Bible Talks

Narrator: Chris Genthree
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Judges 20:28-21:2528And 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. 29And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30And 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. 31And 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. 32And 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. 33And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. 34And 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. 35And 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. 36So 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. 37And 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. 38Now 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. 39And 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. 40But 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. 41And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42Therefore 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. 43Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. 44And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor. 45And 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. 46So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor. 47But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48And 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. 1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. 2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the Lord? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the Lord? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. 11And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. 14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. 15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 19Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favorable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. 24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. 25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 20:28‑21:25).
Now that the eleven tribes had humbled themselves, they were in a state to act, and so the Lord told them to go forth to battle against the tribe of Benjamin, their brethren, to punish them because of their sin. At first Judah had gone out alone, but now all the eleven tribes had to take part in this sad action, for as we have remarked before, an act of discipline among the people of God is the responsibility of the whole assembly. Nor is discipline ever an easy matter, and so this battle against Benjamin was not an easy one. It required unity in action according to the mind of God in order to be victorious. The men of Benjamin, still following their own self-willed plans, thought they would escape defeat as they had before, but instead they were utterly overcome. The wrongdoer may seem to “get by” many times, but let us never forget that we cannot escape the government of God, and His dealing hand will fall upon us sooner or later if we follow a course of sin. God’s Word says, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23).
After this solemn judgment had fallen upon the tribe of Benjamin, the eleven tribes then sought out any from among themselves who had not gone with them to battle. Any of their own who did not take part in this judgment must be dealt with in the same way as the wrong doers, and be put to death. This is a very solemn consideration, for the same principle is repeated in the New Testament in connection with assembly action (2 Cor. 10:66And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:6)). It is a serious thing to oppose the authority of the Lord in the midst of His people. Of course, we ought never to act in a self-righteous manner, as Judah did at first (and the Lord will deal with such, as He did with Judah), but there is no excuse for lightness as to sin.
After all this had taken place, we find the tenderest feelings going out towards the erring tribe, and there was a desire for their restoration. They loved them as their brethren. This is indeed beautiful to see, and surely it will always be seen, whenever we seek to act for God’s glory in the spirit of true humility. May there be more of this restoring grace manifested among us now, as there was here!
It is instructive to see that God’s much-neglected center at Shiloh was remembered at this time, and blessing flowed to the erring ones who returned there. The restored of Benjamin found their life partners there, and oh, what a mistake it is to try to find such outside of the path of faith and obedience! It was difficult to find this long-forgotten spot, where the Lord had placed His name, but it was there all the time, and the feast of the Lord was still being kept there by those who sought Him. How precious it is today, to know that we have His promise, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt. 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20). Let us not be discouraged by fewness of numbers, or a difficult location, for in a day when everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes, as it was in Israel, such a position will never be popular; but it will always be precious to faith.
Thus we come to the end of this deeply instructive book. Its record of God’s faithfulness, in spite of the unfaithfulness of Israel, gives us both encouragement and warning. May we profit by it, in this corresponding day of the Church’s history!
ML 01/24/1954