GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
JUDGES 20:18-25
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They asked, “Which of us is to go first to fight against the Benjamites? ” The LORD answered, “Judah will go first.”
Bethel was about seven miles north of Gibeah, and the road to Gibeah was mostly downhill from there. The method of inquiry is not explained but it almost certainly involved the high priest using the Urim and Thummim (see 20:27-28). Just as when the book began, Judah was chosen to go first (1:2).
19 The next morning, the Israelites rose up and camped near Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites sallied out of Gibeah and slaughtered twenty-two thousand men of Israel on the battlefield that day. 22 But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day. 23 They went up and wept before the LORD until evening and inquired of the LORD again. They said, “Should we go up again to attack our brothers the Benjamites? ” The LORD answered: “Go up against them.”
The first defeat was devastating to Israel. They lost just about as many men in that one day as the Union Army lost in three days’ fighting at Gettysburg in July, 1863 (23,055 dead, one third of which are buried there in 17 acres). To Judah’s credit, they did not give up; nor did anyone else in Israel. They wept, expressing their lamentation in a vast service of grief at the tabernacle. Once again they inquired, and once again the high priest came back with the command: “Go up against them.”
24 So on the second day the Israelites advanced once again against the Benjamites. 25 That day the Benjamites sallied out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered another eighteen thousand Israelites on the field, all armed with swords.
On this second day, Israel once again suffered a terrible defeat. They lost just about as many men on this second day as the Union Army lost in its second costliest battle, Spotsylvania Court House, in May, 1864 (18,399 dead).
The victories of Benjamin were partly due to the left-handed slingers. A man carrying a sword in his right hand and holding a shield in his left hand is well-defended against another right-handed swordsman, whose sword will strike the shield. Even against a left-handed swordsman, his sword can parry a thrust. Against a right-handed slinger, his shield still offers good protection. However, against a left-handed slinger there is a problem. His shield protects his left side, but on his sword-hand side there would be no protection against a 90-mile an hour rock three times heavier than a five-ounce baseball.
However, even Israel’s defeats were part of God’s plan. Benjamin had a tremendous advantage in any head-on fight since Israel’s army was too vast to advance against them in the mountains of Benjamin’s “saddle.” Benjamin’s only real disadvantages were (1) that they might lose simply by attrition if Israel continued to throw away tens of thousands of lives every day, and (2) the confidence these first two victories gave them. They were still vastly outnumbered, and even if Israel was outclassed in an even face-on battle, not all of Israel’s army had to be present at one battle site. And that was the strategy Israel would use next.
Sometimes the Lord permits us to suffer defeats, and these are not always to test us, but in order to accomplish his goal. We must be aware that just because we have a defeat or failure of some kind, it doesn’t mean that God is not in control of his creation. Israel failed to trust God when the spies brought back their report about Canaan, but their forty-year sojourn in the desert was not a defeat to God. Perhaps you have had setbacks in your life, whether humorous, inconvenient, or even tragic. God is still with you. “The LORD will be a refuge for his people” (Joel 3:16). You have his forgiveness and a place with him in heaven, but remember that he also cares for your well-being here on earth. Trust in him, and he will bless you and take care of you.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota