Judges 21:12, 25: “So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan . . . In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

May 5th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

We see Israel continuing to do things that seemed morally right to them, but were actually terrible, immoral decisions. After their destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, there were only 600 Benjamites left. Israel lamented that one of the tribes could be lost, so they set out to find wives for Benjamin, which was difficult as they had all taken an oath that they would not give any of their daughters to the Benjamites. Rather than break that oath they slaughtered a whole city of Israel, because the city had refused to join with them in the fight against Benjamin. Everyone except for 400 female virgins were killed, who they took and gave to the Benjaminites. This still left one-third of the 600 men left of Benjamin, without wives. For the remaining 200 Benjamites, Israel told them to go to the city of Shiloh and steal women from there for wives.

These acts are a perfect example of making bad decisions in an attempt to make up for an earlier bad decision. Israel should have simply humbled themselves before the LORD and repented of the foolish oath they’d made at Mizpah. Then they could have agreed to give their daughters as wives to the men of the tribe of Benjamin. But that of course, would have meant admitting they had been wrong. Why is it so hard to admit wrongdoing? Humble yourself, confess your sin, and repent by turning around and doing the godly thing. The lesson is simple but not easy. When you’re wrong, admit your faults early and it will save a mountain of problems later. Pride does not die easily, does it?

“LORD, please kill off a little more of us today and put the image of Your Son in that place.”

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Judges 21 KJV

¹ Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. ² And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; ³ And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? ⁴ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. ⁶ And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. ⁷ How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? ⁸ And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. ⁹ For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. ¹⁰ And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. ¹¹ And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.  ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.  ¹³ And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.   ¹⁴ And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. ¹⁵ And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? ¹⁷ And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. ¹⁸Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. ¹⁹ Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.    ²⁰Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; ²¹ And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.  ²³ And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. ²⁴ And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. ²⁵ In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.