Judges Part 20

XX. Judges 20. A. This chapter sets forth a call to action for a righteous cause against a tribe that harbored and defended great sinners who deserved punishment: Benjamin foolishly tried to defend the indefensible rather than honor justice against the wicked of their own tribe. 1. The cause against Benjamin was just but victory was elusive. 2. When victory was at hand, the zeal of Israel was excessive and almost wiped out a tribe of Israel. 3. This account teaches us the value of tempered punishment in the church that does not let Satan get an advantage of us. 2CO 2:6-11. 4. Let the prosecution of a battle against sin in our persons be highly zealous (with a recognition of our own infirmity, 1JO 2:1), and the prosecution of others be zealous but reasonable. 2CO 7:11; GAL 6:1. 5. NOTE: The defense of an indefensible abomination like sodomy (and gang-rape) is the mark of a civilization on the decline and which is flirting with destruction. B. vs. 1-7. 1. The Levite’s dark action in the previous chapter roused Israel to convene a general assembly of the militia, 400,000 footmen strong. a. To their credit, “...the congregation was gathered together as one man...” (v. 1). Saints should strive to be of the same mind and judgment where Scripture has clearly spoken. PHIL 1:27; 1CO 1:10. b. Mind that what they were presuming to undertake was based upon the testimony of one man, the Levite. The Law required confirming witnesses in capital cases. DEUT 17:6. c. Conceivably, the Levite’s servant (JDG 19:3, 11) might have provided corroborating testimony, but such is not noted. 2. Benjamin was aware of the meeting at Mizpeh (v. 3) but seems to have not attended, since no mention is made of their objection there to the accusation against one of their cities (Gibeah). a. Their attitude, though, is on full display later. vs. 13-14. b. Beware that you not imitate such defiance when you are challenged by godly authority or your folly is brought to your attention. c/w NUM 16:11-12; JER 44:15-19 ct/w PSA 51. 3. The Levite gave testimony (vs. 5-6): a. He left out the part of his concubine’s infidelity and their reconciliation, which information might have raised questions among his hearers about how she ended up in the hands of the sodomites: did he throw her to the dogs in tacit revenge? b. “...and thought to have slain me...” (v. 5), a possibility but it is not stated. c. “...and my concubine they have forced, that she is dead” (v. 5). He omitted the fact that he delivered her into their hands to save himself, thus putting the maximum amount of fault upon the sodomites, heightening the anger of Israel against them. d. His “post-mortem dissection” and posting of the parts to Israel was similar to Saul’s actions in 1SAM 11:7. e. Few things unite a nation to go to war as effectively as an apparently outrageous act of inhumanity, especially when certain details are fabricated or left out of the narrative. The first casualty of war is usually truth. f. Compare this scenario with the way Claudius Lysias related Paul’s situation to Governor Felix (he omitted and altered some details that would have cast Claudius in a darker shade). ACT 23:26-27 c/w ACT 22:24-29. g. Our sin nature tries to convince us that we can ignore or gloss over details of our folly which somehow makes it acceptable to not properly address the folly by open confession and repentance unto our God before Whose eyes nothing is hidden. HEB 4:13 c/w PRO 28:13. 4. The most outrageous act of inhumanity in all history was the conspiracy of wicked men that crucified the sinless, harmless, blameless Son of God. ACT 4:26-28. a. It was furthered by insinuation and false testimony. MAT 26:59-62. b. This outrageous inhumanity also drummed up a war, not because of a lack of full disclosure but because of full exposure. MAT 22:1-7. c. It also touched off a war in heaven when Christ arose from the grave and ascended to the heavenly throne to cast out Satan and his host into the earth. REV 12:5-10. 5. The Levite, having stirred up the passion of the people, cleverly deferred to their judgment (v. 7). Make sure that when you are being zealously affected that it is in a good thing. GAL 4:17-18. C. vs. 8-11. Israel promptly in unity made preparations and provision for a siege of Gibeah and a possible conflict. In our conflict against Satan, we do well to prepare for resistance and also for the long-haul. PHIL 3:13-14; 2TI 4:7-8. D. vs. 12-17. 1. Before hostilities, Israel tried entreaties: the diplomatic appeal. We do well to dig and dung before axing. LUK 13:6-9; 2TI 2:24-26. 