Go ahead, bring it!

Just letting you know right up front, I’m fully expecting to be the recipient of some nasty feedback on this post. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Only six chapters into the Bible, the Lord saw the extent of human wickedness, and that the trend and direction of mens’ lives were only toward evil, and it broke His heart. (See Gen. 6:5-6) Then only twelve chapters later, we come across Sodom and Gomorrah whose people were utterly wicked, and everything they did was wicked. (See Gen. 18:20)

It is the same now. Everyone is doing what they think is right in their own eyes. Nickelodeon, a television channel directed at entertaining children, is facing backlash for releasing a video of a drag queen singing about Pride in front of a trans-flag. The video also prominently features the black power fist. To children. Your children. I am understandably shocked how anyone would think this would be even remotely appropriate.

I’m almost betting that when launched on April 1, 1979 as the first cable channel for children between the ages of 2 to 17, this is not what they had in mind.

When I hear the words, “they did what they saw fit,” the first thing I think of is self-absorbed. “I’m so wrapped up in me and what I want to do, that consequences do not apply to me, because after all, I’m me!”

It seems the world is due for another reckoning with all that is being allowed because of this type of attitude.

My blood nearly curdled when I read this story. A man who held a prominent position, met a girl and they decided to live together. After a little bit she became angry with him and returned back to her parent’s home, and was there for about four months. The man got lonely and went to see if he could win her back. When he arrived, she let him in and introduced him to her family. Her father was delighted to meet him and urged him to stay awhile. So he stayed for three days and they had a pleasant time. The father urged them to stay another day, which they did. During their travel to the next town, they could not find a place to spend the night, so they planned to spend the night in the car at a rest stop.

Just then a man returning from work found out their plan and asked them to be his guests, as it was too dangerous to spend the night how they intended. They did so, got cleaned up and had supper together. Just about then a gang came by yelling at the owner of the house to bring out the man so they could rape him. So the owner went out and tried to reason with them. But they wouldn’t listen.

Now this is where my blood started to boil. This man of prominence, pushed his girlfriend out the door into the gang! They abused her all night long, taking turns raping her, until just at dawn, when they finally let her go. She fell down at the door of the house and lay there until it was light. When the boyfriend, or boy-fiend, opened the door so they could be on they way, he found her there with her hands digging into the threshold. Then he had the absolute gall to say, “Well, come on, let’s get going.” But there was no answer, because she was dead.

So he put her dead body in the car and drove the rest of the way home. Oh, just you wait, it gets worse. He then takes a knife and cuts her body into twelve parts to send one to each of his friends demanding justice.

So this self-absorbed man has no problem saving himself by tossing out his girlfriend to the gang, sleeps peacefully through the night while she was being raped outside the house, probably had coffee and breakfast before he tells her dead body to get up and get going? (Insert bad words here.)

Now this really happened, it is not fake news. Only it happened way back in the 11^th century B.C. The world was a wicked place where everyone did as they saw fit. Judges 19 it tells this horrific tale of the prominent man, who was a Levite. They served particular religious duties for the Israelites, and had political and educational responsibilities as well. So this in current terms this would be a religious leader, politician, or teacher.

The girlfriend was a concubine. That was a sexual relationship between an man and a woman in which the couple does not want to or cannot enter into a full marriage. When there is an inability or social discouragement for the couple to marry, it may be due to multiple factors such as differences in social rank status, an existing marriage, religious or professional prohibitions, or a lack of recognition by appropriate authorities.

Based on his attitude in this story, I’m guessing she became angry and left him for his bad behavior, and he had to go to try and win her back. I want to scream across the generations to her, “Do not open the door and let him in! You will live longer and not die a horrible death!”

The Levite cutting her into pieces was so he could send them to the Tribes of Israel to rouse them to war against the tribe that the gang came from. The entire nation of Israel sent their leaders and 450,000 troops to take their revenge for the man who did not care two licks about the woman, based on his behavior.

My point is, think about the crazy things that have happened over the course of the last year and a half since before the election for President in America, the riots, looting, killing and hate, and then the pandemic. This story sounds like it could have been taken straight from a headline in our current society.

Can we turn back from being a nation where everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and get back to the country our founders intended? Please? Because if it is breaking my heart, it is breaking God’s heart even more. So if you must rage at me, you may do so, then I’ll know where your heart lies. Trust me, self-absorption does not look good on you.

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