Judges 21:16 says, Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? The elders of Israel then asked how they were to provide wives for the rest of the men of Benjamin, since they had killed all the women of Benjamin. Their solution had not eliminated the whole problem. Sometimes, it may be more difficult to eliminate all the problems that our rash actions as Christians may cause than we might realize. Verse seventeen adds, And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. They said there must be an inheritance, or continuation of, the tribe of Benjamin, including the two hundred men who as yet had no wives. Verse eighteen adds, 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. Still, they had a problem, because they had sworn not to give their daughters as wives to the Benjamites. This was a problem of their own making, and they were still looking to themselves for a solution. We are not told that they consulted God before taking the vow or as they sought a way around the vow. Of course, if we make a vow to God, we should not be looking for ways around it, and we should make certain that He has led us to it to start with. Verse nineteen continues, Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD 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. They remembered that there was a feast of the LORD at Shiloh every year. Verse twenty states, Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; Verse twenty-one adds, 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. The leaders of Israel said to the remaining men of Benjamin to come out of the vineyards at the feast when the women were dancing and claim themselves a bride and return to the land of Benjamin. Basically, they were told to kidnap two hundred of the women of Shiloh, and the people of Shiloh were definitely not consulted about this plan. If we are attempting to get around a vow to God we certainly should not do so at the expense of other people, especially others who are a part of God's people. Verse twenty-two continues, And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, 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 leaders said when the men of Shiloh came to complain, that they would basically tell them that this was their fault because they had not reserved brides for the men of Benjamin during the war. Of course, neither had anyone else of the people of Israel. We should never expect just a few people to bear the responsibility of something that we as Christians have all caused. They said that since the men of Shiloh had not given the women to the men of Benjamin, they had not disobeyed their vow. Again, we should never make a vow to God and then try to find a way around it at the same time, especially at the expense of others. Verse twenty-three says, 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. The men of Benjamin did as they had been instructed to do. The women as usual had nothing to say in the matter. Verse twenty-five adds, 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. After this, all the people of Israel returned to their own inheritance. They had gathered against the tribe of Benjamin because of the actions of a few of their members, avenged the Levite for the death of his wife, and then devised a way to have the rribe of Benjamin continue to exist, so now they returned home. I believe some of this was done at God’s direction, but not all. Verse twenty-five continues, In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. At this time, there was once again no king in Israel, so the people did what was right in their own eyes. Of course, there were still priests and God's law to go by, but they chose not to be guided by them, but by their own desires instead. Even when they later had a king, they still often disobeyed God, the king included. We as followers of Christ will always have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and should never be guided by our own desires.
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