It was time for Israel to face the facts of their broken covenant. The Levite’s concubine’s divided body parts represented a broken covenant that Israel had with God. It signified the horrid sins of Israel which had caused her death to happen.
The wickedness and immoral actions of the Benjamites who had ended this young girl’s life told the story of how far off-track the whole nation had fallen. They had basically become like all of the other cultures in the land.
FAILED MISSION
God had given Israel the mission of completely ending this way of life in this new land. They were put there to start a country with a good and godly culture. However; they had failed. This strange warning was their wake-up call to change.
Those with newly opened eyes had to contend with the evil Benjamites or they would grow within the nation like a quick spreading cancer making the nation of Israel just another sick nation.
WELCOME
Welcome to the COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY. We are studying Chapter 20 of Judges today. It is a continuation of last week’s lesson which can be reviewed here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/what-about-those-benjamites/. We are still sorting out the details of what the other tribes of Israel thought should be done about the Benjamites.
TOO MUCH PAGANISM IN THE LAND
All of Israel realized that the paganism and immorality had spread too far into too many of their tribes. Benjamin simply represented the worst of them at this point.
Israel had vowed that their daughters could never marry a Benjamite.
The meeting to discuss this situation took place in Mizpah. Mizpah is a Hebrew word for “watchtower.” The location was in a mountainous region east of the Jordan River near Gilead. It was the land where Jacob and Laban had once agreed to part ways on good terms. They piled rocks up there and made a covenant. Laban’s parting words were “This heap is a witness between you and me today….May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.” (Genesis 31:48-49.)
REMEMBERING JEPHTHAH
The place was also called Ramath Mizpah. It was named that when Jephthah had become judge of Israel and he had made a covenant with God that if he could defeat the Ammonites in battle he would sacrifice whatever came out of the door of his house to meet him when he returned in triumph.
The tragic fact was that this turned out to be his only daughter, an only and beloved child. We studied this somewhat similar story previously. You can review it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/a-judge-named-jephthah/. Jephthah made a foolish vow. His story is a warning against such.
Had Israel also made a foolish vow to keep their daughters from marrying a Benjamite? Would this cause the Benjamites to grow in their pursuit of immoral and perverted sexual behaviors bringing even more curses instead of blessings upon their lands?
There was a lot to discuss. Many did not want to tolerate the Benjamites at all.
So they gathered in Mizpah again in order to consider this latest atrocity of the tribe of Benjamin.
MEN WITH READY SWORDS
400,000 men with swords came to Mizpah eager and ready to fight the Benjamites.
Let’s stop here to consider the state of God’s church today. There may be some similarities to the above story that we need to recognize.
We’ve mentioned that the church is a lot like that young concubine of the Levite. The evil forces of the world have raped, injured, disgraced and ruined what was once young, healthy, pure and good.
The Church established by God, led faithfully and selfishly by Jesus’s ministry with the disciples, has now been divided (like the concubine) into many pieces. It seems these pieces that are left have become lifeless and that they can never be put back together or made to function again as originally intended.
A LIFELESS CHURCH
The blood that gives the body life has now been drained out. Many of these divided churches seem dead. Yet, some, like those faithful who traveled to Mizpah, are still around, alive and ready to fight. They wait patiently and hopefully seeking for God to come to the rescue and show them how to bring this wayward bride back to life and restore her original purposes.
THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO GIVE
The ten men out the 100 were chosen to provide the food and provisions for those warriors of Israel who were doing battle. They seem to be symbolic of all who tithe of their substance and give to God’s causes freely with a cheerful and generous heart.
In today’s Church the same type of men make daily provisions available for an even harder and more violent type of battle. It is a fight for righteousness and the strength against those enemies who want to remove a part of the identity of God’s people.
THE SOUND OF A WARNING
Before the battle Israel sent out warnings. Those Israelites who sent the warnings ahead are symbolic of today’s holy priests who are bravely speaking out with the messages of God. They fight against many cultures, politics and religions. Many are still out there though, faithfully warning the Church of their sins, asking them to surrender and be saved.
Of course, today as in the days of the warning to the Benjamites, no one seems to be listening or responding.
So the battles must begin.
PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS
The enemies of today are very trained in battle techniques, much as those left-handed Benjamites. A whole generation has been educated on how to attack and defeat anything that appears to be godly in the land.
Today’s culture leans left with ways of living that completely defy God’s way of life. They have honed their skills and trained themselves to make evil sound good and good sound evil. Their programs, techniques and procedures are very refined and can produce great results. They walk together in lock-step to defeat God’s ways in the land.
GOD’S TEAM CARRIES SWORDS
The 400,000 swordsmen of Israel are symbolic of how God’s army must continue fighting the current culture full of evil pagan ways. These must battle using the “sword” better known as “The Word of God.”
When the first battle came about the Israelites of old appeared to be defeated. That is what the Christian communities of today resemble. We all appear to have lost the battle with the enemy. Christianity looks defeated. Not all of the brethren of today are willing to stand together in unity. Yet the Israelites of old wept before God and inquired if they were right in fighting their own brethren.
This is how we should continue.
KEEP MOVING THROUGH THE BATTLE
The Lord will direct us to continue just as happened with the Israelites. We must mourn our losses, but stay prayed up and keep moving ahead with the battle. At times we will need to encourage one another to not give up and to continue fighting the good fight.
As in every great battle; there will be casualties. Wars are like that. Each time the battle becomes overwhelming we must go back to the altar of God and be restored and refreshed.
For the ancient Israelites this altar was located at Bethel. Bethel means “house of God.” It set at the boundary between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. A descendant of Aaron (Phinehas) served and offered up the sacrifices to God at Bethel.
As the Israelites prayed there; God offered them a victory.
The next battle was well planned.
Part of the Israelites started a battle that slowly drew the Benjamites away from the Benjamite cities. Because the Benjamites were preoccupied in pursuit of these Israelites, their cities were left weak and undefended. The other part of the Israelite army went out and took the city from the other side. This type of siege was surprising and unexpected. That was how the Benjamites were defeated by the other tribes of Israel.
However; some Benjamites escaped and fled. They hid out at the Rock of Rimmon for the next four months. In the meantime, the Israelites destroyed all of the towns of the Benjamites.
WHAT WOULD BE TODAY’S BATTLE PLAN?
If we fought the current spiritual battles of today’s church by using this plan to defeat the wickedness that surrounds the Church of God today, how would it look?
The people would need to divide into two separate groups to attack the enemy. I suppose this might mean one group would go directly to battle with the evil around and inside the Church that must be faced head on. As this battle is pursued and fought publicly, another group might circle back to the city or place where the most evil dwells and thrives outside of the Church and in the land.
Could this be Christians and Jews banning together in order to bring God’s ways back to their homes, communities and nations?
WHAT WOULD THIS BATTLE LOOK LIKE?
In the case of America, that would mean for God’s people to begin to peacefully and lawfully fight the civil laws and government policies which are being constantly changed by outside and unelected parties who wish to eliminate God’s ways within the land.
It appears to be a global fight for national and individual rights.
Perhaps this group would ambush an unexpected and surprised team of crooked non-government officials in partnership with some wayward elected officials. Hence, such offices would need to be honestly and openly exposed and legally destroyed.
Consider that a few enemies of the Church of God would probably manage to escape (like those old Benjamites) and flee to sanctuary cities where they would hide out for a while. However; their former positions would need to be replenished and restored with good and capable leaders during their absence. These new and godly leaders would stand by all of God’s people to defeat any new attempts at treason if those parties returned.
WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS BATTLE?
Could this happen with America as it did with Israel in the days of the judges? Beware; they do say that history tends to repeat itself. It depends on how many of the faithful are willing to stay in the battle which God has assigned to them for modern times.
Therefore; let’s continue to pray for these leaders to have the strength they need to continue.
REPEATING PATTERNS WITHOUT MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES
We are approaching the end of this study of The Book of Judges. In the mean time; I have a few questions for you to ponder before next week’s lesson:
Can you see where any of these same patterns and circumstances which affected Israel and Benjamin are possibly now being repeated in the world we are living in today?
When we first began this study the author had no idea how many of these similar possibilities would be revealed to us.
If these things should happen to us; would we be better than the ancient people at following God and accomplishing His purposes for this earth?
Next week we will try to wrap up with the rest of what happened with the tribe of Benjamin.