otjudges21

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.

The slaughtering of the twenty five thousand men, with the woman and children were killed because of the perversion that they had allowed to go on in their families, cities and neighborhoods. So as we enter the final chapter of Judges, the tribe of Benjamin has only six hundred men left, and they are all up in the mountains hiding out in the cliffs and caves of the rocks. The hard part to understand is that all of the women and children were slaughtered right along with the fighting men, all for the sake of protecting the few Sodomites, murderers and perverts living amongst them.

The rest of the children of Israel had given the tribe of Benjamin to face up to the filth that was within their group, and in a matter of less than one hundred years this tribe had shrunk in size to about one half their previous numbers. Now that this civil war has ended, the rest of the tribes are faced with a dilemma, for they had sworn an oath before God that none of the men of Israel would allow his daughter to marry into the tribe of Benjamin. But now that the tribe has no visible way of continuing out side of help from the other tribes, what are they going to do?

This is very graphic to us today, for Hosea 9:6-9 has told us that as it was in the days of Gibeah, so shall it be in the days of the visitation, which is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We then are living in that generation that Hosea is talking about that shall see the very same things happening in our day. For the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be very shortly. The generation that saw the Jews, the two baskets of figs spoken of in Jeremiah 24:1-5, return to their home land, which is part of the parable of the fig tree, will not pass away until all prophecy concerning the end of this age had been fulfilled. God has let us know that this generation will be exactly as they were in Gibeah.

Now lets see how the tribe of Benjamin would be rebuilt into a full tribe again, and how God and the people resolved the problem.

Judges 21:1 "Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, "There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife."

Remember that "Mizpeh" was the place of the "watchtower", the place where people went to make their covenants that they intended to keep. The swearing was before God, and it was from the heart. The men of the other tribes swore this oath because of the Sodomy and filth that was going on there. It had been accepted by the entire tribe, and the families were protecting their loved ones and neighbors that were deeply involved in these types of sins.

Judges 21:2 "And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;"

You can see why the people are in tears, their brethren of the tribe of Benjamin are all dead except for this six hundred men hiding out in the hills. There were no women for them to take for wife. The sorrow of the people had lasted all day and into the night, and they were crying out unto the Lord for counsel. Men do not produce children between themselves. As we saw in the last Chapter, the prophesy concerning Benjamin is true from the words of Jacob.

Genesis 49:27 "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoils."

When the rest of the Israelites came against Benjamin, the tribe lost very few men, while inflicting heavy losses upon their enemies. Between the two first battles, the Israelites lost forty thousand men, while Benjamin's are so few that it isn't even recorded. Benjamin's power ended when God stepped in and gave the children of Israel the victory. Though there was no spoil for Benjamin to divide, it was not according to God's plan that this tribe should come to an end.

Judges 21:3 "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."

Judges 21:4 "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."

At least they have learned the lesson, that before you seek the Lord for help, you come to the Lord in repentance of your own life first, and then when you are right before the Lord you ask for His help. It took one tenth of their forces to lose their lives before they learned that you clean up your own life before you attack others.

Judges 21:5 "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 to Mizpeh, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

What this is pointing to, is the agreement amongst all the tribes that if there was a war, that if one of the cities or tribes would not come out and fight with the rest of them, they were to be killed. This is how they dealt with draft dodgers in that day, they were not coddled or allowed to carry their antiwar signs, but they were gathered up and done away with.

If that law were in effect today, most of our government officials and so called elite would be dead. In God's law there is no playing around with cowards and those causing discourse. It was at Mizpaw that the oath was made, and all those not part of that oath were recorded as being draft dodgers. A census was taken at the time of all those present, and it was not healthy to be absent during that census taking.

Judges 21:6 "And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day."

So the problem will be solved if they can find some family or town what went against the war, and didn't show up for the call to action for the census taking. Now they are looking for the draft dodgers, those that didn't take the oath. Would they be the ones to resolve their problem, and revive the tribe of Benjamin? The way to solve the problem is to kill the men, and their wives, the ones that would protest, and take the women that were without a husband would be one way. The virgins in the community were the only ones that will live. Remember that the other tribes have taken an oath that they would not give of their daughters to Benjamin. To do so is to face the death penalty. So the children of Israel were pondering over this problem.

