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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
(THE JUDGES TO THE KINGS)
Cause and Effect in the Moral World
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson
Copyright - Lester Hutson -
1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express
written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Lesson 11
Judges 20
D. Anarchy and civil war:
1. Chapters 19 and 20 of Judges are inseparably related, Chapter 19 states the cause, and Chapter 20 describes the effect. Cause and effect is just as real in the spiritual world as in the natural world. Gal. 6:7 says, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, " and Hosea 8:7 shows that truth to be just as applicable to nations as it is to individuals. Wholesale sodomy in Israel caused wholesale anarchy. Sodomy results in devastating consequences. It always has and always will. The relationship between sodomy and chaos is as fixed as the relationship between water and wet. Don't believe Satan's false line about sodomy being a wholesome alternate lifestyle. It is as morally rotten as a tub of dead shrimp that has been sitting in the hot sunshine for a week.
2. Remember from Judges 19:29 that the Levite had cut his concubine into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel with a message of what the Benjamites of Gibeah had done.
The one ray of moral light in this-otherwise dark story is the fact that a great many of the people of Israel were shocked into the reality of how hideous and sinful the actions of the Benjamites was. (Pity the man or the nation who can not or will not recognize that fact.) From throughout the country, Dan (in the extreme north) to Beersheba (in the extreme south), "The children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together Judges 20:1. They assembled at Mizpeh, which is about eight miles north of Jerusalem. The tabernacle was at Shiloh, Judges 21:19, and the phrase of Verse 2 does not mean the tabernacle was there. Presenting themselves in the assembly of God literally means they assembled with the recognition of God in what they were doing.
The number of soldiers assembled was 400,000. Considering that there were 601,730 men twenty years old just prior to their entering the land in Num. 26:51, it is obvious there was a great turnout at the plea of the Levite. ***When they inquired of the Levite as to the details of the story, the Levite explained; and the men of Israel were shocked, Judges 20:8. (Many will find themselves in shock when they get a true look at what these gays "who just want their civil rights" will do). Notice Verse 6. The Levite said of the action of the Gibeahites they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel." The Hebrew word for "lewdness" is "Zimmah." Paul Enns in his commentary on Judges, page 136, explains the word, which denotes a 'heinous crime, is frequently used of sexual perversion such as incest, Lev. 18:17, 20:14, giving a daughter to prostitution, Lev. 19:29 and adultery, Job 31:11. The word 'Jolly" is from the Hebrew "Nebala" meaning a disregard for moral or spiritual claims; disgraceful. It too is used often in connection with sexual promiscuity, Deut. 22:21; Gen. 34:7, premeditated rape, II Sam.- adultery, ver. 29:33 and homosexual relations, Judges 19:23-24. All of these sins were punishable by death under the Mosaic law. It is surely not difficult to see the despicable category into which God lumps sodomy. He loves sodomites, but he hates their sin.
The indignation of the men of Israel against the men of Gibeah was universal. Judges 20:11 says, "So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city.- knit together as one man." They determined to attack the city of Gibeah with 90% of their forces, while the remaining 10% were to supply food, Verse 10.
3. Judges 20:12-13 report a new dimension in the depth of the nation's sins, and the factor which immediately broadened the scope of the conflict. When the men of Israel asked for justice in the crime, and punishment of the evildoers, their Benjamite brothers refused, and protected the criminals. Oh, what a foul can of stinking worms that policy opened! And, it is such an ugly, socially destructive, yet common sin. Children do it regularly. One of their peers kicks in a youth camp door, gets involved with drugs, or does something really ugly or wrong. They all know it, but not one will tell or lift a hand to deal with the matter. They all keep quiet and cover for their evil friend (and often even enemies Even adults do this on the job. Parents do it. Their child may cuss, bully, make trouble, lie, hurt others, and do lots of evil; yet most parents will not see that their child faces proper justice and punishment. No. They cover for, ignore, and even protect their child, just like the Benjamites did. Men at work do it. In big production companies, thousands of dollars worth of goods are stolen by employees, smuggled out in pockets, lunch kits, and car trunks; things like hammers, soldering guns, hand tools, auto parts, paper clips, staplers, etc. I heard about a man who every day pushed a wheelbarrow load of sand by the guard shack. The guard would sift through the dirt again and again but never could find anything stolen. Finally, the man and the guard retired; and the guard said, "Man what on earth was you stealing?" The man said, "Wheelbarrows." Everybody knows it, but they keep covering for the thieves. Many citizens in our country feel just like the Benjamites did about gays. They may not approve, but they'll stand up for the gays' "rights." And, they'll resist any effort to keep the gays from the police force and teaching positions; any efforts to make sodomy, gay bars, or homosexual marriages unlawful; and they'll bitterly condemn anyone who is against sodomy as "bigoted, hate mongers, selfrighteous, and dangerous to society." And, plenty of people take the same approach toward adultery, prostitution, crime, communists, and atheists like O'Hare.
