Dusk in the hills of Benjamin: on a terraced hill, a small village of empty, roofless mud-brick walls, weeds in the doorways, untended olive terraces below and the hills folding away in violet shadow.

The Book of

Judges 21

The war was won, and one tribe was nearly gone. Israel’s answer made things worse.

25 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–2Not finishedThe land left half-taken
3–5The cycleSin, oppression, a deliverer
6–10Gideon and afterA weak man, a strong God
11–16Jephthah and SamsonFlawed deliverers
17–21No king in IsraelEveryone did as he saw fitChapter 21

Wives for the Benjamites

Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

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So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly. “Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”

The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings.

The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.

Judges 21:6–7

Question

Quick question

Chapter 20 never mentions it, but the men of Israel had made a promise at Mizpah before the war.

What had the men of Israel sworn at Mizpah?

So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.

So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children. This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”

So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon.

And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them.

The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

Reflect

Promises that trap

Israel kept the words of a rash oath, and did worse wrong to keep them. They wept and grieved, but they never asked whether the oath itself should have been brought to God and confessed. Is there a promise, a stand, or a pride you are holding on to that God is asking you to bring to Him honestly? Write it down, and write what it would cost you to let it go.

The elders

The elders

So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards and watch.

When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”

The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught.

Dusk in the hills of Benjamin: on a terraced slope, two men lift a roof beam onto fresh mud-brick walls rising on old stone footings, while on the far hill roads tiny travelers with donkeys walk away in different directions.

They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them. And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance.

0:18

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:25

Pray

The King we need

Judges ends with a people who “did what was right in his own eyes,” and a tribe that nearly vanished. Thank God that He kept Benjamin when Israel almost destroyed it, and that He did not leave His people without a king. Lord Jesus, You are the King Israel was waiting for. Where I have been my own king, forgive me. Rule my heart, my promises and my choices, and make me glad to do what is right in Your eyes. Amen.

No king in Israel

Whiteboard

The last five chapters of Judges have no judge in them at all. An idol paid for with stolen silver. A whole tribe that steals another man’s gods and his priest. A town in Israel that acts like Sodom. Eleven tribes at war with their brother, and then a rash oath kept by doing worse. Four times the book gives the reason, and the last time it is the book’s final word: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Israel needed a king who would rule under God’s law. The story goes on to David, and finally to Jesus, the King who does not only rule His people but gives them new hearts.

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Judges 21

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A verse to carry with you

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:25

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