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Judges Chapter 20
Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin
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Judges 20:1 Then all the
children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered
together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land
of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
When the rest of the tribes of Israel
found out what evil happened within one tribe they gathered
themselves together to do something about it. This sounds
commendable even to those of us who dislike wars. We have to stop
this kind of evil described in chapter 19. No one should be able to
surround someone's house and demand a visitor or anyone else to come
outside to be raped. Out of fear, those within the house sent out a poor
defenseless woman who was gang raped and found dead in the morning.
Such evil should never be tolerated by anyone. Those that did this
deed originally wanted to perform sex acts upon the male visitor but
those inside offered up the woman instead.
- Judges 20:2 And the
chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel,
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four
hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
- 3 (Now the children
of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to
Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this
wickedness?
- 4 And the Levite,
the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I
came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine,
to lodge.
- 5 And the men of
Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me
by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have
they forced, that she is dead.
- 6 And I took my
concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all
the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have
committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
- 7 Behold, ye are all
children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
- 8 And all the people
arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent,
neither will we any of us turn into his house.
They were not going to leave until the
evil by those in the town of Gibeah of the tribe of Benjamin were
punished for the evil done to the household of the old man who gave
shelter to the Levite and his concubine when they were travealing
back home.
- Judges
20:9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to
Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
- 10 And we will take
ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and
an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to
fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come
to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have
wrought in Israel.
- 11 So all the men of
Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one
man.
- 12 And the tribes of
Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What
wickedness is this that is done among you?
- 13 Now therefore
deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah,
that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.
But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of
their brethren the children of Israel:
They could have avoided a war and saved
many lives if the children of Benjamin would have judged this evil
themselves. Instead they decide to fight the rest of the tribes
instead. This makes them partaker of the evil deed done by those
that were wicked.
- Judges 20:14 But the
children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the
cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of
Israel.
- 15 And the children
of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty
and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of
Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
- 16 Among all this
people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one
could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
- 17 And the men of
Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men
that drew sword: all these were men of war.
- 18 And the children
of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked
counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the
battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said,
Judah shall go up first.
Why this is we do not know but the word Judah
means praise, so perhaps that is why they were to go first.
- Judges 20:19 And the
children of Israel rose up 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 array to fight against them at Gibeah.
- 21 And the children
of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the
ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
- 22 And the people
the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle
again in array in the place where they put themselves in array
the first day.
So many men died. This could have been
avoided if the tribe of Benjamin would have rightly judged those in
Gibeah who did serious things to the visitor and his concubine which
is against everything good and holy in the sight of God. They just
wanted to ignore and forget about it without condemning the rape of
a woman all night long until she had no strength and died. They
didn't desire to hold the evil men accountable who surrounded the
house of one of their own residents to bring out the visitors and do
them harm.
That act was so ugly and evil. The same
thing happened in Sodom when visitors went to visit Lot the nephew
of Abraham. In that case the angel of the Lord smote the evil ones
with blindness so that Lot and his family were safe. This is told to
us in Genesis chapter 19. It may be that God sent angels to
intervene because of the prayers of Abraham, Lot's uncle. It shows
us the power of fervent interceding prayer on behalf of our loved
ones.
When any nation gets away from the
knowledge of the Lord and rejects His word, after a few generations,
if not corrected, this kind of thing that happened in this story and
many other evils will begin to happen again eventually bringing down
a city, country or nation. History repeats itself. WE NEED GOD.
- Judges 20:23 (And the
children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even,
and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to
battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD
said, Go up against him.)
- 24 And the children
of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second
day.
- 25 And Benjamin went
forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed
down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen
thousand men; all these drew the sword.
- 26 Then all the
children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto
the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and
fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings before the LORD.
- 27 And the children
of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for 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 Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD
said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
They were now desparate and wanted to
make sure God was with them before going any further with this war.
Why things happened this way we don't know but they fasted, prayed
and sought God for further instructions. Perhaps it could be that
they trusted in their own might and power at first and assumed since
that had the larger number of men, they would surely be victorious.
Still they didn't give up but sought the counsel of the Lord again
this third time.
- Judges 20:29 And
Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
- 30 And the children
of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third
day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other
times.
- 31 And the children
of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away
from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill,
as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the
house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty
men of Israel.
- 32 And the children
of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the
first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw
them from the city unto the highways.
This is the same method that Israel
used against the city of Ai which is written in Joshua chapter 8. It
worked there and finally worked here at this time.
- Judges 20:33 And all
the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves
in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came
forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
- 34 And there came
against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and
the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
- 35 And the LORD
smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel
destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand
and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.
- 36 So the children
of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel
gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the
liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
- 37 And the liers in
wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew
themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the
sword.
- 38 Now there was an
appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait,
that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of
the city.
- 39 And when the men
of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and
kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said,
Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
- 40 But when the
flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke,
the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the
city ascended up to heaven.
- 41 And when the men
of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for
they saw that evil was come upon them.
- 42 Therefore they
turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the
wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came
out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
- 43 Thus they
inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode
them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
- 44 And there fell of
Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.
- 45 And they turned
and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they
gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued
hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
- 46 So that all which
fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that
drew the sword; all these were men of valour.
- 47 But six hundred
men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and
abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
- 48 And the men of
Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote
them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city,
as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire
all the cities that they came to.
So the battle was won and the children
of Benjamin were finally defeated. It was a hard heated battle.
Again I repeat, if Benjamin had judged the ones that did evil, they
could have avoided all this bloodshed but the other tribes did
according to the law of God given to Moses. If proper fair and just
law and order isn't judged by those in authority, it will eventually
come another way. God was bringing judgment here. The tribe of
Benjamin took the side of the people that committed lude acts of
sodomy, rape, threats against those that didn't go along with their
evil, the use of force and gang rape against one woman which ended
up in taking her life. The law of God was that those that did this
evil was to be punished by death. This law is in Leviticus chapter
18 and Deuteronomy chapter 22. The sin of adultery was punishable by
death but if a woman was forced or raped, she was not to be punished
for that sin, only the one that did the evil deed upon her.
If any nation does not judge evil in their
midst and allows the evil to continue, the whole nation will be
judged by God. The rest of Israel here knew that and were bringing
vengeance according to the law of Moses. Why they didn't win the
battle easily like before, I don't know unless God was also judging
some things that happened in their own nation at the same time. I
can only speculate here but in the long run, no one will get by with
anything if they do not make things right with God. Eventually all
will stand before God for their sin. The only way of escape is to
come through Jesus Christ and be cleansed from sin and be granted
life eternal. That is why Jesus came. To save us from sin and the
consequeces of sin. We can have a new beginning. We become born
again by the Holy Spirit. God doesn't condone our sin but He does
make a way for us to get out of it. God is good. DC
Judges Chapter 21
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