Greet Every Second Chance with Joy (Chapter 2A)

Wednesday Chapter of Joy in Spite of Stoopidity

Joy in the Word

Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. Judges 19:3 ESV

So that’s our first verse with “joy” in it. And as I’ve learned to do while studying God’s Word, I dove into the whole chapter thinking it would clarify this joy; explain the context.

My literal face after I read it (Annie wasn’t having it either – well, maybe she was just giving me a look because I did react out loud…):

This chapter is full of horror, sans verses 1-9 ish. And I asked God, “What am I supposed to do with this nightmare story?” So, I’ve spent the last few days thinking, praying, writing, and erasing.

The Old Testament is not the easiest to read in general – a lot of rules and war and adultery and murder and who begat who. And Job! But this chapter in Judges made me nauseous. And to kick off our deep dive into joy?! My spirit felt a bit shocked.

Eventually I made my way to Judges 17:6…In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes. (ESV)

Israel had fallen so far away from living in covenant with the Father, that pure evil afflicted on another human was better than it being afflicted on yourself. And that was the bottom line. There was no greater love being shown. And even once kings were established, Israel still had issues staying within covenant boundaries. People break boundaries. People break promises. God does not. Even when He is rejected. (1 Samuel 8 ESV)

Jesus was rejected too – and yet the promise given in Him remains. Jesus, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6 ESV). Jesus, The King from the line of David, named so because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1 ESV), fulfilling Isaiah 53, the way God showed his love for the world, by whom those who believe are not condemned but given eternal life…Jesus for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12 ESV) in order that relationship with God would be restored unto us. The joy the father in Judges had upon greeting his daughter’s husband is nothing compared to the joy Jesus had in being obedient to the Father to provide us a way to come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4 ESV).

Receive the gift of life from King Jesus and you will find joy in the journey.

With the joy of King Jesus…Kristin

(I do feel obligated to warn of Judges 19 for those who are still healing from trauma brought about by sexual assault. And if one does feel led to read it, a great resource to gain insight is from Chad Bird and Daniel Price on their podcast 40 Minutes in the Old Testament, episode 218. That can be found here.)

https://www.esv.org/Judges+19

(Judges 19:3 ESV) “Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.”

This verse 3 is at the beginning of a story about a Levite (hereinafter Mister) and his concubine, also known as a legal mistress (hereinafter Misses), or companion, or a wife of a lower degree, and as the case may be, a second or third wife down the line. To study one verse I had to read the whole chapter, just to focus on the JOY in this verse!

The JOY in verse 3 is later usurped by a tragedy in a dark town full of dark hearts. Let’s get the ending over with before pondering the verses at hand. Mister and Misses leave her family home and stop in Gibeah hoping for a peaceful night’s rest. The night turns cruel as wicked men of the town surround the lodging. To protect himself, Mister sends out Misses who is brutally abused all night by dark-hearted men until morning.

In the morning, Mister finds Misses dead. Mister sends a shocking message across the land by cutting her body into twelve pieces to send them to the twelve tribes of Israel to stir up outrage over the crime, setting the stage for a civil war in the following chapters. Whew! What a grim reminder that JOY is sometimes soon followed by STOOPIDITY. I can only imagine the grief when the news of her horrid death reached her family.

Back to the beginning of the story, Mister is sojourning (living temporarily) in remote parts of the hill country when he took himself a companion, Misses. What was Misses doing out in the remote parts of the hill country? That seems odd! The story suggests she did not appreciate the safety of a male companion turned husband because she did not stay faithful to him and thereafter ran back home to her family for four months. She ran to safety at home being afraid of the anger of her husband over her unfaithfulness. Separation and disconnection follow sin.

After four months, Mister decided to go after her to speak kindly to her to win her back. He came prepared bringing along a servant to help and donkeys to ride away with her. The two reconciled and Misses brought Mister to meet her Father (and presumably the family).

When her Father saw Mister, “he came with JOY to meet him.” Father made him stay for three days. Mister attempted to leave with Misses on day four and day five, but Father convinced him to stay another night. On the long end of day six, the Father could not convince him to stay any longer and Mister, Misses, the servant, and the donkeys left towards the tragic ending.

With this JOY in context, the Father was elated that his daughter’s husband cared enough to seek after her to make peace. I can imagine the two showing up at the Father’s door arm in arm with their faces full of love-bird expressions. The sight of them reconciled was cause to rejoice! Who doesn’t get a big, broad smile on their face when witnessing reconciliation, especially that of one you hold so dear to your heart? The Father’s heart must have leapt with gladness. What was broken found its way back to peace.

In his JOY, the Father poured out drink and served food, as hospitality was a custom of the times. Kindness itself can smooth away the rough edges of yesterday. Joy was served at the table alongside forgiveness. The Father’s glad heart reminds us that even in STOOPID times of upset, anger, and separation, there are flickers of grace when moments of reconciliation knock, and we get to greet it with a smile.

Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, teach me to greet every second chance with joy, and to open my door with grace, hope and forgiveness, even when the past has been hard. Help me find joys hidden inside the hard moments. Amen.

—The King James Version of the concordance has 155 references to this certain root word for “joy” as reference H8055. We are going to be encountering this word a lot in scripture! “שָׂמַח” is pronounced śâmach (saw-makh’) and is a Hebrew word. The word means to brighten up or make gleesome, to cheer up, be or make glad, have or make joy, be joyful, be or make merry, cause to or make to rejoice. It appears in the Old Testament and is often used to describe a God-centered gladness.

Quotable

I decided to quote myself this time. This writing is on the website too. Cheryl

Scripture quotations are from the ESV© Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), ©2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.