Thursday
Evening Bible Study
December
8, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Between the time when Joshua
conquered the Promised Land and the time of the kings, there was a period of
four hundred years where the people were led by various people known as
“Judges”.
Typically the people would have
fallen away from God, and gotten themselves into trouble. When they cried out to God, God would raise
up a man or woman to bring the nation back to God and fight the battles for
Israel.
Tonight’s story (Judges
19-21) is like last week’s story, sort of an appendix to the book
of Judges. We think it takes place at an
earlier time of history than that of Samson.
One of the reasons for telling this particular story is because it will set
the stage for the first king of Israel.
Try to count all the times we see things that will tie us to King Saul from
the tribe of Benjamin.
Judges 19 – The
Concubine
:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in
Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of
Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
:1 there was
no king
This gives us a clue that there’s going to be a messy situation.
Last week we read:
(Jdg 17:6 NKJV) In those
days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in
his own eyes.
We’re going to see a lot of things that are affected when there is no
“king” in Israel. For us, it’s when God isn’t
your king.
:2 Levite … Ephraim
… Bethlehem
Play
Ephraim-Bethlehem map video
The last story
we looked at – how Dan came into idolatry (Judg. 17-18) – also involved the mountains of Ephraim and
Bethlehem. It also involved a Levite.
Micah was a man
living in the mountain of Ephraim.
He hired a
Levite to be his priest, the Levite was from Bethlehem.
:2 Levite
A man from the tribe of Levi. The
tribe of Levi was the tribe that the priests came from. The priests were from the family of Aaron
inside the tribe of Levi. Those that
were not priests, but were from Levi were supposed to be helping the priests
with the worship of God.
The Levites
were to be the spiritual leaders of the nation.
Though this man ought to be acting like a spiritual leader, you won’t see
it in his actions.
You could make the claim that this is a guy who knows how
to party.
He’s a man who doesn’t have a clue about being a good
husband.
He’s a man who is more concerned for his own safety than
his wife’s.
The Levites had no set territory given to them, but instead they were
given certain cities to live in.
Bethlehem was not one of those cities, so it seems that the Levites
didn’t stay in their allotted cities, but spread themselves throughout the
land.
:2 But his concubine
played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at
Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months.
:2 his concubine played
the harlot
A concubine was almost like a wife, but not quite. More like a “second
class” wife.
A concubine was kind of like a
“second class” wife. She was guaranteed food, clothing, and marital privileges
(Ex. 21:7-11; Deut. 21:10-14), but she had no authority in the family nor
shared in the household government. Her children didn’t necessarily share in
the family inheritance (Gen. 25:1-6).
Though Abraham had a concubine, and Solomon had hundreds of them, the relationship
was not what God originally designed for marriage.
The concubine didn’t like the way things were at home, so she left and went
back to her daddy’s house in Bethlehem.
Lesson
When God isn’t King, your marriage
suffers
The idea of having a concubine in the first place is off base.
God’s original idea was for one man and one woman to be committed to each
other for life. God’s idea was for woman
to be man’s helper, not his servant. God’s idea of marriage was one of total
openness and acceptance. God’s idea of
marriage was that a man and a woman intermingle their lives so much that the
two become one.
The Jewish historian Josephus writes (Antiquities, 5:2:8)
… that they quarreled
one with another perpetually; and at last the woman was so disgusted at
these quarrels, that she left her husband, and went to her parents in the
fourth month.
Having a concubine was tolerated in the Old Testament, but it wasn’t what
God originally designed. It was a cheap
substitute.
When Jesus isn’t King in your life, your value of the things He values goes
down.
God’s idea of marriage is that a husband learns to love his wife completely
and sacrificially.
(Eph 5:25–27 NKJV) —25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she
should be holy and without blemish.
:3 Then her husband
arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back,
having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into
her father’s house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad
to meet him.
He missed his wife and wanted to see if he could patch things up.
It reminds me of the story of the
prophet Hosea.
