Bible Talks

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 4min
Listen from:
• BibleTruthPublishers.com
Judges 19:1-20:271And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-judah. 2And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem-judah, and was there four whole months. 3And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. 5And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. 7And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging. 16And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. 20And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 22Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. 23And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 27And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. 1Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the Lord in Mizpeh. 2And 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? 4And 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. 5And 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. 6And 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. 7Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 8And 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. 9But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; 10And 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. 11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 12And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? 13Now 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: 14But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15And 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. 16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. 17And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. 18And 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. 19And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. 20And 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. 21And 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. 22And 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. 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.) 24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 25And 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. 26Then 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. 27And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, (Judges 19:1‑20:27).
We are reminded through the shameful incident recorded by the Spirit of God in our chapter, that God knows every detail of our lives. Nothing is hidden from His all-seeing eye, for His Word says, “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13). The darkness and the light are both alike to Him, and this horrible scene which took place in the dark hours of the night has been fully recorded here so that we might learn the folly of trying to hide anything from Him. Even the little things which led up to this awful crime, are brought out in the fullest detail, to assure us that God knows all.
Because the tribe of Benjamin were the guilty ones in this matter, the other eleven tribes were stirred up in righteous indignation against them, for the men of Benjamin had shielded the evildoers. Too often this “shielding” takes place in the families of God’s children, and, because of natural relationships, sin is looked upon lightly. We believe therefore, that there were, and are, many lessons to be learned from this incident, both for all the tribes of the children of Israel then, and for us today.
Were the other eleven tribes any better than the tribe of Benjamin? Let God’s Word answer. “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise.” Romans 3:99What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (Romans 3:9). But here all the eleven tribes were asked to speak their minds in this matter, and they did not seek the Lord’s mind at all. It reminds us of how, when a difficulty arises, we often inquire of others, “What do you think?” or perhaps say, “Let every one speak his mind about this,” or use similar expressions. Ought we not rather to first humble ourselves before the Lord and own His hand upon us?
Needless to say, it is perfectly right that sin should be judged among the people of God, but never because we are better than others. This, however, was the attitude of the eleven tribes here, and so they were all agreed to go up and fight against their brethren, without seeking the Lord’s mind at all. Surely it shows us that to be of one mind is not enough we need the Lord’s mind or we are sure to go wrong. Even when the eleven tribes did finally turn to the Lord to inquire of Him, there was no self-judgment, for they only asked Him who should go up first to light against Benjamin. Yes, they were ready to fight! Let us remember that we are in no position to set others right until we have first owned our own failures to the Lord and humbled ourselves in His presence. We can never carry out discipline in the proper way until this has taken place, e and then the Lord will reveal His mind.
Now Israel had not done this, and so the Lord, having told Judah to go up first, allowed them to be put to flight before the Benjamites. They had not asked the Lord “What shall we do?” but only “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The Lord had to allow them to have a second defeat, also, before they were truly humbled and broken before Him. Then they wept and sat before the Lord. They fasted too, and offered sacrifices, while they waited upon Him to tell them what to do. They asked, “Shall Igo up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?” Self was now being judged, and they were ready to call Benjamin their brother. At last they were in a right state to act for God’s glory.
ML 01/17/1954