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Last week we saw the Levite's 
concubine. They were in Gibeah. The people 
of the city wanted to have relations with the man, with the Levite 
himself. The Levite then gave them his 
concubine. and they raped her and abused 
her, and then she died. So the Levite cut her up into 
12 pieces, sent her to the 12 tribes of Israel as a call to 
arms, and that's what we're looking at now in chapter 20, so I'll 
begin reading in verse 1. So all the children of Israel 
came out from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, 
and the congregation gathered together as one man before the 
Lord at Mizpah. And the leaders of all the people, 
all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of 
the people of God, 400,000 foot soldiers who drew the sword. 
Now, the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel 
had gone up to Mizpah. And the children of Israel said, 
tell us, how did this wicked deed happen? So the Levite, the 
husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, 
my concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 
to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah rose against 
me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended 
to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that 
she died. So I took hold of my concubine, 
cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory 
of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness 
and outrage in Israel. Look, all of you are children 
of Israel. Give your advice and counsel 
here and now. So all the people arose as one 
man, saying, none of us will go to his tent, nor will any 
turn back to his house. But now this is the thing which 
we will do to Gibeah. We will go up against it by lot. 
We will take 10 men out of every 100 throughout all the tribes 
of Israel, 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000 
to make provisions for the people. that when they come to Gibeah 
in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done 
in Israel. So all the men of Israel were 
gathered against the city, united together as one man. Then the 
tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, 
what is this wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore, 
deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we 
may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel. But the 
children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their 
brethren, the children of Israel. Instead, the children of Benjamin 
gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go to battle 
against the children of Israel. And from their cities at that 
time, the children of Benjamin numbered 26,000 men who drew 
the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 select 
men. Among all this people were 700 select men who were left-handed. Everyone could sling a stone 
at a hair's breadth and not miss. Now besides Benjamin, the men 
of Israel numbered 400,000 men who drew the sword. All of these 
were men of war. 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 
at 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 22,000 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. 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 18,000 more of the children of Israel. All these 
drew the sword. 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 Phineas, the son of Eliezer, 
the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days saying, shall 
I yet again go out to do 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. And 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 30 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 10,000 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 25,100 Benjamites. All these drew the sword. 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 30 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 18,000 men of Benjamin fell. 
All these were men of valor. Then they turned and fled toward 
the wilderness to the rock of Rimon, and they cut down 5,000 
of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly 
up to Gidom and killed 2,000 of them. So all who fell of Benjamin 
that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword. All these were 
men of valor." But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness 
to the rock of Reman. And they stayed at the rock of 
Reman 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. Amen. Just a quick note with 
reference to this third battle. If you notice, verses 29 to 46, 
what we have is a general report or a general description in verses 
29 to 36a. And then it's stated again, but 
amplified. More of the details are given. 
This is an aspect of Hebrew narrative. I think this is what's done in 
Genesis chapter 1, 26 to 28, speaks about the creation of 
man. and then you get to chapter 2 
and it then develops or fills in the details concerning the 
creation of man. It's not two creation accounts. It's not two victory accounts. 
Some have speculated that this was composite. and that for whatever 
reason the narrator sort of threw them both together in this particular 
instance. That's not what's happening at 
all. It's a general description, the first portion, and then the 
detailed description in the latter portion of this particular section. So there's three things that 
we should notice tonight as we look at chapter 20. Again, a 
very distressing chapter, a very grieving chapter. 19 was definitely 
not something that we would write devotional literature about concerning 
the death of this concubine. Neither is chapter 20. If you 
notice just in the reading, three instances or three times the 
children of Israel refer to their brother the Benjamites. This is a civil war. This is 
the 12 tribes of Israel, 11 going to war against one of them. There's 
more unity found amongst Israel in chapter 20 than there is with 
any of the judges in chapters 3 to 16. they gather together 
as one man. The text specifies that three 
times. Well, what are they gathered 
together as one man for, but to go and destroy their brethren, 
to destroy another tribe in Israel. So it too is a very dark chapter 
It is a response to the situation of Leviticus chapter 19. So there's 
three things. First, the report of the Levite 
in verses 1 to 7. Secondly, the decision of Israel 
in verses 8 to 17. And then thirdly, the military 
action in verses 18 to 48. Now, there's three battles indicated, 
and if you paid attention during the reading, you'll notice that 
in each of those instances, the children of Israel inquired of 
the Lord. And in the first two instances, 
they lost. God told them to go ahead and 
send Judah first, and then he tells them again, go ahead. And 
in both those instances initially, the first two battles, they die. 