Hosea was asked by God to marry a
prostitute named Gomer.
After having three kids with Gomer,
she went back to work.
God told Hosea to go find her and
bring her back.
Hosea was supposed to be a picture
to the people of Israel of how God felt about them. His people had “played the harlot” with other
gods, yet God was willing to take them back.
Hosea is also an example for people
to consider in marriage when a partner is unfaithful.
Though divorce is
an allowable option, it doesn’t have to be a preferable option.
I think at times
God’s heart is forgiveness and restoration.
:4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he
stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.
:5 Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the
morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his
son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your
way.”
:6 So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the
young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and
let your heart be merry.”
:7 And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he
lodged there again.
The father-in-law kept the party going so long that it was too late to
start out on the journey home.
The three day reunion is stretched to four days.
:8 Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the
young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until
afternoon; and both of them ate.
:9 And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his
father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now
drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an
end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so
that you may get home.”
You kind of get the idea that the father-in-law likes his son-in-law.
:10 However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and
departed, and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were
the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him.
:11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant
said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the
Jebusites and lodge in it.”
:12 But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of
foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to
Gibeah.”
:11 Jebus
Jerusalem
(Jebus) is about six miles north of Bethlehem.
At this time in Israel’s history, Jebus had not yet been conquered. It wasn’t known as Jerusalem yet. It would not be conquered until the time of
David. It is still a city of
“foreigners”, Jebusites.
:13 So he said
to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the
night in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
:14 And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them
near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
:14 Gibeah
Gibeah is about four miles north of Jerusalem, making the total trip for
the afternoon about ten miles.
Gibeah would one day be famous for another of its inhabitants, King Saul was from
Gibeah. (1Sam. 10:26)
(1 Sa 10:26 NKJV) And Saul
also went home to Gibeah; and valiant men went with him, whose hearts
God had touched.
Play Bethlehem,
Jerusalem, Gibeah map clip
This gives you an idea of the kind of route they’d follow from Bethlehem to
Gibeah.
Some of the route might have been the same route that Joseph and Mary took
heading to Bethlehem some 1100 years later.
:15 They turned
aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in
the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house
to spend the night.
:15 no one would
take them
In those days, there weren’t “motels” or “hotels” in every city. Instead, a traveler would
hang out in the city square and people would respond in hospitality to invite
you to stay at their house.
The fact that no one invites them in is not a good sign.
This is like the point in a scary movie where the evil music begins to play
and you know that it’s about to turn ugly.
I’ve got actual footage of the Levite and his concubine driving into
town …
:16 Just then
an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was
from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the
place were Benjamites.
This old man is from the same area that the Levite is from.
:17 And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of
the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come
from?”
:18 So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah
toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to
Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the Lord. But there is no one who
will take me into his house,
:19 although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and
wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is
with your servant; there is no lack of anything.”
:18 the house of
the Lord
The fellow was not just from the mountains of Ephraim, he was from Shiloh, where the
Tabernacle was at the time.
:20 And the old
man said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be
my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.”
This old man is showing hospitality.
This man is apparently aware of what the people are like in Gibeah, and he
knows it’s dangerous to be camping out in the town square.
:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And
they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
:22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city,
perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to
the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to
your house, that we may know him carnally!”
:22 perverted men
The Hebrew is literally, “sons of Belial”. It could be translated “worthless men”. Belial is also another name for Satan.
:22 that we may
know him carnally
These men are homosexuals.
This sounds exactly like what happened in Genesis 19, when the angels visited Lot to tell him to
leave Sodom.
:23 But the man,
the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I
beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house,
do not commit this outrage.
:24 Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine;
let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to
this man do not do such a vile thing!”
I guess it’s nice that the old man wants to protect his guest, but what’s
with offering his daughter and the man’s concubine to these wicked men?
:25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and
brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night
until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.
:25 the man took
his concubine
The Levite takes his concubine and pushes her out the door. She is gang
raped by the wicked men all night.
