2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”
Judges 19-21 tells a story that may have so many lessons to it that I may not cover them all. If you know of other lessons that may be learned here, let us know…Safe to say, perhaps, it involves one of the earliest forms of what would now be considered a gang war.
The tribe of Benjamin, who is one of the 12 sons of Jacobs from which the 12 Tribes of Israel sprouted, lived in the city of Gibeah. The story goes that some weary travelers, made up of a man, his servant and the man’s concubine, spent the night in an old man’s house in Gibeah. Some drunken Benjamites got word of this and asked the old man to bring the man out. The old man instead offers them his virgin daughter and the man’s concubine. They would not agree to this, so the man who was a guest, in Judges 19:25, “seized his concubine and made her go out to them.” She was violated, and she died.
Could the man-guest and the old man have done anything different to save themselves, other than offer up the old man’s daughter and the man’s concubine? And where were the other city residents, that nobody offered to deal with these thugs? Maybe they were afraid the thugs had friends that would exert their wrath on them. There were no cops in those days, so maybe the city of Gibeah was an early version of Sicily, who knows?
I guess the one thing the thugs did right was they didn’t want the old man’s daughter…maybe out of respect for the old man.
Well, the other tribes of Israel demanded that the thugs be turned over, and the Benjamites of Gibeah refused. So, the other tribes of Israel, with God on their side, slaughtered thousands of the Benjamite men, their wives and children, and they took the virgins.
The curious thing is that there were three attacks against the Benjamites. The Benjamites prevailed in the first two, and it wasn’t until the third attack that God took the side of the other tribes, enabling them to win the war after losing a few battles, so to speak. Why God didn’t take the side of the other tribes to begin with, is somewhat of a mystery. Perhaps He was concerned the whole tribe of Benjamin would be annihilated, so He may have wanted the other tribes to get a feel for the suffering the Benjamites will go through, perhaps making the other tribes weary of war.
In Judges 21, the other tribes of Israel realized that after taking the virgins and killing off lots of the Benjamites, there wasn’t anyone really left to represent the tribe of Benjamin, should an assembly of the twelve tribes be called. To rectify the situation, the other tribes of Israel attacked their enemies and took virgins from them, giving the virgins to the remaining Benjamite men that were left alive. I guess this is where the compassion part comes in, as the other tribes didn’t want the tribe of Benjamin to become extinct. After all, the Benjamites are Hebrews just like they were.
What is ironic is that this story is in the book of Judges. Why the thugs weren’t brought before judges, since this was a criminal matter and not one that one would think would lead to war, is also a mystery. The judges were there to judge.
So what is the lesson here, that 2 Timothy 3:16 speaks about? Perhaps the lesson here is to reason things out and not let things escalate to the point of war. Since there is much evil in the world, though, the slightest incident could trigger a full war. It happened in World War One when the Archduke was assassinated in Serbia, triggering the opposing alliances to declare war against eachother. And the rebuilding of the tribe of Benjamin following war may be the earliest form of Reconstruction. Other than that, I guess this is one Bible story that probably isn’t taught in Sunday School.
Judges 19-21 tells a story that may have so many lessons to it that I may not cover them all. If you know of other lessons that may be learned here, let us know…Safe to say, perhaps, it involves one of the earliest forms of what would now be considered a gang war.
The tribe of Benjamin, who is one of the 12 sons of Jacobs from which the 12 Tribes of Israel sprouted, lived in the city of Gibeah. The story goes that some weary travelers, made up of a man, his servant and the man’s concubine, spent the night in an old man’s house in Gibeah. Some drunken Benjamites got word of this and asked the old man to bring the man out. The old man instead offers them his virgin daughter and the man’s concubine. They would not agree to this, so the man who was a guest, in Judges 19:25, “seized his concubine and made her go out to them.” She was violated, and she died.
Could the man-guest and the old man have done anything different to save themselves, other than offer up the old man’s daughter and the man’s concubine? And where were the other city residents, that nobody offered to deal with these thugs? Maybe they were afraid the thugs had friends that would exert their wrath on them. There were no cops in those days, so maybe the city of Gibeah was an early version of Sicily, who knows?
I guess the one thing the thugs did right was they didn’t want the old man’s daughter…maybe out of respect for the old man.
Well, the other tribes of Israel demanded that the thugs be turned over, and the Benjamites of Gibeah refused. So, the other tribes of Israel, with God on their side, slaughtered thousands of the Benjamite men, their wives and children, and they took the virgins.
The curious thing is that there were three attacks against the Benjamites. The Benjamites prevailed in the first two, and it wasn’t until the third attack that God took the side of the other tribes, enabling them to win the war after losing a few battles, so to speak. Why God didn’t take the side of the other tribes to begin with, is somewhat of a mystery. Perhaps He was concerned the whole tribe of Benjamin would be annihilated, so He may have wanted the other tribes to get a feel for the suffering the Benjamites will go through, perhaps making the other tribes weary of war.
In Judges 21, the other tribes of Israel realized that after taking the virgins and killing off lots of the Benjamites, there wasn’t anyone really left to represent the tribe of Benjamin, should an assembly of the twelve tribes be called. To rectify the situation, the other tribes of Israel attacked their enemies and took virgins from them, giving the virgins to the remaining Benjamite men that were left alive. I guess this is where the compassion part comes in, as the other tribes didn’t want the tribe of Benjamin to become extinct. After all, the Benjamites are Hebrews just like they were.
What is ironic is that this story is in the book of Judges. Why the thugs weren’t brought before judges, since this was a criminal matter and not one that one would think would lead to war, is also a mystery. The judges were there to judge.
So what is the lesson here, that 2 Timothy 3:16 speaks about? Perhaps the lesson here is to reason things out and not let things escalate to the point of war. Since there is much evil in the world, though, the slightest incident could trigger a full war. It happened in World War One when the Archduke was assassinated in Serbia, triggering the opposing alliances to declare war against eachother. And the rebuilding of the tribe of Benjamin following war may be the earliest form of Reconstruction. Other than that, I guess this is one Bible story that probably isn’t taught in Sunday School.
