#71. Judges 18-21 | A Husband Who Gave Himself Up for Her

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This is the Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, today we'll

be completing the book of Judges.

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This is certainly not an episode you

would want children to listen to,

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Today we'll be looking at chapters

18 through 21, one of the most

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horrifying stories in all of scripture.

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It's graphic and heartbreaking.

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and if it were a movie, most of us

would probably wanna change the channel.

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in these four chapters of the Bible,

it feels discouraging and sickening

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Because you just want

to see someone doing.

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What is right in the Lord's

eyes, and not in their own eyes,

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Speaker 18: Yesterday we talked

a little bit about Micah Oli,

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who was serving as a priest in a

house with household gods and idols.

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And in chapter 18, 600 dite all armed

with weapons and ready for battle.

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Show up at his door and take the idols.

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It's important to understand that this

book isn't in chronological order and

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that some of it happens concurrently, and

that's evident here because we find out

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that even Moses's grandson continued some

of these idolatrous priestly practices.

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And then we come to chapter 19.

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And as I warned you, it's traumatic, but

it reveals how much the nation had fallen.

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Speaker 16: In those days when there

was no king in Israel, a certain Levite

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was sojourning in the remote parts of

the hill country of Eam, who took to

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himself a concubine from Bethlehem Adah,

and his concubine was unfaithful to

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him, and she went away from him to her

father's house at Bethlehem and Judah.

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And was there some four months.

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Then her husband arose and went after her

to speak kindly to her and bring her back.

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He had with him his servant and a

couple of donkeys, and she brought

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him into her father's house.

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And when the girl's father saw

him, he came with joy to meet

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him and his father-in-law.

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The girl's father made him stay and

he remained with him three days.

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So they ate and drank and

spent the night there.

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And on the fourth day, they arose early

in the morning and he prepared to go.

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But the girl's father said to

his son-in-law, strengthen your

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heart with a morsel of bread.

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And after that, you may go.

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Said the two of them sat

and ate and drank together.

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And the girl's father said to

the man, be pleased to spend the

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night and let your heart be merry.

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And when the man rose up to go,

his father-in-law pressed him.

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Til he spent the night there again,

and on the fifth day, he arose early

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in the morning to depart and the

girl's father said, strengthen your

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heart and wait until the day declines.

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So they ate both of them.

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And when the man in his concubine

and his servant rose up to depart

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his father-in-law, the girl's

father said to him, behold, now

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the day has waned toward evening.

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Please spend the night.

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Behold the day draws to its clothes

lodge here and let your heart be merry.

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And tomorrow you shall arise early in

the morning for your journey and go home.

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But the man would not spend the night.

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He rose up and departed

and arrived opposite Jais.

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That is Jerusalem.

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He had with him a couple of saddle

donkeys and his concubine was

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with him when they were near jbi.

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The day was nearly over and the servant

said to his master, come now let us

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turn aside to the city of the debut

sites and spend the night in it.

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And his master said to him, we will not

turn aside into the city of foreigners

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who do not belong to the people of

Israel, but we will pass on to Gabba.

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and he said to his young man, come and

let us draw near to one of these places

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and spend the night at Gia or at Rama.

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So they passed on and went their way

and the sun went down on them near

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Gibbon, which belongs to Benjamin,

and they turned aside there to go

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in and spend the night at Gibbon.

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And he went in and sat down in the

open square of the city for no one,

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took them into his house to spend

the night, and behold, an old man was

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coming from his work in the field.

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At evening, the man was from

the hill country of Ephraim,

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and he was Sojourning and Gia.

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The men of the place

were Benjamin Knights.

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And he lifted up his eyes and saw the

traveler in the open square of the city

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and the old man said, where are you going?

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And where do you come from?

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and he said to him, we are

passing from Bethlehem and Judah.

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To the remote parts of the hill

country of Ephraim, from which I come.

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I went to Bethlehem Ajuah, and I'm

going to the house of the Lord, but

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no one has taken me into his house.

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We have straw and feed for our

donkeys with bread and wine for

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me and your female servant and

the young man with your servants.

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There is no lack of anything, and

the old man said, peace be to you.

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I will care for all your wants.

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Only do not spend the night in the square.

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So we brought him into his house

and gave the donkeys feed and they

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washed their feet and ate and drank as

they were making their hearts marry.

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Behold, the men of the city, worthless

fellows, surrounded the house beating

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on the door, and they said to the

old man, the master of the house,

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bring out the man who came into

your house that we may know him.

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And the man, the master of the house,

went out to them and said to them.

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No, my brothers do not act.

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So wickedly, since this man has come

into my house, do not do this vile thing.

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Behold, here are my virgin

daughter and his concubine.

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Let me bring them out Now, violate

them and do with them what seems

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good to you, but against this man.

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Do not do this outrageous thing.

