But many others in Israel mourned the thought of a lost tribe. They went up to the house of God and wept and mourned before Him for an entire day, then got up the next morning to present offerings to Him and to continue beseeching Him on behalf of the Benjamites. Then a thought came into their minds that is going to be the solution to the problem. "Then the Israelites asked, 'Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord?' For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death." (Judges 21:5)
Apparently when the call to arms was made to go up against the fighting men of Benjamin at Gibeah, a threat was made to any clan who refused to send soldiers. The leadership of the nation stated that any clan who did not send men to battle would be put to death. Now, I want to stop here for a minute to point out that just because such a threat was made does not mean it was made upon instructions from the Lord. Also it does not mean that the carrying out of this threat, which we'll study today, was done upon instructions from the Lord. The making of the death threat was probably another example of everyone doing as they saw fit. The making of the solemn oath that no man would give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite is another example of them doing as they saw fit, for it does not seem at all likely or possible that the Lord would want any tribe of Israel becoming extinct. But the Lord knows everything anyone will ever do and He is able to weave all our actions (whether good or bad) into the tapestry of His master plan. The very oath so many men took in order to destroy the tribe of Benjamin will be used for the saving of the tribe of Benjamin.
While a large group of people mourned at Bethel, it occurred to them that although every clan of Israel was ordered to send soldiers to the war, it was possible that fighting men from every region of the nation did not go up against the Benjamites at Gibeah. They soon find out that this is the case. "Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. 'Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,' they said. 'How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?' Then they asked, 'Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?' They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there." (Judges 21:6-9)
No soldiers from Jabesh Gilead had joined the fight. Jabesh Gilead lay within the territory of East Manasseh, which means it was on the opposite side of the Jordan River from the territory of Benjamin. The tribes of Gad and Reuben also settled on the same side of the Jordan as half the tribe of Manasseh but they evidently sent soldiers to the war. The author of Judges doesn't tell us why no one from Jabesh Gilead crossed the Jordan to join the fight but, since the oath was made that those who didn't send soldiers would be put to death, the people are going to use the terms of this oath to obtain some wives for the Benjamites.
"So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including women and children. 'This is what you are to do,' they said. 'Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.' They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan." (Judges 21:10-12) They slaughter all the males for not joining the fight and they kill all the married women and all the children. They then take all the single women to Shiloh. Again we have to keep in mind that they are doing what seems right in their own eyes, to use a phrase that has been repeated several times by now by the author of Judges.
We can't presume to know the mind of the Lord but there's no evidence that He urged anyone to take the oath that any soldiers who didn't report to Mizpah would be put to death. There's no evidence He prompted anyone to make the oath that they would not give any of their daughters in marriage to a Benjamite. There's no evidence He ordered anyone to kill all the men, married women, and children of Jabesh Gilead. But in spite of taking unwise oaths and in spite of engaging in such wholesale slaughter in our current chapter and in the preceding chapter, the people have left themselves an opening through which they will save the tribe they almost eradicated.
One thing I think we can know about the mind of the Lord is that if the Lord had had His way, the men of Gibeah would never have become wicked and violent sinners in the first place. Then they would not have gang raped and killed the wife of the traveling Levite. Then the Levite would not have appealed to the leaders of Israel to do something about the wickedness at Gibeah. Then the leaders of Israel would not have had to order the Benjamites to turn over the wicked men of Gibeah for execution. If the Lord had had His way, the Benjamites would have been so grieved by the sins of the men of Gibeah that they would have turned them over, but instead they called up their fighting men to defend the Gibeahites, leading to a civil war between themselves and the other tribes of Israel. If the Lord had had His way, I don't believe He'd have instructed the Israelites to make a vow that essentially spelled out the doom of the tribe of Benjamin.
I believe that repentance and restoration is always His goal for anyone who goes astray. The Apostle Paul, in speaking to the Christian church at Galatia, urged the believers to work toward the restoration of the one who has gone astray, reminding them that they themselves are not perfect either: "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-3) The Benjamites were the brothers and sisters of all the other Israelites, therefore taking a solemn oath to help them back onto the right path and to restore them to fellowship with the Lord would have been the godly choice rather than taking an oath to rid the earth of them.
Now that the unmarried women from Jabesh Gilead are at Shiloh, the Israelites send word to the Benjamites that they want to make a treaty with them and supply them with wives so they can continue their family lines. "Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared." (Judges 21:13-14a) Four hundred women are not enough for the number of Benjamites who are without wives. "But there were not enough for all of them." (Judges 21:14b)
When we study the remainder of Chapter 21 tomorrow we'll read about the solution that is arrived at to handle this problem. But for now we will stop and consider how deeply the entire nation was affected by the sins of the men of one city. Just as "small" personal sins tend to lead to bigger sins, "small" national sins tend to lead to bigger sins. The men of Gibeah went horribly astray, spiritually speaking, and their steep fall into depravity probably began as a series of much smaller compromises of faith. The entire nation, in the era of the judges, has evidently been making compromises of faith. If that is not the case then I am not sure why the author of Judges keeps reminding us that during this era "everyone did as they saw fit". When men and women do as they see fit without comparing and contrasting their inclinations with the word of God, things begin going wrong. Certainly nothing good ever came in my own life of following my own inclinations rather than following the word of God. So I feel that something very important we can take away from our study today is the fact that no sin is really a small sin. No sin is inconsequential. Sin always causes some type of harm, either immediately or in the future. Sin usually costs us more than we ever expected. Sin usually causes hardship not only for us but for those around us. All sin is extremely serious and needs to be recognized, repented of, and corrected as quickly as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment