Calvary Church is
dedicated to doctrine. And we want you to experience
the life change that comes from knowing God's word
and applying it to your life. So we explain the
Bible verse by verse, every chapter, every book. This is Expound. Well, good evening. Good evening. Good evening. How are you tonight? Good. What a crazy day. Another crazy day we've
seen on our landscape played out on the news. Interesting that as the news
events are unfolding today, I'm starting the Book of Judges,
which is about a nation filled with anarchy. And here's just a reminder. This is the time to pray. I know everybody wants to
share an opinion of who's really behind it, and
what the facts really are. And nobody really
knows completely yet. But keep in mind this. No matter whose side or
what side is responsible, our hope is not in a person
or a political party. It is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus stood before Pilate. And he said, my kingdom
is not of this world. If my kingdom were
of this world, my servants would
rise up and fight. But my kingdom is
not of this world. Pilate said, so
you're a king then? He said, for this
cause, I was born. For this reason, I
came into the world, that I should bear
witness to the truth. That's what we're about. We're warriors of truth. And there's no greater
truth than people need the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to get to Heaven. You can be a staunch Republican,
or a staunch Democrat, or a libertarian,
or an independent, like I am, and not go to
Heaven, or you can go to Heaven. That is really
the issue at hand. Is the person right with
God and going to Heaven? That's what the church
should be about. And I hope that's what
you will devote yourselves to in the days ahead. OK. Enough said. Let's turn in our
Bibles to Judges chapter 19 as we
hopefully, by God's grace, finish out this book. The Book of Judges is a
section of history in Israel that lasted 350
years approximately. It was during that period
that the nation declined in an unprecedented manner. It took place almost immediately
after the death of Joshua. Joshua was a strong leader. He filled Moses's shoes. Moses died. Joshua took over, brought the
people across the Jordan River, set up tribal allotments. They never fully occupied
the land God gave them. Nonetheless, Joshua was a
strong, god-fearing leader. But we are told in the
very beginning of this book that when Joshua died,
problems began to develop. I'll just read
one of the opening sections of the Book of Judges. This is chapter 2 and verse 7. "So the people served the
Lord all the days of Joshua. And all the days
of the elders who outlived Joshua,
who had seen all the great works of the Lord,
which he had done for Israel. Now, Joshua, the son of Nun,
the servant of the Lord, died when he was 110 years old. And they buried him within
the border of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres, in the
mountains of Ephraim, on the north side
of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had
been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after
them who did not know the Lord, nor the work which he
had done for Israel." So the Book of Judges begins. And the Book of Judges goes
from conquest to compromise. They had conquered the land,
but not fully occupied the land. They entered into a
series of compromises with the people around them. And we discovered
in the early section of this book the sin cycle. This repeated cycle of
behavior that every generation for 350 years after the
death of Joshua had. There was, first of all,
a rejection of the Lord, followed by a rebellion
from the Lord, followed by a
retribution of the Lord, followed by a repentance
toward the Lord, followed by a
restitution by the Lord. So they rebelled against God. God let them go into
captivity, or be oppressed. They cried out. God sent a deliverer, a judge. They were restored
back to stability, but the cycle happened
all over again. So they go from
conquest to compromise. But then as we keep
reading the book, they go from compromise
to chaos, utter chaos. Now, last week when we
were beginning chapter 17, we noted that beginning
in chapter 17 all the way to chapter 21, the last
chapter of the book, those five chapters form an appendix. They're not in
chronological order. They don't advance the
narrative of this book at all. They're simply little
insights, soap operas, to let you know how
bad life was morally and spiritually for the nation. So it could have happened
earlier in the book. It's not necessarily
in chronological order. It's just little examples
under the moniker that is used a few times
in these last chapters. There was no king in
Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That is a repeated phrase. So to show you that,
we have these examples. The first example was
idolatry in a family, the family of Micah. Micah lived with his mom,
stole money from his mom, set up idols in the house, set
up a priesthood in the house. It was idolatry in a family. That was chapter 17. In chapter 18,
there was idolatry in an entire tribe,
the tribe of Dan. The Danites moved from one
place to another place. And on the way, they stopped
at the house of Micah, saw that there was a priesthood
and idols, and thought, we need a chaplain
for our tribe, and said to the priest,
the errant Levite who was there, come and be the
head, be the spiritual leader. So they took the idols
all the way up to Dan and set up an entire
idolatrous worship system. Now we get to chapter
19, 20, and 21. And again, by
God's grace, I want to move through it
rapidly, because honestly I want to be done with this book. It's a depressing book. And it's in the Word of God. The Bible is honest about
this period of history. And I'm glad that it is. But it'll be great
to move on past this into the Book of Ruth. It's a refreshing
