Judges 20:1-17 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Judges 20:1-17. Let’s go!
Judges 20:1-17 (NIV)
1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.
2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.
3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.
5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.
6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict.”
8 All the people rose as one man, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house.
9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it as the lot directs.
10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel.”
11 So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
13 Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.
14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.
15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah.
16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.
On verses 1-17: As a result of Benjamites in Gibeah gang raping the concubine that we read about in Judges 19, all the other tribes of Israel gather together at Mizpah without the tribe of Benjamin, though the Benjamites had heard about this gathering (v3). As a result of that gathering, the other tribes of Israel muster an army against the tribe of Benjamin demanding that the gang rapists be handed over and put to death. When the Benjamites refuse to hand over the gang rapists, both the Benjamites on one hand and the rest of Israel on the other prepare to fight one another.
Why did the Benjamites refuse to hand over the gang rapists? It could be because the Benjamites felt slighted and unfairly treated by the other tribes of Israel. The Benjamites had heard that the other tribes of Israel were meeting at Mizpah (v3) but they were not invited themselves. If you were the Benjamites, you may have felt that the other tribes of Israel had already reached their conclusion that the Benjamites were guilty, rather than taking time to hear the Benjamites’ side of the story. If that is the case, what can we learn from this?
1. Innocent until proven guilty is a good approach to take when trying to resolve conflict. Rather than immediately concluding that the accused is guilty, it is better for everyone involved to withhold judgment and wait until there is clear evidence pointing otherwise.
2. When we prematurely jump to conclusions about someone being guilty, not giving them a chance to speak, we can eventually lose our credibility and trust with them and invite unnecessary conflict.
Father, I pray that I would wisely communicate with others and avoid any unnecessary conflict. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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