What
about rape?
Rape
in the Bible is Evil
An
answer to skeptics who teach God condones rape.
There
is no commandment that states ‘you must not rape.’
But…
The
Bible & culture demanded that you must not rape:
B1
Hamor and Dinah:
C1
The crime: Genesis 34:1-2 NLT - One
day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the
young women who lived in the area. But when the local prince, Shechem
son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.
C2
The penalty: Genesis 34:24-27 NLT - So
all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and
every male in the town was circumcised. But three days later, when
their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi,
who were Dinah's full brothers, took their swords and entered the
town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there,
including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their
swords, then took Dinah from Shechem's house and returned to their
camp. Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob's sons arrived. Finding the men
slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been
defiled there.
B2
The woman in the field:
C1
The crime: Deuteronomy 22:25 NLT - But
if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes
her, then only the man must die.
C2
The penalty: Deuteronomy 22:26-27 NLT - Do
nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of
death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. Since the man raped her
out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there
was no one to rescue her.
C3
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 refers to an engaged woman who commits adultery,
so death to both.
C4
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 refers to consensual sex, not rape.
C5
Consider a parallel verse: Exodus 22:16-17 NLT - If
a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to anyone and has sex with
her, he must pay the customary bride price and marry her. But if her
father refuses to let him marry her, the man must still pay him an
amount equal to the bride price of a virgin.
B3
Tamar
C1
The crime: 2 Samuel 13:14 NLT - But
Amnon wouldn't listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was,
he raped her.
C2
The penalty: 2 Samuel 13:28-29 NLT - Absalom
told his men, "Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal,
kill him! Don't be afraid. I'm the one who has given the command.
Take courage and do it!" So at Absalom's signal they murdered
Amnon. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and
fled.
C3
King David should have ordered the death of Amnon but did not.
B4
The concubine:
C1
The crime: Judges 20:4-5 NLT - The
Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, "My
concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that
belongs to the people of Benjamin. That night some of the leading
citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and
they raped my concubine until she was dead.
C2
The penalty: Judges 20:44-46 NLT - That
day 18,000 of Benjamin's strongest warriors died in battle. The
survivors fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but
Israel killed 5,000 of them along the road. They continued the chase
until they had killed another 2,000 near Gidom. So that day the tribe
of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords.
B5
Consider these as well:
C1
These sins will send those people guilty of these straight to hell.
Galatians 5:19-21 (WEL) Now
the works of the flesh are obvious; they are adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, unrestrained desires, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
strife, provoking jealousy, hot anger, pushing to be first, selfish
scheming, dissensions, heresy, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, wild
partying, and so on, about which I have told you before, and as I
have also told you in the past that those who practice such things
will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
C2
God hates these things and will punish because of it: Ezekiel
22:11-13 NLT - Within
your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors' wives,
who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.
There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners
everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the
Sovereign LORD. "But now I clap my hands in indignation over
your dishonest gain and bloodshed.
C3
The Lord Jesus states the following things come from an evil heart,
so these will go to hell, too. Mark 7:21-23 NLT - For
from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit,
lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these
vile things come from within; they are what defile you.
C4
The immoral are among those who suffer forever and ever in hell.
Revelation 21:8 NLT - "But
cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who
practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars--their fate is in
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
B6
Some objections
C1
Some accuse Israel of allowing rape in Judges 21:10-23. This is
false, for it says WIVES.
Some may say these women were forced into marriage. How do you know
that, maybe the women agreed? We don’t know as it is not stated.
D1
Take
wives is
used
E1
In the KJV to show the same Strong’s number: Judges 21:23 KJV - And
the children of Benjamin did so, and took[H5375]
them
wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they
caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and
repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
Ruth
1:4 KJV - And
they took[H5375]
them
wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the
name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
E2
In the NLT: Judges 21:23 NLT - So
the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught
one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off
to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt
their towns and lived in them.
Ruth
1:4 NLT - The
two sons married
Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman
named Ruth. But about ten years later.
[Emphasis mine]
D2
It is never stated that this was God’s intention. What is recorded
is what Israel did. Israel was not doing things God’s way as is
evident in the last verse of Judges: Judges 21:25 NLT - In
those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed
right in their own eyes.
C2
Condoning sex slaves: Judges 5:30 NLT - 'They
must be dividing the captured plunder--with a woman or two for every
man. There will be colorful robes for Sisera, and colorful,
embroidered robes for me. Yes, the plunder will include colorful
robes embroidered on both sides.'
D1
This is talking about Sisera and his soldiers, not Israel.
D2
Judges 4:2-3 NLT - So
the LORD turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king.
The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in
Harosheth-haggoyim. Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly
oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel
cried out to the LORD for help.
C3
Buying sex slaves: Exodus 21:7-8 NLT - "When
a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end
of six years as the men are. If she does not satisfy her owner, he
must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell
her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with
her.
D1
This speaks of indentured servants.
D2
There is no mention nor implication of sex.
C4
Capturing foreign women for sex: Deuteronomy 21:10-14 NLT - Suppose
you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands
them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. And suppose
you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted
to her and want to marry her. If this happens, you may take her to
your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, and change
the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in
your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full
month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she
will be your wife. But if you marry her and she does not please you,
you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a
slave, for you have humiliated her.
D1
It clearly states the women were taken to be WIVES.
D2
He could not marry her for a full month, for he has to wait to let
her mourn. After that he could marry her.
D3
This is a similar situation: Numbers 31:18 NLT - Only
the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for
yourselves.
B7
Other articles
B8
Application
C1
If Israel had been living life according to God’s prescription,
these things would not happen.
C2
It is the same for us. What will we chose—God’s ways or our ways?
C3
Learn how to treat women that way God intends.
C4
Rape is ALWAYS wrong and God will punish them with eternal suffering
unless they repent. The repentance must be real. How they live their
life from then on will show if one has truly repented. If there was
no change, it was a façade. Abusers usually show an emotional, false
repentance. King David raped Bathsheba and ordered her husband
murdered. He deserved to die. He truly repented for he never did
anything like this again.
Copyright
© 2018 by Len Gane All rights reserved.
