Did you know what happened in the city of Gibeah? In Judges 19, we read about the city of Gibeah and that almost exactly the same pervert thing happened in Gibeah as in Sodom. The people in the city of Gibeah were just as wicked and pervert as the people in Sodom. They didn’t care about God and His words, and they didn’t care about others. They were selfish people and lived after the (sexual) lusts and desires of their flesh. We read in the Bible about men being intimate with other men. This was also the case in Gibeah. Both Sodom and the cities around, and Gibeah had one thing in common: they were full of sins and iniquities because of the wickedness and perverseness of the people. As a result of their sins and iniquities, Sodom was destroyed by brimstone and fire and the city of Gibeah was destroyed by the sword and fire. Let’s have a look at the city of Sodom in Genesis 19 and the city of Gibeah in Judges 19 and compare both cities.
What happened in the city of Sodom?
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom:and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes:only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge:now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.
And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great:so that they wearied themselves to find the door (Genesis 19:1-11)
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground (Genesis 19:24,25)
What happened in the city of Gibeah?
And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they (a certain Levite, his concubine, and his servant) arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart:and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together:for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.
And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart:and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night:behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.
And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
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. 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?
And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I:and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 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 any thing. And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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 (Judges 19:11-29)
The tribe of Benjamin was affected by evil
The tribes of Israel came together unto the Lord in Mizpah, as one man. The tribes discussed, what to do with the wickedness, that occurred in the tribe of Benjamin. They decided to go up, to Gibeah, by lot against it.
They would ask the children of Benjamin to deliver the men, who did this evil. So that, they could put them to death and put evil away from Israel. But the children of Benjamin refused.
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel (Judges 20:12-14)
The children of Israel destroyed the Benjamites
Then the battle began. The children of Israel went up to the house of God, and asked Him for counsel. The Lord instructed them on what to do. The battle lasted for 3 days. Then the Lord delivered the children of Benjamin into the hand of the children of Israel. On the third day, the children of Israel destroyed the Benjamites.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons:for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle (Jud 20:36-40)
The children of Israel continued the battle
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon:and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months (Jud 20:45-48)
One of the twelve tribes became unfaithful to the Lord, and did what was evil in His sight. Because of this the children of Israel destroyed almost all the children of Benjamin. If you would like to know how this ends, you can read chapter 21 of the book of Judges.
But let us return to the subject of this blog, and look at the similarities between Sodom and Gibeah.
The similarities between Sodom and Gibeah
In both cities, men wanted to get to know other men. In Sodom, they wanted to get to know the two man; the two angels. In Gibeah, they wanted to get to know the Levites. ‘Getting to know meant having sexual intercourse with them.
Both lords of the houses didn’t give in to their requests and protected the men. In Sodom, Lot offered both of his virgin daughters. In Gibeah, the old man offered his virgin daughter and the concubine of the Levite.
The men of Sodom wouldn’t listen to Lot and wouldn’t accept the offer Lot made. They pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the two men pulled Lot into the house and shut the door. They smote the men with blindness, therefore they couldn’t find the door anymore. The next morning the two men, Lot, his wife and his daughters fled. And the city of Sodom (and Gomorrah) was destroyed by brimstone and fire.
The men of the city of Gibeah wouldn’t listen to the old man either. They didn’t want to accept his offer. Therefore the Levite brought his concubine forth and the men got to know her. They raped and abused her all night long. When the morning came, they let her go. The woman fell down at the front of the man’s house, where her lord was, and died.
Both cities were full of iniquities. The men were wicked and did evil in God’s sight and therefore they had to be destroyed.
The men had turned themselves against God and went their own way; the way of the flesh. They wanted to live according to the lust of their flesh and satisfy their lusts. The men didn’t want to repent to the Lord and didn’t want to obey the Lord. They didn’t want to live according to God’s will and God’s commandments.
They lived in rebellion against God. In both stories we see, what the final destination of rebellion against God is: destruction (eternal death).
‘Be the salt of the earth’
