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Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our studies: #1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it? Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "Key Knowledge" lessons. These are pamphlets containing knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
published at http://www.theseason.org/

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

We will now see what God thinks of those that would rape, murder and Sodomize for their own pleasure. It is time for those criminal types to be tried, executed and sent back to the Father, where they will be taken care of. In this way we express our love for our families, and desire to see them protected from these types.

That nineteenth chapter of Judges was very graphic of the acts done by those perverts from the town of Gibeah. The men of Gibeah raped and killed the Levite priest's wife, and now we are going to see how this event changed the children of Israel, as they came together to plan what should be done about these men of Gibeah. Remember that these men wanted to Sodomize the priest first, and when he refused to come out, they ravished the woman. When the Levite got back home, he cut the body of his dead wife into twelve pieces, and sent them along with a warning to all the tribes of Israel.

The men of Gibeah were of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe of Israel, so we see that this is going to start a civil war amongst the tribes of the children of Israel. The prophet Hosea wrote that what happened in Gibeah was an example of what would be taking place just prior to the visitation of our Lord, which marked another event of the end of this earth age. When there was perversion and it was not safe in the streets the land the word went out, the children of Israel received the message of the perversion, they are now coming together to do something about it.

Judges 20:1 "Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the Lord of Mizpeh."

Judges 20:2 "And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword."

This was quite an army of military men that came to the meeting to see that something would be done. There were four hundred thousand men raised instantly for the army to fight this crime in the streets.

Judges 20:3 "(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, "Tell us, how was this wickedness?"

All the tribes were present at this meeting place at the tower of Mizpeh except the tribe of Benjamin. The reason for this meeting was to see what they were going to do with the men of Benjamin that were living in Gibeah. They wanted to hear how all this happened, to where this woman were so brutally killed. The tribe of Benjamin were family to the men of Gibeah, and thus should not take part in the decision. So now the Levite is going to tell his side of the story.

Judges 20:4 "And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, "I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge."

Judges 20:5 "And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead."

This Levite has changed his story slightly, for the men of Gibeah wanted to "know him", which means to Sodomize him. As it was stated; "Bring for the man in thy house that we may know him." This priest left out the fact that he and the old man sent the women out to the men to "...do with them what seemeth good to you." That is a strange command to give to a pack of Sodomites with perverted minds, and this Levite priest sort of left that part out of his story. The people saw that the woman was dead and all cut to pieces. They also knew that these men of Gibeah used this woman all night long, and that this concubine crawled back to the doorstep and died there in the night.

Judges 20:6 "And I took my concubine, and cut her in peaces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel."

Judges 20:7 "Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel."

Though Judah is mentioned here as part of all tribes that were present, [except Benjamin], this story is dealing with the ten tribes that later banded together as the "house of Israel". These people of the ten tribes later were scattered by the Assyrians, and went through the Caucasus mountains and settled Europe and the Americas. They split into many groups and were know by many names, such as Brits, Cimerons, Gauls, Saxons, and so on. They all became known by one name that stuck with all of them in the latter years and that name is "Caucasians", and Hosea identifies them by another name they call themselves; "Christians".

Remember that at the time of Hosea, the tribes were split into two nations called "houses", which were the "House of Israel", the ten tribes of the northern kingdom; and the "House of Judah". The "House of Judah", was set aside by God and not divorced by Him, when God divorced the House of Israel, or the ten tribes. God used the prophet Hosea to prove a point and teach a message to the House of Israel, by having Hosea marry a harlot and having three children by her. The House of Israel was represented in that example by Hosea naming his children names that told what God would do to the ten tribes.

The names of the children were "Jezreel" indicating no future mercy of a coming judgment coming upon the house of Israel. "Lo-ruhamah" showing that God will have no compassion on these people, and "Lo-ammi" stating "ye are not My people and I will not be your God." In other words, God had divorced "the House of Israel", the ten tribes and scattered them abroad. However the book of Hosea also tells us that God will not forget the ten tribes, not one soul of them, but in a future time, after He sent his Son to die on the cross, He would make a way for those people to come back to Him.

Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of the children of Israel [Lo-ammi,the People that were scattered and God divorced] shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, 'Ye are not My People,' there it shall be said unto them, "Ye are the sons of the Living God."

