Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank the Father for his Word and ask the Holy Spirit to teach, instruct, turn, humble, correct, and train us by exposing the ugliness within us.
Read
Scripture Passage
Israel’s War with the Benjamites
20 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword. 3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.)
Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. 6 So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. 7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!”
8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; 9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. 14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. 16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss. 17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”
The Lord said, “Judah first!”
19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. 22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. 23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?”
And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”
24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.
26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 27 So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), 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.”
29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. 31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.”
But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. 34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. 35 The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.
36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, 39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come 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 whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. 46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.
Read full chapter
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Judges 20.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Israel assembles to punish Gibeah's atrocity, but Benjamin protects the guilty men rather than surrendering them. The dispute becomes a devastating civil war. Israel suffers severe losses before seeking the Lord with fasting and sacrifice; God directs the final victory, and justice against entrenched wickedness comes at terrible cost.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Judges 20:13
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
Now therefore deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel.
The complete transcript contains no explicit best-verse selection. Verse 13 is distilled because it names the demand for justice and Benjamin's refusal, the turning point that transforms Gibeah's crime into Israel's civil war.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do & Christ Connection
Without self-righteousness, hate and mortify the sinful desires of the flesh, flee sexual immorality, refuse to normalize or conceal abuse, seek God's direction, and offer the body as a living sacrifice conformed to Christ rather than the world.
Additional Notes
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are going to be at Judges chapter 20. I'm going to continue on with this horrible story of what's going on with the people of Benjamin, this Levite who's had this atrocity happen and hasn't really treated his lady well and just kind of chaos that's ensuing in Israel. So let's see how this unfolds. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into Judges chapter 20.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for giving us your word. Father, we pray that if we read your word this morning, your Holy Spirit would be teaching us. Lord, please instruct us in your ways. God, we pray that you would turn our hearts and our lives towards you. Show us the ugliness of ourselves. Lord, teach us, humble us, correct us, train us. Lord, we need your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen. Here we go. We are at Judges chapter 20. Judges chapter 20, Israel's war with the Benjamites.
So all the children of Israel came out from Dan to Beersheba. as well as from the land of Gilead. And the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord at Mizpah. And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God. Four hundred thousand foot soldiers drew the sword. Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.
Then the children of Israel said, Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen? So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel."
Look, all of you are children of Israel. Give your advice and counsel here and now. So all the people rose as one man saying, none of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house. But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah. We will go up against it by lot.
We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand and a thousand out of every ten thousand to make provisions for the people. And when they come to give you in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
So here we're going to we're going to do a little bit different right than normal. We're going to talk about kind of different sections as we go. And so this is this recounting of the story as the Israelites have gotten the the body parts of this poor woman. they want to know what happens and they come together and they're going to join together and they're going to actually talk about what they're going to do. They unite as one man to fight against this evil that they see has happened.
Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go to battle against the children of Israel. And from their cities, at that time, the children of Benjamin numbered 26,000 men who drew the sword beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 select men.
Among all this people were 700 select men who were left-handed. Every one could sling a stone at a hare's breath and not miss. Now beside Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered 400,000 men who drew the sword. All of these were men of war." That's crazy, right? They go, And they go and they confront the Benjamites. It's 700,000 to 400,000. And this is going to be an onslaught. This is going to be a slaughter. This is not going to be good.
But instead of recognizing the sin that they've committed and the danger that they're in, they dig in their heels. See, sin makes you irrational. Sin makes you defend yourself when you ought not to be defending yourself, but instead should be confessing your sin and doing something about it. But instead they dig in their heels.
Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. This is the first time we've heard that. This entire story. The entire book of Judges. Finally someone goes to Shiloh. They said, which of us shall go up first to battle? Against the treasurer Benjamin. The Lord said, Judah first.
So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin. And the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah.
And on that day cut down to the ground 22,000 men of the Israelites. And all the people, that is the men of Israel, encouraged them and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin? And the Lord said, Go up against him. So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day, and Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground 18,000 more of the children of Israel.
All these drew the sword." I mean, this is quite a defeat, isn't it? There's a battle array against Gibeah, and they cut down 22,000 men. They go back to the Lord, and they say, do we do it again? And God says, go up. And the children of Israel go up against Benjamin. And on the second day, there's now 18,000 who are slain. There's only 700 of these guys with slings. And they're picking off. They're killing Israel.
Then the children of Israel, verse 26, that is, all the people went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord.
The Ark of the Covenant of God was there in those days. And Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, 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 hands.
