Breaking the Cycle of Sin

April 25, 2009

Today's Reading: Judges 20-21 and 1 Corinthians 10

Today, we reached the end of the book of Judges, and what a sad ending it was. It all began when a Levites concubine was gang raped and then killed. Apparently, the Kitty Genovese effect was occurring.

Some of you may have heard of this case, a tragedy that occurred in 1964 when a woman was killed in a public area, while people in their homes were watching. No one called the police until after Kitty had died. For those of you who are comic book fans, Kitty Genovese was the reason why Walter Kovacs became Rorshach in Watchmen (now a major motion picture).

I’m not certain why people didn’t want to get involved when there was a life at stake, and that must have been the case as this poor concubine was raped, tortured, and killed. The sad part of this is that the assailants actually wanted men.

The Levite who had this concubine chopped up the body, and then sent it to the corners of Israel. Man, did this get people angry! As a result, the whole tribe of Benjamin was ostracized from the community.

Can you believe the mountain of iniquity that has been built up here? Neither do I. As usual, the sin just brings in more sin until it is an endless food chain of hurt. The situation was so bad that there was no ruler in Israel, as everyone did what is right in his or her own eyes.

I can’t imagine any system of justice working that way, as everyone really has differing definitions of right and wrong. Sadly, this is what Israel had become, a nation of nihilists and anarchists.

I think it is odd that this happened. As Paul said, all of the Israelites had been through the Sea, eaten spiritual food, drank from the rock, and most didn’t make it. Dang! Why is this? Are the basic qualifications for being a Christian just too hard?

The truth is that if you look at the population of heaven versus the one in hell, I just can’t imagine less people in the flames. Seriously. This is a very sick fact: it is a hell of a lot more difficult to get into heaven, and sadly, not everyone will make it, all because of a simple choice not to accept Jesus for their sins.

Yes, this is a terrible tragedy, and yes, it doesn’t have to be this way. The sad part is that we are doing things to keep it this way. Is there any stopping it?

I’m choosing it. Now. The cycle ends here.