FUNCTION FROM DYSFUNCTION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite."

The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. "O Lord, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"

Early the next day, the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord ?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.

Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said. "How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?" Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin." They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.

Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.' But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."

So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'"

So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.

At that time, the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

In those days, Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

Judges 21

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

As Judges, chapter 20 came to a close, we saw the aftermath of a bloody civil war between the Israelites and one of their own, the tribe of Benjamin. You’ll remember that there great losses on both sides, more so for the Benjamites as all their women were killed in the battle leaving the remaining men with no one to marry. This would essentially mean tribal extinction as there would be no children to form the next generation. As we move to chapter 21, we see this legitimate concern being addressed.

For we see in our scripture passage where the Israelite people are despondent after the war for their men had taken an oath at Mizpah to never give a daughter in marriage to a Benjamite. With the tribe now having no women, we read where the “people went to Bethel” and “sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly, saying:

“O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"

They then “built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings” the next day, continuing to grieve and cry out to God with this:

“Today one tribe is cut off from Israel…How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

The situation was a sticky one, no doubt, but it’s very interesting that we first saw the Israelites bent on destroying the people of Benjamin only to now be so concerned about the tribe’s survival. This highlighted just how dysfunctional the nation of Israel became as they did what they saw fit…and unfortunately this would only be the beginning.

In thinking about this in terms of present times, I couldn’t help but see just how dysfunctional families can be as well. In fact, there are probably very few families out there who aren’t dealing with internal issues of some kind, some worse than others. I know mine has qualified.

What we discover within this is that there is always ample space for prayer within any family framework…prayers for peace and reconciliation and cooperation and, of course, love.

Well, Israel obviously thought about the matter at hand after the war with the tribe of Benjamin and arrived at a viable solution. They would go after a tribe who “failed to assemble before the Lord” for there had been a “solemn oath” taken that “anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah should certainly be put to death”. And after inquiring about what tribe failed to assemble before the Lord, the Israelites “discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly”.

This led the Israelite assembly  to send “twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children”. All were to be killed except for the virgin women.

Why?

Because those virgin women would be given to the Benjamite men so that they could produce offspring that would ensure tribal survival.

And so we read where the Israelites went against Jabesh Gilead and carried out their obligation under the solemn oath, imposing the death penalty for failing to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah. During the raid, the Israelites found “four hundred young women who had never slept with a man” and “took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan”.

Now, we should note that the Benjamites were completely unaware of what their fellow Israelites were doing. And so after acquiring the virgin women from Jabesh Gilead, the “whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon”, leading to the Benjamites returning. They were then given the virgin women “who had been spared”.

In the end translation, seeds of reconciliation had been sown and it appeared the family of Israel was back on proper terms with one another. But there was still one problem that remained. For the four hundred virgin women from Jabesh Gilead were less than what was needed to provide each Benjamite man with a wife.

And so we find the Israelites return to their grieving, still deeply distressed that all the Benjamites would not have heirs. This problem was further exasperated because the Israelites couldn’t give up their own daughters because they had taken the oath not to do so. A second plan was needed to fix the problem and this plan came together as the  “annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh” took place for it would make the “girls of Shiloh” available to the remaining wife-less Benjamites.

We see where the Israelites “instructed the Benjamites” to do the following:

“Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'"

The scriptures tell us that the Benjamites did just what the Israelites told them to do with each man catching a girl at Shiloh and carrying her off to be his wife. Afterwards, they “returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them”. Through some shrewd thinking and maneuvering, the problem had been solved with peace being restored within the nation of Israel. For we read where the Israelite people “left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance”.

So what can we take away from this passage today?

First, we need to realize that there is always the potential for dysfunction in families and be ready to deal with those dysfunctions when they occur.

Second, there’s always potential to rebound from our errors against a family member.

If Israel could have gone back and done things differently, then probably wouldn’t have wiped out all of the Benjamite women and children. In fact, they may have not wiped out all of the men either had they just stopped for a moment and considered what they were doing. Instead, they let their rage over the concubine’s rape get the best of them and instead of demanding justice over just those who perpetrated the act, then they wouldn’t have held the entire tribe accountable.

As for their part in the conflict, the Benjamites weren’t free of blame either. For when Israel asked only for the men who had committed the crime, all they had to do was hand them over. Their decision not to only inflamed what was already a tense and angry matter which resulted in needless bloodshed and loss of lives on both sides.

