From Horrific to Hallelujah

A very horrific story is told in the Book of Judges of a woman being abused by multiple men to the point of dying, and her body being divided up into twelve pieces with one piece of her being sent to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. What’s even more shocking about this story is that the perverted men who abused her were from the tribe of Benjamin. And initially they targeted her husband for carnal use, but he persuaded them to settle for his concubine instead. Her husband was a Levite. Levites were priests. [1]

How did the tribes of Israel respond to this horrific news? Did they let out a gasp, and a lament, and then, move on with their day as though such evil had no bearing on them? No, they assembled an army of 400,000 foot soldiers around the city, Gibeah, in which the crime occurred and demanded that the perverted men be handed over to them. The Benjamites refused to comply. [2]

The tribes enquired of God for guidance as to which tribe should attack Gibeah. The Lord said, “Judah first!” So, they attacked but lost 22,000 men and they lost the battle. [3]

The tribes wept before the Lord and asked Him if they should attack again. The Lord said, “Go up against him.” [4] They lost 18,000 more solders and they lost the second battle as well. [5]

The tribes offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. Phinehas the grandson of Aaron, stood before the Ark of the Covenant and asked the Lord, saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.” This time, they defeated the men of Gibeah. 25,000 men of Benjamin died. 600 escaped. [6]

The story ends with the tribes helping these 600 escapees to acquire wives so that a tribe of Israel, namely Benjamin, would not cease to exist. The women had no say in the matter, so, it was another form of abuse. The concluding verse of the Book of Judges is, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [7] They had forsaken the Lord and His Word. Anarchy reigned.

The next book in the Bible after Judges is Ruth. Ruth is a Moabite who marries a Jew and converts to faith in the one true God. She was known for her faithfulness to God and family. She ends up being the great grandmother of King David. [8]

After the people of Israel failed to recognize the value of their relationship with God and His Word, God opened the door for a Gentile women to be grafted into the family tree of Messiah. Jesus Christ in His earthly body was a descendant of King David.

Much later in history, the Lord used the Apostle Peter to lead a band of Italians to believe in and profess Jesus Christ as their Savior. Some Jews in Jerusalem protested against Peter, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Peter explained how the miraculous event came about, and afterwards, they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” [9]

Another praise note to this story is that God took what was evil and turned it for good. Why was it important for the tribe of Benjamin to survive? One reason of many was that a certain man who wrote a large portion of the New Testament was a descendant from that tribe. His name was Saul of Tarsus, who later came to be known as Paul the Apostle. [10]

Faith in God and in God’s Word is a very precious treasure. Whoever knows the Lord and enjoys consuming His Word should be grateful to God for this gift. It is also good to know that the Lord never ceases from bringing people into His glorious kingdom so that they can one day sit around about His banqueting table. When one people group forsakes Him to do what is right in their own eyes, He finds another who serves Him gladly. But then, I also know both from Scripture and from experience, that He circles back around to that group that earlier rejected Him. He has compassion on them when they are cry out to Him for forgiveness of their sins and He delivers them from their captors. Hallelujah!

[1] Judges 19
[2] Judges 20:1-17
[3] Judges 20:18-21
[4] Judges 20:22-23
[5] Judges 20:24-25
[6] Judges 20:26-28; Judges 20:29-48
[7] Judges 21:1-25
[8] Ruth 2:11-12; Ruth 4:17, 22
[9] Acts 11:1-18
[10] Acts 9; 13:13; Philippians 3:5