A Damaged People (Part A)

It seemed good to them, just God did not put His approval on them. And they marched in the direction of what they thought were solutions to problems they created, the solutions that they created also. They sought God by asking Him to bless their good ideas.

Many problems with that. Just asking God, what should I do? They laid God, this is what we would like to do. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Judges chapter 21, as he begins a new message called A Damaged People. But before we get into chapter 21, I'd like to briefly review chapter 20.

I'll at least comment on some of the things about it. I got a lot out of last Wednesday's session, not so much the things that I said, but the material was in print. And what I got out of it, of course, was the teaching that even if defeated, we're expected to get up and continue. We're expected to get up and continue to fight for that which is right and worth fighting for.

A defeat should lead to renewed and improved strategies and efforts. And though repeated defeats may come our way, perseverance is what is expected of us. Paul wrote this to Timothy, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance. Timothy was a first-hand witness to many of Paul's defeats according to the flesh, or not Paul's flesh, but in the sense of the beatings that he took, the persecution and the discomforts that he suffered.

And yet Paul is telling him, you were eyewitness of how the Lord delivered me from them all. And these lessons are for us today. I know that I expect to be delivered from everything that's bad, but that's not reality and that's not Scripture, not in this life. So that is just my brief look back at chapter 20 where, of course, the Benjamites had to be punished for the egregious sins that they committed, and they were, but it was a hard victory. In this evening's consideration, chapter 21, we are learning about good ideas without God.

It's a big trap, and unfortunately it's practiced too often. Ephesians 5, verse 17, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. I'm purposely not quoting Proverbs 3, verse 5, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord, because we're so familiar with that it may have lost some of its impact. But Ephesians 5, again, do not be unwise, but understand what is the will of the Lord. What does God want?

Not what I want. Not what I even think is right. You know, many times we get in trouble trying to do what is right when it is not God's timing. That doesn't mean we're doing wrong.

And maybe this story will develop what I'm saying. Also, 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 17, Paul says, therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly, or the things I planned? Do I plan them according to the flesh?

How beautiful is that? Paul says, when I make a plan, I've been in front of the throne of God. I don't just come up, hey, I got a good idea. I'm the apostle Paul. This is what we should do.

This is what I want to do. He said, I don't take this lightly. This chapter concerning the decisions of the leaders, of the leaders of the tribes, stacked with errors from ideas, again, that seemed good to them, just God did not put his approval on them. And they marched in the direction of what they thought were solutions to problems they created. The solutions that they created also. They sought God by asking him to bless their good ideas. Many problems with that. Instead of just asking God what should I do, they laid, God, this is what we would like to do. Now, this might sting some of you.

You don't have to agree with it, but it'd be in your best interest to. You know, people will give you a prayer request and they give you a set of instructions with them. You know, they're seeking a job. Pray that I'll like the employer. Pray that, and they're telling you what to pray. I reject that. I want to know what to pray for.

I don't want a script handed to me. Where's the spirit in that? That's what maybe God has put on your heart, and how do I know that's right? How do I know that's what he wants?

How do you know that's what he wants? How many times has something seemed so perfect and juicy, and yet God said no? I mean, this is the case throughout our lives. I think the Holy Spirit is to guide us all, all the time. Lean not on your own understanding. Don't be wise. Do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Jesus himself, giving us the greatest example. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. John's Gospel, chapter 14, verse 18. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you, and he comes in prayer, and I don't get too many email prayer requests any longer because, well, I don't. Because I don't get my email out, or people are nice enough not to try to figure it out, but anyway, when I would get plenty of prayer requests for, pray this, pray for that, I'm not doing that.

La, la, la, la, not listening. John 16, verse 13. However, when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. And I believe that, and it is a discipline to go through this life learning to live without what you think you want. And this chapter is going to bring this out, what it means to not lean on one's own understanding in God's name while leaning on one's own understanding.

This is how people will say, don't do that. It speaks against rash oaths. You know, you get emotional, like Peter, you know, let's build three tabernacles.

The emotions begin, you know, the tail wags the dog. The problem with good ideas is that they have to be filtered through God's approval. Selective righteousness is another problem. I'll obey God in the areas that are convenient for me, but those other areas I'm going to ignore as though I'm not ignoring them.

It's one thing to struggle, it's another thing to just completely dismiss. Semantics, we'll get that. You know, playing with words. And when you play with words, you play with the meanings. And that is dangerous business because words are supposed to mean something. And Satan knows it, and that's what propaganda is all about, and that's why we're having such a problem unlike ever before in the time we live in because of this global tower of Babel known as the internet, which is good for weather reports, as long as they are often. Alright, verse 21.