You find them actually going to the tabernacle, going to Shiloh. The Ark of the Covenant is there. Phineas, the priest is there. There's a true Levite in a true tabernacle in the right way that God has ordered. And they go and they fast. And this is supposed to be the picture of what Israel does. Going before the Covenant King and asking him what they should do. And the Lord said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.
Then Israel sent men in ambush all around Gibeah. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah, as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people. as at the other times in the highways one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeon and in the field about 30 men of Israel and the children of Benjamin said they are defeated before us as at first but the children of Israel said let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways so all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba, and 10,000 select men from all Israel came against Gibeon, and the battle was fierce.
But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed that day 25,100 Benjamites. All these through the sword. We find there's an ambush set, a trap, a fake retreat, draw them away, get them into the highways, get around them, get behind them, cut them off and destroy them. Now we find out that it wasn't just the 700 who were slinging stones, but they killed 21,500 Benjaminites from one tribe. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated.
The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah. The men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men. of the men of Israel.
For they said, surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle. But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was a whole city going up in smoke to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, and they saw the disaster that had come upon them. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness. But the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst.
They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah towards the east. Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all who were men of valor. Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness, the Rock of Ramon, and they cut down 5,000 of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom and killed 2,000 of them. To all who fell of Benjamin that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword.
All of these were men of valor. Lord turns the tide. The Lord determines the battle. Make no doubt about it. This is not pretty. This is civil war. This is bloody. Tribe against tribe, brother against brother. And now 25,000 Benjamites are dead. But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Ramon. And they stayed at the rock of Ramon for four months. The men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin and struck them down with the edge of the sword. From every city, men and beast, all who were found, they also set fire to all the cities they came to. It's just 400, 400 left. They go hide at a rock. One of the tribes is gone.
It's a lamentable thing. It's a sad thing. Is it a just thing? Yeah. Yeah, the Men of Gibeah had done an evil, wicked, horrible, disgusting, abhorrent thing. And they deserve to be judged and punished for it. This was the Lord's doing. We don't think of God's judgment and go, we're so excited about this. Right? The minor prophets would say, beware of those who say the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, right? The day of the Lord is gloom and weeping.
It will be great bloodshed. It will be judgment. There will be much woe, but also praise because God is carrying out his righteousness. This is a hard thing. This is a hard thing with justice because true justice does not rejoice in death, but true justice does rejoice in God's righteousness. holds those things in tension.
No Israelite ever would want this to happen, but yet it did. To ignore it would be a horrible sin. To ignore it would be to let the leaven grow and grow and leaven the whole lump. They had to do something about it. That type of baseless, disgusting treatment of people could never be seen again in Israel. And God had directed them what to do. Justice needed to be served.
So what's this passage about, right? This is Israel's civil war. This is a civil war of judges, all in response to Men being perverted. Chasing after their sexual desires. Their cruelty to this poor woman. And also this man. I can't help but think, why didn't he go out and protect her? He's fine to call them to war. But why didn't he protect her in the first place? Everything about this is horrible and wrong. We started in chapter 19 and there was no king in Israel.
And only now here do we find that people start taking sin seriously. In Judges chapter 20 when they actually go to the tabernacle of the Lord and ask the Lord what they should do. Do we take sin that seriously in our lives? Put to death, therefore, the sinful desires of the flesh. Flee sexual immorality. Do we take sin that seriously? That we put to death the sinful desires of our flesh?
Do we wage war? Do we beat our bodies into submission? Do we see that God is our judge? and that we must not be conformed to this world or the pattern of this world, but we must be conformed to the likeness and image of Christ, that we need to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice. Do we hate our sin this much?
And will we go to the Lord and ask Him to help us and direct us how to mortify sin, how to put sin to death in our own lives? But maybe even for those who are engaged in the civic realm or for those who are officers in the church, how long do we put up with sexual immorality? How long do we turn a blind eye or even endorse perversion and what's wrong rather than standing up for what is right? When will we go to the Lord? and seek His will and ask Him what we should do.
This is a God of mercy, of grace, and of truth who directed these ways. May He also direct our paths. Let's pray. Father, we can't come to You as self-righteous people. Lord, make us abhor the simple desires and deeds of our own flesh. Teach us to desire you and walk in your ways. Lord, turn us from the temptation to just turn a blind eye, sweep under the rug, get used to normalize the sexual degradation of our own society, the fleshliness of the vanity fair we live in. God, please, we pray that we would come to you, come to your throne of grace regularly, asking you for direction. Sanctify us, Lord. Cleanse us. Care for your corporate people, your church. May each of us look to you as our King. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May God bless you. May you walk in the joy of Jesus Christ. I'll see you next time. Bye.