Judges 20:18-46
“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. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
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. 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.” (Judges 20:18-20)
Outraged by the gang rape and murder of the Levite’s wife and galvanized by his sending pieces of her body to each tribe, the nation of Israel came together to punish the evildoers. Because they were of the same family, the tribe of Benjamin decided to defend them regardless what they had done.
Israel made a wise decision in consulting the Lord about who was to lead in the battle, and God designated Judah. They were simply fulfilling the Laws commands in executing the guilty, The original incident started when the men of Gibeah demanded homosexual relations with the Levite. The law commanded that every homosexual was to be executed. In addition rapists and adulterers were to be executed, and finally, those who murdered another were to be executed, all to prevent their doing it again.. They saw no need for asking God whether he wanted them to destroy the guilty.
Outnumbering the tribe of Benjamin by a ratio of fifteen to one, and knowing they were doing what God wanted, it must have come as a severe shock to Israel to be soundly defeated the first day of battle, losing over one twentieth of their force.
“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. (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.)
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 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.” (Judges 20:22-25)
After the resounding defeat the first day, Israel was less confident that God wanted them to destroy the wicked the second day. God gave assurance that was indeed what he wanted, so they engages in battle again, losing another eighteen thousand men. How could that have happened? The last time they’d suffered such a defeat after being directed of God had been when they attacked Ai in Joshua 7, five hundred years before. That time Achan’s sin had resulted in their defeat.
“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.
And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 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.” (Judges 20:26-28)
Having lost forty thousand men in their effort to do what they knew God wanted, Israel realized there was a problem in their own camp. They spent the remainder of the day in repenting of their sin and getting right with God themselves. When they asked the Lord for direction this time he promised victory in the next battle. Their sin was preventing success, even in the Job God wanted done.
As Matthew 7:1-5 points out, sin in our life often thwarts and distorts our efforts to deal with even overt sin on the part of others. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” Until we are right with God we cannot effectively correct others.
“And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.” (Judges 20:29-34)
This time, instead of attacking Benjamin and trusting their sheer numbers to overwhelm them, Israel used a strategic approach similar to what Joshua had used in defeating Ai in their second assault. They approached in similar manner, sending ten thousand to attack the city when the rest of the army lured the Benjamite army away.
“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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 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. Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour. 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. 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.” (Judges 20:35-46)
Fired by the sight of the Israelite army fleeing, the Benjamites left the safety of the city to pursue them. The liers in wait captured the city and set it on fire signaling the others to turn on the pursuers. As a result over twenty five thousand Benjamites were killed.
“But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 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.” (Judges 20:47-48)
Only about a thousand of Benjamin’s army survived. Six hundred of those fled as body to the top of the mesa Rimmon and where they easily guard all the approaches and spent four months. Israel then turned and killed the men who hadn’t gone to fight in every city of Benjamin, burning most of the cities. Benjamin’s placing family ahead of obedience to God resulted in almost total destruction.
“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. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
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. 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.” (Judges 20:18-20)
Outraged by the gang rape and murder of the Levite’s wife and galvanized by his sending pieces of her body to each tribe, the nation of Israel came together to punish the evildoers. Because they were of the same family, the tribe of Benjamin decided to defend them regardless what they had done.
Israel made a wise decision in consulting the Lord about who was to lead in the battle, and God designated Judah. They were simply fulfilling the Laws commands in executing the guilty, The original incident started when the men of Gibeah demanded homosexual relations with the Levite. The law commanded that every homosexual was to be executed. In addition rapists and adulterers were to be executed, and finally, those who murdered another were to be executed, all to prevent their doing it again.. They saw no need for asking God whether he wanted them to destroy the guilty.
Outnumbering the tribe of Benjamin by a ratio of fifteen to one, and knowing they were doing what God wanted, it must have come as a severe shock to Israel to be soundly defeated the first day of battle, losing over one twentieth of their force.
“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. (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.)
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 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.” (Judges 20:22-25)
After the resounding defeat the first day, Israel was less confident that God wanted them to destroy the wicked the second day. God gave assurance that was indeed what he wanted, so they engages in battle again, losing another eighteen thousand men. How could that have happened? The last time they’d suffered such a defeat after being directed of God had been when they attacked Ai in Joshua 7, five hundred years before. That time Achan’s sin had resulted in their defeat.
“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.
And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 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.” (Judges 20:26-28)
Having lost forty thousand men in their effort to do what they knew God wanted, Israel realized there was a problem in their own camp. They spent the remainder of the day in repenting of their sin and getting right with God themselves. When they asked the Lord for direction this time he promised victory in the next battle. Their sin was preventing success, even in the Job God wanted done.
As Matthew 7:1-5 points out, sin in our life often thwarts and distorts our efforts to deal with even overt sin on the part of others. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” Until we are right with God we cannot effectively correct others.
“And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.” (Judges 20:29-34)
This time, instead of attacking Benjamin and trusting their sheer numbers to overwhelm them, Israel used a strategic approach similar to what Joshua had used in defeating Ai in their second assault. They approached in similar manner, sending ten thousand to attack the city when the rest of the army lured the Benjamite army away.
“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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 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. Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour. 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. 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.” (Judges 20:35-46)
Fired by the sight of the Israelite army fleeing, the Benjamites left the safety of the city to pursue them. The liers in wait captured the city and set it on fire signaling the others to turn on the pursuers. As a result over twenty five thousand Benjamites were killed.
“But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 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.” (Judges 20:47-48)
Only about a thousand of Benjamin’s army survived. Six hundred of those fled as body to the top of the mesa Rimmon and where they easily guard all the approaches and spent four months. Israel then turned and killed the men who hadn’t gone to fight in every city of Benjamin, burning most of the cities. Benjamin’s placing family ahead of obedience to God resulted in almost total destruction.
I enjoy your point about confessing sin and renewing fellowship in order to be of genuine spiritual aid to others or in service to God. How often do we fail simply because of this? Our view of sin is oft-times so light; but Jesus died on account of sin. Clearly, God does not have a light view of it.
ReplyDeleteIt is a point a lot of us need to learn if we are to accomplish much for God.
ReplyDeleteThanks.