Judges 20 - War Within

Epilogue Overview (Judges 17-21)

Danites (CH 17-18)

Chapter 17 - Micah & the Levite priest

Chapter 18 - Danites take the Levite and the Idol from Micah

Benjamites (CH 19-21)

Chapter 19 - Levite who took a concubine / Gibeah’s Crime

Chapter 20 - Civil War in Israel with Gibeah over the Levite’s Concubine

Chapter 21 - Israel’s plan to preserve Benjamin

The Levite’s testimony against Gibeah (Judges 20:1-17)

Judges 20:1 ESV

1 Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah.

- Assembly before the Lord at MIZPAH

Judges 20:2 ESV

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.

- All the leaders and 400,000 men on foot that “drew the sword”

Judges 20:3 ESV

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?”

3a - (People of Benjamin heard about it)

3b - ASSEMBLY: How did this evil happen?

4-7 - The Levite’s Testimony

Judges 20:4 ESV

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.

- LEVITE: I came to Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin…with my concubine to spend the night

Judges 20:5 ESV

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...

-Rose against me

-Surrounded the house at night

-Meaning to KILL me

-Violated my concubine

(failing to mention that he forced her out to them)

-She is dead

Judges 20:6 ESV

6 So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel.

- I took her, cut her into pieces and sent her throughout the country of the inheritance of Israel

for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel

Judges 20:7 ESV

7 Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.”

- Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.

8-11 - Israel united against Benjamin

Judges 20:8 ESV

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.

8 - None of us will return to our tent/house!

Judges 20:9 ESV

9 But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,

9 - We will go up against Gibeah by lot

Judges 20:10 ESV

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.”

10a - Ten men of a hundred of all the tribes

& hundred of a thousand

& thousand of ten thousand

10b - To bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah…for all the outrage they have commited in Israel (??)

Judges 20:11 ESV

11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

11 - So, all the men of Israel united as one man against Gibeah

Judges 20:12–13 ESV

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? 13 Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel.

12-13 - Israel confronts Benjamin

The Benjaminites WOULD NOT listen to the voice of their brothers

14-17 - Benjamin rejects rebuke and musters against Israel

Judges 20:14–16 ESV

14 Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15 And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. 16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

14-16-Benjamin - 26,000

Judges 20:17 ESV

17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

17-Israel - 400,000

Israel vs Benjamin (Judges 20:18-48)

Judges 20:18–21 ESV

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.” 19 Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21 The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites.

18-Israel at Bethel before God

19-21-Fight against Benjamin, lose 22,000 men

Judges 20:22–25 ESV

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. 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.” 24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who drew the sword.

22-23-Set battle line, go before the Lord

24-25-Fight against Benjamin, lose 18,000 men

Judges 20:26 ESV

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.

26-Weeping before the Lord

Judges 20:27–28 ESV

27 And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 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.”

27-28-Go before the Lord

Judges 20:29–48 ESV

29 So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the people of Benjamin said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba. 34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. 35 And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who drew the sword. 36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city 39 the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43 Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. 46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. 47 But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 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.

29-48-Israel defeats Benjamin

47-600 Benjaminite men remained

GO WITH THIS...

There is nothing encouraging in this story, it is simply the record of fallen Israel fighting against one another...it is the continued testimony in this epilogue of just how depraved we are when we forsake the Lord

The Levite is blind to his own sin, piously presenting his case before Israel after his grotesque and disrespectful call to arms before Israel

Has no humility about having a concubine in the first place

Makes no mention of the fact that HE pushed her out to the men of Gibeah

Does not recount how dismissively to her he was when she was dead at the threshold

POINT: We are called to bring attention to the sin of our brothers and sister in Christ, but we do so HUMBLY knowing that we too have walked in sin...

Galatians 6:1–3 ESV

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

The Benjaminites are unrepentant before their brothers and instead of surrender, battle lines are drawn.

In the end, they lose 26000 in battle

POINT: We are called to repentance

1 John 1:8–10 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

ISRAEL: In the time of the Judges, Israel has gone from bad to worse

Judges 1:1–2 ESV

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

Judah shall go up first, I have given the land into his hand

Judges 20:18 ESV

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.”

Judah shall go up first

Unity of the Nation: Against their own RATHER than Canaan

The Israelites win the battle against Benjamin, but...

They lose 40000 in the fight. interestingly, they had set aside 40000 men to supply the fight (Judges 20:10)

Instead of taking the Land, the Israelites have become ensnared by it and its gods

The Lord’s Warning about Conquest Disobedience

Numbers 33:50–56 ESV

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

Joshua 23:11–16 ESV

11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you. 14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

POINT: There is a war to fight:

A war within ourselves: I take the picture of Israel taking Canaan to be metaphor for what theologians have called: the mortification of the flesh...

Romans 7:13–15 ESV

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

A war with this present world:

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The schemes of the devil are against unity in the body of Christ

The schemes of the devil are against those who have not come to faith in Jesus