They lose a great deal of troops. In those two battles together, 
they lose about a tenth of the population in terms of fighting 
men. 400,000 foot soldiers, in those 
two battles, they lose 40,000 men. It's a bit of a difficult 
thing to get one's mind wrapped around. I don't know that I have 
the definitive answer, but we'll look at a few things as to why, 
when they inquired of the Lord, God said to go, and then there 
was judgment brought upon Israel in this particular instance. 
So we'll look at that as we move through the passage, but note 
first the assembling together of the people in verses 1 to 
3. You've probably heard this phrase, 
from Dan to Beersheba. This is the first time it makes 
its appearance in the Bible. Dan is up in the north, Beersheba 
is down in the south. That means the entirety of Israel 
gathers together, as well as from the land of Gilead. Remember 
that the land of Gilead is east side of the River Jordan. So 
even the eastern tribes have come over to hear this particular 
report and to take action against the Benjamites as a result. I think the only ones that do 
not show up is from Jabesh Gilead and more on them in chapter 21. 
But you see the scenario, the entirety of Israel is gathered 
together And then verse 3 indicates, now the children of Benjamin 
heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. This isn't 
the Mizpah that's on the east side of the River Jordan. If 
you remember, Jephthah was at a Mizpah. That's in the region 
of Gilead. This is Mizpah, which is about 
8 miles north of Jerusalem, right in the heart of this particular 
area. And so the Benjamites knew that 
Israel was gathering together and they did not go. They did 
not send a delegation. They didn't send representatives. It seems to indicate, the implication 
is there, based on what we find in the rest of the chapter, that 
the Benjamites were going to side with the men of Gibeah and 
they were going to stand against the 11 tribes of Israel. So already 
in verse 3 this is not a positive indicator of the direction things 
are going to go with reference to Benjamin. Then we notice the 
report given by the Levite in verses 4 to 7. It gives a reminder 
but there's a reminder here concerning chapter 19. Verse 4, the Levite, 
the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, 
My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 
to spend the night. That's not completely true. They 
were passing through. They didn't go to Gibeah to spend 
the night. They happened to be in Gibeah 
and they sought refuge then. He then says in verse 5, And 
the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house 
at night because of me. They intended to kill me but 
instead they ravished my concubine so that she died." So he's giving 
the general thrust of what actually occurred in Gibeah but he's certainly 
not going to get an award for being the most honest man ever 
because we know according to verse 25 in chapter 19 it was 
this Levite that took his concubine and brought her out to them he 
leaves that specific detail out when he's addressing the tribes 
of Israel no doubt because it would make himself look bad as 
well he wants there to be intervention he's trying to gain the allegiance 
and the attention of the tribes of Israel so that they will take 
appropriate action against Benjamin for this horrific crime. Remember 
that was the whole point of his dissecting this woman, verses 
6 and 7. He takes hold of her, he cuts 
her in pieces, he sends her throughout all the territory of the inheritance 
of Israel because they committed lewdness and outrage. He dissected 
her, he distributes her, and the purpose for this particular 
action is because they, Gibeah, committed lewdness and outrage 
in Israel. Verse 7 indicates that he is 
looking for action. He is looking for assistance. 
He wants them to take notice of this great crime and to deal 
with it. Look, all of you are children 
of Israel. Give your advice and counsel 
here and now. So that's the report. It's the 
basis, the foundation. Now we proceed to the decision 
of Israel. Note verses 8 to 17. The decision is indicated in 
verses 8 to 11. Again, we have unity. So all 
the people arose as one man. Verse 8. Again, that's repeated 
in verse 11. This one man is risen up together 
to deal with this particular situation. They rally the troops 
together. They discuss what they're going 
to do. They speak specifically. in verse 10. We will take ten 
men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel a hundred 
out of every thousand and a thousand out of every ten thousand to 
make provisions for the people that when they come to Gibeah 
in Benjamin they may repay all the vileness that they have done 
in Israel. It seems that they understood 
that combat with the Benjamites wouldn't be just an easy operation 
And they take all these men to make provisions. The idea is 
probably they want to have supply lines running and open because 
they know they're going to be engaged in this particular battle 
for quite some time. They want to neutralize the threat, 
and they want to do it in the best possible way that they can. And their address, or their specific 
purpose, is that they may repay, at the end of verse 10, all the 
vileness that they have done in Israel. So far, so good. They're operating accordingly. 
