King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Sunday, April 06, 2025
Chapters: Judges 19-21
Message: Judges: Israel Unites
Hello My Friend,
As we come to the end of the reading of Judges, we learn of what happens when an entire nation has no Godly direction, but tragic events often bring a nation back to God, [Isaiah 1:18-20 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.]
I am not going to lie, I am not too fond of these last few chapters, they show not only the lawlessness of a godless society, but also how wicked the reprobates of the world can be, with no remorse whatsoever, [Romans 1:29-32 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.]
A Levite, had a concubine, this is a woman he was not legally married to the man by the usual ceremonies, but by cohabitation, known as a common law wife. However, concubines did not have the same rights and privileges. In some cases she is known as a mistress or secondary wife, in other words a kept woman. Under the Law of Moses a Levite was to only marry a Levite, but this woman came from what was known back then as Bethlehem Judah. Well, the woman cheated on him and went back to live with her father.
[Judges 19:1-3 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.]
For some reason the man did not want the Levite and his daughter to leave, perhaps it was God who was attempting to keep them from leaving. Nevertheless, this went on for several more days, but then Levite decided that he was no longer going to be detained and left with his servant and wife.
[Judges 19:8-10 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.]
Because he left so late in the day they only got half way before it was too dark to go any further, however the town they were in was a Gentile town so the Levite refused to stay there, thinking that it would be safer to find a place to stay the night where their own kin were. An old man seeing them was not from this town, but lived there for work, he knew that it was actually more dangerous for the men to be on the streets and urged them to stay with him.
[Judges 19:12-14,20-21 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.]
Well, it turns out that they probably would have been safer in the strange town as the people of Gibeah were not very hospitable, in fact, they were quite the opposite. These were wicked men, sodomites, all under the influence of not only the alcohol spirits they were drinking, but the devil himself.
[Judges 19:22-24 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.]
The old man knew what the men of the town were capable of and did not want to expose the man to them, but to suggest that they take his own daughter was quite despicable of you ask me. Well, the men did not take his daughter, but they did take the mans concubine.
[Judges 19:25-27 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.]
I do not know who angers me more in the whole story, the old man who handed the woman over to them or the husband who let him just hand her over to them. And had absolutely no concern for her as he opened the door to find her laying there.
[Judges 19:28-30 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.]
Perhaps he had gotten use to her running off with other men, but he went to all the trouble to find her and bring her home and then just let them take her without a fight. This woman may have not been God’s choice for the man, nor lived a Godly life, but she did not deserve to be handed over to these wicked men and abused the way she did. Jesus gave His life for all regardless of their past and we are never to treat anyone with such disrespect.
[1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]
The most amazing thing about God is that He will even take the bad situations and use it to his advantage. Now, as you imagine when the other tribes started getting these packages of a woman’s body parts they started questioning what was going on. Well, God would use this situation to both judge the Benjamites for their sin and bring the other tribes to come to Him as one nation.
[Judges 20:1-2,8-9,18 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; 18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.]
For the first time in decades, the Israelites joined together to go after these wicked men. However, that was not going to be easy, in fact, the Benjamites refused to turn in the men. This actually started a civil war and the Benjamites defeated Israel twice and as a result lost forty thousand men lost their lives.
[Judges 20:21,25-27 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. 25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,]
Do you see what they did? The first two times they may have asked God who would go up to battle with them, but they still followed their own direction. However, the third time they all humbled themselves before God, praying, fasting, seeking forgiveness of their sin, and reconciliation with Him. This is what all Christians need to be doing right now as the wicked are taking over our countries all over the world, [James 4:8-10 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.]
Their plan was not really God’s plan all along, in fact, their plan was that the ones who did this must die, and each tribe will take turns going to Gibeah to fetch them out. However, God’s plan was a lot different and in fact it seemed as though they were being defeated again.
[Judges 20:30-32 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.]
God’s people may get afflicted, some may even die in their sin, but there are two things that we need to remember; One; God never leaves nor forsakes one soul who puts their faith and trust in His Son. And two; We are saved by the grace of God alone and nothing can never change that. That little victory turned into defeat for the Benjamites we ambushed and God nearly destroyed all the Benjamites.
[Judges 20:34-36,44,47 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. 35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.]
At this point, those men knew that God was serious, but the sad thing was that only six hundred of them were willing to wave the white flag and surrender to Him. We are to never count anyone out, the Benjamites may have started this whole mess and defended the ones who were a part of it, but God did not count them all out. After the war, peace came to Israel once again, but there was a problem, the four hundred men left of Benjamin had no women and the other tribes vowed not to give their daughters to these men.
[Judges 21:1-4,6-7 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. 2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?]
God will never leave one of His behind, He made a promise that every tribe would be saved from extinction and he stuck by that promise at least in regards to the prophecy. So Israel repented, meaning they turned their hearts away from their hatred of them and came together with God’s help to find a solution to keep their heritage from dying off.
[Judges 21:17-21 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.]
Every saved, born again believer has an inheritance to return to, the amazing thing is is that we do not need to lift one finger to get it as Jesus is preparing that place for us right now, [John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Judges 20:27-28 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for 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 Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.]
Today’s Prayer: God, As one of Your children I know that there are going to be times when we suffer not for our own sins, but from others who are sinning. While I do not always understand the affliction I face sometimes, I do understand that every thing I go through has a purpose and blessing behind it. Lord, help me get through the life that You have put me in by faith and obedience to Your Word, keep my eyes on You so that I am prepared to handle any affliction, and let me not do what is right in my own eyes, but Yours. Show me the way to endure all the suffering I face so that You can get the glory for giving me victory from all my battles. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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