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 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 this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
A bloody civil war had just ended between the Israelites and one of their own, the tribe of Benjamin. There was lots of loss 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 and thus have children to form the next generation. In other words, the tribe of Benjamin was in fear of dying off and going extinct. This is the concern that we see in Judges, Chapter 22.
For scripture tells us that the Israelites are despondent after the war ended. After the men take an oath at Mizpah to never give a 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?" They also “built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings” the next day and would further say in grieving, “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 is a sticky one, no doubt. But it’s very interesting that in one instance, Israel is destroying the people of Benjamin and then so concerned about the tribe’s extinction. It only highlighted how dysfunctional the family of Israel really was…and this would only be the beginning.
I got to thinking about families today and how dysfunctional they can be as well. I don’t think there’s any family out there that doesn’t have its issues. I know mine does. And although some families dysfunction worse than others, still there is always ample need for prayer within a family framework…prayers for peace and reconciliation and cooperation and, of course, love.
Well, Israel obviously thought about the matter at hand and came up with a 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”. 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”.
And 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”. But an exception was made for the virgins. Why? Because they would be given as wives to the Benjamite men so that the tribe would be rescued from extinction. And so Israel went against Jabesh Gilead and carried out their death penalty for failing to assemble. Out of 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”.
All along, the Benjamites were unaware of the Israelites actions. And so after acquiring the virgin women, the “whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon” and “the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared”. 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. The 400 virgins were “not enough for all of (the Benjamite men).
So the Israelites went back to grieving, still concerned that all the Benjamites would not have heirs. The problem was further exasperated because the Israelites couldn’t give their own daughters because they had taken an oath not to do so. They would need a second plan to fix the problem. The solution came in the “annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh” where the “girls of Shiloh” would come and be available to the Benjamites.
And so the Israelites “instructed the Benjamites” to, “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 the Benjamites did just what the Israelites told them to do and each man caught a girl at Shiloh and carried her off to be his wife. They then “returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them”. The problem had been solved. Peace was restored amongst the Israelites and the rest of the Israelite people “left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance”.
So what do we take 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.
Secondly, we can always rebound from our errors against 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 the perpetrators, they held all of the Benjamites accountable. And the Benjamites weren’t free of blame either. When Israel asked 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. We need to keep in mind that the way we respond and react to family matters can either move the issues toward reconciliation or further conflict. And as Israel learned, it’s far easier to reconcile.
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 reconcile sooner. Ditto for the Benjamites. The sooner we move toward peace and resolution, the better.
And one final, important note…we should always, always seek God first when we are in the midst of a dysfunctional situation. We should seek Him and Him alone for guidance so we know we will always proceed in accordance with His will, even if the people we are at odds with don’t. We must always keep in mind that the only glimpse that people might get of the Lord is through us…through our actions and our words. He will always bring function to dysfunction…peace to turmoil…love to hate. Thanks be to the Lord for always being the voice of reason in all matters…no matter how unreasonable they might become.
In Christ,
Mark
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