I think as we move through the passage, though, and as we consider 
this situation in light of the rest of the Pentateuch, they're 
not always as consistent as they ought to be. So verse 11 says, 
So all the men of Israel were gathered together against the 
city, united together as one man. So as Bloch says, support 
for the resolution is unanimous. Finally, the tribes of Israel 
are allied in a common military exercise. But tragically, instead 
of taking aim at the Canaanites, in keeping with the divine mandate, 
they have set their sights on one of their own cities. And 
this is somewhat ironic. This kind of unity, this one-man-ness 
is not when they go against the Canaanites. It's not when they 
oppose the Midianites. It's not when they're dealing 
with Ammonites. It's when they're dealing with their own people. 
And so the author and the narrator is highlighting just how bad 
things really are in Israel at this particular time. Now notice 
the rebellion or the intransigence of the tribes of Benjamin. They 
send a delegation, verses 12 and 13. Then the tribes of Benjamin 
sent throughout... I'm sorry, the tribes of Israel 
sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin saying, what is this 
wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore deliver 
up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may 
put them to death and remove the evil from Israel. That's 
good, they're not playing around. Give us the men that engaged 
in this particular crime, we will carry out the death penalty 
upon them, and we will neutralize this particular problem. There 
is going on something of an application of Deuteronomy 13. When there 
is a city that's given over to revolution, a city that's in 
opposition to the law of God, the cities around them, the tribes 
around them, are to go and to deal with that particular city. 
But it is intriguing that when this happens with reference to 
the tribe of Dan, there is no military action. When there's 
something like murder, they engage in military action. I'm not suggesting 
they shouldn't deal with murder, but the stipulations of Deuteronomy 
13 are very specifically religious in nature, apostasy and idolatry. Those things are bypassed in 
the land of Israel, bypassed to the degree that when we meet 
with Gideon, we find that there's an altar to Baal in his own hometown. We see all sorts of evidence 
that the nation of Israel is not operating consistently whatsoever. So they make this appeal to the 
tribe of Benjamin, and then Benjamin digs in their feet. Notice verse 
13, about in the middle. But the children of Benjamin 
would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children 
of Israel. Again, the brethren. The idea 
is that we have an anomaly here. We've got a problem here. We've 
got brethren fighting brethren. We've got tribes in Israel combating 
other tribes in Israel. This is a bad thing. But we see 
very specifically they reject the request made by the 11 tribes 
and they side with the wicked men of Gibeah. Absolutely evil 
that they would side with these perverts, these men that wanted 
to engage in gang rape of a man, which would have been homosexuality, 
who then engage in gang rape of a woman who's married and 
they ultimately murder her. This is terrible that Benjamin 
doesn't say, we'll take these perverted men of Gibeah, deliver 
them over to the 11 tribes so that they can be executed and 
we'll see to avert the wrath of God. No, they dig in their 
heels and they resolve to go into battle against Israel. That's what verse 14 tells us. 
Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their 
cities to Gibeah to go to battle against the children of Israel. 
Now notice, it gives us a summary of their military strength. They 
are certainly outnumbered. They do not have the resources 
of the other 11 tribes. Notice in verse 15, and from 
their cities at that time, the children of Benjamin numbered 
26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah 
who numbered 700 select men. Among all this people were 700 
select men who were left-handed. This is kind of interesting because 
Benjamin means the son of the right hand. And yet we have this 
crack force of 700 lefties in Benjamin. Remember that Yigud 
was a left-handed man as well. There would be a tactical advantage 
to having 700 left-handed men. I'm going to let Davis explain 
that in just a moment. But these details are not superfluous. They want us, or the author wants 
us to understand that though there is a great disparity between 
the numbers, you've got great talent among Gibeah and the Benjamites. You may not necessarily need 
a multitude or quantity if you have quality. And note how these 
men are described at the end of verse 16. Well, verse 16, 
among all these people were 700 select men who were left-handed. Everyone could sling a stone 
at a hair's breadth and not miss. Now that's a very important piece 
of military strategy. You would certainly want to know 
that detail if you were going into battle against these particular 
men. It might mean that you're going 
to wear a full helmet because these guys can hit a hair on 
your head. from a distance with their slings. Listen to what Davis says. He 
says, yet it is unlikely that bull-headed Benjamin will be 
a pushover. They may be far outnumbered, 
but their crack 700 unit will have to be reckoned with. This 
number formed an elite core of left-handed super slingers, renowned 
for their deadly accuracy. They may have been the reason 
Benjamin had initial success against the other tribes. Now 
notice, he says, most soldiers were probably right-handed and 
carried their shields on their left arms. That would provide 
normal defense against right-handed slingers. But lefty slingers 
would be hurling at a different angle toward the unguarded side. 