With this, we need to keep in mind that the way we respond and react to family matters, particularly wrongs that may have been committed against us, can either move the issues at hand toward resolution or further conflict, often time with dire consequences.

We should learn from this story and see that it’s far more beneficial and less damaging to just seek a path to reconciliation.

Third, we should always seek to move toward peace…preferably before things get too bad. Israel extended peace to the Benjamites…but only after they destroyed them. As I said, it would have been so much better had they tried to patch things up sooner. Ditto for the Benjamites.

We need to see that the sooner we move toward peace and resolution, the better.

Finally, and this is of the utmost importance, we should always seek God first when we are in the midst of a dysfunctional situation, seeking His perfect guidance so we can be sure we’re proceeding in accordance with His will. And we should do this even if the people we’re at odds with don’t do so themselves.

As we navigate these dysfunctional waters within our families, we need to do so remembering that the only glimpse that people sometimes get of the Lord is through us…through our actions and our words. This is why we need to let the Lord lead us and dictate what we do. For only He can bring function to dysfunction…peace to turmoil…and love to hate. All we need to do is to surrender to His way, understanding it is always better than our own.

Thanks be to the Lord for how He is the divine voice of reason in all matters…no matter how unreasonable they might seem.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ALL IN GOD'S TIME

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we look at the remaining verses of Judges, chapter 20, we see where all of 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 Gibeathite males wanted to have sex with a Levite who the guest of an older man in Gibeah. Unwilling to allow the men to sexually assault the Levite homosexually, the older man suggested that they take his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine in his place.

As the story played out, we saw where only the concubine was turned over to the men who then raped her and leaving her to die on the doorstep of the older man’s home. After this, you’ll remember that the Levite did something horrific, cutting up the concubine’s body into twelve pieces, before sending one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their reaction to what had happened brought the Israelites together for a common cause…to ensure that there would be justice for the concubine’s murder so that the offenders didn’t go unpunished.

As we turn to our scripture passage for today, we see where the Israelites try and handle the matter at the lowest level possible, simply asking the Benjamites to hand over those responsible for the rape and murder of the concubine woman. It didn’t need to get into anything above that but unfortunately, the Benjamites didn’t accept the offer. Instead, they “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 troops, there were “seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss”.

So essentially, the Benjamites were loaded and ready to face Israel who had their numbers as well. The scriptures tell us that they mustered “four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men” and once assembled, they advanced to Bethel. There, we find the people of Israel coming before God and asking this:

"Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?"  

To which the Lord responded:

“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”. We read where things didn’t go well for them as the “Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day”. The outcome was devastating for Israel but the men “encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day”.

The results of the first day obviously left the people of Israel shaken. We read where 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?"

We see where the Lord tells them to do so again.

And so the Israelites, most probably armed with renewed confidence, “drew near to Benjamin the second day” and went into battle but the results weren’t much better than the first day. For we read where the Benjamites “cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords”.

In case you’re not keeping score, that was 40,000 Israelite troops killed by the Benjamites in two days...leaving the Israelites returning to the Lord for some answers. They went up to Bethel and “sat weeping before the Lord”. They also fasted until evening and presented “burnt offerings and fellowship offerings” to the Lord before inquiring of Him one more time in regard to the fight against the Benjamites. They asked:

“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.

For the scriptures show us that the Israelites took a page out of Joshua’s playbook when he went up against Ai, the city he took down after Jericho. We read where they divided up their fighting force with some men drawing the Benjamite fighting force out away from their city while the rest of the men lied in wait to ambush the city once the Benjamite army left it defenseless.

We see in our passage where the strategy worked beautifully, just as it had done prior, with the Israelites gaining victory. The toll was very high for the Benjamites who lost “twenty-five thousand…swordsmen” as well as all of their towns.

Israel’s bloody civil war had ended.

Well, this account of the war between the Israelites and the Benjamites carries with it an important point to remember…

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

You see, Israel knew something had to be done in response to the attack on the Levite’s concubine and it did the right thing in going to battle with the Benjamites. We   should note that God never told them not to. We should also see that He never assured them victory until just before the third day because that was the time when He deemed victory would occur.

In other words, the Israelites would win when He wanted them to win.

And so the battle lasted three days with heavy losses before the final triumph happened.  The men of Israel knew the possibility was always there that they might die on the battlefield and the Lord never assured any of them that they would survive the fighting. For the matters of life and death also happen on God's timetable…just like the Israelite victory in battle.

