Pastor Josh Howerton discerned parallels between the reaction to the Lindsay Clancy case and the moral depravity of ancient Israel in the book of Judges. Howerton, who serves as senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, described Clancy's murder of her three children in 2023 as obviously demonic during a Sept.
4 episode of his podcast, but also discerned the widespread support she has received from many women as a potential turning point in the spiritual trajectory of the United States.
Clancy, whose case ended in a mistrial last Friday after a lone male juror declined to find her not guilty, has prompted support from many female supporters who have suggested that she was either not criminally responsible because of mental illness, or that her ex-husband, Patrick, was somehow to blame. Howerton cited a brutal episode recounted in Judges 19-21 as an example of what he believes is a similar situation.
"There was a time in Israel's history where Israel wandered so far, so fast, and in open rebellion against God that the Bible says in the book of Judges … that, quote, 'Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.' And there was a season when moral degradation and just utter depravity just washed over a nation that had previously loved the Lord their God," he said.
Howerton went on to tell the story of the Levite and his concubine from Judges 19. In a scenario that echoes the behavior of those in Sodom on the night it was destroyed in Genesis 19, a mob of "worthless fellows" from the tribe of Benjamin surround a man's home in Gibeah and demand to rape the Levite man he was housing.
The host refuses and offers his own virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine instead, which fails to placate