And if these left-handers could hit a hare, they could surely 
smash a right ear. So this is not some detail that's 
just kind of thrown in there. It answers the question how such 
a few men could ultimately decimate 40,000 from the tribes of Israel. Again, it's not necessarily quantity, 
but it's quality, and these men knew what they were doing in 
terms of dealing with their enemies. So that's a description. We're 
reminded again concerning the number of foot soldiers in Israel 
in verse 17. Now, besides Benjamin, the men 
of Israel numbered 400,000 men who drew the sword. All of these 
were men of war. So everything is set up. The 
battle is going to take place. And now we enter into the military 
action. As I said, there's three battles. 
The first two are unsuccessful for Israel, certainly successful 
for the tribe of Benjamin. But for Israel, they do not do 
well in the first two, but it's in the third that they ultimately 
gain victory. Now notice battle number one, 
verse 18. Then the children of Israel arose 
and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. That's a good 
thing. People should inquire of God. 
It's interesting that God, Elohim, is used and not Yahweh, Covenant 
Lord. I don't know what the author 
is indicating here with that particular tidbit, but they go 
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 what we have here is a request 
for direction and we have a response from God. Notice, however, that 
God does not promise victory. We need to make sure that we 
keep this in mind. God simply tells them, Judah 
first. Why Judah first? Well, it could 
be as simple as the fact that it was Judah, Bethlehem and Judah, 
where the Levite and the concubine were from. They were the victims 
of this particular crime that took place in chapter 19. The 
book of Judges starts off with Judah, chapter 1, verses 1 to 
20, Judah being the first going into battle. So Judah strikes 
us at the outset as being a warring a group. So they ask God which 
tribe should go up first and God says Judah first. Now notice 
in 19, 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 22,000 men of the Israelites." Now, maybe you don't see the 
tension in this particular verse. If you do not, let me remind 
you. They've gone to the house of 
God. They've inquired of God. They've asked specifically which 
tribe should go first. God says Judah should go first. If I was in the midst of Israel 
at this particular time, I would suppose that we were going to 
win. I would suppose that us having gone to the house of God, 
inquiring of God, and God answering very specifically the question 
that we posed, would have meant that when we go into battle against 
the Benjamites, we are simply going to devastate them, and 
we'll go home and have our dinner later. So what happened? How do we explain this? What's 
going on in this particular passage? At the end of the study tonight, 
we'll try and draw out some lessons. But there is an interesting piece. 
And I do not have the corner on these specifically, these 
two instances. There's a lot of difference of 
opinion on what's going on in the passage. But if you look 
at verse 18, 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? Do 
you think that perhaps the best first question would have been, 
should we go up to battle against Benjamin? They've already got 
it in their head what they're going to do. They're already 
on the course. They've already got troops in 
place. I wonder if in this situation 
and in the second situation, it's a classic case of somebody 
having in their head what they're going to do, but for obligatory 
purposes, they throw up some prayers to God and say, will 
you rubber stamp my decision so that I can tell everybody 
that I prayed about it? Well, that's exactly what's going 
on, or seems to be what's going on here. Which of us shall go 
up first to battle against the children of Benjamin? Not should 
we launch a military incursion against another tribe in Israel 
for this particular crime that happened in Gibeah. That would 
have been preferable, to know whether or not there was divine 
sanction for the mission in and of itself. They come to the house 
of God to inquire of God already having it made up in their mind, 
all they want to know, and it just seems like a matter of procedure 
at this point, which tribe should go first? Judah. So now they 
trot out into battle, and instead of devastating the Benjamites, 
they themselves are devastated, and they lose 22,000 troops. 
