Judges chapter 21, just a bit of a review before we read the chapter and then look at this in more detail. Remember that chapters 17 to 21 are appendices. They don't fall after Samson. Most likely, 17 to 21 precede the installation of the first judge, which was Othniel.
So basically, what 17 to 21 does is kind of gives us a general snapshot of what life was like in Israel at this particular time. Remember that in chapter 17 and 18, we see religious apostasy. What began in the home of a man by the name of Micah turns out to be full-blown idolatry in the tribe of Dan. So it starts off small in chapter 17, and it grows, as I said, to the point where the entire tribe of Dan is engaged in idolatry in chapter 18.
Then 19 to 21 show us something of the moral or ethical degeneracy going on in Israel at this particular time. Remember that in chapter 19, it starts off with this concubine who had left her husband a Levite. The husband then goes and gets her. As they travel back, they stop in a Benjamite town called Gibeah.
While they stay there in the square of that particular town, an old man comes. and says I want you to stay in my house. So they go and stay in the house and the men of that city surround the house and they're banging on the door. Essentially they're throwing themselves at the house demanding that the Levite come out because they wanted to have relations with him. They wanted to engage in homosexual rape of this particular Levite.
Of course the old man offers his daughter and the Levite's concubine which is just unconscionable that a man would do such a thing. Ultimately, the Levite gives this mob his concubine. They rape her all night long and then she dies. Then the Levite carves her up into 12 pieces and sends a piece to each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Then Israel assembles according to chapter 20 verses 1 to 3 at Mizpah. And at Mizpah, all of the tribes are assembled except for Benjamin. And they gather together. They say that we need to go to Benjamin.
We need to have them give up these perverted men so that we can deal with them. Of course, they go to Benjamin, and Benjamin does not give up the perverted men. draws the line in the sand. They want to go to war against the 11 tribes. So then in Judges 20, we see three battles.
The first two, Israel goes, the 11 tribes go, and they lose to these Benjamites. The third battle, Israel wins. And so they decimate the tribe of Benjamin. The only survivors are 600 men.
At the end of chapter 20, these 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the Rock of Remon, and they stayed at the Rock of Remon for four months. So now we pick up in chapter 21, where the 11 tribes are now sorrowful over what has happened to these Benjamites. In fact, in three places in chapter 21, we read of the sorrow or the grief of Israel, verses 2 and 3, verses 6 and 7, verses 15 to 17. So they've considered the fact that they have essentially destroyed Benjamin, and now they want to try and rectify or change the situation or preserve Benjamin.
So that's what's in view. The means by which they pursue this particular end, as I said, is very strange. What we find in Chapter 21 is bizarre. In fact, what we find in 17 to 21 is bizarre, and it highlights just how bad it is when there is no king and people do what is right in their own eyes.
That is precisely what we do not want to happen. We want there to be restraint so that man in his wickedness is not free to do as evil as he would. So let's pick up at chapter 21, beginning in verse 1. 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? 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 12,000 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 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 400 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. Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin, who were at the Rock of Ramon, 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. 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 Labona. 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. 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." Amen.
Introduction
So as I said, a pretty bizarre activity. On the one hand, they're very fastidious. They want to maintain faithfulness to this oath that they had sworn to God. The means by which they maintain faithfulness to this oath are pretty amazing.
So we'll look at that as we move on tonight.
National Crisis in Israel
First, we'll notice the national crisis in Israel, verses 1 to 6. And then secondly, the response to the crisis in verses 7 to 25.
The Oath at Mizpah
So look first with me at the oath in verse 1. It says, now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah. This is not another gathering at Mizpah. This refers to when they met in chapter 20 in verses 1 to 3.
Remember, they were going to hear from the Levite after having received the peace of the concubine that had been sent to them. They gathered together at Mizpah, and it's there that they swore the oath that they would not give their daughters as wives to the tribe of Benjamin. Specifically, that is the oath. None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.