The scattering took place over twenty seven hundred years ago, and today most people of the house of Israel have no idea in the world who they are, or where they came from; nor do they care. But God cares! For when Jesus Christ went to the cross and paid the price for their sins, then that divorcement that separated God from his wife was broken, and God could bring his wife back to him. This will not be done nationally until the Millennium age, however each person of those tribes could now be drawn back individually to become part of the bride of Christ. However we are talking about the identification of the house of Israel, those ten tribes to the north who were scattered.

God is saying that they will be in a land other than where they were identified as His people, and while in that land, they will not consider themselves as God's chosen people. However the people of the house of Israel will be identified by a name that all of them will identified with, and that name is the "Living God". Jesus Christ is the only living God, for all other forms of idolatry are dead, both physically and spiritually. To be identified with Jesus Christ is to call yourself a "Christian", and the nations that identify with Christ are called "Christian nations", all of them.

Today many look to Judah for they think they can identify the house of Israel through Judah, but they are ignorant of who the other tribes are. So they try to separate themselves from applying this chapter to themselves and their land. But, even if you are a Christian, saved by the blood of Christ this chapter applies to us today.

So all the people of the tribes have come to the counsel to hear the charges and make a discision.

Judges 20:8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, "We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house."

"As one man", is a phrase meaning that they were in full agreement. They all decided that none of them would go home until the matter had been taken care of.

Judges 20:9 "But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;"

In the resent past the house of Israel nations used this same method when they are to go to war with another nation. They used the selective service to draft by lot those who would serve and who are not able to serve.

Judges 20:10 "And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of then thousand, to fetch victual for the People, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel."

Each tribe is to present ten percent of their people to make the provisions for the battle. To gather the food, and what is needed for the battle, while the fighting men are off doing the fighting. So the people have spoken "with one mind", they are going to march to Gibeah four hundred thousand strong, and they are going to put a stop to what is going on in Gibeah. There was no time to go home and think about it, and allow the cowards to protest and put on a show, but the battle must take place here and now.

Judges 20:11 "So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man."

"Knit together as one man", means that they were all in complete agreement, and against the things that happened in Gibeah.

Judges 20:12 "And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that is done among you?" "

Before the battle started the tribes of Israel sent their ambassadors to the tribe of Benjamin, and asked them how they could allow this wicked thing to happen in their tribe. You have allowed these "sons of Belial", these worthless scoundrels, sons of the devil to do such wicked deeds. So now all the sons of Benjamin are aware of the filth that is going on in Gibeah, and it is up to them to clean house within their own tribe.

Judges 20:13 "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 people of all of the tribes of Israel are demanding that Benjamin bring forth all of the men of Benjamin that took part in this wicked act so that they could be put to death. The trial had already taken place, and the decision was to put those involved to death. So here is the core of the problem: all of the tribes of Israel want to see God's law upheld and the evil ones amongst them destroyed, however the tribe of Benjamin looked on these wicked men as their own family, and instead of delivering the wicked sons of Satan over to them, they have banded together to protect them. The Benjamites have become part of these wicked deeds by protecting them.

This is the beginning of the falling away and the degradation that that will continue generation after generation even to our present day. People will protect perversion, protect rape, and murder. They will turn their heads when they know that something is wrong, and allow people to get away with evil things. Good becomes bad, and the things that are bad are joked about and made light of.

This is the state of mind of those that are against the death penalty, and will not protect their own daughters at home against a perverted mind that would break in or enter their home and cause them harm. You can't blame this type of mind on Christ, for Christ says to kill them and send their souls back to the Father for judgment, no it is the mind of Satan, who would protect his own. But somehow our people today have allowed themselves to completely reverse their minds as to what is of Satan, and what is of God.

God's law and Jesus Christ both declared the death penalty for such crimes, and when you think differently, then you are blind to the truths from God's Word. So the tribe of Benjamin is going to risk their entire tribe and well being for the sake of these few perverts and murderers, and they are going to protect the sin that has crept into their camp. They have spoken out as to what their thoughts are concerning perversion. The tribe of Benjamin has said they want these wick pervert Sodomites in their army, in the families, in all parts of their society, and they will live with and accept them as their own. They will fight along with those Sodomites to fight you.

Judges 20:14 "But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gebeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel."

Notice that the Benjamites have all come to Gibeah, and their rally point is the very place that this perversion took place. They have come together to fight to protect the rights of these perverts to go on doing what they do best, perversion, sodomy, rape, murder and all sorts of evil. They simply are not interested in cleaning up their house.

