JUDGES CHAPTER 19-21, “Gang Rape Of A Levite’s Concubine Leads To Civil War”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. In our last study, we looked at chapters 17 and 18 which described how far the nation fell away into apostasy whenever they turned away from the Lord and mass confusion ruled the day.

1.1.1. In chapter 17 we saw a man named Micah who built an idol to worship the Lord and then hired to be his personal priest a Levite who happened to wander by the area.

1.1.2. In chapter 18, the tribe of Dan decided to find new land for its inheritance since the tribe was unwilling to take possession of the land given them by the Lord by going up and conquering the enemy within their territory as they trusted the Lord for the victory. The tribe of Dan first stole Micah’s idols, then hired away from him his employed Levitical priest, and then the tribe went and conquered a peaceful and isolated people among the Sidonians and moved into their city.

1.1.3. We saw that there were grave consequences to the tribe of Dan falling into apostasy in this way for over time they sort of disappear as a tribe as they were assimilated by the pagan nations among whom they settled.

1.1.4. We looked at what happens when God’s people fall away from Him.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to study Chapters 19-21 and conclude our study of the book of Judges. We will see in this study how far the nation fell away morally from the Lord and His standard of righteousness in those times of their rebellion.

1.2.1. In our last study, we noted that the last five chapters of the book of Judges are not chronological and actually occurred early in the history of the judges, not too long after the death of Joshua. These last five chapters are an addendum to the book and describe what happened whenever God’s people fell away from Him:

1.2.1.1. Chapters 17-18 describe just how far into apostasy the sons of Israel went during those times when they turned away from the Lord.

1.2.1.2. Chapters 19-21 describe the moral breakdown and collapse that always follows apostasy of God’s people.

1.2.1.2.1. As we will see in the study today, spiritual apostasy is always followed by moral decline in any nation or people.

1.2.2. As was mentioned in our last study, great nations and kingdoms have often imploded rather than being conquered by superior armies. The nation first falls away from the Lord and serves all kinds and types of gods, then it lapses into moral corruption, finally political confusion and apathy rules the day and the nation collapses internally and is over taken almost without a fight.

1.2.3. This study today which describes the moral decline of the nation of Israel when they fell away from the Lord has been considered to be the toilet bowl, that is, the most disgusting and repugnant section in all of the scriptures. The depravity of men is so great in these chapters that they do not even include one redeeming detail in the story. As a warning here, it is normal to have a nauseas gut reaction when reading the details of this story.

1.2.4. Living as we do at the beginning of the 21^st century in America, the events of this story though are only typical of the types of things that we learn about in our various news media every single day.

1.2.4.1. The story we are going to read about today actually contains all of the details that those which are considered by our entertainment industry to be “good movies” often contain today: anger, violence, betrayal, deception, sex, kidnapping, and even rape.

1.2.4.2. As a comment, we as a people have become so desensitized to the moral state of our nation today that we are rarely shocked or outraged by the news of the day’s events.

1.2.4.3. The moral state of our nation today is the result of our nation first turning away from the Lord, disowning our Christian heritage, and kicking the Lord out of every single aspect of our governing, legislature and laws.

1.2.4.4. Patrick Henry (1736-1799), one of our nation’s founding fathers once said, ““It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”” However, today America is a post-Christian nation, and though polls show that a large percentage of people say that they believe in God and are born again, so many are proud of the fact that our nation no longer is steered by our Judea-Christian beliefs.

1.2.5. Many of those acts that the masses used to consider morally to be horrible and vile are now popularly considered to be actions that we are to be tolerant of in others. Moral relativism rules the day. One person recently remarked that the only moral that our nation embraces today is “tolerance.” To see this trend today (which has been going on really for 40 years or more) consider events that have occurred just in the last few months in our hemisphere and nation:

1.2.5.1. Laws by states that forbid sodomy were repealed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1.2.5.2. Canada approved same sex marriages (the U.S. will not be far behind).

1.2.5.3. The first lesbian kiss on daytime television occurred in a soap opera. This is the time of day that children may be watching, especially since this is summertime.

1.2.5.4. There is a new dating television show set to begin this week that features gay men going after other men, however some of the men on the show are really straight.