Something we noticed last week is that it's very amazing that Israel comes together, they're unified as one man, the 11 tribes unified together as one man, so that they can go and destroy one of their own tribes. They can go after Benjamin. throughout the entirety of the Holy War, when they're under Joshua in a good season, in a good time, but of course after Joshua dies. There's not this type of unity in Israel when they're fighting Canaanites. There's not this kind of a concerted effort when they're going against the enemy that is external to them.
In this particular instance, however, whatever God has said concerning their role toward Canaanites, now they are enacting this upon their own people. This is what we find. None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife. The command for holy war in Deuteronomy 7, 1 to 5, when Israel was to engage the Canaanites, they were to make no political alliances with the Canaanites, they were not to make social alliances vis-a-vis, they were not to take their daughters as wives, They were not to give their own daughters as wives to the Canaanites and of course they were to have no religious solidarity with the Canaanites as well.
So what we find going on among the 12 tribes is that there's holy war but it's holy war within. It is the 11 against the 1 because of this particular crime with reference to the concubine. Now here is the dilemma that the chapter deals with. Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah saying, none of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.
They are grieved over the fact that there's only 600 men now remaining from Benjamin. And so what they do or what they purpose to do is to provide wives for these 600 men in order to preserve the tribe. I mean, if you have a tribe of 600 men, it's not going to be long before that tribe is gone. That is a fundamental principle of biology.
You need females along with males to propagate the species so that you can replenish the tribe. So if it's 600 men alone, then the tribe of Benjamin is going to be utterly exterminated, utterly destroyed, never to return again. So this is the particular dilemma. We need to furnish them with 600 wives in order to keep Benjamin alive.
But we made this oath before God and we certainly can't go against that oath. So everybody with me on what's happening up to this particular point.
Public Lament Before God
Notice the public lament in verses 2 and 3. Then the people came to the house of God. They 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?
As we move through the chapter, you'll notice something interesting. God is silent. You don't hear from God in terms of a response. In chapter 20, when they're going to go to battle against the Benjamites, he answers each of the three times that Israel calls upon him.
The first two times, as we saw last week, they fail in battle, but the third time they're successful. But though he is silent, he is not absent, and the sovereignty of God is never forgotten in Israel. That's something that we have to give them credit for. They understood and realized that God was the one to whom we pray.
It is God the one, God is the one to whom we address these particular concerns. Now notice in verse 4 they sacrificed to the Lord. They rose early, they built an altar there, they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Benjamin's Absence Recognized
And then they realized that the tribe was absent, verses 5 and 6. 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? Now some suspect that this is a reference to Jabesh Gilead. Jabesh Gilead is going to fare later in the story.
They're going to be the first leg of the solution to deal with this situation concerning the wives. I don't think so. I think this is still a reference to Benjamin. Notice in verse 5, it says, the children of Israel said, who is there among all the tribes?
So that's the 12 tribes of Israel. It's Benjamin the tribe that is absent. Notice in verse 8, they said, what one is there from the tribes of Israel? That speaks to the specific clan or people of Jabesh-Gilead.
So it's a little bit rough, I think, at least in terms of a crystal clear understanding. I think it could go either way. Verse 5 could refer to Jabesh-Gilead. I take it, though, rather as a reference to Benjamin.
They're worshiping, they're conscious of the reality that the unity of Israel has been breached. Remember that Israel came out of Egypt together. There were 12 tribes, 12 sons of Jacob, but even more importantly, 12 tribes under Yahweh of Israel. They were brought out of Egypt together.
They were given the land together. They were to worship at a central sanctuary. There was to be this peace and harmony. When it looked like there might be trouble in terms of forgetting the Eastern tribes, they made sure they could rectify that so that we understand that we are in this together.
So at worship, they are mindful of the reality that no longer is Benjamin with us. And then in verse 6, the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin, their brother. and said, one tribe is cut off from Israel today. So that's the setting. That's the national crisis in Israel.
They are keenly aware of the absence of this one particular tribe.
Response to the Crisis
And now we come to their response in verses 7 to 25. It breaks down nicely into two sections. There's a partial solution in verses 7 to 15, and there's a complete solution. in verses 16 to 25. Note first the problem.
Verse 7, what shall we do for wives for those who remain? You see the issue. They need wives. These 600 men are not going to propagate on their own.