This is a huge hit to Israel. Now, in terms of 400,000 people, 
but you're talking about 11 tribes. You're talking about a pretty 
sizable group of people at this particular situation. What appears to be going on here, 
at least in this first situation, is some presumption. They've 
already presumed that this is the best response, military action. And out of presumption, we ought 
to see pride. When we presume to undertake 
in a particular area, it's asserting the idea that we know what's 
best, and that's ultimately pride. There is another, this is another 
instance, as will be punctuated at the end of chapter 21, there 
was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own 
eyes. We think it's best to go do this, we're going to ask God 
just to give his rubber stamp on the back end so that we can 
say, but I prayed about it. And as I thought through this 
more and more, I've heard this interpretation before, and sometimes 
I've kind of not really given it a lot of thought, but it really 
does speak to a situation which I think we find ourselves in. 
Maybe not you, but we pray, or some of us pray, our minds are 
made up, or we have an action, and then we just want God's blessing 
upon it. It's not that we want God to 
actually intervene and direct us according to His will. We 
want to do what we want according to our will, but we want His 
sanction. We want His approval, and we want His blessing. Be 
like your child coming to you and saying, Dad, would you please 
give me money so I can go over here and do this? Not only am 
I not going to give you money, but I refuse that you even go 
there. What we want is not what is most important. It's what 
the will of the Lord God is. And in this particular situation, 
they had a situation or they had a structure in place where 
there was a house of God, there was a priest, there was the Urim 
and the Thummim, there was a way to seek specifically through 
the priest in Israel what God's will was for them. So they go 
out to battle, they lose the 22,000. Now notice in verse 22 
as we move to the second battle. 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. It doesn't even enter into their 
minds that battle against the Benjamites may not be what the 
will of God is. I'd like to think that if we 
were in that situation, and I'm sure I'm really giving us a lot 
of credit, we would have probably thought, wait a minute, we just 
lost 22,000 men to these left-handed you know, sharpshooters, maybe 
God doesn't want us to go into battle. That doesn't enter in. 
Look at what they do. They encourage themselves, they 
get back into battle array, even before going back to inquire 
of God. You see, they have an agenda, 
they have a mission, they have a purpose, they have a track. 
All they're trying to do is use God to stamp his approval upon 
it. Again, I think we've got pride 
and presumption in action in verses 22 to 25. So verse 22, 
the people, that is the men of Israel, just to clarify, encouraged 
themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where 
they had put themselves in array on the first day. Then the children 
of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening. It's 
good. Weep before the Lord. We ought to cry out to God Most 
High. And it says, And asked counsel 
of the Lord, saying, Now they're a bit more tentative this time 
around. Shall I again draw near for battle 
against the children of my brother Benjamin? Now, it's a tentative 
request, but based on verse 22, their mind is made up. They've 
encouraged themselves. They're in battle array. They're 
going back to the house of God, again, just to fetch the rubber 
stamp on their particular venture. So God says, go up against him. Notice in battle one and battle 
two, God never promises victory. He just says, Judah first. And 
then he says, go up against him. Verse 24, perhaps this time they 
were empowered by the reality that we wept before the Lord. You see, that's another thing 
that we can often do, or sometimes do, is we think that if we weep 
enough, if we do enough, if we pray enough, then we've got to 
twist God's arm so that he'll give us what we want. If our 
motives are mercenary, even if we pepper them with prayer and 
tears, it doesn't change the fact. It's not as if, or it seems 
to be, it's not the case that they're really open and desirous 
to know the will of God in this particular instance. And notice 
in verse 24, so the children of Israel approached the children 
of Benjamin on the second day, probably thinking, were going 
to clean house. And Benjamin went out against 
them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground 
18,000 more of the children of Israel. All these drew the sword." 
You can almost hear the murmurings in Israel now. What happened? 