Lesson
When God isn’t king, believers are
the same as the world
Who are these wicked men? They are
children of Israel. They ought to know
better. Yet they’ve descended into a pit
of wicked, uncontrolled lust. In fact,
their actions are exactly like those of the men of Sodom (Gen. 19).
As believers, we ought to be different than the world.
(Eph
5:1–6 NKJV) —1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in
love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or
covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator,
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
The wickedness doesn’t stop with men of Gibeah.
The old man was more concerned the safety of his guest than the safety of
his own daughter.
The Levite is more concerned about his own safety than that of his
concubine.
You might think, “But these men were simply acting out of self-defense,
don’t be too harsh on them!”
When God is King, a Jonathan
is willing to face an entire Philistine army on his own, David is willing to face
Goliath, Daniel would
rather risk the lions than stop praying.
:26 Then the
woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house
where her master was, till it was light.
The woman is on the verge of death, and with her last bit of strength,
collapses at the door of the old man’s house. She dies on the doorstep.
:27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house
and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door
of the house with her hands on the threshold.
He “rose up” because he had been “lying down”. You kind of get the idea that the Levite must
have gone to bed and had a good night’s sleep.
Perhaps he got up and cooked breakfast and packed his bags before
heading out the door, assuming he would be heading home.
:28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no
answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to
his place.
:28 Get up
Sounds like he really cared for his concubine, huh? NOT!
Lesson
When God isn’t king, you don’t care
very much
Jesus said a sign of the end times was –
(Mt 24:12 NKJV) And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But when Jesus is King in your life, you will be a lover of people.
(Jn
13:34–35 NKJV) —34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are
My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
:29 When he entered
his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into
twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of
Israel.
:29 divided her
into twelve pieces
The Levite is
sending a message to the nation. Kind of grisly, isn’t it? I’d hate to be one
of the UPS guys who had to deliver the package.
Josephus
records (Antiquities 5.2.8),
…he sent them to every tribe, and gave it in charge to those that
carried them, to inform the tribes of those that were the causes of his wife’s
death and of the violence they had offered to her.
Later, Saul will do something similar as one of his first acts as king. He
will cut up his oxen and send the pieces of the oxen throughout the nation with
a message –
(1 Sa 11:7
NKJV) So he took
a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the
territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go
out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.” And the
fear of the Lord fell on the
people, and they came out with one consent.
I wonder if Saul’s actions were connected to what this Levite does. This is certainly something that got people’s
attention. Like …
Illustration
this guy who writes … “I was going to bed the other night
when my wife told me that I had left the light on in the shed, she could see from the
bedroom window. As I looked for myself, I saw that there were people in the
shed taking things.
I phoned the police, but they told me that no one was in the area to help at
this time, but they would send someone over as soon as they were available. I
said OK, hung up, and waited one minute, then phoned the police back. “Hello. I
just called you a minute ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you
don’t have to worry about them now cause I’ve shot them all.” Within five minutes there
were half a dozen police cars in the area, an Armed Response unit, the works.
Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the officers said: “I
thought you said that you’d shot them!” I replied with “I thought you said
there was nobody available!””
:30 And so it
was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day
that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day.
Consider it, confer, and speak up!”
:30 No such deed
It could be they’re talking about the cutting up of the woman. It is more
likely that they’re talking about the moral depravity of the men of Gibeah.
Judges 20 – The War
:1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well
as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man
before the Lord at Mizpah.
:1 from Dan to
Beersheba
From the farthest north to the farthest south.
:1 Gilead
The land on the east of the Jordan River
:1 Mizpah
See map
About 4.5 miles north of Gibeah. Not
the Mizpah in Gilead where Jephthah had been, but a Mizpah located in the tribe
of Benjamin.
:1 as one man
before the Lord
The nation is trying it’s best to do what the Lord wants them to do.
:2 And the leaders
of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the
assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the
sword.
The other tribes have formed a HUGE army, 400,000 strong.
:3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone
up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this
wicked deed happen?”
