War, Rape and the Spirit of the Lord

I believe that God does not lead us into war, and I believe that God does not condone rape as a weapon of war. I find that faith is challenging at times, especially this week.

As a seminary student, I have been immersed in the book of Judges this week, and I have been swallowed by despair. 

   

The story of Gibeah’s Crime found in chapter 19 verse 22 of Judges is the most brutal story of rape in the Bible. A man only identified as a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine were traveling and stayed in a town called Gibeah. While staying there, the men of the city wanted to rape the Levite, so the Levite seized his concubine and gave her to them instead. So they brutally gang raped her and let her go. She died at the doorstep of where they had stayed. The Levite brought her back home where he cut her up and sent her body parts to each of the territories of Israel to declare war against the Benjaminites.

The type of sexual violence in conflict is not ancient history.

In South Sudan, a civil war has been going on between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and opposition forces. SPLM, the dominant party in Sudan has split into three causing a divide among ethnic and regional fault lines. At least 10,000 people have died. 

Yesterday we learned that rape is being used as weapon of war in Sudan. U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zaineb Hawa Bangura says that the people there are living in a U.N. compound in Bentiu City in Unity State among unimaginable living conditions.

“The women when they go out to get firewood, etc. have to go through several checkpoints where you have the SPLA [Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army] and in the course of that they are raped continuously.  And, the men do not get out of the camp because the men have to make a choice.  ‘If I go out, I get killed.  So, I rather send my wife, my daughter or my mother out because the most they can do is rape her.  She will come back alive.’  So men have to make that difficult decision of either being killed or female members of the family being raped," said Bangura.

In Judges, the men of the town wanted to rape the Levite in order to take his man hood away from him; to lower his status to that of a woman.  He gave them his “woman” instead. Her death was a message to the Levite and the Israelites.

“So, by doing some of the worst atrocities against women, you are sending messages to the men.  It is a way of punishing them.  So, women have become victims of the conflict as a way of actually destroying communities and families.  Survivors and health care workers told me heartbreaking stories of rape, gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery and forced marriage ... I was astonished in the extent in which both parties seem to have declared war on their own people," Bangura said.

I suspect the stories in the Bible have been interpreted to give “permission” to continue with the violence. We must end the barbaric treatment of others. The wars must stop.

I have struggled these past seven weeks in the Old Testament, trying to come up with the answers to my own questions. This week in Judges, it is a common phrase “and the spirit of the lord came upon (insert battle leader here).” In reading Judges and other commentaries I have come to my understanding of the foundation of the Old Testament. 

My conclusion is this: God is always with us, among our doings and among our sufferings.  No matter how many times we turn our back on God, God will still offer us grace.  God’s spirit may be upon us, but it doesn't mean that we are then God like, we are still human. It does not mean that God approves of our actions and leads us in war. It means that God is with us when we declare war and God is with us when we are victims of violence. God is with us when a woman is raped and God is with us when we offer grace….so please, offer grace.