“Christ says we find Him outside where the concubine lies devalued, deserted, dishonored, and dying (Heb 13:13-16).”
“the Father wants you to see His Christ in the woman knocking at the door of a church that has a reputation of being alive, but is dead, has accumulated riches and comfort, and decided it needed nothing from her God (Rev 3:20).”
“surely the church ought to be the place where the oppressed never find a door locked to their entry.”
When I first engaged with this post and commented on it, I thought I had something else I wanted to say. But now I’ve re-read the post and the comments, I don’t have anything more I want to say.
Thanks! And that is my prayer as well. Hoping to have chapters 20 and 21 up here soon. But some unexpected schedule stuffers have come up and slowed my posting
“ if you are…oppressed yourself then the gracious call to faith is your need to lift up your eyes to a king who not only can restrain evil, but who can rule and defend you. And isn’t it into his hands that we entrust ourselves? Is the Christian not confessing that his/her life is already hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3)? That’s what we’re called to do so that thousands may fall at your right and your left—yet the terror of the night will not come near you (Ps 91:7).”
With respect, I want to gently challenge what you’ve set out here.
The terror of the night DID come near the concubine. Not only did it come near her, it engulfed her. The gang-raping Benjamites sadistically predated on her.
Then, the next morning, her so-called husband barked an order at her, “Get up!” Then he slung her body on the donkey, took it home and cut it up (she may have still been alive and breathing) into multiple pieces. Then he used those pieces as ‘message sticks’ to enlist allies who would do even more evil for him, thus manipulating the nation into a civil war!
The terror of the night MAY destroy and devour us on this earth, but if we have clung and keep clinging to Christ, the terror of ETERNAL darkness cannot take us. We are promised eternal and abundant life in the New Heavens and New Earth. But Jesus also said that if we follow Him we will experience persecution in THIS world.
Conflating this world and the next world is the cause of much confusion, and this kind of muddled thinking can easily be weaponised by spiritual abusers.
Thanks Barbara for your thoughtful engagement with my work! I would respond to what you've put out here in two ways:
First, the form of these essays is still in many ways homiletical, so I try to put some concluding points of hope them, rather than stopping at analysis. That said, your point is well taken, and I could probably have nuanced this point more clearly.
Second, I agree with your point, only I do not think I say that the terror of the night doesn't find the concubine. What I am trying to say under the motif of "Night Country" is that it in Judges 19 you don't see divine intervention in restraining evil. The gospel turn is to see that and find in Christ that intervention so blatantly absent in this text. In other words, even today while we long for the coming glory, those in Christ are presently liberated from what my tradition calls "The EVIL of afflictions" (Westminster Confession of Faith 20:1). In other words, the afflictions remain evil, but even the evil intended by Satan and his hoards will be turned for good in the end--both in sanctification, and in securing for us crowns in glory (Chrysostom's language).
That is perhaps too trite for a complex point. But that is the line of thinking I was seeking to draw. And I do recognize how wickedly such an idea can and has been weaponized by spiritual abusers. At that, and at this point, all I can say is Lord have mercy. God knows, and God sees. God has spoken, and God will both vindicate and repay.
“We think of the father in Bethlehem and how much he’s pleading, ‘Stay. Lodge here. You can be merry here. There’s plenty in the father’s house.’ “
I pushed back against this interpretation when you stated it in the previous post in this series. So I won’t repeat my push-back here.
I will respond there then :)
“Christ says we find Him outside where the concubine lies devalued, deserted, dishonored, and dying (Heb 13:13-16).”
“the Father wants you to see His Christ in the woman knocking at the door of a church that has a reputation of being alive, but is dead, has accumulated riches and comfort, and decided it needed nothing from her God (Rev 3:20).”
“surely the church ought to be the place where the oppressed never find a door locked to their entry.”
Yes and Amen! 🎯🎯🎯
When I first engaged with this post and commented on it, I thought I had something else I wanted to say. But now I’ve re-read the post and the comments, I don’t have anything more I want to say.
The whole series is excellent. Lord, have mercy.
Thanks! And that is my prayer as well. Hoping to have chapters 20 and 21 up here soon. But some unexpected schedule stuffers have come up and slowed my posting
“ if you are…oppressed yourself then the gracious call to faith is your need to lift up your eyes to a king who not only can restrain evil, but who can rule and defend you. And isn’t it into his hands that we entrust ourselves? Is the Christian not confessing that his/her life is already hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3)? That’s what we’re called to do so that thousands may fall at your right and your left—yet the terror of the night will not come near you (Ps 91:7).”
With respect, I want to gently challenge what you’ve set out here.
The terror of the night DID come near the concubine. Not only did it come near her, it engulfed her. The gang-raping Benjamites sadistically predated on her.
Then, the next morning, her so-called husband barked an order at her, “Get up!” Then he slung her body on the donkey, took it home and cut it up (she may have still been alive and breathing) into multiple pieces. Then he used those pieces as ‘message sticks’ to enlist allies who would do even more evil for him, thus manipulating the nation into a civil war!
The terror of the night MAY destroy and devour us on this earth, but if we have clung and keep clinging to Christ, the terror of ETERNAL darkness cannot take us. We are promised eternal and abundant life in the New Heavens and New Earth. But Jesus also said that if we follow Him we will experience persecution in THIS world.
Conflating this world and the next world is the cause of much confusion, and this kind of muddled thinking can easily be weaponised by spiritual abusers.
Thanks Barbara for your thoughtful engagement with my work! I would respond to what you've put out here in two ways:
First, the form of these essays is still in many ways homiletical, so I try to put some concluding points of hope them, rather than stopping at analysis. That said, your point is well taken, and I could probably have nuanced this point more clearly.
Second, I agree with your point, only I do not think I say that the terror of the night doesn't find the concubine. What I am trying to say under the motif of "Night Country" is that it in Judges 19 you don't see divine intervention in restraining evil. The gospel turn is to see that and find in Christ that intervention so blatantly absent in this text. In other words, even today while we long for the coming glory, those in Christ are presently liberated from what my tradition calls "The EVIL of afflictions" (Westminster Confession of Faith 20:1). In other words, the afflictions remain evil, but even the evil intended by Satan and his hoards will be turned for good in the end--both in sanctification, and in securing for us crowns in glory (Chrysostom's language).
That is perhaps too trite for a complex point. But that is the line of thinking I was seeking to draw. And I do recognize how wickedly such an idea can and has been weaponized by spiritual abusers. At that, and at this point, all I can say is Lord have mercy. God knows, and God sees. God has spoken, and God will both vindicate and repay.