Israel's War with Benjamin

This whole reading was disturbing and I think the final verse says it best... "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes". Though God had intended a theocracy; a nation governed by God and enforced by the judges, the people were doing their own thing. And the result was something very reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah. Wasn't the story of the townsmen seeking to rape the male traveler and being offered the homeowner's daughter (as well as the traveler's concubine) as substitutes, very familiar? Perhaps this story is intended to draw our minds to Sodom and Gomorrah as a reference point for the level of sin and depravity that existed in this particular tribe. The rape and murder of the concubine was shocking enough to the people of Israel, that they banded together in opposition to the attackers. They did the right thing in asking the tribe to turn over the guilty parties for execution, which was the God-ordained punishment for the crime. But Benjamin showed more loyalty to the tribe than to God by refusing to give them up. This was also telling of the general tolerance for sin among this group. So the remaining tribes of Israel decided to go to war against their own brothers , holding the entire tribe accountable for not being willing to purge the evil within.

Despite being on the "right" side, Israel sufferred a great defeat during the first battle. To their credit, they sought the Lord to make sure they were following His plan. After assurances were received, they engaged in second battle, and were also met with defeat. They spent the evening fasting and making sacrifices and were again assured that they were to continue fighting. During the third battle, using a strategy similar to what Joshua had employed at Ai and most certainly familiar to them, they were victorious. What I like about this illustration is that they stuck to their guns. They knew, because they had asked, that they were in the Lord's will. Knowing that enabled them to persist, even when it did not seem logical to do so. I think as Christians, we often give up too easily. We think God is telling us to do something, but at the first sign of opposition, we retreat, assuming we must not have heard God's direction clearly. Surely nothing God wants us to do would be difficult! He is supposed to open doors and make straight the path. Sometimes He does, but sometimes He wants us to have to give it everything we have. Sometimes life is supposed to be a difficult battle.

After decimating the town of Gibeah in judgement for their crimes, 600 men escaped. The Israelites, in their anger, vowed not to give their daughters in marriage to the remaining Benjamites, only to realize after the fact that this would equate to the complete extinction of one of the twelve tribes. They had not thought through the ramifications of the vow they had made and now needed a solution. Because vows were taken very seriously in that culture, especially those made to God, they had to honor it. Remember when Joshua was tricked into the alliance with the men from Gibeon? Though it was ill-conceived, it was nonetheless binding. The same principle is at work here. Rash vows can have unfortunate consequences, and in this case, an entire town was destroyed to provide wives for the men of Benjamin. And when this was not enough, they had to devise a sneaky scheme by which the remaining men from Benjamin were permitted to kidnap young virgins for themselves. This was not God's plan. Again, the people were doing what seemed right in their own eyes.

Tomorrow's reading: Ruth 1-4:12