book after this. But chapter 19, 20, and 21 is
pure anarchy in the nation. It just will leave you
scratching your head going, gosh, I don't know
which part of this story is the worst part of this story. But it's all bad stuff. Chapter 19 of Judges is
almost the equivalent of the 19th chapter of
the Book of Genesis. When two angels, who
came in human form-- they had met with Abraham. They went into the city of Sodom
and stayed in the house of Lot. And the men of the
city of Sodom gathered around the house of
Lot, banged on the door, demanded that the men be
delivered to the men outside, that the men outside might
have homosexual relations with the visitors of Lot. And they were angels of God. You don't mess with an
angel, they found out. The city was destroyed. There were no
angels present here. But it is an equivalent. It's very reminiscent
of Genesis 19, but here in the Book of Judges. The story in chapter 19
begins with a Levite. Don't get this Levite
confused with the Levite in the previous chapter. Even though that Levite is
also from Bethlehem in Judah, two entirely different
people altogether. That Levite previously
moved up north to Dan. So this is a whole
different story. This is a Levite
in chapter 19 who is disobeying the Law of God. As God's people,
especially the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, the
priest were to be monogamous. This Levite is not. This Levite has a concubine. And the concubine in the
story becomes unfaithful. And so you have a Levite with
a concubine, a concubine who goes and has an affair, and
then eventually the Levite throwing the concubine out to
the perverted men of Gibeah to do whatever they wanted
to do to her all night. Now you'll know by the time you
get just through this chapter why I want to move on from
this section of history. "And it came to pass"-- I'm glad it's going to pass. "It came to pass
in those days when there was no king in
Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning
in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine
from Bethlehem of Judah." So this was sort of
like a hillbilly Levite. The previous Levite was up in
the rolling hills of Ephraim, up by Shiloh, and up by Bethel. But this guy chose the
remote mountains of Ephraim. He left Bethlehem-Judah. He is not serving in the
tabernacle in Shiloh. He's just sort of wandering
the remote mountains. He's like a hippie Levite. He's out there wandering around. And he took for
himself a concubine. So we know a little
bit about him. He's not faithful
to the covenant that God gave to the Levites. Levites, as I mentioned,
were to be monogamous. For that matter, all of God's
people were to be monogamous. God said, for this
reason a man shall leave his father
and mother, and be joined to his wife, singular. Not to as many wives
and concubines. Now, a concubine was, in effect,
in those days a female servant, a second status wife. Though, it was a legal setup,
and though she had some rights, she could bear children
for that husband, along with his legitimate wife. That was OK in Canaanite custom. But that is not
what God intended. It was against God's
original design. Now, something that you
might find helpful-- I did. We don't know if
it's true or not. But Flavius Josephus, who
was a Jewish historian-- I've quoted him a
lot over the years. He wrote around
the time of Christ, but he talks a lot about
Israel's wars and Israel's history-- does make a comment on this
concubine and the Levite. And according to
Josephus, Josephus says she was a beautiful girl. Her husband, the Levite,
was taken by her beauty, but she was not one to return
the affection to her husband. Her husband was
affectionate toward her, loved her, found
her very beautiful, and though they were
married, she didn't obviously take a liking to him. And according to Josephus,
they argued a lot. And after one argument she went
out, left him, had an affair, goes back home to
Bethlehem-Judah. That's where we
pick up the story. "But his concubine played
the harlot against him and went away from him
to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was
there for four whole months. Then her husband arose and
went after her to speak kindly to her and to bring her back,
having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. And so she brought him
into her father's house, and when the father of
the young man saw him, he was glad to meet him. "Now, his father-in-law"--
the young woman's father-- "detained him. And he stayed with
them three days. So they ate and drank
and lodged there." So it looks like
the Levite wants to reconcile with his estranged
second status wife concubine. So he goes to Bethlehem
and speaks kindly to her. Now, mark that. Because you keep
reading the story, and though he has
spoken kindly to her, he's not going to
treat her kindly. He's going to throw
her out in the street to let her be ravaged by
all the men of Gibeah. But here he turns it
on, turns on the speech. Baby, honey, you're so awesome. You're so pretty. And just buttering her up,
just sweet talking her. Gals, beware of men who have
a talk, but don't have a walk, who say all the
right things, but-- and oh, honey, I love you. And if you really love
me, you'll do what I want. And you'll have sexual relations
with me if you really love me. He doesn't love you. He loves himself,
and he wants you. That's all that-- I'll translate that for you
when he says I love you. So he's sweet talking
her, but he is not going to treat her with any
kind of chivalry or respect whatsoever. It's interesting that
the father-in-law is so happy to see him. Probably the father-in-law
is a bit embarrassed, because it was embarrassing to
have your daughter come home after a failed marriage
and come back to live within the home in those days. So she's back. He's probably
feeling embarrassed, but also hospitality was
