Judg 19:27 Death of the Church 6/7/2009 ßà
#1. Three Women in Gen 19 (Gen 19:15-17,24-26)
#2. Two Women in Judg 19 (Judg 19:22-25, Matt 4:19)
#3. A Kingdom Divided (Judg 20:7-11, 47-48, Lev 18:22, 20:13, Rom 1:24-27)
· Is Homosexuality a Disease? (Lev 18:22, 20:13, Rom 1:26-27, 1Cor 6:9-11)
Please open your Bibles to the Prophecy of Judges, Judg 17:6 (2X). We have come to the third and final installment of this miniseries on Judges 19. What are we going to find? We will find that God is warning us of the death of the church. Therefore this sermon is titled, “The Death of the Church” (2X).
Let us first get an overview of parables in the Bible, and especially the
parables in the Prophecy of Judges. The Lord Jesus told us exactly why He spoke
in parables. He said in Matt 13:11, “Because it is given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” In
other words, the Lord spoke in parables to hide the truth from those who
are not supposed to understand the Gospel, but God is going to reveal it to
those whom He intend to save. And so, when we wish to understand how a holy and
righteous God could tolerate the wickedness of Samson, but on the other hand
God numbered Samson in Hebrews 11 among the heroes of faith, we realize that
there must be many spiritual interpretations hidden in the life of Samson.
Samson’s life ends in Judg 16. Right away, in the next chapter, we read this
mysterious statement in Judg 17:6, “In those days there was no
king in
Jud 21:25, In those days there was no
king in
With the words “There was no king in
#1. Three Women in Gen 19 (Gen 19:15-17,24-26)
Who do the women represent in Gen 19? Initially only
Ge 19:15-17 And when the morning arose, then the
angels hastened
In other words, since Lot lingered the two visitors took him and his family by the hand and forcefully removed them out of their house, and deposited them outside the city on the ground, and told them to run to the mountains, and don’t look back. And then we read in Gen 19:24-26,
Ge 19:24-26 Then the LORD rained upon
She did not make it. Who does
Joh 10:28-30 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.
And so, we let the Scriptures speak for themselves. The reason why
Let us now turn to the two daughters of
Ge 19:30-38 And
Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with
him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two
daughters. And the firstborn said
unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the
earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink
wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine
that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he
perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the
younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine
this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve
seed of our father. And they made
their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with
him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of
This too is a historical parable; but we should not consider this
a continuation of the historical parable of the first half of Gen 19, for after
the rapture there is no more earthly history. In the earthly story the two daughters
came up with a lame excuse to commit fornication. But God is not at all
concerned about preserving the seed of their father
2Co 6:14-1 Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? And
what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with
an infidel? And what agreement hath
the
God is very jealous of His people, and God wants us to be
separated from those who worship another god. Look at the results of unequal
marriages in the days of Noah, where the sons of God married with the daughters
of man. It brought down the wrath of God upon all mankind with a flood. Look at
the results of the daughters of
Re 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
When the two witnesses shall have finished their testimony, which means when the church shall have finished the work that God has reserved for her, then antichrist shall make war against her and shall overcome her. This is what we need to see in these historical parables about the end time. Those who belong to the faithful church hall not be killed, but they shall be silenced, just like the word “killed” in verse 5 does not mean literally killed, but silenced. And that the church shall be silenced shall literally come to pass, for we read this again in Rev 13:7. If you turn there for a moment, we will see in Rev 13:7,
Re 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
In other words, this silencing of the Gospel shall be worldwide.
Let us now return to the last two verses in Gen 19. God says there in Gen
19:37, “the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.” What
is meant by that statement, “unto this day”? It means that today there are
people who fit the mold of the Moabites, haters of Israel, and God says that
spiritually they are of the family of the firstborn daughter of Lot, just like
in Gal 4:25 the Jews who hold on to a gospel of works really belong to
the family of Hagar. Likewise we read in Gen 19:38, “the same is
the father of the children of Ammon unto this day”. It means that today
there are people who fit the mold of the Ammonites, also haters of
#2. Two Women in Judg 19 (Judg 19:22-25, Matt 4:19)
The first time we meet both women is when the house of the old man is besieged by homosexuals.
Jud 19:22-25 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man (the Levite) took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
Who does the Levite represent? He represents the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ who loosed the concubine on the unsaved people of Gibeah. Who does the concubine represent? The concubine represents the unsaved portion of the church. The Lord asked her to follow Him, and following Jesus is synonymous with being a witness for Christ. The Lord Jesus said in Matt 4:19, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” But since she represents the unsaved portion of the church, the task of being fishers of men proved to be too much for her, and she abandons this task. In other words, she dies, and the Gospel is being silenced. But notice also that the daughter of the old man is not sacrificed. God had mercy on her and she remains a virgin. This tells us that even in the deepest darkest hours of history there is still a remnant that remains saved. God will not abandon His elect. This is all that we find about the daughter of the old man, but it is sufficient to give us hope. Let us return now to the concubine.
Jud 19:25-29 But the men would not hearken to him:
so the man (the Levite) took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them;
and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the
day began to spring, they let her go. Then
came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the
man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the
house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was
fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the
threshold. And he said unto her, Up,
and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an
ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold
on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve
pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of
Let us now explain the strange behavior of the Levite. The Levite, the Lord Jesus Christ saw that the church was dead. To draw attention to this horrific event He decided to let the whole world know the tragedy of the death of the church. In the spiritual sense we must move the scene to include the whole world. Please turn in your Bibles to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Rev 17:3 (2X). The Lord introduces us here to a woman, representing the apostate church, who has been reigning this earth for most of the NT time, but now near the end of time she is sitting upon a scarlet colored beast which resembles Satan. We read in Rev 17:3-6 (2X).
