Judges 21 - King Jesus

INTRO: How are decisions made?

UMASS-Dartmouth...

Identify the Decision >> realize a decision needs to be made…a solution is required to accomplish a goal

Gather Information >> Where do we gather information? What is needed for the goal to be accomplished?

Identify alternatives >> What are all the different ways the goal could be accomplished?

Weigh the evidence >> What

Choose among the alternatives

Take action

Review your decision and it’s consequences

JUDGES OUTLINE

CONQUEST FAILURE & DISOBEDIENCE (CH 1-2) THE BOOK OF DELIVERERS (CH 3-16) EPILOGUE: JUST HOW BAD IS IT? (CH 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

I’m going to run through our text today very quickly and want you to notice the SUBJECT throughout the next 23 verses.

Everyone knows their grammar, right? The SUBJECT is the one performing the action in a sentence. :)

I’ll try to point it out, let’s go...

Judges 21:1–7 ESV

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 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?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 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.” 6 And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

Wives for Benjamin? (1-7)

1-7 - What to do about the men of Benjamin who have no one to marry

1-3 - THEY wept and THEY asked: Why has this happened Lord??

NO ANSWER from the Lord

4 - Next day: THEY (the people) built an altar, offered burnt/peace offerings

5 - THEY (the people) said: Which tribe did not come up, he shall be put to death?

6-7 - THEY (the people) had compassion on Benjamin: what shall we do for wives for them…?

Judges 21:8–15 ESV

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. 9 For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. 11 This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. 14 And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. 15 And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

Women from Jabesh-Gilead? (8-15)

8-15 - Take wives for them from Jabesh-Gilead who did not muster with us

8-9 - THEY said: Which tribe didn’t come up? Jabesh-Gilead

10-11 - THEY (congregation) sent 12000 men to strike Jabesh-Gilead

12a - THEY found 400 virgins

12b - THEY brought them to the camp at Shiloh

13-15 - THEY gave the women of Jabesh-Gilead to Benjamin (not enough)

Judges 21:16–23 ESV

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 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.” 20 And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 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. 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.’ ” 23 And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.

Women from Shiloh (16-23)

16-23 - The alternative wife plan

16 - Elders: What shall we do for the rest of the men without wives?

17-18 - THEY said there must be an inheritance…we can’t give them our daughters...

19-22 - THEY told Benjamin to snatch daughters of Shiloh who come out to dance in the dances and take them to the land of Benjamin

23 - Benjamin did so. Then returned to their inheritance and rebuilt their towns and lived in them

A few quick things I want to point out from this last chapter of Judges...

1) God is silent…THEY wept, THEY cried out…THEY asked why has this happened.

The Lord didn’t answer their question.

Why? They know why this happened…and they should know THEY are not faultless.

2) This was THEIR solution to THEIR problem…in almost every statement of the narrative, the people of Israel is said to be taking the actions and making the statements (They, the congregation, the people).

3) They sure sound a lot like the Men of Gibeah whom they just judged

Killing their brothers in Jabesh-Gilead

Taking the remaining virgins to give to Benjamin

Kidnapping the women of Shiloh while they celebrate at the festival

Judges Summary (24-25)

Judges 21:24–25 ESV

24 And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

24 - THEY (the people) departed at that time...

every man to his tribe and family

every man to his inheritance

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

JUDGES OUTLINE

CONQUEST FAILURE & DISOBEDIENCE (CH 1-2)

The warning of the angel of the Lord...

Judges 2:1–3 ESV

1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

Judges 2:10–15 ESV

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

THE BOOK OF DELIVERERS (CH 3-16)

Othniel (Judges 3:7-11) - The nephew of Caleb, who had a different spirit about him. A gentile convert.

Ehud (Judges 3:12-30) - Disabled in his right hand, this left handed warrior

Shamgar (Judges 3:31)

Barak (Judges 4-5) - The reluctant judge who was

Gideon (Judges 6-8) - Least of his father’s house and weakest clan of Manasseh

Tola (Judges 10:1-2)

Jair (Judges 10:3-5)

Jephthah (Judges 11-12:7) - Son of a prostitute and cast out by his brothers

Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10)

Elon (Judges 12:11-12)

Abdon (Judges 12:13-15)

Samson (Judges 13-16) - Born to a barren woman…the only one fighting the Philistines

EPILOGUE: JUST HOW BAD IS IT (CH 17-21)

Judges 21:25 ESV

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

the great works of the deliverers brought peace in the land for short periods of time and reprieve from their oppressors,

but they would not repent on account of these deliverers

and instead continued to serve the gods of the land

and do evil in the sight of the Lord

It made me think of the rich man and his servant Lazarus…the rich man could see Abraham from the place of torment separated from God and asked him to send Lazarus back to his family and warn them that they may not join him there!

Luke 16:27–31 ESV

27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

Judges, and the entire Old Testament is a story of how broken we are as humans…

even the very chosen people of Israel are SO prone to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord

BUT Judges and the OT is ALSO a story of God’s grace upon His chosen people in spite of their sin.

The message of Judges could be summed up like this:

While His people were still sinners, God sent deliverers to save them.

The deliverers were not evil brutes, but rather typological figures of Jesus Christ to come.

Hebrews 11:32 ESV

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

It was Gideon who said when the people came to make him king over them:

Judges 8:22–23 ESV

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

It was Barak (and Deborah) who sang the song of victory...

Judges 5:3 ESV

3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

It was Jephthah who when recounting the history of the Lord’s hand over Israel said to the Amorites:

Judges 11:27 ESV

27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”

It was Samson who cried out to the Lord in his time of need saying

Judges 16:28 ESV

28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Just as the Lord sent deliverers to a people who were doing evil in the sight of the Lord…

So too the Father sent His only son to die for us while we were yet sinners

…and this was right in His eyes.

GO WITH THIS...

There is one King in Heaven and Earth, the King who conquered death and the grave at the Cross...

So, Judges says, they did what was right in their own eyes…

we should be asking, what is right in the King’s eyes?

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

There is a King in our Land, is He our King?

Romans 6:9–11 ESV

9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.