Now I am going to the house of the Lord

 Judges 19:1-21

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 

He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord. No one has taken me in for the night. We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”

The warm traditional hospitality of the concubine's father contrasts with the lack of it at Gibeah. The eventual kindness of the old man and what follows is very like the story of Lor and the men of Sodom.

Why?

The society of Israelite is lost the love of the Lord, only the family of the concubine were kind to treat their guest. But in Gibeah, Ephraim people lost the traditional love to the traveler.

It is acceptable having a concubine in Israelite at that time, but it is not the way of the Lord. Only the wife has the right in Israelite's home, but most people hope they have more children to do the labor work at home. 

This Levite is going to the house of the Lord. He knows he belongs to the Lord.

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17-18章：講宗教上的混亂

19章起：道德上的混亂與敗壞

利未人娶妾，沒有做好榜樣。沒有寫出這人名字，表示很普遍。對神所設立的婚姻扭曲了。還好利未人還在意這個家。耶布斯即耶路撒冷。基比亞是便雅閔人的地方。基比亞無人接他們住宿，人與人冷漠。寄居的以法蓮老人反而接待他們。基比亞人怎麼可以讓他們在街頭。在這樣混亂的世代中，仍然看到一絲亮光，有位按主報導行的人。這證明神沒有離開他們。雖然世風敗壞，婚前性行為，同婚的事，好像神不管，但是即使在萬般黑暗中，神還是留有一些敬虔的神子民，神沒有離棄他的百姓，存留一條道路，一線光。

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How?

When a society lost the faith in the Lord, there are many unbelievable things happened.