Deliver us the men

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 20:12–17, “And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.”

The Israelis were determined to get rid of this kind of evil from their nation. They knew what had happened to Sodom and they were also aware what might happen to Israel if this was allowed to go unpunished. The people from the other tribes realised that they had an obligation before the Lord to ensure that sin like this didn’t taint the whole nation. They sent to the leaders of Benjamin and asked them to hand over the people who had perpetrated this evil so that they could punished in the manner approved by the Law. The leaders of Benjamin responded by mustering the own army including some highly specialised soldiers. They made it clear that they wouldn’t hand over these wicked people.

Gathered against the city

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 20:1–11, “Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 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. (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 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. But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.”

Naturally, the Israelis were incensed that such an evil thing should happen in Israel. This sin that came from Sodom was not be tolerated under any circumstances. The leaders of all the tribes came together and decided what they should do. There was no inter nation criminal court or even national criminal courts, in fact a murder was to be avenged by a blood relative. The people in Israel wanted to know exactly what had happened and the Levite told them. Of course, he minimised his own part in the affair. The council of Israeli leaders decided that they would avenge this evil and conscript one tenth of the men to carry out their decision. All the Israelis approved of this decision and they mustered their army and brought it to the gates of Gibeah and every man was determined to carry out that justice so that such evil would not be found in Israel.

Certain sons of Belial

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 19:22–30, “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”

Even though the Levite wasn’t offered accommodation at first. The man who finally gave him a place to stay decided to have a good meal and enjoy is company. They were having a good time when some of the people from that town, who were evil men, decided that they wanted to follow the example of the men from Sodom. The man who had offered hospitality felt the obligation of his kindness and refused to let this happen. However, he was willing to offer these evil men his daughter and the concubine. This, in itself, was evil for these women were entirely innocent of any crime and, even if they were, this was completely wrong. Never the less, this shows something of the attitude the men held towards women in those days. Again, it is important to reiterate, the Bible gives a record of the history and is not demonstrating approval. In fact, the very opposite is true for this section begins with the statement, “In those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.” The Bible is showing what happens when every man does what is right in his own eyes. Eventually the men tried to break the door down so they forced the concubine to go outside with the men. She was gang raped all night and murdered by these men. The Levite, who owned that dead girl, took her home and cut her body in pieces and sent a piece to all the tribes in Israel for it wasn’t proper that such evil should occur in Israel, let alone any country at all.

A hospitable stranger

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 19:16–21, “And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.”

The man from Bethlehemjudah had all the provisions he needed for himself so he would not have to take anything from anyone who offered to give him and his party a bed for the night but no one offered them anything. Eventually a stranger came in from working in the fields and found them resting by the side of the street. This man offered the visitor hospitality and gave him provisions and respect before he went to sleep for the night. Even though the man was a stranger, he still understood the importance of offering hospitality to strangers but no one else in the town did even though they should have known the Law and the obligations to care for the stranger.

Another Levite

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 19:1–15, “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 Bethlehemjudah. And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. 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. And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 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. 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. 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. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 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. 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. And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.”

This section begins with the same sad refrain that characterises the entire period of the Judges: there was no king in Israel so every man did what was right in his own eyes. This attitude is the same as we see in many places today and is called postmodernism by some. There was a Levite who took a slave and treated her as though she were his wife. She didn’t enjoy the situation so she ran away and went back to her own family. The slave owner went to find her and hoped to woo her heart so that she would come with him and stay with him. He took another servant with him and went to his concubines home. The girl’s father persuaded her master to stay with him for a few days. After three days the man wanted to return to his own home with his concubine but the girl’s father persuaded him to have a few drinks for the road. That way the father managed to keep the Levite for a few more days. Eventually the Levite left later one afternoon and headed towards his own home. They were caught at dusk and needed to stay the night along the way. They were close to Jebus, which was a foreign town in those days. The Levite preferred to stay with Israelis and went to Gibeah, and Israelite town close by, In spite of the customs that required people to be hospitable, no one offered this group of travellers anywhere to stay for the night. As they settled down for the nigh a foreigner who was living in the town came and offered them hospitality for the night and they went to his home.

Laish

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Sinking Sand
http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php
http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught
http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1
Judges 18:27–31, “And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.”
The people from Dan went to the place that they had seen. They attacked a group of people who were living quietly without any provocation. These people were not sinning against the Lord more than any of the other people living in that region. The Amorites, whom the Lord condemned to destruction, had not helped Abraham when he was living as a homeless stranger in their land. They had hindered Abraham in his desire to serve the Lord and the Lord had promised Abraham, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) When Abraham built wells they filled the wells in and in many other ways had sought to curse him his desire to obey the Lord so they were cursed. On the other hand, these people had done nothing against Abraham or his descendants. In spite of this the people from Dan killed all these people and took their land from them. This episode is included in Israel’s history to show why Israel’s territory was expanded from the original land occupied by Joshua and his armies. Later the entire territory of Israel was defined by the expression “from Dan even to Beersheba” (see Judg 20:1). We should also note that, much later, Jeroboam, who divided the kingdom of Israel, place one of his idols in Dan. (1 Kings 12: 29) This was no problem for them because they were already used to corporately worshipping idols.

Do you know that there is an ephod?

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judges 18:14–26, “Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.”

The invading party from the tribe of Dan came past Micah’s house and the spies told them that there was a priest and all the other necessary to run a proper place of worship. The men from Dan should have been trusting the Lord and seeking to obey the Lord but they had absorbed many of the pagan practices of the Canaanites and believed that they needed their own god and manner of worship. The went to Micah’s house and took all the items that he was using to worship in his home. They offered the priest, that is the man who was a Levite and not a priest in Israel’s hierarchy, a job as priest for a whole tribe rather than being the priest for one man. This would have represented a considerable promotion for the Levites. The priest was happy to take the better position and went with the soldiers from Dan. Micah was upset and came out to protest with the priest and the soldiers. The soldiers told Micah that they were happy to kill him if he didn’t stop bothering him. Micah understood that there was no national standard of law in Israel in those days and decided that he would like to live so he let them go with his priest and all the other items of worship.