But we can't give them wives from among the children of Israel, because we swore an oath to the Lord. Again, as we move through this, I mean fastidious in terms of their oath to the Lord God Almighty. But the means by which they pursue these wives are certainly extraordinary.
Partial Solution: Jabesh Gilead
So let's look at their particular dilemma. 7b, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters as wives, note the solution in verses 8 and 9. They say, 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 Jabesh Gilead is located east of the River Jordan. the Transjordanians, so they did not send a representative. You go back to chapter 20 when all Israel is gathered together as one man in verses 1 to 3, one of these clans was absent and it was Jabesh Gilead. Now, there was a time during the judgeship of Beric, and at the time of the prophetess Deborah, where there was a particular city that did not assist them in the battle that they were waging. And they leave that particular city under the curse of God.
I think it was Meroz, M-E-R-O-Z. So it was wrong for this city not to participate, and it would be okay to exact the kind of judgment that they wanted to do, but in this particular instance, the ulterior motive certainly seems to be, we need wives for Benjamin. So that is precisely what is driving them at this particular time. So note the command, verses 10 to 11.
Remember that principle called harem. Harem is when you go in and utterly destroy everything in a city. You destroy the men, the women, the children. You destroy the animals.
You destroy the stuff. You don't take anything out of it. You simply decimate the entirety of it. This is what they command in verse 10.
So the congregation sent out there 12,000 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." Again, this is just in the strictest sense, but it's not a principle they have carried out consistently throughout their time in the land of Canaan. verse eleven 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 we see the specific desire in this particular activity it is to preserve the virgins this is the way they're going to secure wives for the men of benjamin
Four Hundred Virgins Taken
now notice specifically we find in verses twelve to fourteen So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead 400 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." This is not exact obedience. If you're going to do the harem, you must engage in a complete destruction of all the inhabitants. They do not have biblical warrant. They do not have permission.
What they are seeking in this particular instance, at least it appears this way to me, is a loophole. They need to find wives for Benjamin, but they cannot give them from their own tribes because they themselves have made an oath to the Lord. Jabesh Gilead is not guilty of breaking a vow to the Lord because they were not present at the making of this particular vow. So strictly speaking, in terms of the letter of the law, They are operating legitimately.
But as you survey the particular scene, it seems to be a pretty crummy way to go about getting your particular goal. So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead 400 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. Interesting. Shiloh would be a neutral place.
They don't go to Mizpah. They don't go to Bethel, they go to Shiloh. This is where the tabernacle was. This would certainly be a neutral place so that the Benjamites would venture to go there.
Remember, you're 600 Benjamites living at the rock Reman. You don't know if perhaps this is an attempt to lure you into the open so that they can kill you and finish the entire tribe. That's not their particular goal, but at this particular time, Benjamin doesn't know this. And it is an interesting statement, which is in the land of Canaan.
The author seems to be indicating to us, nothing substantially has changed. Under the holy war of Joshua, after his death and the death of the godly elders, Israel has slid so quickly that it's not even Israel, it is the land of Canaan. This is where Shiloh is located. Verse 13, then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Ramon 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 that. Now, just for a moment, put yourself in the shoes of these 400 women. I mean, here they're living as happy as can be in their town of J.
Bashgillian, minding their own business. I mean, it was not these women's responsibility to face down the Benjamites or to deal with the Benjamites' problem. and never forget who ultimately is responsible for this crisis in Israel. It was the Benjamites. It's very interesting.
When Israel comes to the Benjamites in chapter 20 and says, give us the perverts from Gibeah and then we'll deal with them. Benjamin surrounds the perverts and protects them and they identify with the perverts. Look at what's happening now on a national level. Israel is surrounding, defending, protecting Benjamin.
Benjamin started off protecting rapists, now Israel starts off or is in pursuit of protecting Benjamin even when it means that rape is happening on a wide scale. These 400 girls in Jabesh Gilead were not looking for lovers in the tribe of Benjamin. They were abducted, they were taken. That becomes even more vivid when these daughters of Shiloh go to dance at this feast before the Lord.
