Judges 20:1-17
1 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one person to the Lord at Mizpah.
2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.
3 (Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin.
5 But the citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they raped my concubine so that she died.
6 And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed an outrageous sin and vile act in Israel.
7 Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your response and advice here.”
8 Then all the people rose up as one person, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us go home.
9 But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot.
10 And we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to supply provisions for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the vile sin that they have committed in Israel.”
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you?
13 Now then, turn over the men, the worthless men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
14 Instead, the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel.
15 From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were counted, twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were counted, seven hundred choice men.
16 Out of all these people seven hundred choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
Assembly at Mizpah
The explanation of the Levite
An unprecedented event had occurred among the Israelites. The tribes that received the dismembered body assembled at Mizpah for discussion to find a resolution. In this case, the other party (the inhabitants of Gibeah) clearly was at fault. We too, may find ourselves in situations where we need to resolve problems when it seems we have an advantage over the other side. Let’s learn a lesson from the actions taken by the tribes of Israel. (1) An assembly of 400,000 soldiers from all the tribes of Israel was gathered. This was nearly the entire army of Israel. (2) Then the Levite who had his concubine killed explained what occurred during the night they stayed in Gibeah. (3) However, he did not mention anything about the fact that it was him who threw the concubine outside the house. It’s in human nature to hide inconvenient facts.
Response of the Israelites
The Israelites quickly decided to unite and engage in a retaliatory battle. (1) They immediately attempted to attack Gibeah. (2) They demanded that the Benjamites hand over the wicked men in Gibeah. They assumed that the Benjamites would comply naturally. (3) However, the situation took an unexpected turn. The Benjamites gathered in Gibeah and began preparing for battle against the Israelites. They summoned 26,000 soldiers from their cities, and from the city of Gibeah, they gathered 700 choice men. (4) Among the Benjamites were 700 skilled slingers. (5) At this point, the stage was set for a clash between the 400,000 men of the 11 tribes of Israel and the Benjamites. Was there any way to avoid the worst outcome? If the Israelites had taken the time to engage in dialogue with the Benjamites, perhaps a different scenario could have unfolded. It’s truly regrettable. Acting hastily, deeming oneself righteous, can be incredibly dangerous. It is said in Ecclesiastes 7:16, “Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?”
Today's prayer
Holy God, You alone are clothed in perfect righteousness and holiness. Please help me walk humbly. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.