The last few chapters of Judges paint a very ugly picture of the depths to which Israel had fallen. Interestingly, the Levite priest that was discussed in Judges 17 went from Bethlehem to Ephraim, and in today’s reading, chapter 19 opens with a Levite priest who goes from Ephraim to Bethlehem. And from there a long list of atrocities and civil war commence. Judges 19:22-24 echo Genesis 19 and the city of Sodom. It’s a picture of the depth of depravity that had at one time ruled in one city – now had spread and was still happening. This is one of the hardest sections of scripture to read, but it shows us once again that when people are doing what is right in their own eyes – things go from bad to worse.
But as we will see in the book of Ruth, which took place during the time of the judges, God was still at work. Ruth, though not an Israelite by birth is part of God’s grander story of the coming Messiah. And even in the ugliness of the circumstances that we see throughout and at the end of Judges, there was something beautiful happening. Ruth is a glimmer of hope in the midst of what seems like complete hopelessness. That is how the Lord works. There is never hopelessness in his economy. He works all things according to the counsel of his will and to the praise of his glorious grace – even when all seems dark and out of control. His hand is guiding all of history – from before the beginning of time into eternity future.
And that is where our hope lies. Not in circumstances, but in the One who rules all things.
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