Re 17:3-6 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
The last five words in this passage should have been translated, “I marvelled with great marvel”. Why did John marvel? He had seen this woman before in Rev 12 when she was still a faithful church, and when she was protected by God and she was brought on eagle’s wings into the wilderness, which refers to the wilderness of this world. And now John sees her in the same wilderness, but now she has changed, for now she has allied herself with Satan. God makes us see that near the end of time the church will become apostate to the extent that Satan will be in the pulpit. The church thinks that this ally with the beast with 7 heads and ten horns will be to her financial advantage. But the opposite is true. Please drop down to Rev 17:16 (2X).
Re 17:16-18 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
In other words, Rev 11:7 tells us that the church as we know it will die, and Rev 11:8 tells us that the empty shells which formerly housed the church will still be standing, and Rev 17:16 tells us that even the empty shells will be done away, for Satan hates even the empty image of the former church of the Lord Jesus Christ and he will burn it with fire. And so, what do we see here? The woman, representing the church, will be destroyed shortly before the end of the world. But did we not see the same image at the end of Judg 19? The concubine was not only killed, but her body was totally destroyed by having it cut in 12 pieces. But you might argue that in Judg 19 it was Christ who cut her into 12 pieces, whereas in Rev 17:16 it was the ten horns which destroyed her body. Let us be fair: There is only one God. Satan is not an independent power. Satan can only do those things that God allows him to do. And thus, even if the ten horns would destroy her body, it is still God who is in charge of all this.
#3. A Kingdom Divided (Judg 20:7-11, 47-48, Lev 18:22, 20:13, Rom 1:24-27)
Please turn again to the Prophecy of Judges, Judg 20:7
(2X). We see here that all the tribes of the children of
Jud 20:7-11 Behold, ye are all children of
The tribe of Benjamin refused to bring their brethren from Gibeah to trial. And now an all out war was the result of the crime by the men of Gibeah. They were physically fighting a war, and more than 65 000 men were killed before the war was over. What was going on? It was the church destroying the church. It was a kingdom divided. This was certainly in favor of Satan. But what was this war representing? Spiritually it was a battle for the mind. The question that was to be settled by this war was this: Is homosexuality a crime or is it not a crime? Physically they slugged it out, but the law of the Lord should have given a ready answer. We read in Lev 18:22,
Lev 18:22, Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
God condemns homosexuality as a crime against God. And if we search a little more we find in:
Lev 20:13, If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
It means that the act of homosexuality is so abhorrent to God that
He demands that both partners must be condemned to death. With such a penalty
would homosexuality ever be a problem in the nation of
Ro 1:24-27 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And so, rather than dig into the historical details, we should see the spiritual meaning of this war. It
means that near the end of time the church will fight the church, and there will be no winners, only losers Please drop down to Judg 20:47, (2X).
Jud 20:47-48 But six hundred men turned and fled to
the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. And the men of
So, here are 600 men of the tribe of Benjamin on the Rock Rimmon. That was all that was left of Benjamin. Now we should see this part in Judg 21 as a separate story, for this is a chapter where the children of Benjamin received grace and mercy. The name Benjamin means “Son of my right hand”. They sought refuge in the Rock Rimmon where the Rock was pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please turn again to the Prophecy of Genesis, Gen 19:27
(2X). There was hope for the old man and his daughter in the city of
Ge 19:27-29 And Abraham gat up early in the morning
to the place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward
“God remembered Abraham, and sent
· Is Homosexuality a Disease? (Lev 18:22, 20:13, Rom 1:26-27, 1Cor 6:9-11)
The real question is: Is homosexuality something that we are born with? Please turn in your Bibles to the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1Cor 6:9 (2X). When we consult the Bible, we find condemnations of homosexuality like in Lev 18:22, and in Lev 20:13. And when we read Rom 1:26-27 we see again that God does not like homosexuals. We read in Rom 1:26-27,
Ro 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Ro 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
But if we are predisposed to homosexuality, if we are born with this problem, how can God be so hard on us? Today’s medical profession says that homosexuality is something that you are born with.
But listen also to what God says. God says in 1Cor 6:9-11
1Co 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the
God says in verse 11, “And such were some of you”, past tense. In other words, if you were homosexuals in the past, be assured that when you have been washed from your sins you are no longer homosexuals. You are cured. The same thing applies to alcoholics, or drunkards. The medical profession says, once an alcoholic you stay an alcoholic for the rest of your life. But God says, “And such were some of you”, past tense. In other words the medical profession gives us no hope, and according to the Bible, the prospect of Hell for sure. But the Bible paints us a totally different picture. Homosexuals are not born, they are made by being exposed to the sexual act. Do not believe what MD’s say. Rather believe what God says.
People become homosexuals because they have been exposed to the excitement of it.
People become alcoholics because they have been exposed to the excitement of it.
People become drug addicts because they have been exposed to the excitement of it.
People become addicted to fornication because they have been exposed to the excitement of it.
But God chose the sign of homosexuality to indicate that the end
is near. It is also the sign that the church is being attacked by Satan. Men’s
wisdom is placed at a higher rank than God’s wisdom. And so, when we hear that
the President of the
Amen. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.