Let's get rolling now. Verse 1, sorry. Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, None of us shall give our daughter to Benjamin as a wife. This is, of course, when they first got word that they were going to war with Benjamin because Benjamin would not surrender to the justice, the law, the tribal law, God's law.

And this vow does not show up in chapter 20, it shows up late, no matter. And the elders, of course, when they received the body parts of the concubine of the Levite, they were shocked over that moment and in that moment and the behavior of Benjamin that precipitated these things. And when they got to the battlefield and they saw that Benjamin was not going to submit, they were hot. It was indignation, righteous indignation. Nothing was wrong with that part of it. The part that went south on them was when they swore an oath that once we conquer these Benjamites, we're not going to give any of our daughters to them to be married. We're going to cut them off. And it was not well thought out. This kind of an oath cheated them out of a divine solution where God could have done this or that. He now cannot because they've taken this silly oath.

They've painted themselves into a corner. And so to this day, we are very careful with what we say. Jesus said, you know, just say yes or no, because anything more than that is of the evil one.

You're going to get in a problem. You get emotionally charged up and the spirit shuts down, but the emotions keep running. And it also wasn't up to them to think that the tribe would be lost.

I get that out of the way right away. As we saw the Levite that moved around from Judah and Ephraim to Benjamin's territory, well, there were other tribal people that were moving around to different territories. There were other Benjamites in the land. They weren't all living under the umbrella of the tribe.

And so that was a bit of an overreaction. They could have just said, well, it's going to take a little slower to rebuild a tribe, but we still have Benjamites among us. And this foolish vow. Most vows in the Bible are foolish, and the Bible holds them up to us and says, look, don't do this. Jephthah, whatever comes out of the house, I will offer as a burnt offering. And, of course, Saul's foolish vow.

Anybody that eats before the battle is won, and his son Jonathan dips his beer in Nani. This righteous indignation without guidance is a problem for everybody else. And the Bible says a lot about keeping our mouths shut. Ecclesiastes 5, I haven't read this one in a while.

I used to try to read it all the time. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to here rather than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.

And a fool's voice is known by many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin or say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?

That's pretty thorough. Ecclesiastes 5, first six verses of that chapter. Of course, Solomon writes this long after the events that we're considering this evening, but they're eternal words. Verse 2 now, then the people came to the house of God and remained there before God till evening.

They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. So they're really disturbed by this, the thought that Benjamin is going to be no more, which again was not accurate. The Hebrew word here for house of God is a single word in the in the Hebrew language, Bethel. And I pointed out because the study Bibles you have may talk about it, but some believe it is the village or the city of Bethel. I don't share that because of verse 12, which Silo is where the tabernacle was and the altar of Moses. Incidentally, we'll come up to a little trouble, troublesome spot, not big. But anyway, let's keep one.

He says here in verse two and remained there before God till evening. Well, they were sincere. No one's questioning that. But it's not enough to be sincere. Sincerety is like flour to a cake. It's vital, but you need more to make the cake.

Just flour bread. But so that's a good lesson for us. Sincerety is not enough. People can be sincerely wrong. The prophets of Baal, they were sincerely wrong on Mount Carmel when it was slashing themselves with knives and blood was gushing out. They were sincere, still wrong. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, it says here at Benjamin's plight. Verse three, and said, Oh, Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel? Cough, cough.

You took the oath. You're the ones that created this situation. There's 600 of them still held out. And of course, they're concerned at how they're going to get wives for them to continue the tribe. It's just not the whole story.

That's another problem we're going to come across. So they made a spiritual effort. And what they ended up with, because they didn't wait for God, was a bizarre plan that caused more suffering, more bloodshed, more tears. It is, you know, we've covered spiritual derangement as we've been going through Judges.

This is just a damage to people. And remember, this is early in the book of Judges. This is the appendix. The writer goes back to the days right after Joshua. And that's about the time that these events are taking place. It actually sets the stage for the judges to come along.

And that was not as smooth as we would have liked it. So they go to the house of God. They call out to him, but they don't appear to wait for him. And the reason why we can say that, because there's no recorded answer from God.

There's no, thus says the Lord. They just go to him, they cry, they pray, and they build an altar, and they sacrifice. And then they come up with these goofy plans. And they are goofy by any culture's standards. Well, maybe not any culture.

There's some pretty goofy ones out there. Verse 4, so it was on the next morning that the people rose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Well, here's why some of the commentators will say, well, they're at Bethel, and that's why they built the altar there probably before the Ark of the Covenant. But the scripture forbade random altars. It had to be at God's place, which was Shiloh, where the tabernacle was. And as I mentioned, when we get to verse 12, we'll find them centered at Shiloh. I think what is going on is that the altar of Moses was in a state of disrepair, was not able to handle the volume of sacrifices.