The tribe of Benjamin probably also received one of the pieces of the
concubine, but chose not to go to Mizpah.
:4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and
said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend
the night.
:5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night
because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine
so that she died.
:6 So I took hold of
my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of
the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in
Israel.
:7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and
counsel here and now!”
:8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go
to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house;
:9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will
go up against it by lot.
:10 We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the
tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of
every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they
come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done
in Israel.”
:10 to make
provisions
They decide to have 1/10 of the men go out and gather provisions (food) while
the rest of the group goes to Benjamin and challenge them to make things right.
:11 So all the men
of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
:12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin,
saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you?
:13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in
Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the
children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the
children of Israel.
:13 deliver up the
men
The nation asks the tribe of Benjamin to hand over the men who perpetrated
the crime.
Lesson
It is right to bring judgment
We need to be careful not to think that this was a mistake. All along the way, the Lord is involved in
this decision of the nation to bring judgment.
God gives governments the right to bring judgment (Rom. 13:1-4). Several more times they will ask God just to
make sure, and God will make it clear that they are to enforce God’s laws.
(Rom 13:1-4 NLT) Obey the government, for God is the one who
put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. {2} So those
who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and
punishment will follow. {3} For the authorities do not frighten people who are
doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you
will get along well. {4} The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if
you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be
punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to
punish those who do wrong.
It was even proper for an entire city to be destroyed for it’s wickedness (Deut. 12:12-18)
(Dt 13:12–18 NKJV) —12 “If you hear someone
in one of your cities, which the Lord
your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13
‘Corrupt
men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city,
saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known— 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and
ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that
such an abomination was committed among you, 15 you
shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword,
utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the
sword. 16 And you shall gather
all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire
the city and all its plunder, for the Lord
your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 So none of the accursed things shall
remain in your hand, that the Lord
may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion
on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice
of the Lord your God, to keep all
His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the
eyes of the Lord your God.
:14 Instead,
the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go
to battle against the children of Israel.
:14 Benjamin
gathered … to battle
Instead of handing the criminals over to the nation, the Benjaminites
decide to unite and fight the rest of Israel.
Lesson
When God is king, men admit their
failures
Be careful that you don’t find yourself defending evil or people who are
doing evil.
In our own justice
system, people who are guilty of a crime are usually counseled by their defense
attorneys to declare themselves “not guilty”, and fight the accusation in
court. And then when they’re found
“guilty”, they’re willing to admit it and ask for mercy. Mercy!
In our own lives, when we are confronted with sin, the proper response is
not to get defensive and go to war, but to confess our sins.
(Pr 28:13
NKJV) He who
covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them
will have mercy.
:15 And from
their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand
men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven
hundred select men.
These 26,000 men are going to stand up to the 400,000 of the rest of the
nation.
:16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were
left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not
miss.
:16 every one could
sling a stone
The tribe of Benjamin has 700 men who are very skilled with using a
slingshot. For this day and age, these men are equivalent to snipers. These men would
be able to attack an oncoming army before the army even gets close to the city.
I believe that from the descriptions of the battles, that the men of Benjamin
mostly stayed inside their city for the first two battles and probably relied
heavily upon these stone slingers.
:17 Now besides
Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drewthe
sword; all of these were men of war.
:18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to
inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the
children of Benjamin?” The Lord
said, “Judah first!”
:18 house of God
They most likely sent some men to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was, to ask this
question. Shiloh is 12 miles north of
Mizpah.
:18 Which of us
shall go up first
Instead of attacking the tribe with all 400,000, the leaders decide that
the tribe should take turn attacking Benjamin.
Note: The Lord wants them to attack Benjamin.
:19 So the children
of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
:20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men
of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah.
:21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut
down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.
It seems that in the first day of battle, the nation loses 22,000 men,
while it doesn’t seem that Benjamin loses any.
Perhaps this is the work of those stone slinging snipers.
:22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and
again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in
array on the first day.