Judges 20:15 "And the children of Benjamin were numbered at the time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which numbered seven hundred chosen men."

There is a point to be drawn out here, according to Numbers 26:41; "And the sons of Benjamin after their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred." The numbers of these Benjamites are diminishing greatly by their perversion. Sodomy, and Sodomites do not reproduce their kind, and but prevent the reproduction of their kind. Today God has come to the point of killing them off by the hundreds of thousands through sickness like AIDS, and their outright murder of their kind through jealousy. Human nature is human nature, and it doesn't matter what generation you live in.

Sodomy is not of God but of the devil, and its whole purpose is to go against the perfect plan of God. To prevent the souls from entering into the embryo of women, to be born and have the right to chose whether they will serve God or Satan. When God created man and woman, he gave them a command in Genesis 1:28.

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them."

Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." "

Sodomites don't replenish anything but their own evil ways. Their entire way goes against the plan of God, and leads to destruction. The tribe of Benjamin has a problem far greater then just in this little town of Gibeah, for through Sodomy it is destroying their entire tribe. Their degradation has brought a curse upon them to where they are dying off as a people. The population has been decreased from over forty five thousand men to just over twenty six thousand men. Perversion and these men of Belial are destroying their population for they were not increasing as the other tribes were.

Judges 20:16 "Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breath, and not miss. "

Judges 20:17 "And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war."

So these four hundred thousand men have decided that Benjamin needs to be taken to the wood shed and a lesson taught. These men have had it with the tribe of Benjamin and they are out to kill them all.

Judges 20:18 "and the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel fo 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."

The men of war went before the Lord the house of Bethel to seek counsel of God as to which of the tribes should go against Benjamin first. Notice what was done here. Did they seek counsel of the Lord as to whether or not they should go to war? No they made up their minds that they were going to war, and they were going to let God decide who was going to go first. These men forgot a lot of things to confront the Lord, before their commitment to go to war.

Benjamin is out numbered twenty to one, and of course when the battle is over, like in the desert storm war with Iraq, the generals and troops took all the glory. All the need for God before the battle was no longer present after the war was won decisively. Remember the lesson that we learned from Gideon and his four hundred men? God does the leading, and we do the following.

Judges 20:19 "And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah."

Judges 20:21 "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 battle is on, and the place of the conflict is at Gibeah, the place where the perversion of the Sodomites took place. The men of Judah went in first, and took heavy losses, twenty two thousand men. These men were banded together to destroy perversion, and they took heavy losses. How could this be? Where is God in this? That is the problem, in their planning they left God out of their plans, and the plans of their minds failed them. Their intentions were great, but flawed.

Judges 20:22 "And the People the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle against in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day."

The men of Israel were beaten badly, and now the next day they came back for another beating.

Judges 20:23 "(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.")

At least this time they are asking counsel of God as to whether they should go against their brother Benjamin.

Judges 20:24 "And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day."

This is the second time the men of Israel came against the town of Gibeah, the place where Benjamin is protecting their perversion.

Judges 20:25 "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."

These were good troops of the tribes of Israel, and these men of Israel were completely outclassed by this small tribe of Benjamin. We are losing a lot of good men, and God continues to say, draw your sword and go. What is wrong, the men of Israel are trying to do good in the name of the Lord, but something is very wrong with the whole thing. Our men are being slaughtered in battle.

Judges 20:26 "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."

This time not only the warriors of the children of Israel, but all the people came to the house of God and wept. The women and children, the old and young alike of all the tribes and cities came to plead before the Lord. They now know that within themselves they can do nothing. This is the first fast that is spoken of in God's Word. The word "fasted" is number 6684 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary; "Tsuwm, tsoom; to cover over the mouth." The fast is to place something to be more important than even eating, and the focus of your attention is upon the Lord.

The people are repenting of their sins before the Lord, young and old alike, warrior, and citizen to the last person. They offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to Almighty God. The "burnt offering" is called the "olah" in the Hebrew tongue means to "ascend". It is so called from the flame and smoke that ascends into heaven by the burning. The Greek calls this the "holocausta", which conveys the meaning as being wholly burnt. It is a complete submission of repentance.

