1. One kind old man (1-21)

The story of the Levite and his concubine gives us a vignette of life in the times of the judges. The Levites were the religious leaders, but this man's main interest seems to be eating and drinking and pursuing small pleasures. On his way home with his concubine, he stopped overnight in the Benjamite city of Gibeah. The kind old man he met reminds us of Lot, who tried to rescue them from the wicked men populating that area (Genesis 19). He seems to be a remnant of faith.

2. The sin of Sodom (22-30)

The tragic event of the rape and murder of the concubine that happened in Gibeah was similar to the event in Sodom that brought God's judgment and turned Sodom into a smoldering furnace. The only difference was that what happened in Gibeah was worse! The writer of Judges is showing us the depth of moral corruption to which the shepherdless people of Israel had sunk.