We will look at a few more lessons from the book of Judges.  We see that sometimes, that some one who should be one of God's people only wants power for themselves and is willing to sacrifice or even kill others to attain it.  If a person begins to see what should be a role of service to God as a means of self service instead, then that person is a child of God in name only, at least at that point in time.  We cannot follow God and glorify our self at the same time, and if we are only following God for self glory, then we will ultimately fail.  I believe that we also cannot take our relationship for granted, as we learned from Samson.  He was dedicated to God from birth, and as long as he remained faithful to that dedication, he was unbeatable.  Then, he began to play games with his relationship with God, and was completely defeated.  If we begin to treat our relationship to God as if it is not important, then we set ourselves up for failure.  We also learn from Samson that if we return to God, though we may be suffering physically from our departure from him, then we can be restored to a right relationship to Him.  In Samson's case, that restoration to power cost him his life, and in our case if we stray from Christ and return, it may cost us everything that we have gained while we are not in a right relationship with Him, but it is worth it.  It is better to die following God's guidance than to live under the bondage of sin.   Finally, I believe that we learned that just because people are called a part of the people of God does not make them so, as we saw with the tribe of Benjamin.  When a fellow man of Israel came to them for safety and security, they only wanted to abuse him.  We cannot be the same way today, but if anyone comes to us for help, we need to do our best to help them under the leadership and power of God.  We should never treat those in need with anything less than the love of God.  Of course, if someone who calls himself or herself a Christian or group of people who do commit a sin, no matter how great it may be, we should not want them to be annihilated, but should look to God for a way to restore them.  We will next look at the book of Ruth.      

We will review some of the things that we learned from the book of Judges.  First, it wasn't long after the death of Joshua before the people of Israel strayed away from God, as they had always tended to do.  This is a tendency that still exists today.  People follow God as long as they can see what He is doing in their lives, maybe connected to a particular church leader, but then when they no longer see a physical evidence of God's presence, they turn away from Him.  The people of Israel were God's people in name only when this happened, just as some people are God's people in name only in the world today.  Next, we see that when the people of Israel turned away from God, He no longer offered them His protection, and they were defeated by other nations.  As followers of Christ today, if we turn away from God, we should not be surprised if we lose His protection.  Of course, we will never cease to be one of God's children if we have put our faith in Him, but we may lose our victory over the power of the world.  If we are acting by our own understanding instead of by the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit, then we may question why God is allowing certain things to happen in our lives and may go hunting for answers somewhere other than from God.  Then, we learned that the people would call out to God again, and He would raise up a judge to deliver them from bondage.  Today, we have a Savior to deliver us from the bondage of sin if we will only call out to him in repentance and faith.  Once we have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord of our life, we no longer have to call out to Him for salvation, but if we stray away from doing His will, we may still find ourselves in need of deliverance from a situation that we have gotten ourselves in.  Our faith can waver between total trust in God and complete questioning of Him if we aren't careful.  Often, this occurs in times of prosperity more than in times of need.  In these cycles of faith on the part of the people of Israel, it was only when they were in great need that they called out to God again.        

