JUDGES 20

I think this chapter is a great example of how God often gets a bad rap for things we decide to do. In this instance, the men of the tribes of Israel gathered to go up against the Benjamites. At first, they asked the tribe of Benjamin to hand over the men who had raped and killed the Levite’s concubine. They refused and, in turn, geared up for the fight.

Next, the Israelites (surprise, surprise!) actually consulted God about what to do! They asked about which of the tribes should go up to meet the Benjamites first, and the answer came back: Judah. In the first two days of battle, the Benjamites routed their fellow Israelites, and at the end of each day, the Israelites went back to the Lord and asked Him if they should continue. And both times, the answer was yes.

For me, though, here’s where the rub comes. On the third day, the Israelites beat the Benjamites. They defeated them in battle, striking down all their warriors. But then, the Israelites went crazy. They went through all the towns of the tribe of Benjamin, killing everyone and burning the cities down to the ground. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That wasn’t in the battle plan that God laid out! If it hadn’t been for 600 Benjamite men who escaped and hid for several months, the entire tribe would have been wiped out that day.

God may have sanctioned the Israelites to go after the wicked men in the town of Gibeah and, then, the men of Benjamin when they wouldn’t give them up... but there was no command to kill the women, children, and livestock nor burn down their towns. And since the Israelites decided to do all of that anyway, I think our tendency is to look at that and attribute all of it to God. And all of a sudden, we’re trying to grapple with the image of a God who would order the killing of innocent children because some men raped a woman.

God sometimes gets a very bad rap because of things we decide to do that are outside of His plan. And what is even more amazing to me is that God allows this to go on. He allows His own name to be tarnished. He allows Himself to look really bad at times when His representatives on Earth aren’t doing such a great job. How many of us would leave our reputations in the hands of others like that? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t. (sigh) I guess I still have a lot more to learn about what it means to be like God!