IN GOD'S TIME

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you? Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel."

But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah. Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.

The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?"

The Lord replied, "Judah shall go first."

The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?"

The Lord answered, "Go up against them."

Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. And the Israelites inquired of the Lord. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?"

The Lord responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."

Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."

All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah. Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.

Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle.

The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle." But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky. Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them. So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there. They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.

Judges 20:12-48

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Israel was joined together to exact justice on the Benjamites for the brutally sinful actions of some of their men. You’ll recall a group of men wanted to have sex with a Levite who was a host in the home of an older man in Gibeah. Unwilling to allow the men to have the Levite, the older man suggested that they take his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine in his place. As the story played out, only the concubine was turned over to the men who raped her and left her for dead. Indeed, she died on the doorstep of the Levite who then took her body, cut it into 12 pieces and then sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their reaction to the concubine’s murder by some of their own brought Israel together for a common cause…the cause of ensuring the concubine’s death didn’t go unpunished.

And so we see in our scripture where Israel tries to handle this at the lowest level possible, simply asking the Benjamites to hand over those responsible for the rape and murder of the concubine woman. Unfortunately, the Benjamites didn’t accept the offer and instead “came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites”, mobilizing “twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah”. From those initial 26,700, there were “seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss”. So the Benjamites were loaded and ready to face Israel.

Israel had their numbers as well, mustering “four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men” before going to Bethel where they “inquired of God”, asking, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?" A question the Lord answered by saying, “Judah shall go first."

And so the Israelites “pitched camp near Gibeah” the next morning before heading out to “fight the Benjamites”, taking up “battle positions against them at Gibeah”. Things didn’t go well for Israel for we read where the “Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day”, results that were devastating. The “men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day”.

Well, obviously the Israelites were shaken by the day’s events. They “went up and wept before the Lord until evening” before asking Him, “Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?" And the Lord told them to go against the Benjamites again.

And so Israel, with no doubt a renewed confidence, “drew near to Benjamin the second day”. The results weren’t much better than the first day for the Benjamites “cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords”. 40,000 Israelite troops dead in two days. Israel returned to the Lord for some answers.

We read that all the people of Israel “went up to Bethel and there they sat weeping before the Lord”, fasting until evening and presenting “burnt offerings and fellowship offerings” before asking the Lord, “Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?" And this time, the Lord replied, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."

And so it was.

The men of Israel used similar tactics to the ones Joshua used against Ai, the city taken after Jericho, as Israel first established themselves in Canaan. They divided their fighting force with some men drawing the Benjamite fighting force out away from their city and the rest of the men waiting to ambush the city once the Benjamite army left it defenseless. The strategy worked beautifully just as it had done prior. Israel gained victory that day as “twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell” as well as all of the Benjamite towns. Israel’s bloody civil war, at least this one, had ended.

This matter of the Israelites against the Benjamites carries with it an important point to remember.

Things happen in God’s time, not our own.

Israel knew that something had to be done in response to the attack on the Levite’s concubine and it did right in going to battle with the Benjamites. Note that God never told them to not go to battle. Note as well that He never assured them victory until just before the third day because that was when He deemed that it was time for victory. It would happen where He wanted it and when He wanted it.

And so the battle went through the three days with heavy losses before final triumph. The men of Israel knew the possibility was always there that they might die on the battlefield. God never assured them that they would live through any of the days of battle. In fact, God never assured them they would live through any of the days before the battle either. Life and death, you see, happen in God's time…just like the Israelites victory in battle.

Where we get into trouble in life is that we are too often impatient. We expect God to operate on our time and in accordance with our expectations and wants. Friends, it just doesn’t work that way. We never dictate to God. God dictates to us…and we are to respond according to His will, not our own. And it’s in the time that we are forced to wait on the Lord, that He is instilling and refining patience (one of the fruits of the Spirit…Galatians 5:22-23) within us.

One last important point to remember about life and God’s time…we will all die when God decides it’s time. We all belong to Him. He places us into His creation and will take us from it…in His time. This would be a harrowing prospect, unsure if any one moment in life will be our last, if it weren’t for the eternal promise we have in Jesus Christ…who came at God’s appointed time, in God’s appointed place, to God’s appointed parents, living for God’s appointed period and dying in God’s appointed time and place in support of God’s purpose. Because of Jesus and His promise of life eternal for those who believe and trust in Him, we need never fear death for we know it’s not the end but just the awesome beginning of life with the Father and the Son…forever. It’s this truth that liberates Christian believers to live and love and learn…all in peace and joy brought by hope.

Question: Do you know Jesus in your life?

If so, then you are set free to go forth and do what Jesus commanded…to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all He commanded. God has an appointed time for you to be with Him and you won’t miss your appointment.

If you don’t know Jesus, don’t delay in professing your faith and trust in Him right this very moment. For your next breath could very well be your last one if it is God’s appointed time for you to die. Those not in Christ can and do miss their appointments each and every day, losing their opportunity for life eternal. Please…please…don’t be in this category. Come to Jesus today. He’s waiting with open arms.

In Christ,

Mark

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