Judges 21:12 says, 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.  There were four hundred young women from Jabeshgilead who were brought to th camp of the people of Israel at Shiloh.  Verse thirteen states,  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 then sent some representatives to speak to the remnants of the tribe of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon.  They went to them in peace.  After a battle with the people of this world, even if we are successful, we need to reach out to them with the love of God and offer them the peace that can only be found in Him.  Verse fourteen declares, 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 returned with them and were given wives from the women of Jabashgilead who had been left alive for this purpose.  Verse fifteen adds, And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.  The people repented for what had had to happen to the people of Benjamin.  They took no joy in their defeat, but said that the LORD was behind it.  We should likewise be heartbroken when anyone dies who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Verse sixteen 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 question is now raised about how to provide wives for the remainder of the men of Benjamin since all the women of Benjamin were killed.  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.  We are again told that the rest of the people of Israel were concerned with preserving the tribe of Benjamin.  This was a retelling of some of the things that had already been discussed.  We should also be concerned with preserving the everlasting salvation of those who may have been born into a Christian family and yet have not accepted the salvation of Christ.  Verse eighteen says, 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.  They had sworn not to give the men of Benjamin wives from any of the rest of the tribes of Israel, which had already been stated.  Verse nineteen adds, 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. Then, they brought up the fact that there was a feast at Shiloh.  Verse twenty continues,Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;  The men of Benjamin were told to go and wait in the vineyards.  Verse twenty-one declares, 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.  Then the men of Benjamin were told if a woman of Shiloh came out to the vineyards that they were to each take one for a bride and return to the land of Benjamin.  This is not what we usually think of as the way courtship should work, but it was a way to remain true to the vow to not allow any of the women of Israel to marry a man from Benjamin and still preserve the tribe of Benjamin.  Of course, the men of Benjamin would be marrying outside the people who were called God's people, but we know that being a part of the family of God is not really determined by physical birth.  Verse twenty-two adds, 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 of Israel said that if any of the fathers came complaining that they would handle the situation.  Of course, since all the men who could have been their fathers had been killed, this was not going to happen.  Verse twenty-three states, 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 each claimed a wife and returned to their land and began to rebuild it.  If someone today has strayed away from their relationship with  God. all he or she can do is return to Him in repentance and begin to repair the relationship.  Verse twenty-four declares,  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.  The rest of the people of Israel returned to their own land.  They had gathered to deal with the problem created by the men of Benjamin and had successfully done so, even coming up with a way to preserve what was left of the tribe of Benjamin.  Now it was time to return home.  We may gather today to resolve problems or to worship God, but eventually we must return home to our own lives.  Verse twenty-five concludes, In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  In those days, there was no king, or ruler over Israel, so everyone did what they thought was right for them.  If we are a follower of Christ, we have a King in God, and we must do what is right in His eyes.

Judges 21:1 says, Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.  The men of Israel swore that they would not give their daughters as wives to any man from the tribe of Benjamin.  Matthew Henry said this was like an article of war, that anyone who would marry his daughter to a man from Benjamin did not take seriously the great sin that some of the men of Benjamin had committed and that others fought against those who would have punished them.  Verse two states, And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;   Then the people of Israel came to the house of God, and stayed there till evening, and wept.  They were not celebrating the victory over the tribe of Benjamin, but were mourning their demise of the people of Benjamin.  Matthew Henry says it was more a sorrow for the people of Benjamin then for their own dead.  We should mourn those today who are killed without knowing God, because even though the men of Benjamin were a part of the children of God in name, they did not know Him spiritually.  Verse three declares, And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?  The people of Israel then asked God the question that we too often ask, and that is why?  They wanted to know how it had happened that a tribe of Israel could become so corrupt as to be totally cut out of the people of Israel.  What we can be certain of is that it wasn't God's responsibility, but it was the lack of obedience on the part of the people of Benjamin.  Verse four says, And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.  The next morning, the people arose early and built an altar to God and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.  Their questioning of God did not stop their worshipping God, and neither should ours today.  We are not always going to understand why things happen in this world, but we should never allow that to stop us from worshipping God if we are His people.  Verse five states, And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.  They next asked if there were those of the people of Israel who had not come there to worship.  If so, this would have meant that they did not take this solemn occasion seriously, and they were ordered to be put to death if they had not.  The people of Israel were very serious about being in a right relationship with God.  Though I don't believe that we should kill those who profess to be Christians today and yet do not obey God, we need to take our relationship with God seriously, both individually and collectively.  Verse six adds, And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.  The rest of the people of Israel repented for the fact that the tribe of Benjamin had been cut off from the nation of Israel.  We should always be saddened when anyone who professes to be a part of the followers of Christ is proven by his or her actions to not be, as the actions of the tribe of Benjamin proved in that day.  Verse seven asks, 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?  Even though they had sworn not to allow their daughters to be wives to the men of Benjamin who may have remained, they asked how these men were going to get wives.  They were not plotting the demise of the rest of the men of Benjamin, but were attempting ot figure out how they might be preserved.  Our concern today should not be the eradication of evil people, but it should be a concern for how to bring them to salvation.  Verse eight declares, 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 people of Israel who had not come to the assembly.  There were none there from the people of Jabeshgilead.  Verse nine adds, For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.  The people gathered there were numbered and it was found that the people of Jabeshgilead were not there.  If God's people were numbered today, would we be among them, or would we be found to be missing.  Verse ten says, 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 dispatched twelve thousand men to Jabeshgilead to kill all the men and married women in the city.  Verse eleven  states, And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.  The command was repeated in this verse.  We are not told if the people consulted God about this plan or not.  We need to make sure that our plans are God's plans if we are His people.  This was the solution of the people of Israel to provide wives for the remainder of the men of Benjamin, as we shall see.

