50. The Benjaminite Fiasco

A Good Plan Turned Deadly

The fact that the grandson of Aaron is mentioned in this story indicates that it must have happened quite early in the history of the Book of Judges.

Then, there, in the Book of Judges, is a 21st-century news story.  One can't help but wonder, are modern people any more depraved than the ancients were?

A certain Levite had married a concubine who started "fooling around", and after a while, she decided to break up her marriage relationship and she went back to her father's house. Then, after four whole months. ... her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back.

On his way home with the concubine, as nightfall approached, the servant suggested that they lodge in Jebus (that is, Jerusalem).  However, the Levite replied, We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah. 

We ran into this line of thinking also in the life of Abram.  He lied to Pharaoh because he assumed that since Pharaoh was not an Israelite he would have very low moral standards. He was so wrong.  Abram's son, Isaac, had the same illogical mindset.  In this story, the Levite was also cursed with racial discrimination.  That was a horrible mistake!

The town of Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and we recall that Benjamin was Joseph's baby brother.  It was in Gibeah that the Levite and his entourage settled down for the night.  While in Gibeah, some gay, the Bible uses the word, perverted men came to the door and demanded that the stranger be brought outside so that we may know him carnally! 

The owner of the house said, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! ... here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; Humble them, and do with them as you please; ... And they knew her and abused her (gang rape) all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light. 

When her master arose in the morning...  This is beyond belief!  His wife is just outside the door, being gang-raped and he is inside sleeping till morning.  One can't help but wonder, does this Levite have a heart at all?  When he opened the door he saw her with her hand on the threshold, and he said, Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer (she was dead). 

Brace yourself for this!   Her husband took her home and when they got there he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. Judges 19:1-30.  The twelve tribes investigated the validity of the story of her death, and when they knew the truth they joined forces against the tribe of Benjamin to inflict revenge.

A Family War To The Death

However, before the fighting began the leaders sent some men to scour the Gibeon territory to find and destroy the perverted men who had done such a horrible thing.  The Benjaminites refused to surrender them.  

They must have thought that such kind of perversion was acceptable; certainly not punishable by death.  The problem is, Canadian law holds the same view!

Before the war started the Israelites went to prayer, to ascertain the Lord's will, with their minds already made up.  They did not pray, Lord, should we go to war against our brother? They prayed, Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?  They concluded that the Lord said, Judah first!  Men are commonly more zealous to support their own authority than God’s. Matthew Henry.

The war started with about 28,000 Benjaminite soldiers and about 400,000 from the other eleven tribes.  After the first day was finished the eleven tribes had lost 22,000 soldiers.   The next day they lost 18,000 soldiers.  There is no record that the Benjaminites lost any soldiers in those two days of fighting.

On the third day of the war, the Israelites did some planning and they used strategy rather than just pure force.  They won the battle that day and killed 25,000 Benjaminites of an army that started with about 28,000.

Now, too late, the Israelites realized the horror of what they had done.  The tribe of Benjamin, their youngest brother, was virtually annihilated.  They had promised the Lord that “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”  What recourse did the Israelites have?  

They went to prayer again and wept over their brother's fate.  They prayed, "O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?"  Why indeed?  Couldn't you envision what would happen?  You killed most of their soldiers, (all except 600), you killed their farmers and herdsmen. You killed their women, children and livestock and now you have the audacity to ask, why has this come to pass.

They devised a plan.  The remaining Benjaminite men were to go to a town across the Jordan and kidnap young women whom they could then marry.   In such a sneaky, underhanded way the tribe of Benjamin could yet be saved.  The fathers of the girls were not in control of the situation and hence it was argued that they were not in any way responsible for breaking the covenant which they had made, the one that said None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.

In concluding this story, Matthew Henry fittingly writes: There may be over-doing in well-doing. Great care must be taken in the government of our zeal, lest that which seemed supernatural in its causes prove unnatural in its effects. That is no good divinity which swallows up humanity. Many a war is ill ended which was well begun.

49. Anti-Heros and One Heroine

Gideon, a well-loved biblical hero, had his own set of self-inflicted problems.  About him, is written, Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.  As if that isn't enough, he kept another woman for the times when he was not at home, his concubine who was in Shechem.  To greatly compound the problem she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. Judges 8:30-31.