In regard to this truth about the timing of things and how that timing is in the hands of a perfect God, we too often get into trouble because of our impatience. For too many times, we expect God to operate on our schedule and in accordance with our expectations and wants.

Friends, it just doesn’t work that way. It didn’t in biblical times and it still doesn’t today. For when it comes right down to it, no person has the right to dictate anything to the Lord. Rather, it is He who dictates everything to us…and then it’s our responsibility to respond to His desires according to His will, not our own. Of interest, I have found that in those times when I am forced to wait on the Lord, He is at work instilling and refining patience within me(one of the fruits of the Spirit…Galatians 5:22-23). Maybe you can relate.

Well, before I close, there’s one last important point to remember about life and the timing of things being in God’s hands. For we all are going to die some day. It’s inevitable and no one knows when that time will come. This is because that time is in the hands of the same Lord who breathed life into us. He is our Maker and Master…and all people belong to Him, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Indeed, God places us into His creation and He will also take us out of it…in the time He has so set. And this could become a harrowing, certain truth, the certainty of knowing any one moment in life could be our last, if it wasn’t for the eternal promise we have in Jesus Christ…who we know came from Heaven to earth at God’s appointed time, in God’s appointed place, to God’s appointed parents, living for God’s appointed period of time before dying in God’s appointed time and place…all in support of God’s ultimate plan to provide salvation to sinners like you and me.

Because of Jesus and God’s promise of eternal life for those who believe and trust in Him, we need never fear death for we know that through Christ, it’s not the end but just the awesome beginning of a new and perfect life, a holy life shared with the Father and the Son forever.

It’s this truth that liberates Christian believers to love and learn in life…doing both with a special peace and joy grounded in the sure hope we have in Jesus, a sure hope that removes our fear of death because we know the best is yet to come…all in God’s perfect time.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE END OF EVIL

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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

In those days Israel had no king.

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.

On the fourth day, they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go." So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate together.

Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning, you can get up and be on your way home." But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.

When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night."

His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places." So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.

That evening, an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord. No one has taken me into his house. We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."

"You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."

The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!"

Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the Lord in Mizpah. The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords. (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."

So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. During the night, the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict."

All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs. We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel."

So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.

Judges 19, 20:1-11

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

There’s a lot of good going on in the world today.

I know it seems that it isn’t true from what we see in the news every day but ask yourself whether or not the news stations give us an accurate assessment of the way things really are…or do they just show us what they want to show us?

I think the answers are no and yes…and one answer leads to the other.

For truly, any news program is inherently subjective and too often, not objective. On one hand, it’s impossible to show everything but there is a choice as to what gets shown and if or if not an agenda is set that dictates content shared. So what we see is stations choosing programming they feel will be newsworthy but also allowing the worldviews, which includes political leanings, to shape what gets shown and how it is framed to the viewers. Too often this ends up with a story that may be interesting to one person that is rejected by another.

Of course, there are some happenings that seem to appeal to all and unfortunately these events are the tragic, unfortunate things that happen to people like people being shot, sometimes dead. Or other acts of violence that are committed. Or serious car accidents. Indeed, it seems like we rarely hear about good news but we shouldn’t be so naïve to believe that there isn’t any to report on for there is…a multitude of stories that would speak to the wonderful things people are doing for others…but those stories just don’t make it into the broader public eye.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if we could change that? Wouldn’t you tune into a channel where there was nothing but positive uplifting news, 24/7?

I know I would and it’s not something that is impossible in any way. As a people, we just need to demand that we’re done hearing about shooting and killing and bad wrecks and will stand for nothing less than hearing of all the good that is happening in our communities and world.

It’s this point, exchanging glorification of evil for the promotion of good, that I think is central to the scripture in this message today. For as we see Judges, chapter 19 open, we are immersed in an immoral situation, one that would probably be interesting in a world that seems to thrive on sinful news. This immorality involves a Levite (priest) from Ephraim who took a concubine (mistress) from Judah who was then unfaithful to him before leaving altogether and moving back in with her father.

So to summarize, a priest had a mistress who had an affair and then left him. That’s how this story starts.

And then it gets worse.

For the scriptures tell us the Levite went to the concubine’s father, wanting to get her back. Her father encourages him to first stay there three days which turns into a fourth day and then a fifth before proposing a sixth that had the Levite fed up. We read where he decides to take the concubine, a male servant, and donkeys, heading toward Jebus (which was another name for Jerusalem).

