Judges 19-21 How do we handle stories like the one God left for us in these last chapters? God wants us to see how patient He is with our sinful natures. God is also challenging us to recognize why we need to evangelize the world with the gospel message, which is the only path to redeeming hearts that are “deceitful above all things and desperately sick.” [Jer 17:9] A third lesson we can glean from this is to see how deep the depth of sin leads even men of the cloth  to be callous, irreverent, deceitful, selfish, and liars—they need Jesus too. In summary, God has saved this story to help us see the depravity and reality of Romans 1:18-31.

There are some questions we need to be asking.  Are we spreading the good news that can alter the hard hearts, whether they are men of the cloth or just people like you and me? Are we standing up for those like the concubine and whose voice is never heard? Are we outraged at self-righteousness and hypocrisy? Are we compassionate for those who fall beneath the cracks of society? Take time today to pray for those who are caught up in this depravity. Pray for a heart change. Pray for boldness to speak words of God’s love. Pray for God’s eyes to see and His ears to hear the cry of those who need defending.