What Not to Do

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WHAT NOT TO DO

Judges 20:1-11

20:1 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.

NIV

There is still more of this story to unfold, yet there is a biblical truth we need to ponder. Four hundred thousand came together as one man. This is a true example of unity in spirit, as when one suffers, they all suffer; likewise, we would believe that if one man rejoiced, they all would rejoice. On the other hand, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and then, in some sense, this was vigilante justice. We do wonder why all of Israel felt this act by the men of Gibeah was such a vile act unless they were so pure themselves. Now we know that is not true for every man did what was right in his own eyes, which might imply they were not so concerned with what was right in the eyes of God. We are also not sure the Levite was totally honest about the motives of the men of Gibeah. This testimony was that the men surrounded the house he was in with intent to kill him, however they raped his concubine instead. He did not give an account of the man of the house he was staying in offered the men of the city both his virgin daughter and the concubine. Nothing in this narrative meets any of the standards of the new covenant through Jesus Christ. God said revenge belongs to him, and yet the men of Israel were about to exact their revenge. Jesus taught us the truth about forgiveness, yet neither the Levite nor all the men of Israel were exhibiting any forgiveness. Jesus taught about taking the log out of our own eye before looking for a speck in our brother’s eye. The men of Israel were only looking to take the log out of the eye of those men of Gibeah. Jesus taught us that if we judge, we will be judged, and if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. The one thing we do learn from this narrative is not to be anything like the Levite or all the men of Israel. They did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who is working within us, transforming us into the likeness of Jesus. We are thankful we live under the new covenant. This narrative tells us or shows us what not to do.