Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges Part 12

 

Before we kick off the last post on Judges- "The Case of the Cut-Up Concubine"- I happened to hit this in my reading of Proverbs today:

Pro 6:16  There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
Pro 6:17  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18  a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,
Pro 6:19  a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

And we're going to watch Israel hit all seven in this story, both personally and as a nation.  But I'm going to tell this story around three cycles, since as any pastor will tell you, this is a book of cycles.  Two of those cycles will be the same wrong way to do things; in between is the progression that they (and we) go through to actually seek God.  Here we go!

Step one: Listen to the wrong voice, AKA the lying tongue

Our story starts with yet another wayward Levite, wandering in the remote hills of Ephraim.  This guy had his concubine "play the harlot" and run off on him.  I doubt the story is as simple as that because of two things.  First, she ends up at her father's house.  If she was simply cheating on him, why would she not be found with her lover?  I'm thinking maybe she had a one-nighter, and went to daddy in fear of her hubby.  To back this up is the second point:

Jdg 19:2  And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
Jdg 19:3  Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back...

 

Four months later- really?  I suppose it could have took him that long to find her; I think, given what happens later, it took that long for him to give a crap.  And taking that long, I wonder how much was missing her and how much was 'getting a possession back'.  This, though, is all speculation on my part.  But, moving on...

So he gets to Dad's house, and Dad is nothing if not a good host.  So after what I assume was a customary three day visit, he went to load up his girl, his servant, and his donkey, and head on back to Ephraim (heading for the hills?).  But Dad talked him into one more day of eating and drinking, and he stayed. And again the next day!  But this time, he got enough drink in him to be stubborn, and refused to stay the night.  So once again they loaded up, and despite the protests of both dear ol' Dad and his servant, off they went.  Had he not listened, he might have made it into more familiar territory.  But instead, the day got late, and refusing the safety of the big city of Jebus (later Jerusalem), because it was full of Jebusites, they pushed on to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin.  They set up in the town square, waiting for the customary invite into someone's house- but this wasn't a normal city, and the invite didn't come for some time.  Finally an old man, himself new to the city, saw him and invited him in, nervous about allowing a stranger to sleep in the open.  This should all sound eerily familiar...

Gen 19:1  The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Gen 19:2  and said, "My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the town square."
Gen 19:3  But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

The story is telling the same way as the destruction of Sodom, and for the same reason.  The men of Gibeah- not all of them, but according to Judges 19:22, WORTHLESS men- were following the sin of Sodom- homosexual rape- and this time, there were no angels about to blind them.  This is how we get to step two...

Step Two- Bloodshed (basically unnecessary) AKA the shedding of innocent blood

 And they said to the old man, the master of the house, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him."
Jdg 19:23  And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
Jdg 19:24  Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing."
Jdg 19:25  But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.
Jdg 19:26  And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

Remember Lot offering that?  And what would happen to Sodom?  Then you know where the story is headed.  The whole thing about this story, though, is the callousness of "our hero":

Jdg 19:27  And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
Jdg 19:28  He said to her, "Get up, let us be going." But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.
Jdg 19:29  And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

Imagine the shape her body was in after a night of getting raped, and all he can say is, "Get up"?  So he loads her up (like a broken possession), takes her home, and turns her into a once-living message.  This has the required result- all of Israel (with the exception of Benjamin, who was feeling pushed around) gathered to find out the meaning of this.  Which brings us to step three...

Step Three:  Working dishonestly to fix the problem, AKA the false witness

Note how the Levite tells the story:

Jdg 20:2  And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword.
Jdg 20:3  (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this evil happen?"
Jdg 20:4  And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
Jdg 20:5  And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.

"The LEADERS of Gibeah", instead of "certain worthless men".  And "Meant to Kill me" rather than the disgusting truth.  And, "violated my concubine", leaving out the part about throwing her out the door in self-preservation.  

Now the cycle starts over, but for all Israel rather than one lying Levite.  Step one, they listened to the lying Levite.  Step two, the bloodshed starts- and eventually they wipe out the entire tribe, save 600 men who hid out when the battle was lost.  But in between we get a three part lesson on how and how not to come to the Lord.

Jdg 20:8  And all the people arose as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.
Jdg 20:9  But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,
Jdg 20:10  and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin, for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel."

So they made their plan first...

Jdg 20:18  The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, "Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up first."

And THEN went to God for his approval.  As a result, they got their butts whupped, losing 22,000 men.  But that didn't dissuade them of their plan, however, they did put "a sprinkling of God" on it this time...

Jdg 20:22  But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.
Jdg 20:23  And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening. And they inquired of the LORD, "Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against them."

And why did God tell them to go up again?  Because the first time didn't teach them a thing- they were still waiting on God to rubber-stamp their plan.  And, they got their butts kicked, losing another 18,000.

At this point they caught on- they had to humble themselves and let God make the plan.  You see, God wasn't against the attack on Benjamin- they had become shameful.  But it had to be done in HIS power:

Jdg 20:26  Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27  And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28  and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, "Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand."

And so they did, routing the army of Benjamin.  But they did too much, went a little too far in the bloodshed...

Jdg 20:48  And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire. 

 

And when they got over the bloodlust, they found that ALL that was left of the tribe of Benjamin were the 600 men that hid out.  Now they had a problem...

Jdg 21:3  And they said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?"

So they decided they would have to rebuild Benjamin from those 600 men.  One big problem with that...

Jdg 21:1  Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, "No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin."

No wives, no new Benjaminites.  Now they did weep before the Lord- but nowhere does it say they asked HIM for a solution.  So they did the next best thing...

Jdg 21:5  And the people of Israel said, "Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death..."
Jdg 21:8  And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.

So, here, I now realize, as we end the second cycle of stupidity, we start a third.  Instead of asking God, someone comes up with this bright idea.  Then comes the bloodshed- they kill everyone in Jabesh-gilead except the virgin girls, and give them to the 600!  Problem solved, except... they come up 200 wives short.  So we have to come up with the dishonest way to solve the problem...

Jdg 21:19  So they said, "Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."
Jdg 21:20  And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards
Jdg 21:21  and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Jdg 21:22  And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"

"So just grab girls from the annual party at Shiloh.  This way, you get your wives, we don't break our vows, and everyone's happy."  Except for one...

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

 

And remember, that meant by implication that there was no GOD in Israel, for all practical purposes.

Two final points on this before we close the book on Judges.  First off, an ironic twist on the story in the future.  Near the beginning of Saul being King in Israel, the rebuilt Jabesh-gilead- the same place they just wiped out to get the first 400 wives- was attacked by the Ammonites, and Saul- a Benjaminite, from Gibeah, no less- did this:

1Sa 11:6  And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.
1Sa 11:7  He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!" Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

Wow, the same story in reverse- perhaps God's way of reversing this cursed episode.  The other point to ponder is God's love.  We just saw Israel, personally and as a nation, doing things He considered an abomination.  By all rights, God would have been just to serve the whole nation as they did Benjamin.  Instead, He gave them Samuel, to bring them back to Himself.  What a merciful God!