The "peace offering" in the Hebrew is called the "Shelem", which conveys the idea of peace on the ground of perfection of compensation of recompense. Thus is is connected with the thought of rendering payment of vows or praise because of peace enjoyed. The peace offering is eucharistic rather then propitiatory. "Eucharistic" is something we do in remembrance of, like the communion [the cup of wine and unleavened broken bread in remembrance of the blood of Christ, and his broken body that was given for our sins]. "Propitiatory" means to buy off, to regain the favor that you once had. When one pays the price for a gain that someone else receives. Like when Christ paid the price for sin through is death, and you through that price paid get the gift that is given.

So what happened in this revival meeting here at Bethel amongst the entire nations of Israel, all tribes except Benjamin, is that the people cleansed themselves of their sin through the burnt and peace offerings, and were now right with the Lord. It is the same in the Old and the New Testament, only today we do not need to offer the sacrifice of goats and sheep, for the very Lamb of God paid the price once and for all, and our burnt offerings and peace offering is our repentance by faith in Jesus Christ, to the Father in Jesus name. The "name of Jesus" is our authority to approach the throne of God, and our faith in Him is our freedom that we have from the gilt that sin has placed upon us. When we repent, God removes that judgment from sin that is upon us, and we have a clear conscience.

The Israelites now saw their own shortcomings, that they all fell short just like the Benjamites, so before you go to battle to fight for God, don't ever forget to repent of those sins in your own life first. All fall short, and it doesn't matter how many times you attend church, and live in that church, you still must get right with the Lord personally. When you repent to God in Jesus name, you get a fresh start right there. When the people went before, God was not with them, but now that they are right with God, God is on their side.

Judges 20:27 "And the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,"

The children of Israel had taken time to point a finger at their brother, when they had not even taken the time to repent for their own sins. These people even had that "ark of the covenant of God" with them while this was all going on. In their minds they felt that they were very righteous, they had the mercy seat right there with them.

Judges 20:28 "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."

They even had Phinehas, the chief head Levite, who was a descendant of Aaron giving them directions as to go to war, and the first two times the battle was lost. It is from Eleazar the son of Aaron that the true priesthood resides. In the Greek "Eleazar" is "Lazarus" and that is why Christ gave life to Lazarus, to resurrect the priesthood from the dead.

This Phinehas, the son of Eleazar stood before the "ark of the covenant" of God and doing it right this time. He is asking God for directions as to what God desires to be done in His name. God now is going to get all the glory for the battle that shall be won. The other times when they told God they were going to battle, they went without God, now they are going under the blessings of God, and God has promised them the victory.

Don't go into your battles without God. Get yourself right with God through repentance, and let Him do the instructing as to how the battle should be fought. When the battle is over it is time to give God all the credit for the victory, all the victories. Repent when you go to do something in God's name and make sure you are clean first, or God will allow you to get beat bad by your enemies.

Remember that this chapter is a prophetic chapter stating how it shall be in the end times. IF you forget this lesson you will get very bruised and badly beaten. Don't point a finger at God is you don't do it God's way. This religious leader should have had this figured out before the first battle, but it took two heavy losses before the understanding cam.

What this is saying is that God gave them a plan, and they sent out men to ambush the Benjamites when they came out of Gibeah. They are using their head and acting like an army instead of charging like a mob.

Judges 20:30 "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."

On this third time, the men of Israel made it look just like their actions that they took in the first two battles

Judges 20:31 "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."

There is a fork in the road of this main highway passing through Israel, and at this fork, one road leads to the house of God, and the other leads into Gibeah itself. As the men of Israel attacked like before, they all of sudden turned and started running back down the fork of the road that lead towards Bethel, the house of God. Notice that this perversion took place right under the house of God, and the people did not recognize what was going on until it was out of control

Judges 20:32 "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 drew them from the city unto the highways."

The men of Benjamin became over confident because of their prior victories, and they charged out just like they did before. The Benjamites had been drawn into the ambush that was set for them, and they walked right into the trap. All twenty five thousand men are charging with their swords in hand, and the city of Gibeah is left without defenses.

Judges 20:33 "And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah."

This lets you know that these men were not hiding in a meadow outside the city, but they were hidden in the forest, beyond the clearing of the meadow, and they did not leave the forest until all the Benjamites were well out of sight down the road. The men of Israel set up the Benjamites and they fell for the trap hook, line and sinker, so to speak.

Judges 20:34 "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."

One half or the Benjamites' best troops came out to fight against the Israelites, and they did not expect the trap that will be sprung upon them.

Judges 20:35 "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."