and still is to this day huge in that part
of the country, in that part of the world. So we've seen this a
few times in the Bible, where you're invited to come
in, and to not just spend one day, but two days, then
three days, then four days. Then if you can, five days. This happened with
Jacob and Laban in a very similar fashion. "It came to pass
on the fourth day, they arose early in the morning. And he stood to depart. But the young woman's father
said to his son-in-law, refresh your heart
with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. So they sat down, the two
of them, and drank together. The young woman's
father said to him, please, be content
to stay all night. Let your heart be merry." Here, have another cold one. "And when the man
stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him,
so he lodged there again. And he rose up early in the
morning on the fifth day to depart. But the young woman's
father said, please, refresh your heart. So they delayed
till the afternoon. And both of them ate. "When the man stood to
depart, he and his concubine, and his servant,
his father-in-law, the young woman's
father said to him, look, the day is now
drawing toward evening. Please, spend the night. See the day is coming to an end. Lodge here. Let your heart be merry. Tomorrow you shall go your
way so that you may get home. "But the man was not
willing to spend the night. So he arose and departed
and came to a place opposite Jebus." That is Jerusalem. "With him were
saddled two donkeys. His concubine was
also with him." Now, evidently, just from
looking at this verse, the Book of Judges was
written by an author during the monarchy, during the
time of the monarchy-- monarchy being Saul,
David, et cetera-- because the town in
reference here, Jebus, becomes Jerusalem in
around 2 Samuel chapter 5. That's when David conquers it. It is a fascinating story, but
until it becomes Jerusalem, it is occupied by an Amorite
tribe known as the Jebusites in their town called Jebus. So they're on that ridge that
is from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, but they have
not fully occupied the land. That is the failure
of after Joshua. Joshua brought them in,
but they didn't fully occupy what God gave them. So it's still
inhabited by the Jebus, and will be until the
time of the monarchy, until the time of David. So verse 11, "They
were near Jebus, and the day was far spent." So it's evening. "And the servant said
to his master, come. Please, let us turn into
this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it." Now notice the
reaction of the Levite. "But his master said
to him, we will not turn aside into a city
of foreigners who are not of the children of Israel. We will go on to Gibeah." Now, he's thinking Gibeah
belongs to the Benjamites. It's Israelite territory. Hence, why stay in a foreign
city of pagan worshippers? However, the pagans
of Jebus would have no doubt treated them
better than the Israelites in Gibeah. But the Levite is just swearing
that isn't the way it is. "So he said to his servant,
come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the
night in Gibeah or in Ramah. And they passed by
and went their way. And the sun went down
on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside to go
on to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down
in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into
his house to spend the night." "Just then"-- oh, stop
here for a minute. The end of verse 15,
that last little phrase, would be a shock
statement for somebody reading that in ancient times. The fact that it says, "No one
would take them into his house to spend the night." That's shocking. In the Middle East,
hospitality is considered one of the most
important virtues, even above many others,
as you'll see here, even above,
unfortunately, protecting the vulnerable, the weak. But hospitality was huge. People would welcome you
into their home, especially this guy, because he has all of
his own supplies, we will hear. Nobody has to give him
anything, just a place to stay. So he's out in the open
square, but nobody's budging. Nobody's inviting him in. Now, perhaps, I
can't be certain-- but perhaps the
author of this-- and I believe it was Samuel who
wrote the Book of Judges. That's just my opinion. But perhaps the
author wants to draw a contrast between the
people of Bethlehem-- remember the man
who was the father of the concubine, the
father-in-law of the Levite. He was so hospitable as if to
say, the people from Bethlehem are so hospitable. But the people from Gibeah
in Benjamin, they're not so hospitable, which is
true in this case in this story. Now, why would the
author want to do that? Because, perhaps, he wants
to delegitimize Saul's reign as king. David will come from
Bethlehem in Judah, the town of hospitality. Saul is a Benjamite from Gibeah. So that could be in
the author's mind. Certainly it was in
the author's mind. Whether he was using that as a
motivation, I can't be certain. But verse 16, "Just then an
old man came in from his work." Now, I don't know what
they mean by old man. I don't know what age that
would be, but I could guess. "Just then an old man came
in from his work in the field at evening who also was from
the mountains of Ephraim. He was sojourning, or he was
temporarily staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the
place were Benjamites. And when he raised
his eye as he saw the traveler in the
open square of the city, and the old man said,
where are you going? Where do you come from?" So this old guy's
a farm laborer. He has left Ephraim for a
job in the fields of Gibeah. So he said to him, "We're
passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote
mountains of Ephraim. I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah. And now I am going to
