So, after reading the last few chapters of the Book of Judges, It starts going off the rails after Samson.

By the end of Judges, there is a whackadoodle story of man and his "concubine" visiting a city in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. At night, there are men from the city that knock on the door and call for the man to come outside to presumably have sex with them. The man doesn't go out but sends his "concubine" out.

She ends up dead on the street in the morning, and the husband chops her in pieces and sends her out among the "Tribes of Israel".

The rest of the tribes get together, sack the city and kill much of "Benjamin".

Then when they realize that no one will survive from Benjamin, and no one will allow their daughters to marry into the tribe of Benjamin, they decide to go invade yet another city of men who had skipped out on the killing campaign, and kill those men, and give the women to the remaining men of Benjamin.

I might be summarizing some of this incorrectly. The general thought is: it was bloody. It sounds like a lot of genetic culling. Humans being treated like herds of animals.

I kinda just want to walk away from the whole story and say, these people and this religion have nothing to do with me.

It was the first time that I had second thoughts about trying to be "follower of Jesus" whose story came from this story.

It also gives me second thoughts on the whole genetic heritage thing.

There have been couple times in as I age into my thirties where I have the uncomfortable feeling like I have offended my ancestors.

part of me is like, modern humans are so far removed from these stories of bloodthirsty genetic culling.

part of me thinks, maybe bloodshed, revenge, honor is actually more human than peace and prosperity.

or maybe it's just the stories about bloodshed and honor survive.

either way, it's gory.

Thankfully, Ruth is up next and from the first chapter, I feel like I can hear grasshoppers in farm fields as Ruth picks up some grain that harvesters left behind.