Day 119: Sexual Compromise

Acts 22:30-23:22; Judges 19; Psalm 44

This story in Judges is horrifying.  The woman could have been his actual wife, or more of a slave, but no matter what, this story reveals that sexual immorality is not new.  When the man and this woman reach the town, an old man lets them stay in his home.  From their conversation and origins we could say they were followers of the Lord or “Christians.” However, in this town, there was much corruption, evil, and compromise.  When the men wanted to have sex with the guest, they refused to let that happen.  It isn’t that they thought it was wrong, it was just that he was a guest, and that wouldn’t be acceptable.  (What?!)  So instead, they offer the woman to be beaten and raped instead in order to protect themselves.  What kind of man would offer his daughter to such brutality?  There is no doubt that the world has, for a long time, been saturated with sexual sin.  This twenty-first century that we live in is not something new or different.  But again, the theme comes up:  compromise.  Instead of resisting the evil completely, they resist it for themselves, but throw someone else under the bus.  These men who claimed to be followers of Christ did not protect those who were supposed to be under their protection.  We as believers have to think differently:  all people need protection because the world we live in his evil.  We need to protect ourselves from falling into sin, and we need to help protect one another from compromising too.

So how do we go about protecting ourselves from this world of sin?  Hide out in a hole, and not coming out ever?  No. What we do is trust in the Lord, follow his commands, immerse ourselves in his Truth, and surround ourselves with people who are doing the same.  As it says in the psalm, God fought for us, it isn’t our own strength that saves us, but God’s mighty power.