the house of the Lord, or going to Bethel. "But there is no one who
will take me into his house. Although, we both have straw
and fodder for our donkeys, bread and wine for
myself, for your maid servant, for the young man
who is with your servant. There is no lack of anything. "And the old man said,
peace be with you. However, let all your
needs be my responsibility. Only do not spend the
night in the open square." That is Mid-Eastern hospitality. "So he brought him
into his house, gave him fodder for the
donkeys, washed their feet, ate, and drank. Now, as they were enjoying
themselves, suddenly certain men of the
city, perverted men,"-- literally sons of Belial. That's the Hebrew,
sons of Belial. Belial means worthless,
so sons of no value, sons of worthlessness. Belial will become
in the New Testament a proper name for Satan himself. "What accord," Paul
asks in 2 Corinthians, "has Christ with Belial?" But here they're just called
in this translation perverted men, sons of Belial. "So these perverted men
surrounded the house and beat on the door." Now, what makes them perverted? We'll find out. "They spoke to the
master of the house, the old man, saying, bring out
the man who came to your house that we may know him carnally." They don't want the concubine. They want the young man. These men want to have
homosexual relations with that man,
with that visitor. That's why I say
it is the Genesis 19 of the Book of Judges. They're very, very similar. "But the man, the master of
the house, went out to them and said to them, no,
my brethren, I beg you. Do not act so wickedly." So the old man knew. This is-- what you're
saying is wicked. It's wrong. It's not normal. It's a wicked act. "Seeing this man has
come into my house, do not commit this outrage." Now watch this. "Look, here is my
virgin daughter and the man's concubine. Let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do
with them as you please. But to this man, do not
do such a vile thing." Now, first of all,
I noted to you the similarity between
Sodom and Gibeah, between Genesis
19 and Judges 19. But here's the connection
you need to make. The sin that once characterized
a Canaanite stronghold now marks an Israelite city. These are the people of God. These are not Canaanites. These are God's people. They're supposedly in
the covenant allotment, and they're acting like
the vilest of unbeliever. So that value system has rubbed
off even on God's own people. Verse 24 has a very sad
phrase when the Old man says, "Here's my virgin daughter. Here's the man's concubine. Humble them." But look at this, "Do
with them as you please." Literally, it reads
this, do with them as is right in your own eyes. Now, that's the phrase that
is repeated in these chapters. There was no king in
Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. So now you have a
venerable man, an aged man. You have a Levite,
both of whom should be leaders of the
people saying, do what is right in your own eyes. Do whatever you want to do. Encouraging the
very behavior that is spoken against in
the Book of Judges. "But the men would
not heed him," verse 25, "so the man
took his concubine, brought her out to them, and
they knew her and abused her all night until morning. And when the day began to
break, they let her go. Then the woman came
as the day was dawning and fell down at the
door of the man's house where her master was
till it was light." Unfortunately, in that era
and in that part of the world, at that time, women
were considered objects. There was no
liberating movement. There was no consideration. There was no chivalry in many
of these Canaanite cultures, and sadly in an
Israelite culture that should have been
different, because Judaism does elevate the position of women. And certainly as you
keep reading your Bible, you get into the
New Testament, Jesus is responsible singularly in
the ancient cultures of setting women free, and elevating them. Many of Jesus's own
followers were women. He extolled them. He forgave them. There's the story of Jesus
at the House of a Pharisee. And a woman comes in
and weeps on his feet. And Jesus extends
love and forgiveness. And the Pharisee is
bent out of shape, first, because it's a
woman, and second, because, does he know who this woman is? She's a sinner. And Jesus just showed great love
and respect, as he often did. And then in the
Epistles, Paul said, for in Christ, there's
neither male nor female. City and bond are free. We're all one in
Christ, extolling women and the position,
elevating them. But in that culture, in that
ancient culture, and even in some modern culture-- there's reform happening
in the Muslim world, but there are still many
pockets in Islamic countries where women are treated
as property with no rights whatsoever. That's the old mindset. In some Buddhist areas as well. Jesus is the great
liberator of women. So verse 26, we continue
this horrible, tragic story. "The woman came as
the day was dawning, fell down at the door
of the man's house where her master was
till it was light. When her master
arose in the morning and opened the
doors of the house and went out to
go his way, there was his concubine fallen
at the door of his house with her hands on the threshold. And he said to her, get up! Let's be going." Remember how kindly
he spoke to her. "Get up!" This isn't very kind. "But there was no answer. So the man lifted
her onto the donkey, and the man got up
and went to his place. When he entered the
house, he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine,
and dismembered her into 12 pieces limb
by limb, and sent her throughout all the
territory of Israel." You'll never forget this. I was about to say
keep this in mind, but I don't have to say
that, because you'll never forget this. But I was going to
say keep this in mind, because Saul, who was
