Judges 21:7 says, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? The people of Israel asked again how they could provide wives for the remaining men of Benjamin since they had vowed to God not to allow them to marry their daughters. This is something they should have considered before killing all the women of Benjamin or before taking the vow. This really wasn't something God had asked them to do. We need to be careful that we do not make vows that will later limit God's kingdom, even if they seem good at the time. Verse eight adds, And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. They then asked if there were any of the tribes of Israel who had not come to help in in fight, because if there were they would not have been involved in the vow either. and they said the camp of Jabeshgilead had not. This was a city of the tribe of Gad, according to Matthew Henry. Maybe they felt too far removed to be concerned about what the Benjamites had done. We, as God's people, need to always be united in the war against evil today. Verse nine continues, For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. They knew this because the people had been numbered, or enrolled, as they gathered for the fight. If there was a roll of Christians actively fighting against evil in the world today, would our name be on it? None of us are called to sit on the sidelines in the war against the forces of Satan today. Verse ten states, And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. The people of Israel then assembled twelve thousand of the bravest men, and told them to go to Jabeshgilead and kill the people there, including the women and children. We are not told that they sought God's guidance in this, but it was their attempt to correct a problem of their own making. If we create a problem because of our own overzealousness, we need to always ask God before we do anything to attempt to correct it. Verse eleven adds, And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. These troops were commanded to kill every man and all the women who had lain with a man, or who were not virgins. How they were to prove this and what age female it was to apply to is not clear, since they were told to kill the children as well. Verse twelve continues, And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. They found four hundred young virgins among the people of Jabeshgilead, and brought them to the camp at Shiloh. Again, I am not sure how they made the determination unless it was based on young women who were not married. Sometimes, our criteria to determine who or who isn't a follower of Christ today may be made on faulty criteria as well. There were only four hundred of them. Verse thirteen says, And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. The people of Israel sent representatives to speak peacefully to the remaining Benjamites who were assembled at the rock. If we find ourselves at odds with our fellow believers, the first thing we need to do is speak peacefully with them. Verse fourteen adds, And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. The men of Benjamin came again into the people of God, and they were given the four hundred young women to marry, so that the tribe of Benjamin might continue. Of course, there were six-hundred men, so this still left a problem. Verse fifteen continues, And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. We are told that the people repented for what had happened to the tribe of Benjamin, but they then put the responsibility for it on God, even though He had never required them to take the vow they took, nor to totally destroy the people of the tribe of Benjamin, including women and children. If our overzealousness as Christians causes problems today, we should never attempt to make God the cause of our problem.
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