Well, as they neared Jebus, we see where the male servant suggests that they should stay in the city, a suggestion that was quickly shot by the Levite because the Jebusite people were alien people (non-Israelite). And so the Levite traveled beyond Jebus to Gibeah, located in Benjamin, where they were “surprisingly…not shown hospitality by any fellow Israelites” and so they spent “the night in the city square” instead.

The next day, we read where they were approached by an older man who was from Ephraim but resided in Gibeah. Having just returned from the fields, he saw the Levite, his concubine, and donkeys and asked them:

"Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

And after the Levite answered the man’s question, he details all he has before finishing up by saying:

“We don't need anything."

In other words, the Levite was basically saying that all they needed was just a place to stay in town.

Well, in an instant act of hospitality common to the Jewish cultural norms, the man tells the Levite:

“You are welcome at my house…Let me supply whatever you need.”

And with that, the old man took the Levite, his concubine, his servant, and his donkeys in…feeding the donkeys, providing water so the guests could wash their feet, and then giving them food and drink. All seemed well but that was soon to change.

For the scriptures tell us that while the old man and his company were “enjoying themselves”, some “wicked men of the city surrounded the house” and pounded “on the door”. They shouted out to the old man, asking him to send out the Levite guest so they could have sex with him…which in the moment, made Gibeah look like another Sodom.

In response to this, we read where the older man…the owner of the house…tried to reason with the men saying:

“No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing”.

We even see the older man and Levite do something unconscionable as they were willing to give a virgin daughter and concubine respectively in place of the Levite saying:

“I will bring them (the women) out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

Note how the virgin daughter and concubine didn’t have a vote in this matter as the plot thickens. The old man and Levite were willing to sacrifice them to prevent the Levite from being sexually assaulted…and this would have been bad enough but we see where they also granted the Gibeathite men permission to do whatever they wanted to the women. It was nothing short of horrific.

Well, we read where the homosexual Gibeathites refused to listen to the older man and so the Levite did something incredibly awful for the scriptures tell us that he sent his concubine outside to the men who “raped…and abused her throughout the night” until dawn. After the evil onslaught, we read where she tried to get back into the house but fell and died at the doorway.

If there was a news station in biblical times, they may have led with the following headline…”Mistress from Judah dies after being raped and abused by a group of homosexual men in Gibeah”.

When we get right down to it, the Levite was essentially an accessory to the concubine’s murder and inexcusably, he didn’t even check on her until he woke up in the morning. When he found her dead, we read where he “put her on his donkey and set out for home” and when he arrived there, he did something else that was outrageously amoral . For the scriptures tell us that he “took a knife and cut up” the dead concubine “limb by limb” and “into twelve parts” which he then sent “into all the areas of Israel”.

Can you imagine what this much have been like for each of the twelve Israelite tribes who received a portion of this woman’s body from the Levite?

It’s little wonder that “everyone who saw it said” the following:

“Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!”

Again, a news channel back then might have this as the main story:

“Breaking news! Levite man cuts his dead mistress into twelve pieces and mails one part of her to each tribe.”

Well, the reaction of the Israelites was understandable for we read where they were up in arms, all coming “out as one man” to assemble “before the Lord in Mizpah”. There, the “leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords” and asked:

“Tell us how this awful thing happened."

“News flash! Israel gathers at Mizpah! Demands explanation from a Levite priest!”

In response to the request, we find the Levite telling the gathered Israelites about what happened in Gibeah and why he felt impelled to send them a piece of the concubine to bring their attention to the “lewd and disgraceful act” that had taken place. He asked for the people of Israel to “speak up and give your verdict” and we see where the Israelites pledge their unity in standing up against the “vileness done”.

“This just in! The people of Israel unite against the heinous evil done in Gibeah!

Friends, isn’t this something we should be doing as well? Shouldn’t we show ourselves as a people who are lock-stepped in our rejection of evil, no matter what form it takes.

For how much change would we see our world if every single person would decide that they were fed up with evil once and for all?

The world’s population is around 8 billion people and there is no question it can be a force if they would only be able to come together for a common cause. If this force, under the guidance and direction of God, spoke out against any and all forms of wickedness, it would be the same as speaking out against Satan himself and if everyone were opposed to him then there would be no place for him to do his malevolent work. Everyone would be committed to things that are good and just and right because they would be dedicated to the things of the Lord.

Maybe I’m a dreamer but I refuse to lose hope in a day when evil might end. In fact, none of us should because Jesus promised us that this day will one day come…on the day when He returns. When that happens, we know through the scriptures that perfect justice will be carried out as the reset button is hit on all creation, returning things to where they were before sin entered in…to a place where there was no evil.