Now stop and think of how many they had to start with: The Benjamites had twenty six thousand to start with when the war began, and now twenty five thousand and one hundred men are slaying that drew the sword. Remember that seven hundred were not the men of the sword, but handicapped and relied on the sling shot for their defense. The city was left for the defense by the men with the sling shots, and they just can't prevail against the force of these valor men Israel that is now coming.

This leaves very few men back in town protecting the perverts, and this doesn't just refer to the Sodomites or homosexuals, but any sin and perversion that went on in the town amongst their people.

Judges 20:36 "So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah."

This then is going back and recapping what went on in the battle, and the ambush that took place to draw the Benjamites out of their town.

Judges 20:37 "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."

While the army of the Benjamites were off chasing after an army on the run, the men of the ambush went into the city out of the forest, and cleaned it out with the edge of the sword. In other words those left handed stone throwers were smitten also.

Judges 20:38 "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."

This verse shows us that there was good military strategy here, and good military planning from the very top. The signal was to be given from within the city when the city was completely in our hands and the enemy was destroyed. Then make a great flame and let the smoke rise up out of the city, and we will turn to the next stage of our plan. When you see the smoke, turn around and charge against Benjamin.

Judges 20:39 "And when the men of Israel retired in the 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." "

In this third battle, after Benjamites had smitten about thirty men and their confidence was riding high, they were sure that this battle would be just like the first.

Judges 20:40 "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."

This time it pleased God to smite the Benjamites. The People of Israel had come back to the Father, and the men of sin and perversion were about to be slain. As the Benjamites looked behind them, they knew that they had been tricked, and their fortress was gone.

Judges 20:41 "And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them."

Think of the shock in the minds of the men of Benjamin. The town that they were defending had gone up in smoke, and the people of God had turned and came charging directly after them. The very purpose of their fight was lost, the protection of perversion, Sodomy and sin of every sort, and now they stood there outnumbered, and the enemy was charging.

Judges 20:42 "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."

Now the Benjamites are trying to get out of the fight and the area, but the men of God overtook them and destroyed them. They did not allow the Benjamites go back to what they were doing before and just stand their ground, but they took control in the name of God.

Judges 20:43 "Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sun riseing."

The sun rises in the east, and many of these perversions that crept into the houses of God come from the heathen religions of the east. The point here is that when God is with you, you can be successful. When there is a battle coming your way, repent and humble yourself before God, and he will give you the victory. It is not the man that makes the battle successful, or a man that makes a ministry successful, but it is God that turns what ever you do into a success or failure. Our Heavenly Father gives us the victory, and He gives us all our blessings. The sooner you understand this, the better off you are.

Judges 20:44 "And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour."

Remember this is giving an account of that battle that took place. Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell that day in the field when the men of Israel turned on them and drew their swords to fight.

Judges 20:45 "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."

Five thousand more troops of Benjamin were killed in the highways and mountain areas while two thousand more fell unto Gidom, which means the desolate areas.

Judges 20:46 "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."

Judges 20:47 "But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months."

When all the other men of valor lay dead on the battle field having fought for the protection of these perverts, six hundred of these men ran and hid out in the rocks and clefts of Rimmon for four months. They know that their tribe is gone, finished completely, including most of the women and children. Those that are hiding out are doomed. Where are they going to find wives, because all the other tribes have sworn that not one of them will give a man of Benjamin a wife of their daughters.

Judges 20:48 "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 come to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to."

The other eleven tribes completely destroyed the tribe of Benjamin. Their cities and all their property was burned and done away with, including their live stock because of their perversion. So this is how God, with man's help handled the perversion that went on in their land. The tribe of Benjamin paid a price so that you and I could learn from their losses.

Did this eliminate the tribe of Benjamin completely? Of course not, for their tribe will be rebuilt to a strong group of people and the next chapter will tell us how God had this done. Paul was a Benjamite and he declared in Romans 11:1; "I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." Paul came from the tribe of Benjamin, so we know that God used the tribe of Benjamin to send the light of His Word to the world. We will find out in the next chapter how they survived and rebuilt their tribe again.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals. We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

doctrine of many of our Christian churches, (The Man on a White Horse)
political direction of our country, (The Man on a Red Horse)
economic direction our country has taken, (The Man on a Black Horse)
and teaching of our schools and media, (The Man on a Pale Horse)

The Four Hidden Dynasties of the New World Order Revelation 6:1-8
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Did you know all four are being ridden by Satan?