Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

There is a reason that these chapters are in the Word. It is to show us how STUPID and FOOLISH and WRONG that we can be without God. More than many other places of the bible, this shows in its full craziness why we NEED God. Without Him, this is the kind of decisions people make and the actions people take and the thinking it is based on. No one does anything well. Everyone involved does something bad. They do things wrong, and then blame God for it. It is a master class in human thinking.

Everybody gets together at Mizpah. They are outraged. How could something like this have happened in Israel? The mob gathers to hear out the Levite – mailer of body parts. He tells of how he and his concubine went to Gibeah and spent the night. That the leaders of Gibeah rose up against him and surrounded him. That they wanted to kill him, but instead ravished his concubine until she died. Then he took her, mailed her body parts in order to draw attention to what they had done. And finally, asked for a course of action. Notice he didn’t mention they could have stayed in a different town. Or that HE was the one who threw his concubine out to them to save himself.

The men rose up and swore not to go home and rest until it was taken care of. They also made some vows, but we don’t find out that they are until later. Spoiler: they’re foolish. The Israelites gathered four hundred thousand armed men for this task. Meanwhile, messengers were sent to the territory of Benjamin. They told of the evil done and demanded they send out those responsible so they could purge the evil from their midst. Notice they didn’t ask God how to do it. Also, it is pretty obvious that they are using a mob rule mentality. If only there had been a civic court system to judge them. Except, that’s exactly what Moses had set up, remember? Seventy judges over the people. And captains of hundreds. And elders in the gates to bring problems to. And the priests, and the high priest, that could be consulted in very serious matters. But the Israelites had fallen away from these practices. They were letting every man decide for himself what to do instead of using ANY of the God-given systems of civic rule to control themselves. It is NOT a good thing when humans decide for themselves what is right.

Benjamin didn’t take kindly to this. It was their territory. Their problem – whether that meant they accepted the behaviour or whether they wanted to handle the punishment themselves, they closed ranks and told everyone to back off. And then gathered their fighting men together at Gibeah to fight the Israelites. Twenty-six thousand men and then seven hundred left-handed slingers who could aim at the hair of the head and not miss. Deadly men. Still, they were up against four hundred thousand. They were outnumbered 15 to 1.

The Israelites went to Bethel to inquire of the Lord. There is no mention of the high priest. There is no mention of sacrifices, fasting, or prayer. Just a bunch of hoodlums demanding answers. Some of these men were idol worshippers. Mixed worship, mixed answers. After all, they were under the system of JUDGMENT and not Grace. There were penalties when they turned away from God in a way that isn’t applicable anymore. When they chose to step out from the Covenant, they would end up out where the wrath of God was on sin. Judah was told to go first – again, there is no ‘thus saith the Lord’ here OR mention of the high priest who had the lots.

Judah went to battle against Benjamin and got trounced. They lost two thousand men. I wonder how many of them were idol worshippers. Didn’t deter the Israelites. They regrouped. They wept before the Lord until evening. Again they asked if they should fight. They were told go fight. Benjamin killed eighteen thousand men. The Israelites went back to Bethel and wept and fasted until evening. They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. First time for that. Also, the tabernacle is mentioned. First time for that. AND they inquired of the Lord through Phinehas the high priest. First time for that. Should they go or should they not? The Lord said go, I will give them into your hands. First time for that. Notice: the Lord only said they would not be defeated by Benjamin. He gave no further instructions. He did not command a particular action.

The Israelites set up an ambush. A bunch of guys were hidden. Others attacked as before and the Benjamites struck some down, so they fled – like before. The Benjamites chased. The hidden people got up, took the town, and set it on fire. They killed every living human inside the walls. The Israelites who were running turned around. So did the Benjaminites. They saw the smoke and the Israelites from the city coming out and tried to flee. Six hundred men managed it and fled to Rimmon Rock. They shut themselves inside. All the other men (wait for a bit for more information) were dead. Twenty-five thousand MEN. Then the Israelites turned back to Gibeah and killed everything that moved. Including all the surrounding towns.

“And they said, “Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has it happened today in Israel that one tribe is lacking from Israel?”” (Judges 21:3)

Now we find out that there were two vows made back at Mizpah. First one: no one among them would give a daughter to a Benjamite for a wife. Second one: anyone who didn’t come to the gathering at Mizpah would be killed. At the end of the fighting around the Gibeah area, only six hundred men (the ones at Rimmon Rock) were alive. They had killed every other man, woman, and child of Benjamin. And then they had the AUDACITY to blame God. He didn’t tell them to kill everyone. He didn’t tell them to kill non-combatants. He didn’t tell them to do any of it. They didn’t ask AND very few of them were pure worshippers in the first place. It is foolishness on top of godlessness and then mixing in some stupidity. This is what happens when you have no rule of law. Don’t worry though, they make it worse.

They built an altar (only the tabernacle altar was to be used for offerings) and without the high priest involved they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then they found out who didn’t come up to Mizpah (it was the camp at Jabesh Gilead). You know what they don’t do? Ask GOD what to do. No request. No prayer. Offerings and lamentations and then they do their own things. Idiocy at its best.

They decide on a plan. Great plan. First, they’re going to go down to Jabesh Gilead. Then they’re going to kill all the men because of their second oath. They’re also going to kill all the women who weren’t virgins because of their second oath. But because of their first oath, they’re going to keep all the virgins alive and go to Rimmon Rock and give them to the Benjamite men there so that the tribe of Benjamin doesn’t die out. They COULD have asked God what to do from the start. They COULD have been merciful and not killed all the men, women, and children they could get their hands on – if some hadn’t locked themselves into a fortress, the tribe WOULD have been extinct. Now they were going to do something as bad as what Gibeah had done to fix the problem THEY made and were blaming God for.

Off they went. Slaughtered the camp and stole the virgins. They went to Rimmon Rock and gave them to the men there. New problem. 400 virgins. 600 men. And none of them wanted to share (at least there was SOME morality). New plan. They told the two hundred Benjamites without women to go up to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards. When the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance before the Lord, kidnap them. They even promised the Benjamites protection from the families came to either get revenge or get their daughters back or both. So that’s what they did. Then they went back to their homes, rebuilt their cities, and lived there. And then the rest of the Israelites went back to their homes and lived there.

What horrific events. What terrible behaviour. What tragedy and heart-wrenching loss. All without the true guidance of God because they DIDN’T worship properly, submit, and ASK FOR HELP. Last verse of the book of Judges is the often repeated statement: “In those days there was no king in Israel; each one did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Thank God we HAVE God and don’t need to stand on our own two feet. They lead humanity to dark and terrible places – it seems especially when they try and right wrongs. We are VERY, VERY broken. Only in Jesus do we have ANY sense of true rightness and wholeness. He is SO GOOD to us. He really is.

Summary

Key Players: Tribes of Israel, Benjamin, Phinehas

Key Themes: Proper Worship, Idolatry, Human Thinking

Key Verse(s): Judges 20:1-3, 13-14, 46-48; 21:1-5, 10-11, 18-21, 25