Turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 21. Last week we saw Israel go against the Tribe of Benjamin, specifically over the problems that happened at Gibeah. During their third attack on Benjamin, the tribe was reduced to around 600 fighting men. We read:

Judges 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

“Mizpah” was the great Trial {Nuremberg}
Where Israel gathered to judge Gibeah.

When Israel judged Gibeah {and Benjamin}, they were to stay within the scriptural realm,that is, with what GOD has written to us in His Word. The Bible says that “Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of God’s Throne” (Psalm 89:14, AP*). “The very essence of God’s Words are TRUTH – all His just regulations will stand forever” (Psalm 119:160, AP). It is God Who establishes right and wrong. It was RIGHT for Israel to purge the sexual sin of Gibeah out of the land. However, Israel went too far.

Israel shut off Benjamin to where they could neither REPENT nor be RESTORED.

There are times when believers must stand against errant believers. When this is necessary, it is never done in a spirit of vengeance or self righteousness. The Bible says:

Galatians 6:1 (ESV)Brothers, if anyone is caught (prolambanō, surprised or overtaken by) in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Word Study: Sin is like a net – it can “catch” us in its grip, and drown us in death. If a brother or sister is “caught in any transgression”, we are to lead them back to a right relationship with God through the proper application of God’s Word. We are not, as the Pharisees often did, become self righteous and overbearing.. We are to be humble. If someone’s sin is DIRECTLY against you as a believer, Jesus gave us steps to repair the breach. He said:

Matthew 18:15-17 (ESV) If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

We usually do this in the reverse. If we are sinned against, we get on the phone and telegraph it throughout the Church, never speaking to the accused. But the accused cannot be corrected if that person is not informed. We must TELL them what they did wrong. We are not to allow sin to run rampant through the Church, effecting the fellowship of the believers. This is what happened in the Church of Corinth. Paul told them to address it because it was destroying the Church.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

The Apostle told the Church to “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. (1 Corinthians 5:5). Turning this lost person out of the Church, he later repented – and the Apostle said he was to be received again into the embrace of the Church.

2 Corinthians 2:6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. … 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

The intent of punishing a brother or sister for violating God’s standard is NOT to destroy them, but to bring them to a state of repentance. Israel went too far when saying they would no longer allow their daughters to bind together in matrimony with a Benjamite man.

Do Not Blame God For Your Failure To Obey God

Judges 21:2-3 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

Israel was blaming God because they had made a foolish vow. It is certain, the Bible does tell us if we make a vow to God, it should be with the intent of following it through. We read:

Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

To make a vow to God was a serious thing, as God never forgets. Yet our Lord knew that, at times, we would make vows that we would not keep. Humans are fallen and fallible. Therefore, God put a stipulation in the Law if someone made a foolish vow. God said:

Leviticus 5:4-6 … (ESV) if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; 5 when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, 6 he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

If a foolish oath is made, the first step is CONFESSION. To tell God that you messed up. We also call this REPENTANCE. We do not cover up the sin, but acknowledge it. This is the first thing that is ALWAYS done when someone sins against God – we REPENT. We acknowledge we should have never done that thing. Then we cover the sin with the blood of the innocent. In the Old Testament before Christ came the guilty brought a “TRESPASSor SIN OFFERING”, which was a “LAMB” or a “KID OF THE GOATS”, or “TWO TURTLEDOVES” or “TWO YOUNG PIGEONS”. If you were poor, you could bring “A TENTH PART OF AN EPHAH OF FINE FLOUR”, about 3 liters of flour to be burned on the altar. The blood shed represented the Blood of Christ. The flour represented the Person of Christ.

1 Peter 1:19 (ESV) {we are saved by} the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot…

1 Corinthians 5:7 …. (ESV) Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed …

Revelation 7:14 (ESV) … They have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb …

The flour that the poorest were to sacrifice represented the humanity of Christ (John 6:35, “I am the Bread of Life”). The foolish vow could have been repented of, and covered by the Grace of God. As to vows, Jesus warned us against making vows in Matthew 5:33-37. Jesus said “Let your YES be YES, and your NO be NO. Avoid vows.

Judges 21:4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

When you make a foolish vow, you are to CONFESS your sin, and then COVER your sin with the Blood. Israel is COVERING but not CONFESSING.

Israel will now seek a human solution to fix the “Problem with Benjamin”. There’s a problem with human solutions as opposed to God’s solution. Remember the Garden of Eden, and the fig leave wardrobe that Adam designed. Humanism and human solutions – though well intentioned – just lead to more problems.

Human Solutions Make More Misery,
And Fall Short To Fix Anything

Judges 21:5-9 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the Lord? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the Lord? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly (of Mizpah). 9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.

Illustrate: Human solutions always start out with “I feel bad for what I did. So WHO did worse, and WHO can I punish in my place?” Again, this goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. When God asked Adam why he disobeyed a clear order, Adam said “The WOMAN whom YOU gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). It’s not MY fault, God. YOU gave me a defective woman. When the woman was asked why she sinned, her response was “The SERPENT deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). God didn’t ask the serpent why he did what he did, because God knew the serpent had no one to blame!

Israel looks around to see WHO they can blame besides themselves. They then remember ANOTHER FOOLISH OATH they made, that “whoever does not come to Mizpah and participate, they shall surely be put to death”. They discovered that the men of Jabesh-gilead had not attended Mizpah.

