JUDGES 21

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn (sworn an oath) in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

• Before they attacked the tribe of Benjamin, in a moment of passion and emotion, the 11 tribes of Israel took an oath that in order to further punish the Benjamites for their perversity, they would not give any of their daughters to the remaining 600 men from Benjamin to be their wives.
• But as we will see in a moment, they realized that Benjamin would become extinct as a tribe unless they had wives (cf. 21:6, 7), since the Benjamite women had died in the total sack of Gibeah (20:37).
• Here we see a case of misplaced zeal and passion. The only kind of passion and zeal that is acceptable in the eyes of The Lord is that which is led by The Spirit and according to the clear dictates of Scripture.
• They who make rash vows have only themselves to blame for the difficulties in which they may afterwards be involved.

2 And the people came to the house of God (some trans.read, “came to Bethel”), and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore (bitterly);

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 (next morning), that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

• The existence of the twelve tribes was an essential part of the nations covenant existence as the people of God. With one tribe missing, Israel would no longer be Israel.

• Benjamin made the decision to defend the men of Belial. This was the cause of the reaction from the remaining 11 tribes in chapter 20. But what intrigues me here is that the Israelites are asking God why He is allowing was allowing all of this to happen to them?

• That is so typical of many people today who find themselves in a bad situation. They violate the teaching of Scripture that warns them not to do what they have done. They refuse to listen to the counsel of God that is given to them from faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, and then they ask God why He is letting this happen to them?

• Beloved, do not be deceived by the religious terminology that is used here in verses 2-4. We will see as the story unfolds, the Israelites were determined to do what was right in their own eyes, and not by direct commands from Jehovah.
• They were not consecrating themselves unto Jehovah, they were using the sacred offerings of God as a veil for what was really in their heart. They had a plan and only wanted Jehovah to go along with it, thus, they bring these “offerings”.
• 1 Sam 15.22 Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

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.

• Israel did something that seemed right at the time, but in all was actuality; it was a fleshly, impulsive decision. They decided to slaughter a whole city of Israel, a city that refused to join with Israel in the fight against Benjamin.
• Israel instead should have repented of their foolish oath made at Mizpah, and they should have agreed to give their daughters as wives to the men of the tribe of Benjamin, renouncing the foolish vow of Judges 21:1.

6 And the children of Israel repented them (grieved; had compassion; deep sadness) for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

7 How (what) shall we do for wives for them that remain (how can we find wives for the few 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 Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

9 For the people were numbered (counted), and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there (were present).

• This is the first time that Jabesh-gilead is mentioned in Scripture. We will read about it again when we study 1 Samuel 11 & 31.
• No one had come up to Mizpeh from Jabesh Gilead. So, to deal with the situation, the Israelites all but decimated the population of Jabesh Gilead, and gave 400 virgins from that city to be wives for the tribe of Benjamin.
• The fact that none came from this city to fight against Benjamin has led some writers, with reason, to suspect that a secret alliance existed between this city and Benjamin.
• As we saw last week, one of the easily besetting sins that is revealed in chapters 20 and 21 is that the tribal loyalty of Benjamin to Jabesh gilead was more important in their decision than their obedience to truth of Scripture and submission to the Lordship of Jehovah.
• James 2:1 ¶ My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons (partiality).

10 And the congregation sent thither (sent there) twelve thousand men of the valiantest (their most valiant men), and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

• Please note that the Israelites attempt to “solve” one bad decision by making another one. Have you ever done that? Once again it is noticeable that in all this action, not once do we find the Israelites asking for the counsel of Jehovah.
• They are crying and they are making all kinds of religious sacrifices, but they are not seeking the heart and mind of Jehovah.

11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy (devote to destruction) every male, and every woman that hath lain by man (every woman who is not a virgin).

• Ye shall utterly destroy/devote to destruction. This phrase is found throughout the book of Joshua describing the Israelites’ destruction of the Canaanites (e.g., Josh. 6:17–18; 10:28, 35, 39, 40–41; 11:11, 20). Here, ironically, the total destruction was directed against an Israelite city, not a Canaanite one. It is obvious that Israel is acting on its own, without God’s command to take such action.
• Another one of the practical lessons that we learn from this chapter is that there is no real justice when people take morality into their own hands instead of according to God’s Word.

1.   God never told them to annihilate the tribe of Benjamin.

2.   God never told them to withhold their daughters from marriage to the survivors of the Benjamite men.

3.   God never told them to kill all the men, married women and children of Jabesh Gilead.

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred (400) 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.

• In the slaughter of Jabesh Gilead, they killed everybody but 400 young virgins. Still, this was not enough. It left them 200 short. So, do they gather together for prayer and seek The Lord’s direction and counsel? Do they determine to wait on The Lord for His direction?. Do they ever stop and think that maybe they were in the flesh and repent of their sin? No! They go out and make up another fleshly plan that seems good to them to “correct the problem.”

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 (announced peace to them).

14 And Benjamin came again at that time (returned to their homes); and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead (the 400 virgins): and yet so they sufficed them not (they had not found enough for them).

15 And the people repented them (grieved)  for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach (void) 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 (are dead) out of Benjamin?

17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped (for the survivors) of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out (blotted out) of Israel.

18 Howbeit 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 (more than likely the feast of tabernacles) in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards (go and hide 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 (the fathers or male relatives of the virgin women from Shiloh) come unto us to complain (protest), 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.

• The 200 men from Benjamin without wives were instructed to kidnap the daughters of Shiloh. This way, the Israelites would not be technically breaking their oath because they really weren’t giving their daughters to the Benjamites-they were allowing them to be kidnapped. Jon Courson
• Ye did not give unto them; by this they imply that they do not violate the oath spoken of in Jg 21:1,7,18, as the women were not taken by their consent. FBN

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.

• The 400-year period of the Judges was marked by this radical individualism. They rejected the standard of God's word and accepted the individual standard of what was right in their own eyes.
• But the consequence of doing  right in his own eyes always ends in ruin. Proverbs 14:12 says it like this: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. When man follows his own instincts and inclinations, it leads to ruin. We must follow God's way, not our own.
• Beloved, God does not change His moral law to suit our behavior. What God says is right is right even if nobody is right and what God says is wrong is wrong even if everybody if wrong. The very nature of the fallen world system and our flesh concludes that if something brings us profit or pleasure, it must be good, even if it is wrong. There was a popular song years ago that contained the venomous lyrics, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”
• Isa 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
• Self rule will always produce confusion and chaos. Fallen man without King Jesus ruling in the heart is a monster of self will, self righteousness and self deception. A self willed person will grieve The Holy Spirit of God and inevitably do that which is right in their own eyes for the simple reason that Jesus Christ is not ruling as King in our lives.
• The book of Judges gives us a picture of the tragic results of sinful compromise with an ungodly world. Fortunately, the appendix of the book of Ruth indicates that God was still at work among His people, even during this dark hour. A ray of hope was about to dawn through which God’s man would come to rule His people. Liberty Bible Commentary