Welcome to Day 2421 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – The Most Horrific Bible Story – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2421 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2421 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.   Today is the fourteenth lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today, our lesson is, The Most Horrific Bible Story. “In those days, there was no king in Israel.” This line, repeated throughout Judges, frames the horrific tale of the Levite and his concubine. The grim details of this story showcase the anarchy and spiritual decay of the period, but this story is not just a cheap thriller. When reading this story, our attention fixates on the grim details of murder, rape, war, and abduction. But there are crucial, less repugnant elements —tribal affiliations and the locations of events. The story was designed to prompt readers into favoring kingship—the people needed a Messiah, a savior. The book of Judges does not name its author; it was likely written after the time of David. All of these elements add up to not only a rationale for kingship—but a polemic for the superiority of a king from Judah (David), not Benjamin (Saul) or Ephraim. By the time Judges was being written, Saul had failed God as a spiritual leader. Anyone reading the story would be prompted to follow God’s new choice of kingship, the line of David. Any other ruler would spell chaos, evil, and tragedy. The Events in the Story What Does This Teach Us? In Judges 19-20, a Levite is retrieving his fugitive concubine from her father’s house in Bethlehem, located in the tribal territory of Judah. The Levite is shown warm hospitality in Judah, David’s tribe. The concubine’s father, who is from Judah, treats the Levite with warm hospitality. The Levite and his concubine travel home to Ephraim. On the way, he has the option to stay in the city of Jebus, a Benjamite territory. The Levite could have stopped in Jebus—which is later known as Jerusalem. It is a missed oasis in the hellish sea of Benjamin. He decides not to remain since Jebus is under the rule of Gentiles, non-Hebrews. He journeys on to Gibeah, also a The Benjamite rapists of Gibeah are clearly   Benjamite territory. In Gibeah, an old man—also from Ephraim—offers...