When the author says in verse 25, in those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes, That's his commentary. You see, not every step of the way in chapter 21 do we get a verse of commentary saying, and this was wicked before the Lord, and this was evil before the Lord, and this was bad before the Lord. Yes, it was good that they maintained their oath. Yes, it was good that they carried through with that, but look at the way they did it when they went about it.
The author doesn't do that. Verse 25 speaks to the entirety of the situation and tells us that this is what man looks like when you leave him to himself. This is what man looks like when he operates without restraint. This is what it looks like when men throw off the fetters of a good and holy and gracious God.
This is a scene of what it is to be men that are totally depraved, living among one another, not doing those things which God the Lord has commanded. So they take these particular women, so now 400 of the Benjamites have wives.
God's Sovereignty Acknowledged
Verse 15 sort of summarizes or gives the response to this whole situation. The people grieved for Benjamin. Note the sovereignty of God because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel. Everything that takes place The sin is the sin of the men.
But ultimately, God overrules all things. God is sovereign over the entirety of the process. Israel never did engage in Arminianism. They always realized that God was sovereign.
He was in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. So we have a partial solution to the Benjamite crisis. 400 now. have wives. Had I been one of the elders, I would have said, that's probably enough women.
I'm certain with 400 men, 400 women, they can multiply. But they wanted to make sure those 200 fellow Benjamites had wives as well. So that brings us to the complete solution, remember? the problem, verses 16 to 18, 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. I mean, I think the author wants us to appreciate how attentive to this particular detail they are. And yet, at the same time, they're engaging in some major tragedy in terms of human relationships, in terms of cities, in terms of families.
All these 400 girls that were now given to the sons of Benjamin had families. They had fathers. They had mothers. They had siblings, all gone, all dead, all buried, all over.
And yet, the children of Israel are maintaining steadfast fidelity to this oath that they made before the Lord. One of the commentators said they should have just confessed the sin, and making the oath, and given them daughters from the tribes of Israel. I mean, that would have been a way to deal with it, rather than ransacking Jabesh Gilead, taking 400 girls from their home, and giving them to these Benjamites. But then as we move on in this situation concerning Shiloh, it becomes even more keenly perverse in terms of the way they proceed.
Verse 19 is their solution. Both sections are absolutely parallel. We've got problem, we've got solution, we've got command, we've got response. Structurally, it's set up very, very much the same.
Abduction at the Feast
So the solution, verse 19, then they said, in fact, there is a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh, doesn't mention which feast, which is north of Bethel on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Lebanon. 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. You guys getting this?
But we can't break this vow to the Lord. It's just bizarre. It makes me think about sometimes people, Christians, professing Christians, get a bee in their bonnet about this particular aspect of obedience, and the rest of their life is in a shambles. Yes, but I made this particular statement, and I'm going to carry through with it.
Well, please, carry through with it, but clean up the rest of the mess. God calls us to universal holiness. He doesn't call us to piecemeal holiness. Make sure your vows and your oaths are in order, but live like the devil any way you wish over here.
Make sure you don't break this particular oath, but you can do whatever you want over here. You can break relationships, you can ruin families, you can ruin lives, you can enslave girls, you can engage in rape or be an accomplice to rape. I mean, this is what they're saying. Go catch a wife, abduct her, take her back to your land, strip her from her family, remove her from her comfort zone, and at the time, she's engaged in a dance at a feast to Yahweh of Israel.
It just doesn't make any sense. This is what happens when restraint is pulled back from a people, and they're allowed to do whatever it is they want to do. The next time your five-year-old or your 10-year-old says, but I don't like your rules, why don't you read Judges 21 to them and tell them, this is what it looks like when everyone does what's right in their own eyes. You want to be left alone?
This is the length of depravity that you can sink to. Maybe not necessarily 21. You could go to any place in the Bible and highlight that reality where man in sin, left to himself, goes against the Lord God Most High. Now notice what goes on.
There's an instruction to lie in wait. There's a command to catch a wife from the daughters of Shiloh. And then look at the answer given to the fathers and brothers in verse 22. Then it shall be when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, because they will, Right?
