GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
JUDGES 21:13-18
13 The whole assembly sent envoys to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon. 14 The Benjamites returned at that time, and were given the women who had been spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough for all of them.
As soon as peace was offered, the six hundred men of Benjamin left their refuge at the rock of Rimmon and returned to Shiloh. There was no difference in the degree to which these particular Benjamites were guilty; they had stood up for Gilead and its murderous homosexual rape just as everybody else in Benjamin had done. But so that the tribe would not vanish, these six hundred were essentially forgiven. It would have been better if something had been said aloud about their guilt and why it was a sin, but this is not a story for us to alter to fit our needs; it’s the factual account of what took place. Two hundred men from Benjamin—a third of the survivors—still had no wives.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the assembly said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed? ” 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel. 18 But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite is cursed.”
We live in a time when many new converts to Christianity and even a few who should know better would not see a need for wives just to continue a tribe. But God’s plan for mankind regarding sex and families is that a man and woman will join together with a vow for life in a marriage. After the founding of worship and the church as man’s first estate (Genesis 2:16-17), God established marriage as the second estate (Genesis 2:18-24) and the foundation of all civilization. Marriage has many blessings:
● Marriage is a gift from God to mankind.
● The primary purpose of marriage is companionship. “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22).
● The companionship of marriage also enables us to serve God rather than the constant obsession with seeking out temporary companionship in an endless lifelong “dating scene.” Such a burden can often (not always) damage a frail ego and wear away at a person’s self-esteem and self-worth, which is not God’s desire for us at all.
● Another purpose for marriage is that it is to be the means of procreation, that is, having children. “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children are a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them” (Psalm 127:3-5). Although some couples may not be able to beget children in the natural way, God still wants children to be raised within the family if at all possible, even if children are adopted.
● By providing children with a stable home, God enables them to grow up without the fears and uncertainties that often result in an imbalanced life without married caregivers or role models. A family offers the basis for home worship and a proper focus on growth rather than merely on survival.
● Marriage also preserves chastity, that is, sexual purity, in men and women. Paul wisely says, “It is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9). Someone constantly tempted by sexual urges needs to find a spouse so that those urges can be fulfilled in a God-pleasing way rather than in the many, many venues that the devil offers with his endless temptations.
● Following chastity, marriage offers freedom from one’s passions. The devil’s temptations enslave people to sin, and God offers freedom from this slavery with the simple, elegant and lifelong gift of marriage.
● Finally, God blesses the fallen world by providing us with spouses who can make up for deficiencies each of us has.
The people of Israel wanted to take the gift of marriage very seriously by providing, if they could, women for Benjamin from within Israel (although, as we have said, the men of Benjamin could possibly have taken care of this themselves). Perhaps by desiring Israelite wives, the nation was trying to inject a return to faithfulness for the tribe of Benjamin, by patiently and firmly showing their husbands “faith, love and holiness with propriety” (1 Timothy 2:15).
So the meeting about wives for Benjamin continued. All things are possible with the Lord, but Israel was running out of ideas. Still, one more option remained…
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