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But the men would not listen to him.

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So the man seized his concubine

and made her go out to them.

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And they knew her and abused

her all night until the morning.

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And as the dawn began to

break, they let her go.

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And as morning appeared, the

woman came and fell down at the

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door of the man's house where her

master was until it was light.

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And her master rose up in the morning,

and when he opened the doors of the house

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and went out to go on his way, behold.

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There was his concubine lying

at the door of the house with

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her hands on the threshold.

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He said to her, get up, let us be

going, but there was no answer.

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then he put her on the donkey and the

man rose up and went away to his home.

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And when he entered his house, he

took a knife and taking hold of his

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concubine, he divided her limb by

limb into 12 pieces and sent her

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throughout all the territory of Israel.

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And all who saw it said such a thing

has never happened or been seen from

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this day that the people of Israel

came up out of the land of Egypt.

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Until this day, consider it.

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Take counsel and speak.

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Speaker 20: God's word is not condoning.

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this Behavior, but

recording that it happened.

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First, let's clarify what a concubine was.

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They were often used to continue a

family line having less rights than a

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wife and being treated like servants.

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When it says that she played the harlett.

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If you go back to the Hebrew, it's

quite possible that she was actually

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just angry or hated her husband and

went back home to be with her father.

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Scripture spends, quite a bit of time

explaining how this dotting father

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just didn't want them to leave.

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My dad and I were very close, and

sadly he passed away about 15 years

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ago, but I can remember how every

time I would come home from college.

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And then try to head back.

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He would convince me to stay

just a little bit longer.

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I can't imagine the heartbreak of

this father when he found out what

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actually happened to his daughter

the night she left his home.

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If this story sounds reminiscent

of Genesis 19 and Sodom

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and Gomorrah, you're right.

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That chapter helped us understand

why God's judgment was so

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righteous and necessary, and

this chapter does that as well.

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It is the only time that homosexuality

is hinted at within the nation of Israel

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and it points to how far they

head strayed from God's law.

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We can be sickened once

again that just like lot.

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This man was willing to offer

his own virgin daughter to the

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wicked mites leading the town.

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And doesn't your heart break for this

young woman that her own husband, after

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going and getting her back to take her

home in order to protect himself, that

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he would sacrifice his own wife life?

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Speaker 19: I appreciate how the

MacArthur commentary condemns the husband.

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He writes, this is unthinkable,

weakness and cowardice for any

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man, especially a priest of God.

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Apparently he even slept through

the night or stayed in bed at fear

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since he didn't see her again until

he awakened and prepared to leave.

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And while I consider these absolutely

horrific acts of trauma that the

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woman experienced, I have to choose to

think about Jesus Christ, and how he

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sacrificed his own life for his bride.

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We don't have to wonder

the depth of his love.

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Or wonder if the God of the Bible is

horrified at this husband's behavior?

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He is, and he calls us

to something higher.

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Ephesians five tells us husbands love your

wives as Christ loved the church and gave

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himself up for her, that he might sanctify

her, having cleansed her by the washing

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of water with the word so that he might

present the church to himself in splendor.

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Without spot or wrinkle or

any such thing that she might

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be holy and without blemish.

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In the same way, husbands should

love their wives as their own bodies.

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He who loves his wife, loves himself

for no one ever hated his own

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flesh, but nourishes and cherishes

it just as Christ does the church.

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The other tribes of Israel rise

up and they are horrified at the

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despicable behavior that has happened.

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But unfortunately, as they attempt to

avenge this, there are a lot of missteps

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because the tribe of

Benjamin will not renounce.

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The town of GIAs sin, the other

tribes are forced to enter

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into a civil war against them.

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There will be dramatic loss on both

sides until eventually the tribe of

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Benjamin will only have 600 men remaining.

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As we close the page on this very

bleak chapter in Israel's history, we

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understand that they're longing for

a king to rule them, but we can know

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that the only king really capable.

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Of setting these injustices,

right, is the Lord Jesus Christ,

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and one day he will, let's pray.

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Speaker 21: Lord, we thank you

that you are a sacrificial husband.

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We praise you for the depth of your

love, for how high, how wide, how

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deep, and how long it is that we can't

even fathom how much you care for us.

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I pray for healing for those

women that have experienced the

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trauma of abuse in any form.

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I ask for you to heal any

lingering effects that she battles.

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We pray against these atrocities

for our children as well.

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Give us wisdom in how to protect them.

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and how to advocate for others

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who have been abused.

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And Lord, we also ask for our marriages

that you will give our husbands

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the courage, the wisdom, and the

understanding of how you've called

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them to sacrifice for their brides.

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may the women who listen, feel cherished

and cared for by the men that you've

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chosen to represent you on this earth.

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Jesus, we thank you for

your love that satisfies.

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And Heal.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.