He said to her, Up, and let us be going; but none answered: then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and got him to his place.
Notice how the characters in this chapter behaved when they chose to disregard divine sovereign authority. The most admirable person was the Levite’s father-in-law. He showed love to both the man and the woman by extending hospitality (Judges 19:4-9). The concubine loved the Levite enough to live with him temporarily, but she did not love him enough to remain faithful to him. The Levite loved the concubine enough to go after her, but he really hated her as a person. He handed her over as a coward, spoke to her callously, and treated her body contemptuously. He failed to protect her (Judges 19:25), to assist her (Judges 19:27), and to respect her (Judges 19:29). The old stranger loved the other men in the story, but he hated the women: his daughter and the concubine. The men of Gibeah are the most despicable characters. They hated the men and the women in the house. Their profession of love (intercourse, Judges 19:22) was a pretext for hate (attempted homosexual rape, heterosexual rape, and murder). This is how people, even God’s people, may behave when they reject God’s rule over their lives (Judges 19:1).