Abimelech's 70 legitimate brothers would not accept him as one of them.  So, long story short; Abimelech killed the oldest 69 of his brothers, but the youngest one escaped by hiding. This whole story is in Judges 8:29-9:57.

Samson is the last judge of Israel in the Book of Judges.  His story is a convoluted history of lies and revenge; a story of different women to please his selfish desires.  Samson's last act of revenge was also a suicidal act. See Judges 13:1-16:31.

The second part of this book starts in 17:1 and it relates some of the darkest, most murderous episodes in the history of Israel.  The main point of this section is: In those days (there was) no king in Israel; everyone did right in his own eyes.  Words with similar meaning are found in Judges 17:6. 18:1: 19:1: 21:25.

Bible commentators agree that the stories in this section do not follow after the period of the judges, but should be interspersed into the period of the judges.  To maintain continuity, the judges were listed in sequence first.  The following stories are individual anecdotes not involving any judges.  It contains horrible atrocities which the Israelites committed against each other and against other nations.

This section starts with Micah, not the prophet Micah, a spoiled brat of a child, now grown into manhood, who stole about 28 pounds of silver from his mother.  When he returned it to her, she said, Oh, you wonderful child. Thank you for bringing it back, now you may have some of it to make an idol for your house.  The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols.  Whatever happened to the 2nd commandment, Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. Ex. 20:4 CEV.

Not only that, but he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. Judges 17:5.  This was so totally against the laws set forth by Moses.   Only Levites were to be priests in Israel, but Micah's son was of the tribe of Ephraim and so was not qualified to be a priest.

Then, by chance, a Bethlehemite of the tribe of Judah who was a Levite happened to stop by at Micah's house, looking for work.  Being a lower sort of person, he was content to be a priest in a house, which had idols, and to lead the family to worship at those idols.

There is some confusion in the fact that the Bible says that he was of the tribe of Judah and that he was a Levite.   Matthew Henry, in his commentary, clarifies by saying this refers to the fact that his mother was from the tribe of Judah but his father was a Levite.

As it happened in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; and they passed by the house of Micah, who had his own "built in" priest. The Danites persuaded the young priest that it would be better for him to be a priest over a whole tribe rather than just one family. So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people. Well, with a promotion like that he probably would not need to live on beggar's wages anymore. When Micah complained to the Danites about what they had done, they told him, Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!” Judges 17:1-18:26. Remember, their forefathers were brothers!

A Bright Star in Dark Days

The story of Ruth and Naomi also falls into the period of the judges.

Elimelech and Naomi, with their two sons, moved to Moab because of a famine in Canaan. In Moab the husband and both sons passed away leaving Naomi a widow with two daughters-in-law.  Many years before this

1. Abram and his extended family moved from Canaan to Egypt because of famine.

2. Years later, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt for the same reason.

3. Now, Elimelech and Naomi move to Moab, again, it is because of famine.

4. Later, in the history of Israel, during Elijah's time, Canaan suffered from seven years of drought.

Canaan is called the land of milk and honey.  I wonder, compared to which other country? Throughout the Bible people are constantly moving away from Canaan just to find food because of a local drought.  By the way: The flow rate of the Jordan River once was 1.3 billion cubic metres per year; as of 2010, just 20 to 30 million cubic metres per year flow into the Dead Sea. Wikipedia.  Earlier some had predicted that by 2012 the Jordan River would have ceased to exist.

Now, back to Naomi.  Some lessons to learn from this story are:

1. a daughter in law can be loyal to her mother in law.

2. cultural and racial differences do not need to stand in the way of true friendship.

3. For those who accept that the Bible predicts the future, 4:11-12 holds a beautiful promise. May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ... because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.  As it happens Ruth was the great-great-grandmother of King David and, of course, we know that The Messiah was born in Bethlehem of the line of David.  So this bright promise, in the dark days of Israel, was fulfilled with the Birth of Christ.

Many posts ago we noticed a similar promise in Gen. 3:15, Jehovah said, And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head.  That promise, in different words, is repeated many times throughout the Old Testament, as it is, here, in the Book of Ruth.

48. Pride and Idolatry

Chosen

Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Judges 2:6.  Yet, as one reads the book of Judges it is easy to believe that not all the judges of Israel were called by The Lord.