1.2.5.5. Jerry Springer, who once was the mayor of Cleveland before beginning his talk show that brought into our living rooms the worst trash we have seen yet on television, is planning to run for senator and is being considered as a serious contender to win that race.

1.2.5.5.1. Remember, it was earlier this year that Springer made headlines for going to a prostitute and writing a check for services rendered. Springer spoke candidly at that time of the lesson that he had learned from that episode: always pay with cash.

1.2.6. One Christian leader has stated that he believes that with the trends that we are currently seeing in our nation that we are soon going to come to a day in which even incest is going to be considered as an acceptable alternate lifestyle.

1.2.7. Again as has been stated, falling away from the Lord always results in the destruction of the institution of the family, then in the destruction of the moral fiber of society witnessed in an increase in crime, then in political confusion, anarchy, and apathy, then finally in the overthrow of the very nation itself.

2. VS 19:1-10 - “¹ Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. ² But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. ⁵ Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Sustain yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.” ⁶ So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷ Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. ⁸ On the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain yourself, and wait until afternoon”; so both of them ate. ⁹ When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Lo, the day is coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go home.” ¹⁰ But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and departed and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him.” - A Levite took a concubine for a wife from the city of Bethlehem however she played the harlot with him and then went back to her home town and father, then the Levite eventually returned for her

2.1. Here we see another story of a man who was a Levite. This man had married a concubine from the tribe of Ephraim.

2.2. It was legal to marry a “concubine” in Israel. A “concubine” was sort of a second rate wife. She was either considered either a slave or she was a woman whose father did not have a dowry to give for her in marriage.

2.3. The first sin that was committed in our story today is adultery. This concubine had an affair with another man and then rather than have to face her husband she ran off and went back to her father’s home in Bethlehem, staying there 4 months.

2.4. When this Levite arrived at his father-in-law’s house in Bethlehem, his father-in-law was glad to see him. The father-in-law wanted this Levite to take back his daughter as she would have a much better chance in life if she went back to her husband.

2.5. Notice what a partier this Levite was. For three days he partied with his father-in-law and then the father-in-law talked him into staying and partying yet another day. When the father-in-law wanted the Levite to stay for a fifth day, the Levite determined that he had to leave, but the father-in-law detained him until the afternoon when he was finally able to pull himself and his concubine away and return home.

3. VS 19:11-21 - “¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and the servant said to his master, “Please come, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will go on as far as Gibeah.” ¹³ He said to his servant, “Come and let us approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ They turned aside there in order to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When they entered, they sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night. ¹⁶ Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” ¹⁸ He said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to my house, and no man will take me into his house. ¹⁹ “Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, your maidservant, and the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ The old man said, “Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹ So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.” - The Levite, his concubine and his servant finally come to the city of Gibeah and go to the town square so that someone might invite them to stay in their home for the night

3.1. The Levite rejects his servant’s idea to go and stay in the Gentile city of the Jebusites, which later became Jerusalem. He probably didn’t feel that it would be safe for them to stay there. They head towards the land in the tribe of Benjamin.

3.2. Finally, when they get to the city of Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, the Levite, his concubine and his servant decide that they would go into that city.

3.3. In the east in that day and time (and even today) hospitality was always to be shown to weary travelers, even for those from different nations. When traveling through the country people in that day would at sundown go to a town square hopeful that someone would offer them a place to stay and perhaps feed them and their animals. However, we see here that in the city of Gibeah that the people’s hearts had become so hardened by their sin that they wouldn’t extend this courtesy and kindness to the Levite and his party.

3.4. Finally, the Levite, his concubine and his servant meet up with an old man who was also from Ephraim but who was staying in Gibeah. This man invites the Levite and his party to come and stay under his roof, promising to meet all of their needs.

3.5. The old man feeds the Levite’s donkeys, washes everyone’s feet, and they all eat and drank together. This is yet another reference to the Levite partying.

4. VS 19:22-25 - “²² While they were celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations with him.” ²³ Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. ²⁴ “Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn.” - Worthless men from the city of Gibeah surround the house where the old man and the Levite and his party are staying, and the men want to have homosexual sex with the Levite

4.1. The old man and the Levite are partying away we see, most likely late into the night.

4.2. This scene is no worse than that which happened in Genesis chapter 19 when the angels entered Lot’s house in Sodom and the men of the city surrounded the house because they wanted to have sex with the angels.

4.2.1. We know that in that story from Genesis that the Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom and Ghomorrah with fire and brimstone because of their sin.

4.3. This story is repulsive on many levels isn’t it? Notice in this story how little the old man and the Levite valued the lives of women.

4.3.1. To spare the Levite, the old man immediately volunteers his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine for a gang rape by all of the men of the city.

4.3.2. Apparently, the old man and the Levite thought that homosexual rape was evil but that rape of a woman was acceptable?!

4.3.3. The Levite finally gives his concubine to the men to ravish her, and then he and the old man go back to their reveling.

4.3.3.1. The Levite’s actions reveal that this concubine was just an expendable possession to him.

4.3.4. The Levite is so hardened in his conscience that after giving his concubine to the men he even goes to bed and probably had a good but short night’s sleep.

4.4. How heinous is this sin. The men of the city rape the Levite’s poor concubine all night long and then they finally let her go her way knowing that she would probably die from the abuse.

5. VS 19:26-30 - “²⁶ As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight. ²⁷ When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up and let us go,” but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his home. ²⁹ When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel and speak up!”” - When the Levite finds his concubine dead in the doorway of the old man’s house he takes her home, cuts up her body in 12 parts, and sends a part to each tribe with a note about what happened and a challenge to respond

5.1. Notice the callousness and lack of compassion which this man has towards his concubine. Upon seeing her lying in the doorway of the house, he doesn’t bend down to comfort or help her in any way, he just tells her to get up and get going.

5.2. Then, notice the horrendous and disrespectful way in which the Levite deals with his concubine’s body. He cuts her up in 12 pieces and sends a piece out to each of the tribes.

5.3. This man also did not act within the law regarding how to deal with a murder and rape. Instead of going to the high priest to request that justice against this act be carried out according to the law of Moses, he instead wants to cause a big raucous in all of Israel and sends out parts of the woman and a note about what happened to all of the tribes of Israel, and the result is that civil war breaks out in Israel.

6. VS 20:1-11 - “¹ Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah. ² The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot soldiers who drew the sword. ³ (Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?” ⁴ So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. ⁵ “But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that she died. ⁶ “And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. ⁷ “Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your advice and counsel here.” ⁸ Then all the people arose as one man, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us return to his house. ⁹ “But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot. ¹⁰ “And we will take 10 men out of 100 throughout the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the disgraceful acts that they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹ Thus all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.” - 400,000 men, foot soldiers from all of the tribes of Israel, assemble at Mizpah and the Levite tells them what the men of Gibeah had done to his concubine, so the 400,000 unite and gather together to go to battle against the city of Gibeah

6.1. The Levite tells the 400,000 men from Israel how that the men of Gibeah had ravished his concubine all night long in a big gang rape which resulted in her death, however if the Levite were honest he would have had to admit that he was also responsible for her death for without even a fight he gave up his concubine to all of the men of Gibeah to do with her what they would.

6.2. So, the 400,000 men of Israel commit themselves to coming against the tribe of Benjamin and they come up with a plan for supplying their troops for the battle.

6.3. We will see later in this study that the men of Israel on this day actually make three vows pertaining to the tribe of Benjamin, at least two of which that they will eventually regret:

6.3.1. They will not go home until Gibeah is attacked and destroyed.

6.3.2. Anyone who does not come together with them to battle against Gibeah will also be destroyed.

6.3.3. They will not allow their daughters to marry the sons of the tribe of Benjamin.

7. VS 20:12-17 - “¹² Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you? ¹³ “Now then, deliver up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁴ The sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel. ¹⁵ From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were numbered, 26,000 men who draw the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were numbered, 700 choice men. ¹⁶ Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. ¹⁷ Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were numbered, 400,000 men who draw the sword; all these were men of war.” - Civil war breaks out: The men of Israel gather together against the city of Gibeah and send men throughout the tribe of Benjamin telling them to turn over the wicked men who had committed the heinous act of raping the Levite’s concubine, but Benjamin refuses to hand the men over and instead prepare to go to war against the men of Israel

7.1. In Genesis, we read that Benjamin had been the favored son of Jacob (Israel) and yet here we see that instead of allowing justice to be honorably and appropriately carried out against the perpetrators of this heinous gang rape, they instead decide to declare war on the rest of the nation of Israel. Now, they are possibly going to be completely wiped out.