Fathers and brothers do not just let their daughters and sisters get abducted by Benjamites without raising a little bit of resistance. Imagine that. How dare you, father? How dare you, brother, ever voice your concern at the abduction of your beloved daughter?
Look at what they do. Verse 22. 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. Preserve the unity of Israel. Aren't you with us sad about this national crisis?
Aren't you with us sad about the almost utter destruction of Benjamin? Don't you want to find it in your heart to be kind to them, to preserve this tribe so that we have the 12 tribes and the unity in Israel? Be kind to them for our sakes. Notice, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war, probably the war against Jabesh Gilead, we ran out of living bodies.
There was only 400. That left us with a 200 body deficit. You can't fault us for taking these daughters that are dancing at this feast of Yahweh in Shiloh. What's the problem?
And then to add insult to injury, notice what they go on to say. Four, it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath. You see, this group of men who had these daughters that danced at this feast in Shiloh had been present in Mizpah. They had been a part of the assembly in Judges 21 to 3.
They had assembled as one man. So they themselves swore the oath that they would not give their daughters to the Benjamites for wives. So you see what the elders are saying. You didn't give your daughters as wives to the Benjamites.
You're not guilty of breaking the oath. If I was the father, I'd probably say, I may not be guilty of breaking the oath, but the daughter that I love and esteem and highly prize, he's gone. And she's in the arms of a Benjamite. A Benjamite who protected a Gibeahite, who engaged in the perversion that got us into this mess to begin with.
So on the one hand, yes, we are fastidious in keeping our oaths to Yahweh, But at what costs? We are abducting 200 girls that are dancing before the Lord at Shiloh and giving them to men who sided with perverts, who wanted to engage in homosexual gang rape, and as a compromise engaged in heterosexual gang rape? These are the kinds of guys that you're taking my daughter away from me and giving them to them? Oh yes, but we made this oath before the Lord, you see.
Again, I think it doesn't take much to think about this. Sometimes we can be fastidious in a particular area. I will not go there. I will not watch this.
I will not say this, but in like all these other areas we are inconsistent, or we are downright sinful, or we are downright evil, but I'm gonna get credit because I didn't violate in this particular area. We are to pursue holiness, not piecemeal. We are to pursue holiness, not the parts that are pleasing to us, but a universal holiness that is pleasing to the Lord our God. Bloch says it this way, Although the elders, that's who made this particular decision, according to verse 16, then the elders of the congregation said, they hatched this particular plan.
Bloch says, although the elders may claim a stroke of genius in their solution to the problem of the Benjamites, viewed from the perspective of the young virgins, what they have sanctioned is an unspeakable crime. It's terrible. I mean, if it's bad to be adopted and taken away and made the wife of another man that you have no interest in whatsoever, how much more when you're dancing before Yahweh at a feast of the Lord? He says, in the midst of a joyful celebration, these young women are suddenly to be abducted and dragged away from home.
It does not seem to matter to the elders that these same Benjamites have only recently defended their fellow tribesmen after they had gang raped a young woman. He later says, what Benjamin did for Gibeah, the nation now does for Benjamin. It really is an amazing turn of events that is going on here. The crime against the Levites concubine was such that Israel assembled together as one man to oppose this particular tribe.
Now they're siding with this particular tribe taking 400 women from Jabesh Gilead, 200 daughters of Shiloh, and giving them to these Benjamites now because they felt bad they didn't want there to be a tribe missing. Now, please don't get me wrong. I don't want there to be a tribe missing in Israel either. I don't want them to suffer that fracture.
I don't want them to suffer that disunity. I don't want to see Benjamin utterly decimated. But look at how sin works. It starts off very small.
Just like it happened in Micah's household, it ends up in Danite apostasy. Well, the same thing here happens. A concubine leaves the Levite. The Levite then goes to the father's house, his father-in-law's house, gets the concubine back.
They travel, they stop in Gibeah for a night, and then this unspeakable crime happens. It keeps snowballing, doesn't it? What started off as a domestic dispute between a Levite and his concubine ends up in this. Do you think that's another lesson we ought to glean from this?
