“Good Intentioned Spiritual People!”
• 10.12.14 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Audio Access Available Above
Intro.
- We left off in the middle of a tense standoff
between the people of Israel and the single tribe of Benjamin. Their refusal to
hand over an offending group to justice is about to incite a civil war!
- As we travel through this final section, the
Holy Spirit records the war room decisions which precipitated the battle
actions of Israel. How will their decisions be made and what will be the
effect?
- If Benjamin reveals what evil intentioned men
will do who forget the Lord, Israel will reveal what good intentioned people
will do as they forget the Lord! Let's look at verse 18.
Text
•
Judges 20:18-22 : "Then the children of Israel arose
and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, 'Which
of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?' The Lord
said, 'Judah first!' So the children of
Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin,
and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at
Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came
out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men
of the Israelites. And the people, that is,
the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at
the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. " : Four hundred thousand Israeli soldiers came to the house of
God, the Tabernacle, located at this time in Shiloh.
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They went to inquire, to seek counsel from the Lord. Though he is not
mentioned, we might assume that the High Priest, Phinehas, went before the Lord
with the Ephod upon his person.
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Tucked inside the Ephod were two stones, called the Urim and the Thummin,
"lights and perfections." The Lord's will would be derived by asking
yes or no questions.
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The light stone taken by the High Priest would indicate a "yes"
answer, while the black stone would be indicative of a "no."
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Through a series of questions, they understood that the tribe of Judah was to
go up first.
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They did not ask God's counsel for a plan, but from a plan. War was inevitable
and they were going to go now whether He endorsed that or not!
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They had the right cause. An injustice had occurred. They even had the right
idea. But was this the right time or the right way? It's always best to ask for
God's plan first and then cooperate!
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Since they were determined to go up and at that moment, then Judah would go
first which Israel did on the very ground of Benjamin's offense in Gibeah.
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On the first day of battle, 22,000 Israelites fell at Gibeah, an elevated and
easy place for Benjamin's special forces to defend.
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Israel was able to lift each other up long enough to regroup to their original
position, but they were definitely shaken.
• Judges
20:23-25 :
"Then the
children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel
of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I again draw near
for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?' And the Lord said, 'Go up against
him.' So the children of Israel approached
the children of Benjamin on the second day. And
Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to
the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the
sword." : After asking counsel of the Lord,
they lost yet another 18,000 men, a loss totalling 10 percent of their force.
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What is going on? Some have suggested that their presumptive plan was never the
Lord's will in the first place. Others have offered that this was a punitive
action to humble Israel.
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Benjamin's wickedness needed to be addressed, but Israel's heart was wandering
as well.
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The fact that there are specific casualty numbers suggests that they had been
confident in their own strength of numbers, which God can never honor.
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The fact that they lost 40,000 men in two days of fighting is also interesting.
I've never been one to overemphasize biblical numerology, but the number 40 is
the number of testing in scripture.
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What would the test show about Israel? God already knew. But they needed to see
their own hearts. What did they genuinely believe? Look at what it led them to.
•
Judges 20:26-28 : "Then all the children of Israel,
that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and
wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord (the ark of the covenant of God
was there in those days, and 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 my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?' And the Lord said, 'Go up, for
tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.'" : Defeat, loss, humility, kept leading them back to the Lord! It
does the same for us. We need to learn to depend upon Him.
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They wept over their loss and waited for instructions from Him. They offered
sacrifices, denoting consecration and fellowship.
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In this last meeting, they asked if they should go to battle or if they should
cease, indicative of a willingness to stop if that was the Lord's will.
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It was during this time that the Lord communicated through the Priest that they
were to go up and that He would deliver them into their hands.
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I mentioned earlier that the High Priest would have been involved in seeking
God's will. The fact that he is specifically mentioned here and NOT there makes
me wonder.
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When they first came to Shiloh, did they actually consult Phinehas at all or
did they just meet in the parking lot, as a symbolic gesture? In any event,
Phinehas gives them their directive.
