ISRAEL’S CIVIL WAR

Mar. 6th Sabbath Israel’s Civil War Page 6 of 14
“Get up!” he ordered. “It’s time to leave.”
But she did not move. The concubine was dead.
Quietly, the Levite lifted her lifeless body, which was bloody and
bruised, onto his donkey and departed for home.
Once he reached home, the Levite took a large knife and cut the
woman’s body into 12 pieces, from limb to limb. Then he ordered
messengers to take one piece to each tribe of Israel.
He said, “Tell my fellow Israelites about the wickedness that the men of
Gibeah did to my concubine. Then ask them if such evil like this has ever
happened since Israel left Egypt. Tell them to think about it, talk it over,
and decide what should be done.”
Of course, the Levite failed to mention that he had acted like a coward
and failed to protect the woman he supposedly loved.
The Levite’s plan was to get revenge on Gibeah, and, perhaps ease his
conscience for failing to rescue the concubine. He reasoned that her body
parts and his message would cause the rest of Israel to get angry over
what had happened, and to desire revenge (Judges 19:22- 19).
Seeking Revenge
The Levite’s plan was working. All who received the body parts and
message, or who had only heard about it, were outraged. All throughout
the land of Israel, the people said, “This is horrible! Nothing like this has
ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt” (Judges 19:30).
A national assembly of Israelite troops—from Dan up north, to
Beersheba down south, as well as those from Gilead (except for the town