Judges 21:10-14 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest (Hebrew bēn ḥayil, young men of valor), and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, (600 hid here) and to call peaceably unto them. 14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

The Soniclight Commentary notes:

“After having asked themselves (not the LORD), “What are we to do?” (v. 7; cf. v. 16). They should have confessed their mistake in making their “wife vow” (v. 1) and asked for God’s solution. They discovered that the men of Jabesh-gilead had not been present in the battle against Benjamin. Jabesh-gilead (meaning “Well-Drained Soil of Gilead”) was about 48 miles northeast of Shiloh, on the east side of the Jordan River. Next, the Israelites commanded 12,000 valiant soldiers to attack and completely destroy the uncooperative Israelite town (vv. 10-11). The only people to be spared were virgin females. This was another sinful plan born out of self-will and vengeance. Note that it was the decision of the whole congregation of Israelites.”

When the 12,000 “young men of valor” (Hebrew bēn ḥayil) went to “Jabesh-gilead” to destroy it, they were told “Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword”. The words “Go and smite” are the Hebrew yālaḵ (Qal Imperative) nāḵâ (Hiphil Perfect). The Free Bible Commentary notes:

“This is “holy war” terminology. The citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who were probably a mixture of Canaanite and Israeli backgrounds, will all be killed, except the virgin young women”.

Rather than repent of the foolish vow, and give their daughters to be wives of the Tribe of Benjamin, they murdered a city on the pretext of “punishing evil”. Yet there was a problem. “they sufficed them not”.

There were 600 Benjamite warriors in need of wives, but only 400 virgins to be wives. But not to worry – self righteousness and silliness will come to the rescue!

Judges 21:16-21 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

The Tribes of Israel had made a foolish vow that they would not GIVE their daughters to Benjamin. But what if Benjamin TOOK them? Here’s a hypocritical loophole.

Every year in Shiloh there was a “Feast of Yahweh”, probably the Feast of the Passover. After the first Passover, when the Forces of Egypt were drowned in the Red Sea, Miriam the Prophetess (Moses’s sister) led the women out to dance and praise God for His deliverance, singing:

Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider God has thrown into the sea!
Exodus 15:19-21

This had become a tradition among the women of Israel, to dance and praise God during the Feast of Passover. Since Israel could not GIVE daughters to Benjamin, they told Benjamin to lie in wait during the next Feast of Yahweh. When the women came out to dance, the 200 remaining Benjamites could TAKE the women as their wives. I do not believe this was a kidnapping per se. I suspect the women knew, and were willing to do this so that the remaining 200 Benjamites could get wives. “Rather than go through this charade, they should have simply confessed their sin of making a foolish oath and done the right thing instead of trying to make two wrongs equal a right.”

Judges 21:22-24 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favorable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. 24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.

If anyone did not “receive the memo” as to what was going on, if the fathers and brothers of the women abducted came to the leaders of Israel, they were to be told to look the other way. In this way, the 600 Benjamites received 600 wives, and the Tribe of Benjamin could recover from their catastrophic destruction.

Good And Bad Lessons Learned From Benjamin

Benjamin came from the youngest son of Jacob. Spoiled, Benjamin though that – as a tribe – they were impervious to destruction. Yet they were very nearly destroyed because they allowed unrepentant sin in their midst.

No one is too big to fail!

Because Benjamin worked together as a wolf pack would (Jacob prophesied “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf” – Genesis 49:27), though small the tribe was able to conquer much greater armies. But Benjamin, no matter how skilled, cannot defeat the God Who made it.

To be small is not a hindrance, but a blessing. Great people came from Benjamin. Judge Ehud, a great warrior who delivered Israel from Moab (Judges 3:12-30) came from Benjamin. The first King of Israel, King Saul, came from Benjamin (1 Samuel 9:15-27). When Israel was in danger of being destroyed by Persia, Mordecai and Esther – both of Benjamin – saved the day (Esther 2:5-7). One of the greatest of the Apostles, Paul was of Benjamin (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:4-5). Benjamin as a tribe will grow. In Revelation 7:8, 12,000 mewn from Benjamin will carry the Gospel into the world during the Great Tribulation. When our Lord Jesus rules on this earth during the 1000 year reign we call the Millennium, one of the gates of the future city of Jerusalem will be called “Benjamin” (Ezekiel 48:32). When the New Heaven and New Earth are created by Jesus, the eternal New Jerusalem will have a gate called “Benjamin” (Revelation 21:12-13).

God doesn’t see as we see. We look outwardly, but God looks inwardly. God saw a Tribe of Warriors in Benjamin, a wolf pack. Israel saw a small tribe. Two Sauls came out of Benjamin. One Saul, King Saul, never learned to trust in God, and died a dishonorable death. The second Saul, known as the Apostle Paul, learned that there is great strength not in us but in God. So Paul, unlike the foolish King that was his namesake, said:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 {God told me} “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Let us therefore put away our desire, our will, our glory, our desire – and cling to our God and His Word. When we cling to Him, we cling to infinite Power and Protection. Lord, teach us to follow you as our King. Let us not be as Israel during the Judges was:

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

For that is the way of folly and foolishness! May God teach us these great truths. Amen and Amen.