from Gibeah, King Saul, will do the same
thing with an animal. He'll dismember it and send
it to the tribes of Israel to make a statement, but
this is a human being. Now, there's no response,
this young girl. Get up! No response. He puts her on the donkey. There's not a record
that she's dead. Later on he'll say to the people
of Israel, to the tribe, say, we've got to go to war against
the Benjamites because-- and he tells the story and
says, I found her dead. But I'm not trusting
a Levite who had a concubine, who thrust
the concubine out in the court. I don't believe his testimony
as being valid necessarily. It could be that she was
alive, and he killed her, and then dismembered her. I could hear a pin drop
in this room right now. "And so it was that
all who saw it said, no such deed has been
done, or seen from the day that the children of Israel
came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it. Take counsel. And speak up." I'm troubled by the Levite. I'm troubled that he looks down
at this gal on the threshold. There's no outrage that is
recorded until she's dead. Now he's outraged. They killed her! He threw her out in the
streets, the old man and him. And now he's outraged. He tells the children,
you've got to do something. Now, the idea of
dismembering and sending it out to the 12 tribes was to
create a shocking response, which it did. It was like their September 11. This just happened
in our country? It was meant to shock
them and to summon them. It was Nietzsche who said-- and
he was right-- if God is dead, then everything is permitted. If there is no God, then
there's no moral restraints. Every man can do what is
right in his own eyes. You just sort of decide in
what culture, and what era, and you get enough
people together. And you decide the
majority is always right. And you can make
up your own rules. If God is dead, then
everything is permitted. By and large, God was gone
from the landscape of Israel. And this has been permitted. Now, we get into chapter 20. And here's what we discover. One man's sin in chapter
19 causes the death of 65,000 men in chapter 20
because the nation goes to war. "Then all the
children of Israel," verse 1, chapter 20 "of
Israel, came out from Dan to Beersheba, as well as
from the land of Gilead." That's a phrase, from
Dan to Beersheba. From North to South, Dan
way, way up North, now that they have moved. Beersheba, all the
way down South. So you find in scripture
from Dan to Beersheba is from North to South,
and even the Transjordan, or those tribes on the
east side of the Jordan, mentioned here as Gilead,
all of them get riled up. And it says, "They gathered. The congregation gathered as one
man before the Lord at Mizpah." That's noteworthy,
you see, because this is the first time recorded
in the Book of Judges where the nation is unified. They're scattered. They're tribal. They're fighting each other. They're fighting
little petty wars here and there, territorial wars. We never read of all the
tribes together until now. Now they're unified. But they're unified
not to fight outsiders, but to fight against
their own people, a tribe, the tribe of Benjamin. And they will almost
exterminate the tribe, and realize, man, we almost
exterminated this tribe. Now, it's bad so far. It gets wonkier as we go. It's just a weird
period of history. It's just like, wah, wah,
wah, the whole section here. "So they gathered
together at Mizpah." Mizpah is about eight
miles north of Jerusalem, about four to five miles north
of Gibeah, where they were. So they gather at Mizpah. "And the leaders of all
the people, all the tribes of Israel presented
themselves in an assembly of the people of
God, 400,000 foot soldiers who drew the sword." So they have an army of 400,000
men, the tribes of Israel, together. "Now, the children
of Benjamin heard that the children of
Israel had gone to Mizpah. Then the children of
Israel said, tell us. How did this wicked
deed happen?" Now the Levite gives
this testimony. "The Levite, the husband of
the woman who was murdered, answered and said,
my concubine and I went into Gibeah, which
belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah
rose against me and surrounded the house
at night because of me. They intended to kill
me, but instead they ravished my concubine
so that she died." Of course, he left out the part
that I chucked her outside, me and the old man, so
we could sit down and have a brewski together. "So I took hold of my
concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout
all the territory of the inheritance of Israel
because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. Look! All of you are
children of Israel. Give your advice and
counsel here and now. Then all the people
rose as one man"-- there's that unanimity--
"saying, none of us will go to his tent,
nor will any of us turn back to his house. "But now this is the thing
which we will do to Gibeah. We will go up
against it by lot." So the chapter goes on. And the people of
Israel first try to negotiate a peaceful
settlement with the Benjamites, saying, look, hand over
the perverted people, and will mete justice
out upon them. The people of
Benjamin go, no way. They dig their heels in. They don't turn over
the perpetrators. Go down to verse 15, telling
now about the Benjamites. "And from their cities"-- that is the Benjamites-- "from their cities at that
time, the children of Benjamin numbered 26,000 men
who drew the sword beside the inhabitants
of Gibeah, who numbered 700 select men." So 400,000 soldiers
against 26,700. They're outnumbered, right? But watch this. Verse 16, "Among all
this people there were 700 select men
who were left-handed. Everyone could sling a stone at
a hair's breadth and not miss. Besides Benjamin,
the men of Israel numbered 400,000 men
who drew the sword. All of these men
