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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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.