:23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel
of the Lord, saying, “Shall I
again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And
the Lord said, “Go up against
him.”
:23 asked counsel
of the Lord
The people want to be sure that they’re doing the right thing.
It seems like it works the same way in our nation when we went to war. As
soon as the first casualties start appearing, people begin to wonder if we’re
doing the right thing.
The nation consults the Lord, and the Lord says they are to continue to
fight.
:24 So the children
of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day.
:25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and
cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all
these drew the sword.
The second day is also a bad one for Israel. They lose an additional 18,000
men, bringing their total losses to 38,000. In the end, they will lose more men
than Benjamin.
:26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and
came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening;
and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
:27 So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord ( the ark of the covenant of God was there in
those days,
:28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in
those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children
of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your
hand.”
:28 Phinehas
The grandson of Aaron.
This tells us that this whole incident took place fairly early in the history
of Judges. Phinehas was the priest at the end of the time of Joshua (Joshua 22).
:28 Go up
Again, God reconfirms that they are supposed to be doing this.
Why did God allow the nation to lose 40,000 men before defeating the
Benjamites?
Perhaps God wanted them to be at the appropriate place of brokenness over
the nation’s sin before letting the judgment be complete.
Lesson
Justice comes with a price.
Police officers
are killed in the line of duty. Soldiers are killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet it is the right
thing.
Jesus brought
God’s justice to us dying on the cross in our place.
:29 Then Israel
set men in ambush all around Gibeah.
:29 ambush
They are going to follow the strategy of Joshua against the city of Ai (Josh. 7). The army will be divided and part of the army
will face the city, pretend to be defeated, fall back and draw the Benjamites
out of the city.
When they leave the city unprotected, the men waiting in ambush will enter
the city, destroy it, and trap the men of Benjamin between two armies.
:30 And the
children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day,
and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times.
:31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and
were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some
of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to
Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
:32 And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us,
as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away
from the city to the highways.”
I think the purpose of this strategy is to remove the advantage the
Benjamite had with their “sniper” stone slingers. If they can get the army out of the city,
they might be able to take them out.
:33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in
battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their
position in the plain of Geba.
Baal Tamar is about a mile from Gibeah.
:34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and
the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was
upon them.
:34 ten thousand
select men
These are the Israelites who have been hiding, waiting for the city to
empty as the Benjamites chase the rest of the Israelite army.
:35 The Lord defeated Benjamin before
Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one
hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.
:35 The Lord defeated Benjamin
When you look at this, be careful to note that God wanted Benjamin to be
defeated, though maybe not to the extent that happened with a total of 25,100
men of Benjamin would die.
:36 So the
children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given
ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they
had set against Gibeah.
:37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush
spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword.
:38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in
ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city,
:39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had
begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they
said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”
:40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke,
the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in
smoke to heaven.
:41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked,
for they saw that disaster had come upon them.
:42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in
the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came
out of the cities they destroyed in their midst.
:43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled
them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east.
:44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men
of valor.
:45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon;
and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them
relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them.
:46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who
drew the sword; all these were men of valor.
:47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock
of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months.
:47 Rimmon
See map video
clip
Eight miles northeast of Gibeah.
The last remnant of Benjamin, 600 men, hide out at Rimmon
:48 And the men
of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down
with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were
found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.
:48 all the cities
The judgment doesn’t stop with the destruction of the army. All the cities
of Benjamin are wiped out.
Judges 21 – The Folly
:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us
shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
:2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God
till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
:3 and said, “O Lord God of
Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one
tribe missing in Israel?”
:2 the house of God
See map. The tabernacle was at Shiloh, about 12 miles
north of Mizpah.
:3 why has this
come to pass
Josephus records (Antiquities 5.2.11),
Accordingly,
those that were sent slew the men of war, with their children and wives,
excepting four hundred virgins. To such a degree had they proceeded in their anger, because
they not only had the suffering of the Levite’s wife to avenge but the
slaughter of their own soldiers.
