A Tale of Two Cities, Part 2 (Judges 20)

We saw last week how Judges 19 is a tale of two cities – Bethlehem in Judah – where the hospitality is top notch! And Gibeah in Benjamin – where the hospitality reminds us of Sodom in the days of Lot – when God sent fire from heaven to destroy the city because of its wickedness.

David – of course – was the King from Bethlehem in Judah – but Saul was the King from Gibeah in Benjamin.

The contrast between the two cities is clear: you don't want a king from Gibeah! Why would you want a king from a city that acted like Sodom?

Judges 19 ends with the concubine from Bethlehem in Judah gang raped – murdered – and cut up in twelve pieces – sent as a grisly message to all Israel, summoning the people of God to action.

But as the refrain of the book of Judges says: "In those days, there was no king in Israel – everyone did what was right in his own eyes."