This time we wept. We prayed, we wept, we went to 
the house of the Lord. Yes, but in both of those situations, 
Your actions preceding those prayers indicated that your minds 
were made up. You already knew that you were 
going to do this particular thing. And so when you seek God's approval 
only, and not God's will, not God's direction, not God's guidance, 
if you're just looking for him to rubber stamp it, then it's 
going to fail. Now notice battle number three. The third battle, they are victorious. Verse 26, 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. This does seem to indicate 
more of a repentant spirit. This does seem to indicate that 
there are some good things going on. And what we find is that 
God hears and God answers. Verse 27, so the children of 
Israel inquired of the Lord. The ark of the covenant of God 
was there in those days. And Phineas, the son of Eleazar, 
the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days. You know what 
that means? It means that the 11 tribes had the means of grace. They had access to Yahweh. That 
is absolutely absent with reference to the Benjamites. There's no 
house of God that they're going to. There's no access to Yahweh 
that they're fetching. There is no presence of God on 
their behalf. Simply, they are acting completely, 
you know, in their own strength and in their own ability. So 
verse 27 and 28 indicates this, and then at the end in verse 
28, saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the 
children of my brother Benjamin, notice, or shall I cease? Maybe this isn't the right plan, 
God. The first time they actually 
entertain that maybe we shouldn't engage in this particular pursuit. You see the difference between 
battle one, battle two, and battle three. And so what happens? The 
end of verse 28. And the Lord said, go up, for 
tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand. You know, this 
would probably have been a good time in Israel's history to sing 
number 21. God moves in a mysterious way 
his wonders to perform. It cost them 40,000 people. We 
know ultimately, according to 2115, God is sovereign, orchestrating 
all of these events for his glory and for the good of his people. 
Notice in 2115, and the people grieved for Benjamin because 
the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel. And so what 
we have at this point is that God not only says go, but God 
promises or gives assurance that they will indeed gain the victory. in verse 28. So as we move through 
the third battle, we won't go point by point, but what it seems 
to be is that they set up an ambush. This was the key to success 
militarily, not the key. The key was God on their side, 
God blessing this particular effort, God sending them on their 
way to deal with the tribe of Benjamin. But in terms of military 
strategy, they They plant an ambush, and the fact that Benjamin 
had gained victory in two battles prior brought them into a spirit 
of presumption. There are two instances in the 
text, the first portion, the general description. and then 
the second portion where there's a more detailed description notice 
in verse 32 and the children of Benjamin said they are defeated 
before us as at first and then again in verse 39 we see presumption on the part of the children of 
Benjamin. Now Benjamin had begun to strike 
and kill about 30 of the men of Israel, for they said, surely 
they are defeated before us as in the first battle." So they 
were caught off guard. They hadn't anticipated this 
ambush. They didn't anticipate this strategy 
to lead them away from the city, to see their city burned. When 
they turn around, they see it smoking, and then Israel falls 
on them and utterly destroys every single one of them. So 
basically that's what's going on in these latter portion, or 
in the latter portion, again by way of a general description 
and then a detailed report in 36b to 48. And then it gives 
us the final or statistical summary in verse 46. So all who fell 
of Benjamin that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword. All these 
were men of valor. And then there were 600 that 
turn and fled. The 600 will fare in chapter 
21. We see that Benjamin is not utterly 
destroyed, utterly decimated, and utterly removed from Israel. There is a remnant in Benjamin 
that gets dealt with later in chapter 21. And then notice at 
the end in verse 48. They carry out, remember that 
harem principle, remember what God said when they dealt with 
the cities of Canaan. They would go into the city, 
they would utterly destroy everybody that was there, and they would 
burn it with fire. Same thing with reference to 
Deuteronomy 13, verses 8 and following. When there was a city 
given over to revolution against God Most High, and cities of 
Israel, the tribes of Israel went in. they went in and they 
utterly destroyed. They didn't take the stuff, they 
didn't loot the stuff, they didn't take it home, rather they put 
it under the ban and they destroyed everything. And that's what verse 
48 indicates. 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." Again, it's quite ironic, because how 
many times did they go into these cities among the Canaanites, 
and they didn't carry out this harem principle. So with reference 
to unity and obedience in this particular instance, they apply 
it not to Canaanites or Ammonites, but they apply it to their own 
brethren, to the children of Benjamin. So just a couple of 
lessons, and then we close. First, one that's come out several 
times. I'll just repeat it. Unity. 1, 8, and 11 indicate that these 
tribes are gathered together as one man. That was the way 
that Israel was to function. They were to have one Lord, one 
faith, one altar, one central sanctuary, so that it would indeed 
foster unity among the people of God, so that they could be 
the people of God. That there wouldn't be these 
factions, there wouldn't be these differences, rather there would 
be, not communistically, but uniformity in terms of their 
religion in Israel. Davis says, Israel's unity, in 
this case, is both impressive and tragic. and tragic because 
it is impressive. An exceptional unity indeed for 
an exceptional crime to be sure. Yet it is a unity of Israel against 
Israel. The story itself breathes an 
air of tragedy for three times it remembers that all Israel 
and Benjamin are brothers. No, Benjamin's wrong cannot be 
ignored. but there is a sadness about 
it nevertheless. And it becomes a sadder sadness 
when one begins to ask, now couldn't Israel ever get that united against 
the Canaanites or the Midianites or the Ammonites or the Philistines? 