My brothers and sisters, this is incredible good news for us, today and every day, news that will always keep things bright and joyful, no matter what else we might hear or read in the worldly news.

The truth is that evil will NEVER have the full victory and WILL NOT stand the test of time for good WILL reign supreme one day.

These are divine headlines given to us by God’s Word and we should always hold to…and tell others about them, making sure that the perfect promise of this good news is grounded in Jesus, the Author of our lives and Savior of our souls…the One who will vanquish Satan and evil from life forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WHO DO YOU BELONG TO?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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

In those days, Israel had no king. And in those days, the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”

The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

He told them what Micah had done for him and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.

When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “How did you find things?”

They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.

Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. On their way, they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. From there, they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image, and a cast idol? Now you know what to do.” So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate. The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods, and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate.

When these men went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods, and the cast idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods, and the carved image and went along with the people. Putting their little children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

He replied, “You took the gods I made and my priest and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ “

The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us or some hot tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” So the Danites went their way and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

Then they took what Micah had made and his priest and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel – though the city used to be called Laish. There the Danites set up for themselves the idols and Jonathan, son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 18

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

In Judges, chapter 17, we were introduced to a man named Micah. You’ll recall that he had stolen silver shekels from his mother, then confessed to her and returned the stolen money hearing her call out a curse on whoever took it. In response to this, you’ll remember that the mother gave a portion of the silver back to Micah who used it to make an idol and a carved image, items he placed in a shrine within his home for worship. One of his sons was appointed to be his priest.

We also read where Micah later met a young Levite who he enlisted to work for him and be his priest. The Levite agreed to the offer and stayed with Micah and his family, serving as his personal priest and all seemed well in the household…or at least it did to Micah who was doing what he saw fit. Never for a moment did he stop to consider that what he was doing directly violated God’s commands regarding worship, worship that was to be centered on Him and Him alone.

The same was true for the young Levite who should have flat out rejected Micah’s proposal in the first place, warning him that his plan for worship was nothing short of wicked and false…worship that would be abhorred by God.

Obviously, the Lord wasn’t going to allow this to continue and so in today’s scripture passage, we see the Danites enter the scene, disrupting Micah’s peaceful solitude and breaking up his illicit worship arrangements.

The scriptures show us that the Danites primarily were searching for a place to live. And although they had been allotted land when Canaan was divided among the tribes, they had not been able to occupy their allotted region because of the Amorites and Philistines. So they sent out “five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it”.

After setting out, we read where the men “entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night” and while staying there, they “recognized the voice of the young Levite” and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

So the Levite, Micah’s self appointed priest, “told them what (he) had done for him”. And after learning that the young Levite was a priest, the five warriors made the following request:

“Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

In response, the Levite, who we will learn in named Jonathan, the ”son of Gershom, the son of Moses”, tells the men to “go in peace” for their journey was approved by God. With this, we see that the “five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety” and prosperity because the “land lacked nothing”. Additionally, they noticed that the people were “unsuspecting and secure”, living “a long way from the Sidonians and having no relationship with anyone else”. Armed with this information, they returned and made a report to their tribe.

The scriptures tell us that after they had returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked:

“How did you find things?”

To which they replied:

“Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

This had to be very welcome news to a people who had been nomadic and desperately in need of a place to call home but unfortunately, it spelled trouble for the unsuspecting people of Laish. For we read where the Danites set out to conquer Laish for themselves, six hundred men in number who were armed and ready for battle. And as they traveled toward Laish, the scriptures tell us that they came to Micah’s home and while the six hundred men waited, the five warriors who had visited prior entered the house and stole the stole the ephod, cast idol, carved image, and other household gods.

This met the objection of Jonathan, Micah’s young Levite priest but he was quickly silenced by the Danite thieves who said:

“Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?”

And so we see where Jonathan, like so many of his fellow Israelites at the time, did what he saw was fit. Presented with the option of leaving Micah and joining the tribe of Dan, he gladly decides to do so, going with the marauding forces and leaving Micah behind. So much for loyalty, right?

With this, the tribe of Dan set back out for Laish, taking Jonathan and “the ephod, the other household gods, and the carved image” with them, unbeknownst that Micah, who didn’t take kindly to being robbed, was advancing on them along with a group of men who lived near him. We read where they “shouted after” the Danites who turned and said this to Micah:

“What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

It was a question with an obvious answer as Micah explains that he had come after them for robbing his household and taking away his priest as well. Essentially, this left Micah asking the Danites this question:

“What else do I have?”

