Judges 20:18

Judges 20:18 says, And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.  At least the people of Israel were asking God for His guidance.  They asked who should go up first, and God said that Judah should go against the people of Benjamin first.  This would be God's chosen people fighting against others of God's chosen people.  We need to pray that we never reach that state as professed followers of Christ, but if we we do, we need to be on the side of those who are sure they have God's guidance.  Verse nineteen adds, And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.  The people of Israel arose that morning and encamped against Gibeah.  Verse twenty continues, And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.  They then arrayed themselves to fight against Gibeah.  I believe this means they basically besieged the city.  Verse twenty-one states, And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.  The people of Benjamin did not wait for the people of Israel to attack them, but went on the offensive instead.  The people of the world today still take the initiative in fighting against Christians.  The people of Benjamin were successful, destroying twenty-two thousand Israelites that day, even though the people of Israel were following God's guidance.  Even if we are following God's guidance today, it doesn't mean that we are always going to be victorious over evil in this lifetime.  Still, it is better to die in battle standing with God than to be victorious without Him.  Verse twenty-two adds, And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.  The people of Israel encouraged themselves, even though they had lost the battle.  We need to encourage ourselves by our faith in Jesus Christ if we lose a battle against the forces of evil today.  Verse twenty-three continues, (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)  They people of Israel then went and wept before the LORD and sought His counsel.  This time they didn't ask who should go next, but if they should go at all again.  If we lose a battle today, even though we have God's guidance in going into the battle, we cannot allow that to keep us from going back into the battle.  Of course, we need to seek God's guidance before we do.  Verse twenty-five declares, And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.  Verse twenty-five adds, And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.  The people of Benjamin were once again victorious, killing eighteen thousand of the people of Israel that day.  Matthew Henry points out that this was a total of forty thousand that had been lost in battle, which was the same number that had been sent back to resupply the army.  He also says that the people of Israel may have been too confident because of their numbers.  Verse twenty-six continues, Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.  At least the people of Israel did not give up on God, but returned to the house of God and wept, fasted and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.  We can never give up on God as Christians, even if we have lost battles in our fight against evil in the world.