That the smallest sin that we undertake can have major major ramifications. One little departure from the truth here, one little sway from godly behavior here, could have us in the most drastic circumstances. Do you think that when that young son came to his father and said, Father, give me my share of the inheritance, He actually believed he'd end up craving pig food? Do you think when that young man said, Father, give me my share of the inheritance, he thought his future entailed living and craving the food that pigs eat?
He never thought that. You see, sin is very deceptive. What starts off in a living root ends up affecting the entirety of a nation. 400 girls from Jabeshbulia, 200 daughters of Shiloh, given to these Benjamites. These Benjamites who protected the perverts of Gibeah.
Sin is a bad thing. That's what I think is a very relevant message, or one of the very relevant messages from the book of Judges. This is what man in sin looks like. You want your evil?
You want your corruption? You want your wicked behavior? Then take a look at the book of Judges and see what that will get you in the long run. It's terrible.
It's not something that we ought to engage in. with any sort of relish or with any sort of sympathy that things are going to go well.
Benjamin Restored, Wickedness Confirmed
Note the provision, verse 23, and the children of Benjamin did so. It's a great idea for them, right? Why wouldn't they? They wanted wives.
They wanted to respect the eleven tribes. You can't give us your daughters because you made this oath of the Lord. We'll hide in a bush, we'll watch these girls come out to dance before the Lord in Shiloh and we'll go snag them. We'll go capture them.
It says, they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went, returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. Just that matter of factly. Everybody's a winner in this particular scenario.
The 11 tribes maintain their fidelity to Yahweh in terms of this oath. The Benjamites are certainly winners because now they have wives, they return to their inheritance, they rebuilt their cities, they dwelt on that. Everybody's a winner, right? Except for these 600 girls that have been translated from their homes, from their families, to the homes of these Benjamite men.
And then verse 24, response, 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. Again, I think this is somewhat of the equivalent of the judge's equivalent of everybody lived happily ever after. This is where we find ourselves at the time of the judges.
But anybody who's been reading this is saying, How? How do you do this? How do you decimate a clan? How do you steal 400 people?
How do you take $200 from Shiloh? How do you engage in such wickedness all under the guise of holiness? We're going to be faithful to this oath that we took before the Lord. Well, that's the answer of verse 25.
In those days, There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now remember, 17 to 21 is an appendix or appendices. This precedes the installation of Othnia.
So while Othniel, and Ehud, and Shamgar, and Berak, and Samson, and Gideon, and Japheth were not kings, they were nevertheless king-like men, deliverers, judges, until the time of the monarchy that helped restrain the corruption. that helped restrain the evil. When these earthly judges lived, they delivered Israel from their oppression, and at least as long as they exercised their judgeship in Israel, there was a restraint put upon the people. 17 to 21 shows us what there is when there's no judge and when there's no king. When Israel's allowed to function according to her own fancy, according to her own whim, this is the kind of stuff that she gets herself into. So 25 is the theological commentary, it's an epilogue of sorts that does interpret for us everything that precedes.
While they engage in what they engage, and then they go live happily ever after, the author tells us this is absolute wickedness. Every man is doing what is right in his own eyes. So that when we do read at the installation of Othniel, we cry out for joy. God is not only delivering his people from their earthly oppressors, but he's restraining them from their internal corruption.
He is going to hedge them in, preserve this group, and carry it through even the monarchy. There's bad mainly bad kings, all bad kings in the northern tribes, some good kings in the southern tribes. But that does preserve the nation of Israel until such time as the deliverer, the champion, the Lord Jesus Christ would come to save his people from their sins.
Summary and Theological Lessons
So what we find in summary? First, the confusion of a depraved people. That's what Davis calls this section in 17 to 21. And I absolutely amen that 100%, having gone through it.
The confusion of a depraved people. This is what Davis says concerning chapter 21. He says, I think, therefore, that the writer wants us to see Judges 21 as the ambiguous situation it is. There is a certain rightness and a certain wrongness about what Israel does.
They justifiably requite Jabesh Gilead with unjustifiable severity. They stand consistently upon their wife oath but trample happily upon the rights of the Shiloh girls and their families. It is a mix of consistency and confusion. It is all correct and yet very mistaken.