Judges 20:33 says, And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.  The men of Israel came out of their hiding places.  They were using better tactics this time.  When we go into battle, we should not only make sure that we are doing what God wants us to do, but we should also make sure we rely on Him for understanding of the best way to fight the battle.  Verse thirty-four states, And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.  The ten thousand men came against the tribe of Benjamin that day, and though the battle was fierce, the men of Benjamin did not know the trouble they were in.  They did nit realize that they were caught in a snare at first.  People of the world today may fight bravely against the followers of Christ, not realizing that they are caught in the snare of believing in themselves instead of believing in God.  Verse thirty-five declares, And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.  As always, it was not the people of Israel who won the victory, but it was God Who gave them the victory.  The same is true for Christians today.  It is not our own abilities that give us the victory, but it is the power of God that does. Twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin were killed in the battle.  Verse thirty-six says, So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.  Verse thirty-seven adds, And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.  Those of the people of Israel who had been lying in wait came out and defeated the city of Gibeah.  They had their purpose in the battle, just as each individual has his or her purpose today in the battle against evil in the world if he or she is a follower of Christ.  Verse thirty-eight states, Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.  The people of Israel had made sign to indicate the victory over the city, and that was a great smoke rising out of the city.  Verse thirty-nine adds, And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.  The men of Benjamin were at first confident as they had been before, since they had twice defeated the men of Israel.  People in the world today may have great confidence in their battle against God, but they are already defeated and don't even realize it.  Verse forty declares, But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.  The men of Benjamin then looked behind them and saw the smoke and fire rising out of the city.  Verse forty-one adds, And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.  Suddenly, the men of Benjamin realized that they were in trouble.  Even if it isn't in this lifetime, one day those who are the enemies of God, those who have not accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord, are going to know that they are in trouble.  The battle will have already been lost.  Verse forty-two says, Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.  The men of Benjamin ran toward the wilderness, but it was too late.  Verse forty-three states, Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.  The men of Benjamin were overtaken in their fight.  Verse forty-four adds, And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.  Another eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell at this time.  They were called men of valor.  It doesn't matter how brave a person is if they are fighting against God, ultimately they will fall.  Verse forty-five says, And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.  Those that were left of the men of Benjamin were pursued and killed.  Verse forty-six states, So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.  This once again gives us the total number of the men of Benjamin that were killed.  Verse forty-seven says, But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.  Six hundred men of Benjamin hid in the rocks for four months.  Then verse forty-eight concludes, And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.  The people of Israel continued to destroy the rest of the cities of Benjamin.  There is no place where a person is safe if that person is at war with God.

