Sermon Tone Analysis

Here we are at the end of the book of Judges.

There are two chapters left, and we are going to get through them today.

When we started with the conclusion to this book, we noted that it falls into two stories that are designed to encapsulate the depth to which Israel has fallen as a nation.

Idolatry, brutality, immorality, rape, etc. all seem to be part of the nations MO.

This is just who they are now.

The Canaanization of the people is complete.

They have embraced the way of life that is so far from God and his word and have chosen the things of the world, that the only thing they deserve is to be wiped off the face of the map like Sodom and Gomorrah were hundreds of years prior.

But God is a gracious God, holding fast to his covenant that he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even though the people have forsaken the Covenant keeping God.

Last week in particular we saw the lowest point in the book.

A people doing what was right in their own eyes leads them to follow after the way of Samson, who sought after what was right in his eyes.

That led to gang rape and murder.

This week we find the aftermath of that episode.

The people rise together to take matters into their own hands.

They finally seem to realize that all is not well.

These things aren’t right.

We have to make a course correction here.

But as they go about doing that, they end up embracing solutions that further show their distance from their God.

So often not only are our own sins ugly and create a mess, but often our own solutions to the messes that we make only demonstrate our own lack of wisdom.

Let’s move into our text.

Again, this is on the heels of the 12 tribes each receiving a piece of the Levite’s concubine in the mail.

Ugly Solutions: Holy War

This is a remarkable turnout at this event.

There is clearly outrage that such a thing has been done, and they are they are there to hear the story.

The Levite explains what happens, though we noted the ambiguity in his words last week, and now they are ready for action.

Notice the unity of the tribes.

They arose as one man.

They gathered united as one man.

They have unity in their purpose, their course of action, their resolve.

They are going to repay Gibeah for their crimes.

They are carefully planning their attack.

They establish supply lines, anticipating that this won’t be a small skirmish, but an all out war.

As we come to this stage of the book, one wonders where these men have all been.

They have failed to rise up with Samson against the Philistines, they were hesitant to join Gideon, Barak, and others.

But here, now that the enemy is their own countrymen, they band together for war.

Notice also that they intend to cast lots to determine how they will move forward.

Remember that as we will revisit that in a moment.

The Benjaminites were given the opportunity to act in judgment over their own city, but not only did they decline that invitation, but they banded together to defend their city against the rest of Israel.

There are few points of interest here.

This is the first time the people inquire of the Lord.

They did not ask whether they should go up in war against their own brothers.

They had already decided, we’re going.

But they did ask who should go first.

Earlier the text also tells us that they planned to cast lot to determine who would go up first.

Here it says that they inquired of the Lord.

It seems that the people, and the narrator recognize that the lot is cast but every decision is from the Lord, as the book of Proverbs says.

So perhaps they cast their lot, Judah’s name came up first, so they conclude “The LORD said, Judah shall go up first”.

Later on we will read that there was a priest present.

Perhaps he inquired of the Lord and got a word through other means.

The text leaves a bit of ambiguity on that front.

What is even more interesting is that if the Lord did give a clear audible answer that Judah should go first is how that ended up turning out:

22,000 men die.

Why? Didn’t the Lord say for Judah to go up?

Why do they run into the meat grinder?

The text begins to build tension and suspense as the story unfolds.

Now they ask what they should have asked at the start.

should we go up?

Through some means God instructs them, go ahead.

We’re now up to 40,000 casualties, and not a single mention of a single casualty among the Benjaminites.

What is happening?

Why are they going out and failing so miserably when the LORD is the one who said to go out?

Let’s read on.

They come before the Lord devastated.

They are weeping, they offer their sacrifices.

They don’t understand why things are failing.

They ask once again, this time, adding the alternative “shall we go....or shall we cease?”

They are told.

Go.

The rest of the chapter records the result of that battle.

I’m going to read it in its entirety and then offer my comments.

The Holy War is complete.

Benjamin is destroyed, all by 600 men.

All this, because Israel failed to do what they needed to back in chapter one.

The zeal they brought to the table against their own countrymen should have been directed toward the Canaanites back in chapter one.

because it was not, the tribe of Benjamin became so thoroughly Canaanized that it seemed to them that the best option was to wage their holy war against them.

Is this the solution that was needed?

Only because God’s word was rejected.

Israel was rotting from the inside out.

There was a cancer in their land.

Treating cancer is never fun.

For the sake of this illustration, let’s say that we’re talking about a preventable form of cancer develops in someone because of poor lifestyle choices.

How is it treated?

Surgery, and often various forms of chemo or radiation therapy that are designed to kill the damaging cancer cells, but all of those things damage the whole body.

It would have been better and easier to live a healthy lifestyle and to make healthy choices than it is to try to deal with the preventable cancer on the back end.

When the cancer began, it wasn’t a massive issue that threatened a life, but when its ignore or undetected, it grows and spreads until the only options are the devastating options.

In many ways it seems as though that is what has happened in Israel.

Rather than honor the Lord as King, they have forsaken him, and have allowed a cancer to grow and spread, and now it must be dealt with in gruesome ways.

I used cancer as an illustration.

It many ways that illustration falls short.

This was a solution of their own creation.

Imagine someone has cancer, and surgery is the right solution, but they decide to operate on themselves.

It’s going to create other issues.

And how will those be solved?

Look at chapter 21 where we see more ugly solutions

Ugly Solutions: Stolen Wives

As the people gather together they are despondent.

This isn’t the usualy party that is experienced after a great military victory.

They won....but they were defeated…because they were fighting their own brothers.

They cry out to the lord “why has this happened in Israel” How did we get to this point?? How has it come to this??

There is almost an accusatory tone to their words, perhaps a sentiment of “why did you let this happen?

A holy war…not against the wicked Canaanites, but against the wicked Benjaminites, who might as well have been Canaanites at this point.