were men of war." So the text wants you
to know, the author wants you to know that
Benjamin had a small army. And they're pointing that
out because Benjamin is going to win the first two battles. The small group is going to
win the big group at first. But that there's these 700
southpaw sling warriors. They're left-handed. And they can throw a sling
and get it so close down to a hair's breadth. That's just so minuscule. Now, we know this. Ancient slings could project a
stone up to 90 miles per hour. And if you combine that
speed with accuracy, you have a lethal weapon. Think of David and Goliath. But they want to know these
are all left-handed dudes. And we know that
the Gibeahnites-- or excuse me-- the Benjamites
had some pretty good warriors. Saul was a Benjamite. He was a pretty skilled warrior. Ehud-- remember the judge
in chapter 3 of Judges? Ehud, the left-handed
swordsman, and he came in and stabbed King Eglon
in the gut, this big fat man. And the fat folded
over the knife. And the knife got lost in the
fat folds of the obese man. That's the text of scripture. I love how it tells that story. I love that story. I don't know why,
but it's humorous. So Ehud was a left-handed
Benjamite swordsmen. But why does the author
want us to know it? I can't again be certain. Here's just another
little speculation, a fun little thing to look at. It could be the use of irony. It's ironic that you have 700
skilled lefties, southpaws, because the name Benjamin
means son of my right hand. Wow. Wow. And in antiquity,
left-handed people were considered to have
a handicap in a war. They didn't have an advantage. Right-handed people had an
advantage in one-on-one combat. They took something that
was seen as disadvantageous and turned it around
to be an advantage. So in the tribe of
the son of my right hand are these
left-handed warriors. So they go out and they fight. And verse 18, "The
children of Israel arose and went up to the House
of God to ask counsel of God. They said, which of
us shall go first to battle against the
children of Benjamin?" Actually, they should
have said, should we go to battle against Benjamin? That should have been
their first question. They just assumed
it was OK to do so. They had already
resolved to do so. They're using God sort of as
like, this is a lottery system. Which of the tribes
should go first? Now, I imagine they consulted
the priest who used-- do you know what
they would have used? The urim and the thummim,
the white and black stones that were used to discern a
yes or a no vote from God. So they probably did that. "And the Lord said,
Judah shall go up first. So the children of Israel
rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah." Now, on the first day of the
battle, the first incursion against the Benjamites,
the Israelite army, the other tribes
lose the battle. They will lose 22,000 men
to the Benjamites at Gibeah. Gibeah is in the hill country. It's easy to defend. You have to know the area to
be able to fight in that area. So that was the first battle. They lost the first battle. They regrouped. They fought the next day. They did slightly better. They lost only 18,000
men on the second day. The Benjamites won both battles. So Israel is defeated. They didn't ask
God, should we go? They just said, which
should go first? Send Judah first. Got wiped out two days in a row. Verse 26, "All the children of
Israel, that is all the people, went up and came to the
House of God and wept. They sat there before the
Lord and fasted all that day until evening. And they offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So the children of Israel
inquired of the Lord. The Ark of the Covenant of
God was there in those days." This is the only mention
of the Ark of the Covenant in the entire book. This is the only
instance of them sacrificing to the Lord God,
as prescribed by the Torah. This is the only time they
gather together to fast and weep. It's as if God was
letting them be defeated in order to get their
attention, to get them humbled, to have them come back to
the place of that first love. Oh, God, I've sinned. We've sinned. And offer up the sacrifices. I wonder if the Lord
doesn't allow certain things in our lives to
get our attention. And we say, oh, God. We start crying out to God. And it's as if God
smiles and goes, hey, I haven't heard
from you in a while. Great to hear from you today. How can I serve
you and bless you? Why didn't you
come to me before? They hadn't come to
him before like this. So they're seeking
the Lord here. It's the only mention of it. Now, as the chapter goes
down, verses 29 to 46, Benjamin is defeated in battle,
finally, on that third day. And the way they get
defeated is by an ambush. They employ a tactic
much like Joshua the general did back in the Book
of Joshua of the city of Ai-- A-I it is spelled-- into the city of Ai
in Joshua chapter 8. He drew the men of the
city away from the city. There was an ambush
against them. That's what happens here. They draw the people
away from Gibeah. There's an ambush. The men attack
them in the ambush. Once they're drawn
away from the city, other men go into the
city and light it afire, burn it to the ground. So the soldiers look
back disheartened at their city being wiped
out, and the tribe of Benjamin is nearly decimated. They lose that day, the
Benjamites, 25,000 men. Now, remember how many men
they started with, 26,700. When you have 26,700 and you
lose 25,000 men, you've lost. So go down to verse 46. "All who fell at
Benjamin that day were 25,000 men,
who drew the sword. All these were men of valor. But 600 men"-- now mark the 600. This becomes important to the
rest as we conclude the book. "The 600 men turned and
fled toward the wilderness to the Rock of Rimmon. And they stayed at the Rock
of Rimmon for four months. And the men of
Israel turned back against the children of
Benjamin and struck them down with the edge of the
sword, from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire
to all the cities"-- that is all the
Benjamite cities-- "that they came to." So the entire tribe of
Benjamin is wiped out except 600 soldiers who managed
to find a stronghold about four miles away from Bethel. That's where it was located in
the central area of the land. And it was a
defensible stronghold. They managed to stay
there for four months, to live there for four months. You've got 600 Benjamites. Now, in chapter 21,
there's a realization among the tribes of Israel. Hey, wait a minute. This may have been overkill. I mean, literally overkill. We have almost made an
entire tribe extinct. So it's almost like
in this chapter there's a reverse
thrust of the engines. They've been going forward. And then it's like,
put on reverse. Slow it down. Slow it down. Back it up. Back it up. Whereas in chapter 20, they were
trying to just wipe them out, exterminate them. It was a salvo of extermination. Chapter 21, it's to save
them from extinction. They realize if there's only
600 men-- there's no women-- we have a problem. This tribe may not
be able to reproduce. And here's why. The Israelites had also
made a vow among themselves that they would not allow
any of their daughters to marry a Benjamite. We have a problem, a
reproductive problem. Verse 1, chapter 21,
"The men of Israel had sworn an oath that
Mizpah saying, none of us shall give his daughters
to Benjamin as a wife." Ooh, so we have a problem. We made this crazy vow. Now there's only 600 men left. How do we get wives for these
guys so the tribe can stay? Because it's one of
the tribes of God. So get this. They remember another oath. They made another oath. This other oath could come
in handy right about now. "Now, the men of
Israel"-- oh, I read that. Verse 2, "Then the people
came to the House of God and remained there
before God until evening. They lifted up their voices and
wept bitterly," as they should, for a number of reasons, "and
said, oh, Lord God of Israel, why has this come to
pass in Israel that today there should be one
tribe missing in Israel?" Boy, I appreciate their prayer,
but the previous chapter they were working hard, really
hard to wipe them all out. But now they go, oh, Lord,
why would you let this happen? If I were God, I'd
go, I don't know. Why did you let it happen? "So it was on the next
morning that the people rose early and built
an altar there, and offered burnt offerings,
and peace offerings. The children of
Israel said, who is there among all the
tribes of Israel who did not come up with
the assembly to the Lord? For they had made
an oath"-- here's the other oath they made. "They had made a great oath
concerning anyone who had not come up to the Lord
at Mizpah, saying, he shall surely be put to death. And the children
of Israel grieve for Benjamin, their
brother, and said, one tribe is cut off
from Israel today. What shall we do for wives
for those who remain, seeing that we have
sworn by the Lord that we will not give them
our daughters as wives? "And they said,
what one is there from the tribe of Israel who did
not come to Mizpah to the Lord? And in fact, no one had come
from the camp of Jabesh-Gilead to the assembly." Jabesh-Gilead is on the eastern
side, north and eastern side of the Jordan River. Now, this isn't going to
help anyone or everyone, but it will help those
who have been to Israel. If you've been
with us to Israel, and you've been in Beit
She'an-- remember Beit She'an? Those beautiful ruins
where that city is built. If you're at Beit She'an,
especially the roundabout in Beit She'an, the main
roundabout that takes you into town, as you
look to the left and you look to the
eastern side of there, you see the mountains
right there. That's Jabesh-Gilead. That's the area. You're right across
from Beit She'an. Sorry. It's a footnote for those
who have been, nonetheless. None of those people came
to help in the battle. So they go, OK, we made an oath. We can't give our daughters,
but let's kill that city. But they took 400 virgin
gals from that city to give to the Benjamites. You see how wonky
this is getting? I mean, there's not a good
part of these chapters. It's just all way out there,
because every man does what is right in his own eyes. This is what happens. So they're all worried
about their oath. They kill the people
of Jabesh-Gilead, take 400 young girls, and
then they go to the Benjamites in the rest of this chapter. They make peace with
them, and give them 400 girls so they have wives. Go over to verse 13. We're bringing the
book to a close. "Then the whole
congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin
who were at the Rock of Rimmon and announced peace to them. So Benjamin came
back at that time. And they gave them
the women whom they had saved alive of
the women of Jabesh-Gilead, and yet, had not
found enough for them. And the people
grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a
void in the tribes of Israel. "Then the elders of the
congregation said, what shall we do for wives for
those who remain since the women of Benjamin
have been destroyed?" Well, there's 600 men. We've given them 400 wives. There's 200 left that
don't have wives. Now, I don't know. You just think, I don't know. 400 probably will be OK, right? I mean, that'll keep
the tribe going. But they feel really
bad about these 200 guys who don't have women. Let's just keep reading. This is interesting. And you who have a legal
background, especially will find this fascinating. "Then the elders of
the congregation said, what shall we do for
wives for Benjamin? We've been destroyed. They said there must
be an inheritance for the survivors of
Benjamin that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. However, we cannot give them
