The Scripture readings yesterday and today describe terrible sins committed by those who had forsaken the Lord’s clear commands. Everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes. Truly, Jeremiah was right: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can understand it?”
The men of Gibeah had sexually assaulted a man’s wife, brutally bringing about her death. When the Israelites heard, they gathered together as one man in moral outrage, determined to punish those who had done this evil deed. They refused to go home until justice was served. Because the Benjamites would not bring out the guilty men to face judgment, Israel went to war. They were so determined to bring about justice they risked their own lives in battle.
Where is the moral outrage against the great evils of our day? What would happen if our nation “rose up as one man” to stop the dismembering of innocent babies through abortion and to demand justice on their behalf? Where is our moral outrage against pornography and the sex trade, or against buyers and sellers of drugs that destroy so many lives through addiction and untimely death? What would happen if we would “as one man” stand up against racial injustice in our land?
Moral outrage against sinful behavior and taking a stand for justice involve personal commitment and can be costly. Many men of Israel lost their lives in their fight to bring about justice. Scripture encourages us to fight the good fight and to take our stand against sin. May God help us to stand against the evils that destroy lives and divide families. Don’t be afraid to be involved in the fight against evil.
Help us, O Lord, to be so morally outraged that as believers we will stand as one against the evils of our day and be willing to pay the price necessary to bring about justice in our land.
Rev. Bill Monroe
Extended Scripture: Judges 20–21(NASB)