And so at Shiloh, they erected auxiliary altars, which would not have been a problem. But to go to high places to offer, make offerings, that would have been a problem. Anyway, verse 5, the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to Yahweh? For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. Well, these guys are just full of oaths. So the first ones, we're not giving our wives to the Benjamites that survive. And the second oath was, in any of the tribes that don't answer the call to war, we are going to deal with them also.

They're going to put them to death. Time stamps are good here because Barak and Deborah are going to be confronted with a very identical situation. And so will Gideon, in a lesser way, be confronted with this. And neither of those judges will make a mess of things like these group of leaders here. The generation that came out of the wilderness with Joshua and Ahniel, the first judge, they're all gone.

Maybe now is a good time to take that. Judges chapter 2, verse 7, So the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of Yahweh, which he had done for Israel. So they served the Lord in the days of Joshua. But after Joshua, things began to, and the generation that came out with Joshua.

But after that, verse 11, Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh and served the Baals. And there begins the book of Judges. Up to this point in the book of Judges, it's sort of been, you know, the preface to the book with, you know, what was taking place still in Joshua's leadership and those under his leadership. And now, beginning in midway in chapter 2, we have this, you know, the period of the judges, which ends with chapter 16 and Samson. And then the writer then goes back in chapter 17 through 21 and say, Well, let me also tell you about something that happened. And that's where we get these two ugly stories from. So coming back now to Judges chapter 21, they make this next vow that they're going to put to death those who don't come to war, verse 6 now.

Well, pause for a minute. They felt if they did not put a death penalty on not showing up for the war, that a lot of tribes would not have come and they would have been understaffed. I'm not saying they were wrong for doing that, but how they go about executing this is way out of bounds.

Verse 6 now, And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother and said, One tribe is cut off from Israel today. So here we have patriotism and compassion and regret, and those are all under these circumstances virtuous. But it's still not enough. And that's what we've been coming across in the book of Judges. It's not enough to be right.

That was last week. You have to be close to God also. And here in this chapter, it's not enough to be sincere, not enough to be compassionate. You have to still be plugged into the Lord, abiding in Christ for us Christians in the New Testament. They were to abide with Yahweh. Samuel told Saul the king, It's better to obey than sacrifice. Keep your religion. Give me obedience. And or you keep your ritual of religion is the idea. And so because they were not listening to the Lord or waiting long enough for him, human logic prevailed.

That's what we're going to get. Human logic with religious attire. Verse 7, What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn to Yahweh that we will not give them daughters as wives? Now you think of this. You thought of that before you made the oath, right?

But there's a big problem. Linency shown to the criminal, misplaced leniency, often means cruelty to the victim. I mean, these guys created the perverted men of Gibeah. I mean, how many other crimes did they commit and didn't get caught?

But this one that came out. I mean, they created tens of thousands of deaths and sorrows and families. And now at the end when you've got them with, well, you know, these guys, all that's left. The danger of becoming too mild is what they fell for. And in so doing, again, the innocent were indirectly punished. How would you like to have lost, you know, a father or a brother or a husband on the battlefield because of these Benjamites just to find out that the survivors are going to be rewarded and still never repent of the terrible sins?

This is not cruelty. Yes, Jabesh, there's going to be the group that does not show up. They're guilty of not coming to the battlefield. And they needed to be disciplined, but not like what's going on, and then let Benjamin get away with this, or at least 600 of them. So they're going to slaughter those at Jabesh Gilead because it's going to suit their purposes better, it seems, like that's how the whole story goes. But continuing here in verse 7, these surviving members of Benjamin are held out and we're told, I don't know, chapter 20 in verse 47, we're told that it was a four-month deal.

And these 600 soldiers stranded here at the rock of Rimmon were impenitent. You cannot restore in a righteous environment a person who is not repenting, who is impenitent. They've got to own their sin, and if they do not do that, there's nothing more you can do. I mean, when we say to a couple, look, we're trying to uphold the sanctity of marriage. You can't just as Christians live together and not be married and then come into the fellowship.

That's blatant disobedience. We're not hating on you, we're not saying we don't like you, we're just saying we have to disfellowship you because you can't fix this. And we'll do whatever we can to help you.

Marriage license, you know, we'll marry you right away or perform the service, of course. That would be polygamy. Just getting you warmed up a little bit for Sunday because I'm thinking that's what it takes. Anyway, again, how many families suffered because of the 600 and the other 26,000 other Benjamites that are now dead because of their impenitent ways? So the elders, they're just overlooking this. Well, it's time to restore them now. Okay, it's fine you want to restore them, then bring them to Shiloh.

Have them confess their sins. Thanks for tuning in to Cross-Reference Radio for this study in the book of Judges. Cross-Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you'd like more information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there, and we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app or just follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. That's all the time we have for today. Join us next time to continue learning more from the book of Judges, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.