Why it Matters - Inhmanity

Readings for today: Judges 19-21

In 1784, a man named Robert Burns wrote the famous poem, “Man was Made to Mourn: A Dirge.” It was a lament reflecting on human cruelty, suffering, evil, and the lack of compassion in the world. One of the most famous stanzas in that poem says, “Many and sharp the num'rous ills / Inwoven with our frame! / More pointed still we make ourselves, / Regret, remorse, and shame! / And man, whose heav'n-erected face / The smiles of love adorn, / Man's inhumanity to man / Makes countless thousands mourn!” That last line in particular hits hard. Especially as we finish the Book of Judges. It’s a brutal ending to this period in Israel’s history. Rape. Dismemberment. Civil war. Thousands dead. The almost complete annihilation of an entire tribe. The raid and abduction of the women of Jabesh Gilead. Man’s inhumanity to man does indeed make countless thousands mourn!

This is one of the many reasons I love the Bible. It doesn’t whitewash the horrors of humanity. It never makes excuses or justifies the sinful actions of God’s chosen people. The reality is God’s people are just as capable of great evil as the pagan tribes around them. They more they abandon the worship of the Living God, the more they descend into darkness. The more they resist God’s will and disobey His commands, the more God turns them over to their basest and most corrupt desires. We’ve seen this cycle before. Think of the descent of man from Cain to Noah. What does God do? He destroys humanity in a flood and starts over again with Noah. Think of the descent of man from Noah to the Tower of Babel. What does God do? He judges humanity, scatters them across the earth, and starts over with Abraham. Now consider the descent of man from Abraham through Moses and Joshua to where we find ourselves in Judges today. What will God do? He will start over with the prophet Samuel and King David.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This is the cycle we find ourselves in even today. Humanity has brief interludes where God raises up particular leaders who lead with wisdom and godliness which leads to blessing and abundance. However, our sinful nature always takes over. We soon find ourselves descending into darkness which leads to all kinds of suffering and pain. It’s spiritual entropy on display. Things always moving from order to chaos. And what is God’s answer? Jesus Christ. The Messiah God sends to deliver us from the endless cycle we find ourselves in. He defeats the power of sin in our lives. He destroys the works of the devil. He comes to make all things new and then He sends us, His people, out to proclaim this good news to the world.

Readings for tomorrow: Ruth 1-4

Dividing Line through Every Human Heart

Readings for today: Judges 19-21

Today we encounter some of the most difficult material in all of Scripture. We see Israel at one of her lowest points. She has forgotten Yahweh. She has become like all the pagan tribes around her. She is more focused on her own gratification than she is on serving and honoring the Lord. Her world is full of idols and sexual perversion and violence. Yes, she still goes through the motions. She still makes her sacrifices. She still prays. Fasts. Appears before the Lord at the appointed times. But it’s all empty at this point. Everyone is doing what seems right to them. They are all following their own ways. They are plumbing the depths of sin. They are pushing the boundaries of evil. Unspeakable atrocities are taking place in Israel such as the gang rape of a woman whose body is then dismembered resulting in a genocidal war that basically annihilates an entire tribe. It’s madness.  

One of my favorite books is the Heart of Darkness  by Joseph Conrad. With penetrating insight, he describes the nature of man. Given the right conditions. Given the right set of circumstances. We will all succumb to temptation. In the book, Kurtz sets himself up as a god to be worshipped. He exploits those around him. He uses them for his own personal gratification and enjoyment. He is evil and selfish and insane. Towards the end of the story, he finds himself dying as he “returns” to civilization. His life flashes before his eyes. He reflects back on all he has done. And his final words are, “The horror! The horror!” Reminds me of the great Russian novelist and dissident, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who spent years in the Russian gulag for criticizing the Soviet Union, once said, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.” Of course he noted the opposite is also true. Even in hearts overwhelmed by good, small bridgeheads of evil are retained. Basically, all of us have the capacity within us for both great good and terrible evil.

There simply is nothing redemptive in the story we read today. Nothing good. Nothing godly. Man’s inhumanity to man is on full display. It’s dark. It’s evil. It’s terrifying. “Horror” is a good word to describe what’s going on in our world today. One only has to scroll through a Twitter newsfeed to see the hate that leads to violence that leads to death and then return the next day to watch the cycle repeat itself. Consider yet another shooting at yet another school involving children. If we’re totally honest, all of us are perpetrators on some level. All of us are victims. We are the Levite. We are the concubine. We’ve sacrificed others and we’ve been sacrificed for the sake of self-protection and self-gratification. In the Bible’s judgment, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans‬ ‭3:10‬)

Perhaps it’s providential that we read this section of Judges on the cusp of Holy Week. Over the next week, we will reflect on the most significant events in Jesus’ life. The most significant events in human history. God Himself riding into Jerusalem to the adoration of the crowd only to find betrayal, torture, and death at the hands of some of those same people a few days later. We will reflect on the cross a week from today. A day we call Good Friday. A day we spend intentional time prayerfully thinking over the death of God. The most horrific act in human history. We reflect on the price Jesus paid. The blood He shed. The penalty He bore. We will reflect on the depth of our sin. The depravity of our nature. The darkness of our hearts. We reflect on the cost of our salvation. On what it took to redeem us from sin and death. To deliver us from evil.

But Holy Week ends not with despair but celebration! It ends not in defeat but in victory! Jesus is alive! And on Easter morning, we will gather with those we love to rejoice over our salvation! God plunging Himself into the horror of our condition! Plumbing the depth of our darkness! Immersing Himself in the breadth of our madness! And embracing us as His own! Today we declare there is hope for the Levite and his concubine! Today we declare there is hope for the Kurtz’s of our world! Today we declare there is hope even for us! And that hope is found in Jesus!

Readings for tomorrow: Ruth 1-4