Judges 20:22 says, 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 men of Israel gathered together again after their defeat.  We should not allow a defeat to keep us from continuing to fight when we have asked God's direction as to what we should do.  Verse twenty-three states, (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.)  The people of Israel went before the LORD weeping.  Then, they asked the LORD once again if they should go to battle against the people of Benjamin.  Once again, God said yes.  When we have asked God if we should do something, then we should obey Him, even we we have done so before and have met with failure.  This is also true even if we aren't guaranteed success this time.  Verse twenty-four adds, And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.  The people of Israel did as God directed them to do, just as the we must today.  Verse twenty-five declares, 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.  For the second day, the people of Benjamin were successful, this time killing eighteen thousand men of Israel who drew swords, or were fighters.  The people of Benjamin had to be encouraged, and the people of Israel disheartened.  When the world seems to be winning today even when we are doing what we know that God has instructed us to do, we cannot lose faith.  God is still in charge even when it looks like everything has failed.  Verse twenty-six states, 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.  The people of Israel returned to the house of God and wept and worshipped Him.  They did not question God nor blame Him, and neither should we if we fail in the eyes of the world while doing God's work.  Verse twenty-seven adds,  The children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,  Verse twenty-eight continues, And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.  All the things that represented God were there, as well as the grandson of Aaron, and he asked God if they should again go against the people of Benjamin, their brothers, or fellow Israelites.  This time, God said yes and also promised them the victory.  We as Christians have God's assurance of everlasting victory over evil, even if we suffer defeat more than once in our lifetime here on earth.  Verse twenty-nine states, And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. Verse thirty adds, And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. The people of Israel basically laid a trap for the people of Benjamin, then went against them as they had before.  We may need to change our tactics to be successful in our battle against the forces of evil in the world today.  Verse thirty-one declares, And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.  The men of Benjamin went out as they had before, and were seemingly being successful.  If a particular tactic works against God's people today, the people of the world will likely continue to use it.  Still, if we are following God's leadership, He will help us find a way to defeat them.  Verse thirty-two concludes, And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.  The men of Benjamin once again thought they were winning.

Judges 20:12 says,  And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?  The rest of the tribes of Israel sent men to the tribe of Benjamin to ask them about the wicked thing they had done.  They didn't just take the Levite's word for it, but gave the people of Benjamin a chance to present their side of the story.  We should always give people a chance to tell their side of the story before just condemning them outright.  Acting without being sure of the facts is almost as bad as not acting at all when we think someone has done something wrong.  Verse thirteen states, Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:  The men of the rest of the tribes of Israel, after giving the people of Benjamin a chance to confess to the crime then asked them to present the men of Belial so they could be put to death.  They were not at odds with the whole tribe of Benjamin, but wanted the men who were guilty so they could be punished.  As followers of Christ, we cannot just condemn whole groups of people for the actions of one or a few.  Verse fourteen declares, But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.  Instead of doing the right thing and turning the guilty men over, the people of Benjamin prepared to go to war with the rest of Israel.  Not only were they not willing to do the right thing, they were willing to go to war to defend those who had committed a great sin.  If we have a disagreement with others today, especially those who are at least supposed to be our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we better make sure that it isn't over something that we are in the wrong about.  Verse fifteen adds,  And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.  There were twenty six thousand men of Benjamin, plus seven hundred men of Gibeah who drew the sword.  That was a lot of people ready to go to war for a few.  Even though they were a part of God's chosen people, they were not consulting God nor acting in accordance with His will.  As Christians, we must always make sure that we are acting under the leadership of the Holy Spirit if we are in a dispute with others who profess to be Christians.  Verse sixteen states, Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.  Among these men were seven hundred left-handed men with great accuracy with the sling.  Verse seventeen declares, And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.  There were four hundred thousand men of Israel who drew the sword against the twenty six plus thousand men of Benjamin who did.  When confronted with this great disparity in numbers, especially if the opposition was also a part of God's chosen people, you would think that the men of Benjamin might have decided that seeking the truth of the situation and acting accordingly would have been their best choice.  This is not to say that we should simply give in if we are confronted with a far superior force against us, but if those against us also profess to be followers of Christ, then we had better at least make sure we ask God for guidance in how to act in the situation.  Verse eighteen declares, 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 rest of the people of Israel were seeking God's guidance.  Instead of just the whole four hundred thousand going against the men of Benjamin, they asked God who they should send, and God said send the men of Judah.  If we are going to do something in the name of God, we better first make sure that He has sent us.  Verse nineteen adds, And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.  Then verse twenty adds, 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. The men of Israel, I would assume the tribe of Judah arose and encamped near Gibeah, ready to fight them.  Verse twenty-one concludes, 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 men of Benjamin came out and destroyed twenty two thousand men of Israel.  We would think that since the men of Israel were acting under God's leadership that the battle would have gone the other way, but as followers of Christ we can never assume that we are going to be successful physically in all our battles in the world, even if we are doing what God calls us to do.