7.2. The tribe of Benjamin are grossly outnumbered, 26,000 verses 400,000. The tribe of Benjamin banks on the fact that their land was easy to defend because of it’s being hill country. We see later in the chapter that Benjamin is greatly successful in battle the first two times the 400,000 men of Israel come up against.

7.3. Interestingly, the tribe of Benjamin had in addition to 26,000 foot soldiers, 700 left handed stone slingers that were so accurate with the sling that they could split a hair.

8. VS 20:18-21 - “¹⁸ Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.” ¹⁹ So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah. ²⁰ The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel arrayed for battle against them at Gibeah. ²¹ Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and felled to the ground on that day 22,000 men of Israel.” - The men of Israel inquire of the Lord about who should go up first against the sons of Benjamin in battle, and Judah is chosen, however 22,000 of their men are killed in the ensuing battle

8.1. The men of Israel are going in the right direction by coming before the Lord about going up in war against the tribe of Benjamin, however:

8.1.1. They don’t realize that they cannot have God’s blessing with the sin that is presently in their lives.

8.1.2. They are presumptive concerning the Lord and aren’t asking the right questions of the Lord here. They should be asking the Lord whether they should be going up against their brothers in battle, not who should go up first.

9. VS 20:22-25 - “²² But the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again in the place where they had arrayed themselves the first day.²³ The sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.” ²⁴ Then the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵ Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day and felled to the ground again 18,000 men of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword.” - Having been soundly beaten the day before, the men of Israel try to encourage themselves yet they finally end up weeping and coming before the Lord next asking if they should go up in battle again against the tribe of Benjamin

9.1. The men of Israel still did not understand that the Lord was not going to bless them in their present condition without renting their hearts before Him and repenting of their sins.

9.2. The men of Israel here are desiring the Lord’s blessing in their lives however the Lord’s hand is upon them to discipline them and purify their hearts in obedience to Him.

9.3. Now we see that the men of Israel are less presumptive than they had been for now they are asking the Lord “whether or not” they should go again up against their brothers, the tribe of Benjamin. Before, they had presumed upon the Lord and asked which tribe should go up first.

9.4. The heavy hand of God’s discipline is still upon the men of Israel, for the Lord again allows them to be soundly defeated, even though He had told them that they should go up in battle against Benjamin.

10. VS 20:26-28 - “²⁶ Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ The sons of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸ and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”” - Having been beaten in battle two consecutive days, the men of Israel come now and weep and fast before the Lord for the day, offering sacrifices, and then ask the Lord if they again should go up against the tribe of Benjamin in battle

10.1. There is an interesting note here in verse 27 that shouldn’t be overlooked. It says there that the ark of the covenant was there, that is in Bethel. The tabernacle however we know was not in Bethel but in Shiloh at this time. Why had the sons of Israel taken the ark of the covenant out of the tabernacle? It is no wonder the sons of Israel did not have the favor of the Lord! The Lord’s presence was to be in the holy of holies above the mercy seat on the top of the ark of the covenant, however the sons of Israel had desecrated the tabernacle by removing the ark of the covenant and taking it to a more convenient place for them in Bethel.

10.2. Notice that it was Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, a man who once had been a faithful priest and in the center of God’s will, who was now participating in this apostasy of Israel by ministering before the ark of the covenant in Bethel.

10.3. These verses reveal that the sons of Israel now have humbled themselves for they are now fasting and offering sacrifices, and thus they are now going to receive God’s blessings on them. The Lord tells them to go up against Benjamin and He also tells them that they will have victory in battle over them.

10.4. I believe that the sons of Israel have also now begun to repent of their sins to the Lord.

11. VS 20:29-48 - “²⁹ So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ The sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as at other times. ³¹ The sons of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. ³² The sons of Benjamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee that we may draw them away from the city to the highways.” ³³ Then all the men of Israel arose from their place and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush broke out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba. ³⁴ When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became fierce; but Benjamin did not know that disaster was close to them. ³⁵ And the Lord struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all who draw the sword. ³⁶ So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. When the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah, ³⁷ the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸ Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. ³⁹ Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰ But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked behind them; and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹ Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster was close to them. ⁴² Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. ⁴³ They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest and trod them down opposite Gibeah toward the east. ⁴⁴ Thus 18,000 men of Benjamin fell; all these were valiant warriors. ⁴⁵ The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but they caught 5,000 of them on the highways and overtook them at Gidom and killed 2,000 of them. ⁴⁶ So all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who draw the sword; all these were valiant warriors. ⁴⁷ But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸ The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.” - The men of Israel defeat the tribe of Benjamin leaving only 600 men left of them, and these remained at the rock of Rimmon

11.1. We see that the same battle plan was employed as that used in the second battle against the city of Ai when Joshua and the sons of Israel were conquering the land of Canaan.