2. Entreaties failed and Benjamin decided to go to war out of a foolish sense of tribal patriotism. They chose to partake of other men’s sins. ct/w 1TI 5:22. a. “Thus we have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness if we say A confederacy with those that have, and make ourselves guilty of other men's sins by countenancing and defending them. It seems there is no cause so bad but it will find some patrons, some advocates, to appear for it; but woe be to those by whom such offences come. Those will have a great deal to answer for that obstruct the course of necessary justice, and strengthen the hands of the wicked, by saying, O wicked man! thou shalt not die.” (Matthew Henry) Note EZE 33:8. b. “All methods of accommodation must be used before we go to war or go to law. The demand was like that of Joab's to Abel, 2Sa 20:20, 2Sa 20:21. “Only deliver up the traitor, and we will lay down our arms.” On these terms, and no other, God will be at peace with us, that we part with our sins, that we mortify and crucify our lusts, and then all shall be well; his anger will be turned away.” (Matthew Henry) 3. Benjamin prepared to engage Israel at about a 15:1 disadvantage in numbers. a. Strategically, this was suicide. If they thought that JOS 23:10 applied to them, they were terribly self-deceived. b. Sinners can infatuate themselves to their own ruin and provoke Almighty God to jealousy thereby. 1CO 10:22. 4. They had 700 lefthanded aces which did not miss their mark. v. 16. a. Benjamin seemed to have a genetic predisposition for lefties. JDG 3:15. b. We do well to have the armour of righteousness on the right and the left, to be prepared on every side. 2CO 6:7; 7:5. c. “Men miss the mark of true happiness in aiming at sensual gratifications; which happiness is to be found only in the possession and enjoyment of the favor of God, from whom their passions continually lead them. He alone hits the mark, and ceases from sin, who attains to God through Christ Jesus.” (Adam Clarke Commentary) E. vs. 18-28. 1. Their numerical advantage notwithstanding, Israel was trounced twice by Benjamin, losing 40,000 men. Let this remind us to not put our trust in numbers. MAT 7:13-14; 2CO 10:12. 2. They even sought the word of the LORD Who twice told them to go up. vs. 18, 23. 3. It was only when they humbled themselves with fasting, burnt offerings and peace offerings with the high priest present that they received the fuller answer, “...Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand” (v. 28). 4. There was obviously a sin issue that needed to be addressed. a. If a sin issue is not addressed by the means God has ordained (confession, repentance, pleading for forgiveness), and especially if the sin is a known, coveted thing, God may well answer us according to the idol of our heart (EZE 14:4-5) and we will draw false conclusions and assurances from our own imaginations or even from Scripture itself. ISA 28:13. b. Inasmuch as Dan was in the mix (v. 1), perhaps there was a lingering issue of inconsistency in having not gone to war against the idolatry of Dan (for which they had clear directive, DEUT 13:12-15). JDG 18:30. c. NOTE: Our warfare against one sin may be ineffective because there is another sin which we choose to overlook: “Lord, why can’t I overcome my adulterous thoughts while leering at pornography, or drinking so much that it breaks down my resistance to behold strange women?” PRO 23:33. d. Sin also impedes conversions. PSA 51:10-13. F. vs. 29-48. 1. Having received instruction and promise from God, Israel employed the strategy of using “liers in wait” to gain the day against Gibeah. c/w JOS 8:13-14. a. This phrase occurs nine times in Scripture, six of them in this chapter. b. This principle can be used positively in witness and in apologetics by letting someone’s errant premise be drawn out to its logical conclusion which undermines or destroys the premise (reductio ad absurdum). 1CO 15:12-18. c. But in the warfare against personal sin, we only deceive ourselves if we think we can draw sin out into the open to get the advantage. Such would be a case of making provision for the flesh to fulfil its lusts. ROM 13:14 c/w JAM 1:14. d. Paul warns about subtle false teachers who “...lie in wait to deceive” (EPH 4:14), deliberately using faulty logic, emotionalism, flattery, etc. 2. Israel all but annihilated Benjamin. a. Only 600 men escaped to the rock Rimmon. v. 47. b. Israel then “scorched earth” all other life of Benjamin. v. 48. c. This deprived Benjamin of womenfolk and set up the desperate tactics detailed in the next chapter. G. The Gibeah Fiasco became renowned as a mark of great sin that should never have been repeated. HOS 9:9; 10:9.