I think that really gets at what the author is doing. When we look at a people living in this kind of a way, there is, on the one hand, a consistency. They are fastidiously obeying this oath unto the Lord, but there is this inconsistency where they are blowing apart families and taking girls from their homes and giving them to godless men who at one time, not long ago, sided with perverts. It is absolutely mind-blowing to see what sin does.
I mean, we see that kind of stuff now. You hear of a crime, or you hear of a situation. makes you scratch your head. Like why in the world would a person do what he did in this particular instance? But even sometimes when people are doing the most horrific and heinous crimes, they do things along the way that really just are inconsistent with the gravity of the crime that they're doing.
So I think the author captures that very clearly. in 17 to 21 as a whole. As well, we learn of the sovereignty of God. We mustn't forget, and the people grieved for Benjamin. Verse 15, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
God is sovereign over all of the ins and outs, over all of the doings of the people of Israel. It is God the Lord who ultimately is over all these things. And we must appreciate that in this we see an example of God doing what Joseph says God does. Genesis chapter 50.
Remember the Joseph narrative? What's the point? Is the point, you should love your brother and not sell him into slavery? That's certainly a good thing we ought to glean from the Joseph narrative.
But remember, Joseph said, you meant this for evil, but God overruled it for good. We see instances like that throughout the scripture. We see the instance of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was a wicked act.
Peter on the day of Pentecost says that you crucified her. He was crucified by lawless hands. Jerusalem sinners were guilty of the death of our Lord Jesus, but it was the predetermined plan of God to bring about good. It was through that death, through that unspeakably evil act, that God overruled it and brought redemption and salvation to man.
So while the tribes of Israel engage in this sort of barbarism, what does nevertheless happen? God preserves the unity of the 12 tribes. Two famous Benjamites in redemptive history. Anybody want to venture a guess at who those two famous Benjamites are?
One, not so great. The other, absolutely great. Ehud was a Benjamite, yes, okay. I'm thinking big, big guys.
They both have the same name. Saul, the first king in Israel, was a Benjamite, and Saul of Tarsus, of the tribe of Benjamin. So praise God that even in the midst of this sort of calamity, in the midst of this sort of thing, he nevertheless preserved the tribe that would ultimately give us the apostle Paul. So we see, as Davis calls this section, the tenacity of God's grace.
He keeps Israel together. He keeps the Benjamites alive, even through the wickedness of these 11 tribes. And then, of course, we ought to learn the lesson of the absence of a godly king. We ought not to want strict anarchy.
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Strict anarchy would basically be hell. I'm all for a much smaller government.
I'm all for shrinking government. drastically. I think that the limits of government are clearly set forth. They are not big. I don't think government should be involved in your life from the cradle to the grave.
I think they're supposed to protect you. That's about it. From enemies, domestic and foreign. I think in my understanding of Romans 13, the fact that the magistrate bears the sword He doesn't bear the stethoscope.
He doesn't bear the task of educating your children. He doesn't bear the task of everything else we entrust to the magistrate. So all that, I truly believe in a small, very, very limited government. But having said that, I do not believe in a no government.
I am not an anarchist. I think that if everybody is allowed to do whatever they want, we will have hell on earth. And that is precisely at least a glimpse of what we get in these latter chapters in the book of Judges.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You that even in the midst of great evil, You overrule it for good. We see that in Joseph, we see that in Jesus, we see that here even in Benjamin. We pray, God, in heaven that we would see the sovereignty of God, we would marvel at Your power and at Your glory.
As well, we would see the necessity for a godly King, and we thank You that we have our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of His Church, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I pray that He would restrain us by His Word, by His Spirit. I pray that You would keep us from doing the sorts of things that we find written in this book. And our Father, we thank You for giving us these things.
As difficult as it may be to study depravity and to see sin in all of its evil and wickedness and ugliness, nevertheless through it we learn lessons that I think are very helpful for us in the church in this new covenant era. I pray that you'd go with us now and watch over us, bring us together on the Lord's day, that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.