Women created in God's image? Or just cattle? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 21:23,

"While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off
to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt
the towns and settled in them."

Here is what I consider to be the thinking and actions of a people in
the pit of moral depravity, where "everyone did as he saw fit". In the
minds of the leaders of Israel, it was not okay to break an oath to
the Lord they had made to not give their daughters in marriage to any
man in Benjamin. Having slaughtered the tribe and now feeling remorse
over having nearly lost it from the nation they now thought it okay to
kidnap innocent and unsuspecting girls from Shiloh to provide wives
for the remaining men of Benjamin.

I wonder just what these unsuspecting girls, who went to celebrate the
Lord, felt about it? Did anyone consider how "okay" it was to them?
How okay can it be to abduct and remove a girl from her home, from her
family and force her to marry the assailant from another place? As I
read the account, and as I read how the Levite's concubine was treated
in Judges 19 and how the old man offered up his virgin daughter to the
predators outside, it appears women where treated as cattle. I'm
astonished how little concern the Levite had, who had gone all the way
to his concubine's father's house to retriever her, when he got up the
next morning, saw her lying at the threshold and thinking she was
alive, telling her to get up and get a move on it. While she was being
raped all night and ultimately murdered, it reads as if the Levite and
the old man were fast asleep while knowing the atrocity taking place
outside... the account provides no indication these two attempted to
help this woman in the least.

The nation got this way by rejecting the Lord. Having turned their
backs on him they pursued their own ideas of "religion", embraced
sexual immorality, embraced homosexuality, embraced the killing of
their own children (child sacrifice had become the thing to do for
Israel). "Everyone did as he thought fit." Just like people today.
Nothing ever changes. As I read about the sad tale of Israel's
depravity, I recognize it is not just Israel. It is all mankind.
Anywhere God is rejected a spiral of depravity drags a people down to
the point where human life, which is sacred because we are brought to
life by his creative acts and because we are created in his image, is
devalued. This is certainly the case in the outlook of the men of
Israel toward their women. "Each man caught one and carried her off"
sounds a lot more like cattle thieves than kidnappers. Their view was
ungodly and reflected the debased nature they had sunk to.

What I am struck by this morning is the stark difference it makes when
God is present in a society. We are told God is love and those who
know God reflect that love, 1 John 4. Fear of the Lord instructs us
that all people are made in the image of God and are to be treated as
sacred. How different interpersonal relationships become when God is
embraced! This difference reflected in a society where God is embraced
is due to God himself. His pristine nature, his love, his justice, the
splendor of his many perfections and his radiant glory have tremendous
impact and is able to lift the most corrupt and depraved people into a
noble people who reflect who God is and what he is like.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com