Judges 21:1-25
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 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?
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.
5 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.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead 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 laina by man.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred youngb 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 speakc to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, 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 Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 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 yearlyd 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.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourablee 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.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
A GREAT CALAMITY PREVENTED
(Judges 21:1.)
HOMILETICS
1. Zeal is always right in denouncing sin.
It would have showed a lamentable lack of the reverence due to the God of Israel, if such a hideous revelation of evil as that which was discovered at Gibeah, had not met with a loud and emphatic protest on the part of His covenant people. The Church at Ephesus was commended because they “could not bear them that were evil.” In the present case, tolerance to Benjamin would have been treason to Jehovah—a principle too often forgotten. Paul at Athens (Jude 1:3; Numbers 25:7). Want of zeal against sin condemned (1 Samuel 3:13; Revelation 2:14; Revelation 2:20).
2. The evils of rash oath-making (Judges 21:1). Compare with rash vowing—see pp. 455, 457, 464.
In their calm moments the men of Israel found that their zeal was not according to knowledge, for they practically shut themselves up to exterminate the tribe of Benjamin. Hence a backwave of great sorrow (Judges 21:2). “There may be over-doing in well-doing. That is not good divinity which swallows up humanity.”—Henry.
3. It is a promising sign when people bring their difficulties to God to have them settled (Judges 21:2).
It was doubtless, He who suggested to them the question in Judges 21:5, the answer to which led to a solution of the dilemma that now stood before them. The number 12 was something sacred in the estimation of an Israelite. It was mixed up with the promises of God, and with the whole history of the sacred people.
4. Great rigour characterised the expedients of Old Testament times. (Judges 21:10.)
There was blood-shedding in the punishment of the sins of Gibeah. Not only on one town did the sword of justice fall, but from Dan to Beersheba all the tribes of Israel were gathered in vast numbers on the field of battle. In three great battles did the blood flow till 65,000 men had fallen, and one whole tribe, the children of the youngest brother, was left in desolation before the deadly strokes of the children of the elder brothers. And now more blood must flow, because of the excess of blood which has already been shed. The men of Jabesh-Gilead must die with their wives and children, in order that the young women may be got for wives to the sons of Benjamin that are yet spared. We might almost say with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:1), But why were not the virgins in Benjamin itself not spared? This whole history is a specimen of the spirit that characterised the days, when as yet the true atonement had not been made, and God had not yet become the “God of peace.”
5. The great evils which flow from men taking the vindication of God’s honour into their own hands.
The instinct of every true man of God would say—Let God Himself speak in this matter, and say what should be done. Man is not fit to judge for the great Jehovah. This was the great error of the Israelites in this tragedy. They decided first what the course should be, and then asked God to sanction it. And what a mess they did make of it! They well nigh extinguished the name of their brother Benjamin, and when they discovered that deplorable mistake, how much rough soldering work did they go through to put matters right! Of this, the manner in which they tried to find wives for the few men that were left of the desolate tribe is a melancholy illustration! There is no safety but in ever asking counsel at the mouth of the Lord. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths.”