wives from our daughters for the children of Israel
have sworn an oath saying, cursed be the one who
gives a wife to Benjamin." That's the oath they made. Their oath is you can't
give one of your daughters to a Benjamite. That's the oath. You swear? I swear, man. I swear. OK. Can't break the oath. Can't give a daughter
to a Benjamite. Got it. But there could be a
loophole in our oath. Now, if you're in
the legal profession, you know about loopholes. You know the way it's
stated is very important. One of the famous
sayings of WC Fields-- we were remarking on it this week. WC Fields was reading the
Bible one time in a film. Somebody said, what are
you doing reading a Bible? And he goes, looking
for loopholes. Well, they're looking
for loopholes. "They said, in fact,
there is a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh,
which is north of Bethel on the east side
of the highway that goes from Bethel to Shechem
and south of Lebonah." It's probably the
Passover feast. "Therefore they instructed the
children of Benjamin saying, go lie in wait in
the vineyards." So these 200 young men who
don't have wives, hey, you guys, go hide in the bushes. "And watch. And just when the
daughters of Shiloh come out to perform
their dances, then come out of the
vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself
from the daughters of Shiloh. And then go to the
land of Benjamin." Ah, that's the loophole. We can't give our
daughters to them, but those men can take
wives that they find. So they had a wife
catching celebration. "It shall be when their fathers
or their brothers come to us," verse 22, "to complain
that we will say to them, be kind to them for our
sakes, because we did not take a wife of any
of them in the war, for it is not as though you have
given the young women to them at this time. You didn't break your oath. You didn't give
your daughter away. They stole them. They kidnapped." Isn't kidnapping wonderful? "Making yourselves
guilty of the oath. "And the children
of Benjamin did so. They took themselves
enough wives for their number from those
who danced whom they caught. Then they went and returned
to their inheritance. And they rebuilt the
cities and dwelt in them. The children of Israel
departed from there at that time, every man
to his tribe and family. And they went out from there,
every man to his inheritance." And then there's that
summary statement. "In those days there
was no king in Israel. And everyone did what was
right in his own eyes." You think? I mean that is the
understatement. That is the summary statement. We have just read
chapter after chapter after chapter of
people doing what is right in their own
eyes, a moral and social, spiritual existentialism
and degradation. So the men of Gibeah did what
was right in their own eyes, ravishing the young
girl all night long. That's what they wanted to do. They did what was right
in their own eyes. The old man and Levite did what
was right in their own eyes. They threw the girls outside. The children of Israel did what
was right in their own eyes. Let's just destroy
the Benjamites. And then, oh, they need wives. We can't be out of a tribe, so
let's just steal a few wives. Let's kill a few people and
give those girls to them. Everyone does what is
right in his own eyes. Now, mark this. Because it's written in the
Bible, it's not like an example all the time of good behavior. This isn't like,
OK, so I'm supposed to obey what the Bible-- I'm supposed to do this. No, this is a bad
example in the Bible. That is, to me, another mark
of the veracity of scripture. The Bible doesn't hide
the truth from us. It tells us exactly
what happened and how bad people were
living at that time, and why they were
living that way. Now, Judges is a contrast to the
book before the Book of Judges, the Book of Joshua, and the
book after the Book of Judges, the Book of Ruth. The Book of Joshua is all
about victory through faith. The Book of Judges is all about
defeat through faithlessness, defeat through compromise. The Book of Ruth is a
beautiful, beautiful book. It's about providence
during a time of perversion, God's providence. Now, we're going to
wait till next week. But go into Ruth chapter 1. I just want you to see
what setting this is. Because as bad as
things were, you need to know that
there were exceptions. And Ruth is one of them. Versus 1 of Ruth 1. "Now it came to pass in the
days when the judges ruled." Stop there. That's where we're going
to pick it up next week. We wanted to go through
Ruth right after Judges and not go into a
New Testament book, because it is the
same time period. And after all the muck and
weirdness and wah, wah, wah in the Book of
Judges, we wanted to have this beautiful
refreshing refrain of God's providence in the
midst of a very horrible time. And I think we need
that kind of example, especially in the days in
which we are living in, that it is possible to
live above the fray, and to live lives of faith, and
to see God at work even when the nation seems to be
crumbling around us. In Psalm 11, the
psalm, it says, when the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do? And when you look
around at your nation, it looks like the foundations
are being destroyed. What can the righteous do? The righteous can
stay righteous. Be righteous. Live righteously. Pray. Evangelize. Be filled with joy. Be filled with hope. Be filled with peace. Jesus's kingdom is
not of this world. Yeah. His kingdom is coming. It's far better than this. Yes. Nobody's going to
vote him into office or vote him out of office. He's taking over as king of
kings, and Lord of Lords. Lord, hasten the day. We pray in Jesus's name. Amen. Maranatha. Maranatha. For more resources from Calvary
Church and Skip Heitzig, visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us during
this teaching in our Expound series.