Lesson
When God isn’t king, anger goes unchecked.
It was right to punish sin. It was
right to bring justice.
But at some point you have to stop.
They went too far with their anger.
James writes,
(Jas
1:19–20 NKJV) —19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
:4 So it was,
on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
:5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes
of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the Lord?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who
had not come up to the Lord at
Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
:6 And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said,
“One tribe is cut off from Israel today.
:7 What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by
the Lord that we will not give
them our daughters as wives?”
:7 What shall we do
Here’s the problem – everyone who had gathered at Mizpah had sworn an oath
that they would never give any of their daughters to a Benjamite to marry.
And now there are 600 Benjamin men left of the entire tribe, and no one to
marry them and carry on the tribe.
They need to come up with some women to give to these men of Benjamin.
:8 And they said,
“What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to
Mizpah to the Lord?” And, in
fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.
:8 Jabesh Gilead
See map. A city on the eastern side of the Jordan
River. It is about 34 miles northeast of
Shiloh
:9 For when the
people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was
there.
:10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most
valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of
Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.
:11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly
destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.”
:11 utterly destroy
Here’s their solution: Kill everyone
in Jabesh Gilead as a penalty for not joining the battle, and save only the
virgin girls alive.
These gals will become the new wives for the Benjamite remnant. Nifty, huh?
:12 So they found
among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not
known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is
in the land of Canaan.
:13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of
Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them.
:14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom
they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found
enough for them.
:14 the women of
Jabesh Gilead
When Saul first
became king (1Sam. 11),
there was a crisis in the kingdom.
Nahash the Ammonite had gathered an army and had laid siege to Jabesh
Gilead. It was Saul who ended up coming
to the rescue of the city.
This was when Saul took his oxen, cut them in pieces and sent them
throughout the tribes of Israel calling them to battle.
Do you think Saul had a particular interest in Jabesh Gilead?
I’ve been wondering if Saul’s lineage couldn’t have been traced through one
of these women of Jabesh Gilead. You’ve
got a 66% chance that he was related to someone who was from Jabesh Gilead. If he wasn’t, most of his tribe at least was.
:14 not found
enough
There are 600 men, but only 400 women.
They are short 200 women.
:15 And the people
grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord
had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives
for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
:17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors
of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.
:18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children
of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a
wife to Benjamin.’ ”
:19 Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is north
of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem,
and south of Lebonah.”
:19 a yearly feast
of the Lord
Possibly the Feast of Tabernacles,
or, Booths (Sukkoth), which happened at the end of the harvest, a time
of feasting, joy, dancing, etc.
This would probably have been a time when much of the nation was gathered
together for the feast. It wouldn’t just be people from Shiloh.
:20 Therefore they
instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards,
:21 and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform
their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for
himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin.
They are suggesting that these men of Benjamin kidnap the women of Shiloh
for their wives.
:22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to
complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we
did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as
though you have given the women to them at this time, making
yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ”
Since the fathers in Shiloh didn’t willingly give their daughters to the
Benjamites, they were not guilty of the curse.
:23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their
number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to
their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.
:24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man
to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his
inheritance.
:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what
was right in his own eyes.
:25 no king in
Israel
Lesson
The folly of human wisdom
If you read carefully through chapter 21, you will notice that God is not
directing any of these crazy ideas about wiping out Jabesh Gilead or
encouraging kidnapping.
These are human solutions to human problems.
In a sense, these “solutions” aren’t much different than the rape that
started the whole story.
Back when I was in college, we had a tract called the Four Spiritual Laws
from Campus Crusade that we used to share with people. In one place in the tract, there were two circles,
representing two different lives. In
each circle there was a “throne”. One
circle contained chaos, and it was the circle where “self” was on the “throne”. The other circle pictured order and peace,
and it was the circle where Jesus was on the throne.
When Jesus is King in your life, you will ask Him for direction.
Who is on the throne in your life?
Who is your King?