Why is it that when Israel can really get itself together, it 
is against itself, Israel? And I think that doesn't take 
a lot of difficulty to jump into the New Covenant and say, you 
know, there's a time when the Church is more focused on arguments 
and fighting and tension and animosity within than combining 
together in unity and fighting the wickedness that is without. 
You know, one of those small things that demonstrate a great 
deal of wisdom, according to Proverbs 30, is the locust. They advance together. There 
is cooperation. They move on a field in unison 
and in harmony. Unity is a good thing. This isn't 
just an old covenant Israel concept. This is something that Paul the 
Apostle specifies for the Church of the Lord Jesus, and it's something 
that we ought to fight for, not in, you know, I'm gonna kill 
you so that we can have unity, but I mean in our own hearts, 
in our own strength, in our own desires to preserve that which 
God has placed. Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner 
of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which 
you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, 
bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity 
of the spirit and the bond of peace. How do we endeavor to 
keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace? I think 
traditionally we would think as long as everybody else does 
what they're supposed to do, well then we'll be fine. No, 
we need to internalize these things. When Paul says, with 
all lowliness, and gentleness, we need to first seek to imbibe 
that in our own hearts. With long-suffering, we cannot 
have short fuses and expect the Church to do well. Bearing with 
one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace. Why do we want the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace? There is one body and one spirit, 
just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, 
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above 
all and through all and in you all. Let us not make the grave 
error, the grave mistake of Israel that was better equipped, better 
able, and more unified to fight enemies within than they were 
to fight enemies without. Now, if somebody needs to be 
dealt with, in terms of discipline, all that. But the in-fighting 
and the day-to-day bickering and the tensions that so often 
go on in the life of the church, we ought to learn that God the 
Lord delights in unity. A second thing we ought to appreciate 
is the unity of Benjamin. Not appreciate in a good sense, 
but notice how wicked people consolidate together. Benjamin, 
not all of them had been guilty of the crime of rape and murder, 
but they bandied about for those men of Gibeah. They surrounded 
them. The wicked engage in solidarity. The wicked engage in unity. The 
wicked seek to have a camaraderie when they have a common foe. 
We see that in the life and times of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 
is very clear that Herod and Pilate did not get along together. They were not buddies. They didn't 
go golfing together. Except when it came time to oppose 
the Lord Jesus, then they gathered together. to do the will of the 
devil. What does Psalm 2 tell us? Look 
at Psalm 2. We have the mutiny of man. We 
have all these various peoples, all these various nations, and 
yet note their solidarity when it comes to their animosity against 
the Lord. Psalm 2.1, why do the nations 
rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth 
set themselves and the rulers take counsel together. These 
are men that in other situations hate each other and want to go 
to war against each other, and yet they take counsel together 
against the Lord and against His anointed saying, let us break 
their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. We 
need to understand the wicked have a unity. The wicked have 
a solidarity. and the wicked fight together 
as one man. And so when the church is fractured, 
when it's unraveling, we do not present a challenge to this unified 
foe. Thirdly, we've mentioned this. 
Israel had the means of grace, and they used it. They used those 
means. They went to the house of the 
Lord. They inquired of God. Their heart motives weren't necessarily 
right, and their procedure wasn't necessarily on in those first 
two instances, but they did have access to God. And they used 
the means that were available to them. This is specified very 
clearly in verses 27 and 28, or 26 and 27. And then, fourthly 
and finally, the mystery of providence. What we have to conclude, with 
reference to these first two battles, is that the Lord was 
judging Israel too. judging them, yes, for their 
presumption and their pride and their procedural errors as they 
went about this particular task. But as well, Israel was not innocent. In fact, I have thought about 
this. This is one of those instances where you have an idea and then 
you kind of get encouraged because one of the other guys actually 
says it. I thought about that Deuteronomy 13 connection. I'm 
not saying this, you know, I'm some great guy. It just came 
into my head. Deuteronomy 13, religious apostasy and idolatry. 