The following episode is among the goriest pictures painted in the Bible.

So Ehud (the second judge of Israel) came (brought the tribute) to him (Eglon, a foreign king) (now he was sitting (alone) upstairs in his cool private chamber). Judges 3:20.  With all the stealth and fortitude of James Bond, Ehud dispatched Eglon into the next world.

Notice that at least four judges were specifically called:

1. Othniel. the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel. Judges 3:9.

2. Ehud.  the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud. Judges 3:15. 

3. Gideon.  The Lord said to Gideon, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel. Judges 6:14.

4. Samson. She called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him. Judges 13:24-25.

5. Deborah.  There is no statement, of that nature, made about the calling of Deborah.  Was it because she was so "full of herself", or was it, maybe, because her theology was so far off base?

In her song she praised herself; she sang, Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Arose a mother in Israel. Judges 5:7.  Do you recall that old adage, "self-praise stinks"?  The Bible has much to say about pride going before a fall.  We will have more on that when we study King Saul.

From their wanderings, in the wilderness, the Israelites should have learned that praise belongs to Jehovah.  

Deborah, however, had a different theology.  She sang They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera. Judges 5:20.  Astrology is also very prevalent in our time.  Some speak of the stars not "being lined up" in someone's favour.  

The Jews claim that Jehovah guides the affairs of humanity, but this woman, in her song, puts astrology into the place that Jehovah should have.  Perhaps she was not called to be a judge at all; she did not win any victories against the nation's enemies. However, her sidekick, Barak did win a very decisive battle against the Canaanites.

Gideon, on the other hand, had humility as his shield, he said, O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. Judges 6:15.  Eventually, the Lord convinced Gideon to go to war, and Gideon, through some cunning war manoeuvres, with an army of only 300 men, won the victory over 120,000 soldiers.

Gideon (Destroyer, or mighty warrior) is a strange name for this man; he was fearful, timid and afraid to move forward. See Judges 6:27; 6:36-40.

Not Chosen

Gideon's name was later changed to Jerubbaal, (contender with Baal).  If this is the meaning, this name change would refer to the time when he destroyed the altar of Baal. Judges 6:26-30. 

Some believe that Jerubbaal means, he that defends Baal.  This opinion is quite defensible. The Bible says, as soon as Gideon was dead, ... the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Judges 8:33.

Baal-Berith is pictured as a human(ish) being with devilish looking goat-like features. Obviously, Gilead had not impressed on the Israelites the importance of worshipping only Jehovah!   Was he also interested in serving Baal?

It is so sad when "servants of God" who start out obedient to their calling, later in life, lose track of their purpose.  This happened to Gilead.  He collected the golden spoils of war and made a golden ephod. One of the meanings of ephod is an ancient Hebrew instrument of priestly divination. Merriam-Webster dictionary.  

About this ephod, the Bible says, And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. Judges 8:27.  

People prefer to worship something they can see rather than Someone they cannot see.

One Sunday evening we visited a "supposedly" Christian church for a special service.  At the front of the church next to the podium was lying a life-size replica of the cross of Christ. The audience was invited to come forward and kiss the cross.  

This was so totally repugnant to me.  I had the same feeling about that incident as Gideon should have had about that ephod in his house.  The Bible clearly says Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Ex. 20:4.  

We must never worship the cross of Christ!

We have been taught that Jehovah is omniscient (that He knows everything).  That means He knows the future as well as the past.  If that is true, of course, He would never have to change His mind.   Perhaps He would not even be able to change His mind.  Jehovah said to the wayward Israelites, Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress. Judges 10:13-14.

However, only a few verses later, the Bible says, His (Jehovah's) soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.  The Lord changed His mind when the people repented.  This is the wonderful thing about Jehovah.  Joel wrote, So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:13.  The Lord can relent, He can change His mind, therefore, it sounds as though He is not omniscient!

Many people love to dwell on the fury and retribution of Jehovah as it is displayed in the Old Testament and because of that, they condemn Him.  The thing they refuse to see is the awful depravity of humans; those repeated and horrid sinful actions which deserve Jehovah's punishment.  Do those people really believe that Jehovah should turn a blind eye to murder, adultery, lying, rape? 

If individuals, or whole nations, repent of their sinful ways, the Lord will relent of the planned destruction, and again bless that nation.