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God had been testing Israel's motives but was also raising Benjamin's
confidence in order to utterly crush them. God is never one to work on just one
side of the equation!
•
Judges 20:29-35 : "Then Israel set men in ambush all
around Gibeah. And
the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third
day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went
out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike
down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one
of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about
thirty men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said, 'They are defeated before us,
as at first.' But
the children of Israel said, 'Let us flee and draw them away from the city to
the highways.' So all the men of Israel rose
from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then
Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against
Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know
that disaster was upon them. The Lord defeated Benjamin
before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five
thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword." : Benjamin's overconfidence caused them to leave their city in
pursuit of the people of Israel.
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When the men of Israel came out from their ambush positions, the battle became
fierce and that day, Benjamin lost almost all of their fighting men! The Lord
defeated Benjamin before Israel!
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They had taken the wrong side. They had offended God's law. They had won a few
rounds, but God won the war and when the hammer came down, almost their entire
force was subjugated.
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Never be fooled. When you take the wrong side, the side which opposes God, you
may go along with some victory and have a few moments of momentum. Trust me
when I say, it's fleeting!
•
Judges 20:36-46 : "So the children of Benjamin saw
that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites,
because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. And the men in ambush quickly
rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with
the edge of the sword. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men
in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the
city, whereupon
the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and
kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, 'Surely they are
defeated before us, as in the first battle.' But when the cloud began to rise
from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and
there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned back,
the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. Therefore they turned their backs
before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle
overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their
midst. They surrounded the Benjamites,
chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward
the east. And
eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. Then they turned and
fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five
thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to
Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. So all who fell of Benjamin that
day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of
valor." : The previous section gave us a
macro view of the events. This sections gives us the micro, man on the street,
view.
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The burning of the city of Gibeah signaled the defeat of the city. Benjamin's
confidence turned to panic as they realized their fate.
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Israel took immediate action exacting justice upon 18,000 men. When they came
to the narrow highway, 5,000 more were eliminated.
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Even further and 2,000 more were destroyed in Gidom! This was a thorough
routing of the enemy, as each of the men who had fallen, were the most brave
and experienced soldiers.
•
Judges 20:47,48 : "But six hundred men turned and fled
toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of
Rimmon for four months. And the men of Israel turned back against the children of
Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men
and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came
to." : 600 men escaped and took their
last stand in this area called the rock of Rimmon.
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This is a craggy cliffface where they were held up for for four months while
Israel cut off any way of return by setting fire to their cities. At this
point, the war is over but no winner is declared.
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Benjamin is determined to fight to the very last man, unto total ruin.
• Judges
21:1-7 : "Now the men of Israel had
sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, 'None of us shall give his daughter to
Benjamin as a wife.' Then the people came to
the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up
their voices and wept bitterly, and said, 'O Lord
God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be
one tribe missing in Israel?' So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and
built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The children of Israel said, 'Who
is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly
to the Lord?' For they had made a great oath
concerning anyone who had not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, 'He shall
surely be put to death.' And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother,
and said, 'One tribe is cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for
those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our
daughters as wives?'" : Israel realized that they
were as boxed in spiritually as their defeated foe was physically!
- The threat had been thoroughly put down, but
as with any war victory, there is an understanding that the health of the whole
is important to restore, lest a worse fate occur.
- Israel wept before God on account of their
fellow tribesmen, their brothers, who were now doomed to be lost. They went to
the Lord and worshipped with this question burning in their minds.
- They began with their question of who had not
gone to the battle? Who had not made the same vow that they had to keep wives
from them?
- The solution came in the presence of the
Lord, while they were worshipping but was not necessarily of the Lord. In fact,
God is neither consulted, nor does He break in to interrupt them!
• Judges
21:8-12 : "And they said, 'What one is there from the tribes of Israel who
did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord?' And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead
to the assembly. For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the
inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. So the congregation sent out there
twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, 'Go and
strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including
the women and children. And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly
destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.' So they found among the inhabitants
of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately;
and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan." : After the roll was called, the city of Jabesh Gilead was found
to be absent. They failed to act as God's co-regents.
- Each tribe was responsible to respond to
evil. At this time, this group was charged with wiping out the entirety of this
group, an action as grisly as the one committed by the Benjaminites!
- Again, notice that this command comes not
from the Lord, but from the congregation! This plan originated in the hearts of
men.
- We've noted in the past, that the concept of
the phrase "women and children" referred euphemistically to the
complete task of destruction.
- Alternately, there were children who were
trained to fight, much as other nations in recent history have emulated. Whoever
defended Jabesh Gilead was to be cut down.
- After the route of Jabesh Gilead, 400 virgins
were brought back to Shiloh.
•
Judges 21:13-18 : "Then the whole congregation sent
word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced
peace to them. So
Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had
saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough
for them. And the
people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the congregation said, 'What shall we
do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been
destroyed?' And they said, 'There must be an
inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed
from Israel. However, we cannot give them
wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath,
saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’" : This act of peace
and reconciliation was staggering, but it still fell 200 short of the required
amount.
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Please make note again that the congregation is leading the efforts here. God
has not given His stamp of approval.
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The fact that they came up short provides an excellent picture of our fleshly
efforts. When we go ahead of God, we may find success, but not enough to
declare a thing done!
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They returned from the rock of Rimmon having come close, but not close enough.
Their word was still binding and their problem still before them.
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Do they stop and consult the Lord? Is there a service called? A priest brought
to the front?
•
Judges 21:19-22 : "Then they said, 'In fact, there is
a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the
highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.' Therefore they instructed the
children of Benjamin, saying, 'Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, and watch; and just when the
daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the
vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh;
then go to the land of Benjamin. Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to
us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes,
because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as
though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty
of your oath.’" : Shiloh played host to a
feast which featured a fair amount of dancing for the daughters of the Shiloh.
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These would have been young virgin women of marrying age and this was where
Benjamin was advised to abscond with as many brides as necessary!
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Israel promised to smooth things over with any objector, noting that this was
not actually a voluntary gift. They had not cooperated, but could agree to
surrender their daughters.
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Forget the clear Word of God guiding their actions. Let's opt for destruction
and confusion!
• Judges
21:23-25 : "And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for
their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and
returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. So the children of Israel departed
from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from
there, every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did
what was right in his own eyes." : They
were dancing one minute and then arranged in marriage to a Benjamite the next!
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Samuel finishes with a typical narrative end: They lived happily ever after,
but this was not a part of God's solution. It was Man's ideas which God
allowed.
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Eventually, the saving of Benjamin will produce the first of Israel's Kings, a
man by the name of Saul. Sadly, he will follow the ways of the people of the
Judges by doing what was right in his eyes.
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Roughly 2,000 years later, a man named after him will become the greatest
missionary to ever live, a man who will leave the name "Saul" behind
and become the Apostle Paul!
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In spite of Man's incredible ignorance and foolishness, God, through His grace,
wins the day and brings good from what is profoundly other!
Conclusion
- Our section today underscores the necessity
for Godly people to discover God's plan and follow it. I offer four principles
that Israel wishes they had followed.
- First, we
remember our priorities. Jesus tells us that it's the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness that come first! (Matthew 6:33) Is this action
in line with God's Kingdom? It is right?
- Second, we follow our peace. (James 3:17, Colossians 3:15)
"Am I at peace, at rest with the Lord? Do I sense His pleasure in this
decision? Will this decision violate any part of His Word?"
- Third, we
confirm with His people. God's law was ratified by the mouth of two
or three witnesses and in the multitude of counselors, there is safety! (Proverbs
15:22)
- "What do godly people think about this
plan? What is their response?"
- Fourth, we walk forth obediently in prayer. (I Thessalonians
5:17) God, be with me every step of the way! A person who lives this way
will avoid doing what is right in their own eyes!