11.2. The battle plan of the men of Israel relied upon the sons of Benjamin becoming over confident. The sons of Benjamin are coaxed out of the city by a force that retreats as in the previous two battles. Then, when the sons of Benjamin leave the city of Gibeah, the men of Israel come out of hiding and ambush the city of Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin, and then they turn and conquer all of the sons of Benjamin

12. VS 21:1-25 - “¹ Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage.” ² So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³ They said, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” ⁴ It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶ And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. ⁷ “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” ⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were numbered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰ And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. ¹¹ “This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every man and every woman who has lain with a man.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. ¹³ Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they were not enough for them. ¹⁵ And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷ They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸ “But we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹ So they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.” ²⁰ And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, ²¹ and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² “It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’ ” ²³ The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them. ²⁴ The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance. ²⁵ In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - The men of Israel realize that they are about to completely destroy one tribe from among them and so they come together to find some sort of a way to preserve the tribe of Benjamin

12.1. In this chapter, we see that when the men of Israel have destroyed all but 600 men from the tribe of Benjamin that they finally come to their senses and realize what they are about to do. They are about to destroy from their midst an entire tribe.

12.2. The problem they faced though was that they had already made the three vows, two of which were regrettable. However, we will see here that rather than eat their pride and admit that their vows which they had made were hasty and sinful and thus they shouldn’t be kept, they instead decide to work around them. Their working around them in this way however shows just how reckless and calloused they had become.

12.3. One of the vows that the men of Israel made was to not give any of their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin. But, for the tribe of Benjamin to continue to exist the 600 men left of the tribe would have to have wives to marry.

12.3.1. The men of Israel decide that since they had made another vow to destroy any cities from the tribes of Israel who did not send men to the battle against Benjamin, that they could go up against Jabesh-gilead and destroy all of them except their daughters who had never married. These daughters could then become wives for the 600 men of Benjamin. So, they go up and destroy all but 400 of the unwed daughters of the city.

12.3.1.1. The great callousness of the men of Israel is seen in that they didn’t even inquire why it was that none of the men of Jabesh-gilead didn’t come up for the battle. They just went up against the city and destroyed it.

12.3.2. Again, the men of Israel show recklessness and disregard for human life. The problem that remained was that there were still 200 men of Benjamin who did not have wives. Therefore, the men of Israel figure out a way to overcome this. They come up with a plan for the men of Benjamin to kidnap girls who would go for a festival to Shiloh.

13. CONCLUSION:

13.1. As we see in this study just how far the sons of Israel were morally corrupted when they turned away from the Lord, this ought to make us realize just how serious a thing it is whenever we let sin get a foothold on our life.

13.1.1. One sin leads to another sin and soon we are polluted with sin and surrounded with spiritual darkness, totally compromised and ineffective for the Lord and His purposes for us.

13.1.2. How sin must never be allowed to gain a foothold in our lives.

13.1.3. Though this may be a better application for the book of Joshua, but in our lives as Christians we are either taking ground away from the enemy or we are losing ground to him. Which is true for you?

13.2. Is it not awesome to see also how that the Lord is willing and able to forgive and cleanse His children when they have fallen into sin. How awesome is the grace of God. How great is His love to look beyond what we are in all of our gross sin and rebellion and see our need. Like a paramedic, He simply wants to fix and mend our lives and make us whole again.

13.2.1. God’s grace is always greater than our sin if we are merely willing to allow the Lord to come in and work in our lives and fix the mess we have made of things.

13.2.2. The next book in the scriptures which follows this story of ultimate human depravity is the book of Ruth. Ruth is the most beautiful story of redemption in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit’s fingerprints are seen in this book being next for the Lord loves to redeem fallen men and women. As the scriptures say, He “is not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance.” He so loved mankind that He was willing to send His only begotten Son they we might not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

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