteronomy 24:8 (NKJV)

8 "Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.

Why then was the Levite "living" in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim when he has been devoted to the LORD to abide in the appointed cities to wait his turn to serve the tabernacle and to teach and judge cases while he waits by the commandment of the LORD? (v.1)

Why is the Levite living in defiance of the Law of God when he is devoted to being in full submission to the Law of God?

Deuteronomy 17:17–18 (NKJV)

17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.

Deuteronomy 21:15–17 (NKJV)

15 "If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, 16 then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. 17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Mark 10:5–9 (NKJV)

5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God' made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

1 Corinthians 6:15–18 (NKJV)

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV)

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Romans 2:17–24 (NKJV)

17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.

Therefore what good can come of any man devoting himself to more than one spouse? (v.2)

1 Corinthians 7:32–35 (NKJV)

32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. 34 There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

While the testimony of Scripture is sure that she is guilty of playing the harlot against this Levite, what made the culture believe that it was OK for men to fornicate by possessing multiple women as sex partners? Why isn't a man considered a harlot for taking on more than one spouse?

Therefore can you understand why she might have run away to her father's house for refuge? (v.2)

But then again, why would a father give his daughter away to such a strange covenant? Isn't that slavery? (v.3)

Leviticus 19:29 (NKJV)

29 'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

Therefore who is guilty more by setting the standard that it was good to view a woman, your daughter, as a commodity like a raised calf on a cattle farm? (v.4)

How is the father of the concubine expressing his guilt? (v.5)

Why is the father so reluctant to let her go again if it is not because he knows he is giving her away in a dangerous situation? (v.6)

How does the Levite demonstrate his lack of wisdom to be so easily led into folly? (v.7)

Doesn't he see what her father is doing by stalling? (v.8)

Again, isn't the Levite too proud to admit that he is being delayed and demonstrating more ignorance by not waiting until morning to leave, exposing his traveling party to the nakedness of the evening? (v.9)

Why is Jebus mentioned here as a city of Jebusites? (v.10)

Isn't it kinda ironic that civil war breaks out because of the sin of Gibeah bringing all the tribes together while the Jebusites dwell securely in the heart of their promised land? Therefore isn't it strange that the Levite thinks to fear Jebus more than his responsibility to the covenant of Yahweh? (v.11)

Consider how the Levite is purposed to be a representative of the LORD'S righteousness. Therefore wouldn't it have been an opportunity to live among the Jebusites as an evangelistic example to make known to them the glory of Israel's God? (v.12)

Aren't the Levites supposed to be the teachers of God's Law? (v.13)

But instead, how does this show that the Levites were abandoning God's Law for their own pursuits? And how does it express a hatred of their own country and the principles that form their liberty? (v.14)

Luke 10:29–37 (NKJV)

29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" 37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Therefore wasn't the house of Aaron responsible for stewarding the Levites towards service to the tribes rather than stirring up civil war? (v.15)

Genesis 19:1–11 (NKJV)

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the open square." 3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." 6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof." 9 And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Genesis 19:12–29 (NKJV)

12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. 15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed." 18 Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." 21 And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

Weren't they to be taught to understand the righteousness of the LORD?

Genesis 18:17–21 (NKJV)

17 And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." 20 And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."

Genesis 18:23–26 (NKJV)

23 And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 So the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."

Genesis 18:32 (NKJV)

32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."

Therefore why wouldn't the Benjamites offer to bring the Levite into their houses since it was normal for that culture to open themselves up to strangers? (v.16)

Deuteronomy 10:19 (NKJV)

19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 31:12–13 (NKJV)

12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess."

What does the old man know about the public square in Gibeah that the Levite doesn't know? (v.17, 20)

Is there any reason that this town would be indifferent to strangers? (v.18-19)

Leviticus 25:35 (NKJV)

35 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.

Why would it take a sojourner to help a sojourner in this town? (v.21)

1 Samuel 2:12 (NKJV)

12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.

[bâliyaʿal /bel·e·yah·al/] n m. From 1097 and 3276; TWOT 246g; GK 1175; 27 occurrences; AV translates as "Belial" 16 times, "wicked" five times, "ungodly" three times, "evil" once, and "naughty 1 ungodly men" once. 1 worthlessness. 1A worthless, good for nothing, unprofitable, base fellow. 1B wicked. 1C ruin, destruction (construct).

Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

(beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl): n.[masc.] [Holladay: as adj.]; ≡ Str 1100; TWOT 246g—1. LN 88.105–88.125 wickedness, i.e., what does not conform to a right standard, so of no worth (Dt 15:9; Na 1:11); 2. LN 88.139–88.143 evil person, trouble maker, i.e., a person who does evil, so is of little worth (1Sa 30:22; 2Sa 23:6; Na 2:1); 3. LN 25.186–25.188 vile thing, i.e., a thing abhorred or detested (Ps 101:3); 4. LN 88.139–88.143 unit: בֵּן בְּלִיַּעַל (bēn beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) wicked men (Dt 13:14[EB 13]); 5. LN 39.34–39.41 unit: בֵּן בְּלִיַּעַל (bēn beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) troublemakers, i.e., one who is a lawbreaker and unruly, and so rebellious (1Sa 10:27); 6. LN 88.139–88.143 unit: אִישׁ בְּלִיַּעַל (ʾîš beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) wicked person (2Sa 20:1; 1Ki 21:13b; 1Sa 25:25); 7. LN 39.34–39.41 unit: אִישׁ בְּלִיַּעַל (ʾîš beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) scoundrel (2Sa 16:7; Pr 16:27); 8. LN 39.34–39.41 unit: אָדָם בְּלִיַּעַל (ʾā·ḏām beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) scoundrel (Pr 6:12); 9. LN 88.139–88.143 unit: בַּת בְּלִיַּעַל (bǎṯ beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) wicked woman (1Sa 1:16)/LNN; 10. LN 23.88–23.128 unit: נַחַל בְּלִיַּעַל (nǎ·ḥǎl beliy·yǎ·ʿǎl) severe destruction, formally, torrents of destruction, i.e., destruction so great as to bring to the point of death (2Sa 22:5; Ps 18:5[EB 4])

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Therefore there were "certain" men of the city who were (less than) sons of the covenant. There were sons of Belial, which means sons of rebellion. Therefore they were not growing into righteousness at all but were growing into their corruption. (v.22)

2 Corinthians 6:14–15 (NKJV)

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

2 Samuel 23:6 (NKJV)

6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands.

Why is the old man, the owner of the house, only concerned about his house and not the public square? This act shouldn't be done either in the house or the public square. (v.23)

And how low of both of the men to offer his daughter and the Levite's concubine to appease them! (v.24)

Genesis 19:10–11 (NKJV)

10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Therefore how is this a rebuke to the cowardice of the culture of the men of this time and how they viewed women? (v.25)

No wonder she wanted to flee to her father! Therefore why wasn't there a call to gather to outlaw this view of using women as a commodity in marriage? (v.30) (20:1)

2 Samuel 20:3 (NKJV)

3 Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Why didn't the Levite have any care for her to even stoop down and lift her up? (v.28)

John 8:3–11 (NKJV)

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

Luke 11:46 (NKJV)

46 And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Now a prophet and a king would have sought the counsel of the Law and direction from the mediatorial sacrifice of the priesthood. (v.29-30)

But first, they would have also considered why this was happening when the LORD has promised to bless them if they obeyed. So, where were they disobeying?

Deuteronomy 10:19 (NKJV)

19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 31:12–13 (NKJV)

12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess."