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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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ISRAEL KEEPS ITS
VOW IN A LOOPHOLE FOR BENJAMIN Judges
21:1-25 (3/19/14) Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. ISRAEL LAMENTED OVER THE NEAR-DECIMATION
OF BENJAMIN (Jdg 21:1-4) A. [1] An important piece of information is
given that had been concealed earlier. The sons of Israel were so livid with
the sin of the tribe of Benjamin at Gibeah that they vowed never to give
their daughters to the men of Benjamin. B. [2-3] Israel appeared to be genuinely
grieved over the whole circumstance that they “wept bitterly” (bakah - mourn with tears,
cf. Jdg 20:23, 26, and gadōl means great or
greatly). The reason they mourned was that a tribe of Israel, Benjamin,
was about to go extinct, which in part, they were responsible C. [4] Similar to their actions before (Jdg
20:26), Israel appeared to have genuine repentance and made burnt and peace
offerings. This time they built an altar. II. ISRAEL JUDGED JABESH-GILEAD AND MADE A
LOOPHOLE FOR THE BENJAMITES (Jdg 21:5-15) A. [5] Another piece of important information
emerged whereby Israel had made an oath that whoever did not respond to these
atrocities and assemble with all Israel would be put to death. B. [6-7] So, there was vengeance in their
hearts along with sorrow for Benjamin’s depletion. At the same time, their
previous vow not to give the Benjamites their daughters left them with a
dilemma. C. [8-9] It appeared that as Israel pondered
what they had to do according to their own oath to those who had not
assembled, another idea or loophole came to them. They made inquiry
concerning which tribes did not assemble against the Benjamites. It was
discovered by a process of elimination that the camp from Jabesh-gilead
had not come to the assembly. D. [10-11] In keeping with their oath, Israel
sent 12,000 warriors and commanded them to strike the inhabitants with the
edge of the sword, including the women and children. They were to “utterly
destroy” every man and every woman “who had lain with a man.” E. [12] The loophole was that they also found
in Jabesh-gilead 400 virgins who had not known a
man. These virgins were brought to the camp at Shiloh. 1. According to Nu 31:17-18, it was
permissible to spare virgins in the midst of a battle. However, only the
virgins could be spared. 2. On an interesting note, the word for “virgin”
used here was bethulah and is shown
by its context to refer specifically to a virgin (“who had not known a man by lying with him”). Though the much debated word in Is 7:14 is almah (sometimes
means “young maiden”) which also can refer specifically to a virgin (Ge
24:16 cf. Ge 24:43). F. [13] This loophole apparently was a part
of their original plan. For as soon as this slaughter was over, they sent
word to the 600 Benjamites (cf. Jdg 20:47) at the Rock of Rimmon that they were
offering amnesty to them G. [14] When the 600 Benjamites returned,
they gave them the 400 virgins from Jabesh-gilead
to be their wives. For all of the Benjamin women were killed (cf. Jdg 21:16).
H. [15] The irony of the situation is
captured in James Smith’s OT survey, “Thus
human logic determined to resort to massacre of their countrymen in order to
undo the results of the massacre of other countrymen.” In ironic repetition, it was stated in
the midst of this loophole, that Israel was sorry for Benjamin. 1. Furthermore, they were sorry because “the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.” 2. What could be a phrase that alluded to
the outburst of the Lord’s anger against sin (cf. 2Sa 6:8),
there is room for an attempt for Israel to wash their hands of their own part
in this tragedy. III. ISRAEL MADE A SECOND LOOPHOLE FOR THE
BENJAMITES (Jdg 21:16-24) A. [16] In a further act of concern, the
elders of the congregation wanted to provide wives for the remaining 200 Benjamites.
For they had no woman left from their own tribe. B. [17] Their major concern was that the
tribe of Benjamin would be able to possess their inheritance. Jacob had an
initial and similar concern (cf. Ge 42:38). C. [18] They had given away the 400 virgins
but there was still 200 Benjamites left. Again, they could not give their
daughters due to their vow. D. [19] So they devised another loophole, one
in which there was no scriptural justification. It played in well with their
upcoming Feast of the Lord. Some have suggested that it was the Passover
because of the analogy of dancing similar to Miriam (cf. Ex 15:20). Some have
suggested the Feast of Tabernacles in the time of vintage harvest. Still
others have suggested that it may have been a feast of their own making. E. [20-21] The Benjamites were instructed to
hide on the vineyards. When they daughters of Shiloh took part in the
ceremonial dances, the Benjamites were instructed to each “catch” (chataph - catch or seize, not as strong as Jdg
19:25 but can have a similar meaning. Now Israel was instructing the men of
Benjamin to seize a woman) a wife. F. [22] They even gave the words of their
justification should any father or brother baulk at the incident. The
justification would be in the order of giving the poor Benjamites a break
because wives could not be won for them in battle nor could Israel break your
oath and give them your daughters. Or one may simplify it as, “Let them have
your daughters because you could not give them your daughters.” G. [23] So the Benjamites carried out
Israel’s plan and each stole a dancing maiden. After that the tribe of
Benjamin returned to their inheritance and rebuilt their cities. H. [24] As for Israel, they returned to their
perspective tribes and families where their inheritance was in the land of
Canaan. IV. REITERATION OF THE THEME OF JUDGES (Jdg
21:25) A. The theme is Judges was certainly not left
to imagination, “In those days there
was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 17:6; 18:1; 19:1 cf. Dt 21:8; 21:9). B. Judges was a testimony to the spiraling
spiritual decline of Israel. Sin then, was most blatantly defined in two phrases: 1) “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”
and 2) “Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD” (Jdg 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1;
6:1; 10:6; 13:1). C. When man decides ethics or morality a part
from God and His Word, it ends up being wrong, sin, and evil in God’s sight. V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Life is complicated - But life is only complicated
because man fails to follow God’s principles. Sin begets local and
far-reaching consequences. The consequences affect the entire human race (Ro
5:12) as well as creation (Ro 8:19-22). The believer must go through this
life in much tribulation. Some of the tribulation comes from others, some
comes from our own actions, but all of it comes from sin. B. God is the solution for a complicated
world - Though there is suffering and tribulation in this world, God has
given His solution. The only solution is to come to Christ for salvation and
to live for Christ in sanctification. This will not remove all the suffering
and tribulation but will allow the believer to understand why and how to live
in this sinful world. Furthermore, the believer has the hope of eternal life
and righteousness. Therefore, he is able to wait eagerly for it (Ro 8:23-25). C. We must avoid being Loop-hole Christians D. God always has a remnant (Ro 11:1-5) |
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