Here we find the problem that comes when we place our life value on things and not the Lord. It was an issue in biblical times and it still is today.

You see, we have a real tendency to latch onto worldly things, thinking we possess them…worldly things that have an expiration date on them. And when we place our faith and trust in things that are fleeting, we find ourselves like Micah, lost when we lose them. Indeed, as the old wise saying goes, “If we’re not careful, our possessions will possess us.”

Jesus addressed this in His famous Sermon on the Mount. Here’s what He had to say in Matthew, chapter 6:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Vv. 19-21

Micah’s treasure was his false idols, household gods, and self-appointed priest. They were where his heart was and so when they were taken, he was left feeling like he had nothing else left. This is what happens when we choose to live a life apart from God...the God we will never lose…the only One in life who will never leave us nor forsake us.

Given all this, the question is:

Who do you belong to?

Are you holding onto the Lord more than anything else in your life, and when I say anything, I mean anything. This includes human beings you might be close to such as an earthly father, mother, husband, wife, child, brother, sister, or anyone else. No one should be closer to your heart, mind and soul than the Lord Almighty (Matthew 22:37). Ditto for any material things.

This matter is very personal for me and so I would like to close with the following personal testimony, one that underscores this message and reinforces the expectations of God’s Word.

This true story begins in the year 2002. I was serving in the United States Navy at the time onboard the USS BATAAN in Norfolk VA and we were scheduled to go to sea for a brief overnighter. The weekend before we pulled out, my wife Grace had not been feeling well felt well and ended up spending the entire day Sunday in bed, something that was completely uncharacteristic for her. And so before I left the house to go to the ship on Monday morning, I made her promise me that she would go to her doctor if she still wasn’t feeling well, a plan she agreed to. And with that, I went to the ship and we pulled away from the pier, heading out to sea.

Later that afternoon, I tried to call Grace to see how she was doing and there was no answer at home and so feeling like something might be wrong, I called the closest hospital emergency room and was told she was there. Not wanting to give away too much information over the phone due to privacy reasons, the hospital would only tell me that she was being looked at and had a “blood disorder”. They added that they were admitting her, encouraging me to call back later so I could talk to her directly about her condition. They said she would be on the third floor but as I would find out later, she never made it there.

This is because the hospital sent her to the critical care wing of another hospital in downtown Norfolk, who placed her in intensive care. The ship’s doctor was able to call the doctors attending to Grace and they provided him the information about what was happening. Essentially, her platelet count was over four million and normal is 100,000 to 400,000. Her body had been turning into a big blood clot.

I remember praying harder than I had ever prayed before as I anxiously waited for the ship to get back into port so I could get to the hospital. Hours seemed like days but finally we got tied up and I was off to see her.

As I arrived at the critical care wing, I went into the room and saw Grace hooked to more monitors than I care to remember. She was extremely weak and sedated, and I learned that there was worry that she had a blood clot in her aorta. The nurses said it was very iffy as to whether she was going to make it.

And so I went outside her room, sat on the waiting bench, and prayed again…and the Lord spoke to my heart through the Spirit, giving me what I needed the most at the time…the truth. He basically told me that Grace belonged to Him, not me. He had blessed me with the opportunity to be her husband but she wasn’t mine and I didn’t have the right to dictate to Him the time and place when He would bring her back to Himself. If that was to happen, my only proper response was to rejoice and give thanks that He blessed me with the time Grace and I did spend together. He finished by letting me know the same applied to my two daughters.

Friends, I can’t tell you how liberating and comforting those words were to me in that moment for as always, the Lord was right. I had no legitimate claim to Grace for she didn’t belong to me. Ditto for my kids or my parents or anyone else who was dear to me for in the end translation, they all belonged to Him and Him alone. This would frame my view on relationships from that place forward for I viewed them through a new and holy perspective, a perspective provide by God.

Well, as it happened, Grace pulled through because it wasn’t yet her time to return to her Heavenly Father. And although we would learn she had an incurable bone marrow disease, the Lord blessed us with an awesome hematologist and medication that would keep her platelet producing mechanism in check with no side effects. Today, nearly 26 years later, she continues to do well, reminding us every day that the Lord was, is, and will always be so good.

As you read this today, I pray that you will see that God is the only One you need to belong to and see others as belonging to Him as well. May you ever see Him at work in life, ever showing His amazing goodness, grace, mercy and, most of all, love.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.