Be it parents shielding their children, kids protecting other kids, employees covering for other employees, or citizens standing up to defend criminal activity or sex perversion in the name of "civil liberties," it all comes out of the same corrupt, sinful reservoir called "the heart," which Jeremiah 17:9, calls "....deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." The purging of sin is essential to prevent further disaster for the society as a whole, Consider what happened to Israel at Ai in view of their failure to deal with the sin of Achan, Joshua 7. In refusing to deliver up the guilty men, the Benjamites identified themselves with the sin and brought judgment on the entire tribe.
In view of this protective attitude by the Benjamite tribe, what could have been proper punishment and justice against only the guilty men of one city, turned into a full scale civil war. Any time men take the wrong response toward sin, the stakes get higher, and the consequences more severe. Invariably the matter escalates.
4. Instead of delivering the men of Gibeah to the congregation of Israel for justice in view of their crime, the men of Benjamin gathered in force to Gibeah to defend their depraved brethren in battle against the Israelites. Verse 14 says, "But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel."
Verse 15 says there were 26,000 Benjamite soldiers, plus 700 chosen men of Gibeah. (The fact that there were 700 crack soldiers in Gibeah tells us that not all gays are little sissified weaklings.)
Verse 15-17 gives the setting: 400,000 men of Israel squared off against 26,700 Benjamites. Three major encounters by the two forces occurred before the fighting ceased. ***The first encounter is recorded in Judges 20:19-23. The men of Judah had been selected to go out first against the Benjamites. Judah marched forward sustaining a huge loss of 22,000 men while the losses to Benjamites were minimal.
The next day, the second encounter occurred, Judges, 20:24-28. (The days were not necessarily sequential days.) Again the men of Israel were put to the sword as 18,000 were slain against very small Benjamite losses. After the battle, they went up before the ark of the Lord (which had been transported from Shiloh), and offered "burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord, " Judges 20:26. Finally, the men of Israel are getting somewhere. In their zeal to avenge the sin of the men of Gibeah, they went up according to the letter of the law while ignoring the attitude which was the heart of the law. Brother, it is not faith alone that works glory to God, it is "faith which worketh by love," Gal. 5:6. How prone we are to- function legalistically, according the letter; yet with a heart as cold as a glacier and as hard as a stone. God forbid! It is our hearts that God seeks to reach. He is not interested in high powered performance without a right heart, and He said so in Psalm 51:16-17, "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise." The men of Israel were doing right, but their personally hard and unbroken hearts were bringing them defeat.
Although at the end of this second day of defeat, they came before the Lord; not only brokenhearted with weeping, but also with burnt offerings and peace offerings, Verse 26. Both were voluntary offerings. The burnt offering was a consecratory offering signifying complete surrender to God, Lev. 1:1 -17. The peace offering signified communion with the Lord, Lev. 3:1-17. Repentance was foundational to both these offerings. So their voluntary offering of these was a testimonial of genuine humilily and repentance before the Lord.
The third encounter brought total victory to the men of Israel, Judges 20:29-48. Rather than a direct attack, this time their strategy was an ambush. A main force of Israelites advanced on Gibeah, luring the Benjamites out of the city. The ambush force hid behind the city. As the Benjamites attacked, the main force retreated with the Benjamites in deceived but confident pursuit. For the men of Israel, the strategy was working. Once the Benjamites were drawn sufficiently out of the city, the smaller Israeli force of 10,000 came in from behind advancing on the city. As the 10,000 Israelites advanced from their hiding place across the meadows setting the city on fire, the main force turned catching the Benjamites in a great military pincher. Verse 41 says, "And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them." All but 600 of the men of Benjamin died, including women and children. These 600 escaped to a rock stronghold at Rimmon. Verses 47-48 read, "But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rmmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.
Do not assume there is a discrepancy in the number of Benjamites in this chapter. Verse 15 gives their number to be 26,700, while Verses 44-47 says 25,000 were slain and 1,600 were left. These 25,000 were slain in the third encounter. The remaining 1,100 were casualties during encounters #1 and #2. Also, the apparent difference in verses 35-46 (25,100 in verse 35 and 25,000 in Verses 44-46) is explained by the fact that only round figures are being used in the latter verses.
QUESTIONS ON "CAUSE & EFFECT IN THE MORAL WORLD"
1. What is meant by "cause & effect"?
2. Explain the cause and effect connection between Judges 19 & Judges 20.
3. What is the major sin which triggered these devastating effects of Judges 20?
4. How did the tribes of Israel respond to this hideous sin?
5. What is meant by the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba"?
6. How many Israelite soldiers gathered at Mizpeh?
7. What was the response of the multitude once they got a true look at the attitude of the gays?
8. Explain the word "lewdness" in the light of the text.
9. Explain the word "folly" in the light of the text.
10. What sin of the tribe of Benjamin expanded this conflict?
11. Name -ways by which this sin shows itself to be firmly entrenched in our society.
12. Why is the purging of sin so vital to any people?
13. How did Benjamin's failure to deliver up the guilty implicate them in the matter?
14. What always happens when one responds improperly toward sin?
15. How does this text show us that not all gays are sissies?
16. Explain why 400,000 Israelites could just roll right over 26,700 Benjamites.
17. What is the significance of a burnt offering?
18. What is the significance of a peace offering?
19. What is the basis for all acceptable burnt and peace offerings?
20. Explain the military "Pincher Movement" which defeated the Benjamites.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"