You go and you neutralize the threat. Now as bad as the crime 
of murder is, that's not what Deuteronomy 13 says. When you 
find a city that murders a concubine, descend upon it and execute them 
and burn their city to the ground. It doesn't say that. It says 
that for Deuteronomy 13, so I'm thinking, you know, the children 
of Israel are doing a good thing here. They want to neutralize 
this particular problem, but they've not done it when it comes 
to religious matters. They've let apostasy slide. They've 
let idolatry slide. They've let violations of the 
first and second commandments Go. But when it comes to this 
particular commandment, they are all over it. Gil says some 
of the rabbis thought that that was what was going on. So at 
least I have some, I don't know if Gil took that position. Maybe 
I shouldn't be too happy. At least I connect with a few 
rabbis somewhere in the history of the church. The children of 
Israel were not without sin. They needed to be humbled before 
the Lord as well. They needed to be taught specific 
lessons. And I think that's what's going on in battle one and battle 
two. And we must conclude that the 
Lord works according to his sovereign will. He is going to teach his 
people, even if it means 40,000 must die. That's a tough pill to swallow. 
I mean, still, having said everything we've said, seeing the procedural 
errors, we cannot minimize the fact that 40,000 men died in 
this particular exchange. Davis makes this very excellent 
observation. Speaking to the idea of the children 
of Israel received the favor of divine guidance, but did not 
receive divine help. They inquired of God, God answered. Well, in a certain sense, don't 
we have that? We inquire of God, not through 
the Urim and the Thummim, not at the tabernacle, but we go 
to the scriptures. And sometimes our path is very 
clear, right? Everybody with me? But when you 
take that path, is it trouble-free? When you take that path, is it 
nothing but happiness and joy? Is every path in the Bible that 
is specified for us to pursue, is it filled with rose petals 
and bluebirds? Absolutely not. The path of obedience 
doesn't always mean the absence of trouble. They got guidance, 
but they didn't get help, because there was a bigger purpose that 
God had for them. He wanted to teach them specific 
lessons. So Davis says, does this not 
constitute one of the enigmas of Christian experience? Being 
certain of the divine will, because a matter is clearly taught in 
scripture. And yet finding that path marked more by trouble than 
by success. Does that mean we are out of 
the divine will or simply that Yahweh is dealing with us in 
one of his hidden ways? See, we can't forget that. The 
God of the Bible is not a formula. We do this and we get blessing. Who made that mistake just very 
recently in the book of Judges? That man Micah lived in the mountains 
of Ephraim. He concluded, as soon as he installed 
that Levite, according to 1713, now everything will go good for 
me. We get to chapter 18 and what 
happens? The Danites come along, they 
take everything from him. Things didn't go according to 
plan. And that was, you know, completely 
not legit. But just because we follow God, 
just because we pursue the path of obedience, just because we 
do what he calls us to do, that is no magical guarantee that 
it's always going to be happy times. And so perhaps that's 
something we need to learn with reference to battle number one 
and battle number two. Well, let us close in prayer. 
Our Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for 
this book of Judges and the way that it speaks so clearly to 
the church today. I pray that you would help us 
in our church to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace. And God, we do praise you and 
we thank you and we give you public recognition for the unity 
that we do have. We know we went through many 
years or several years where we didn't have unity and we had 
troubles and difficulties and you saw us through that and we 
thank you for what is in place now. Help us not to take these 
things for granted, help us not to get lazy, help us, God, to 
practice those things Paul says, to be low, to be gentle, to be 
forbearing, to be long-suffering. May you give us grace to pursue 
these things. I ask as well, Father, that we 
would be submissive to you, that we would realize that you do 
move in mysterious ways, your wonders to perform. Help us never 
to forget the fact, though, that behind Clouds of providence, 
you do hide a smiling face. We thank you that you've covenanted, 
you've promised to do all things for your glory and for the good 
of those who love you and those who are the called according 
to your purpose. Cause us to believe this, cause us to walk 
in hope and confidence and trust. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.