Judges 21:7 "How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters to wives?"

This also goes against God's law, to allow the men of Israel to take wives of the heathen nations which is also punishable by death.

Judges 21:8 "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 Jabesh-gilead to the assembly."

Jabesh-gilead is a dry rocky region, and maybe they just didn't get the word, for not one man in the entire town showed up in Mizpah.

Judges 21:9 "For the People were numbered and behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jebesh-gilead there."

Before they moved against the people of Jabesh-gilead, the took a census of all the people of all the tribes to see if anyone saw any person from Jabesh-gilead. It is interesting that the location of this town Jabesh-gilead was in the region of the half tribe Manasseh, to the east of the Jordan. This region also had some of the people of Simeon mixed in with them. This is not speaking of a whole tribe, but a city within a tribe that refused to take part and send their men to the battle.

Judges 21:10 "And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, "Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children."

What is said here is hard to understand today, for it is according to God's law. Though it agrees with God's laws, the people did not confer with God on this matter, but are following the strict letter of the law. Not only would the draft dodgers be killed but their wives and children as well.

This is a very serious thing before the Father, for it is through this type of strict following of God's laws that protects the seed line of the Christ child that shall come some fourteen hundred years later. It is through the protection of that lineage that the salvation of all blood lines of all races would be possible. When one tribe was in danger then all the other tribes would come to their side with their just proportion and allotment of fighting men.

If draft dodging got to be a habit, then God's plan would not have lasted very long. It was a life and death situation for those who chose to head over the hill.

Judges 21:11 "And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man."

Judges 21:12 "And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had know no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan."

Shiloh was the original place of worship, for Jerusalem was called "Jebus" at this time, and was controlled by the Jebusites. We ran into this two chapters back, when the Levite would not lodge in Jerusalem for the night because it was inhabited by these heathen. Shiloh is where the Beth-el, the "house of God" was located.

So now they are trying to correct the problem of continuing the tribe of Benjamin with these four hundred wives, and at that same time pacify our heavenly Father. They simply could not go back on their oath taken.

Judges 21:13 "And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceable unto them."

This group of men of Israel that went into the rocks of Rimmon worked out a peace agreement with these six hundred men of Benjamin. They let them know that the war is over, and you can come out and we'll take care of you.

Judges 21:14 "And Benjamin came again at the time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not."

This is simply saying that when they passed the four hundred virgins around from Gabesh-gilead, there wasn't enough women to go around for all the men of Benjamin.

Remember that the thing that set off this entire war was that the wife of the Levite and the daughter of the old man were brutalized. Benjamin had become Baal worshippers, and perverts, and within this the wife was divided into twelve parts and sent to all locations. The message that this is giving in this graphic message, is that if you don't protect what you have, you are going to lose it. Today we are letting many of our freedoms be taken away from us, and most people sit back and could care less. They are looking day by day for their next meal, and to pay the rent, while all sorts of perversion is allowed to take place right under their noses.

There is another combat coming that will be more serious then this in a spiritual sense and following that conflict there will be only the virgins, the bride of Christ that survives with their spiritual lives. This event comes when Satan is let lose on earth with his fallen angels, and all those except those with the seal of God in their foreheads will be taken in that battle. This is not their flesh bodies that will be lost, but very souls. The seal of God is the Word and law of God that is contained in His Word. Just like those men and women Jabesh-gilead did not know the rules under the laws of God, and present themselves before the altar of God for their oath, many that call themselves Christians and of Israel will not know the difference, fall in that day also.

This is even more serious in our generation, for at the end of the Millennium age, each of these souls will present themselves for judgment, and those that do not stand, and are part of Christ's virgin bride will be marched into the lake of fire with Satan and his followers. It may sound harsh for these twelve thousand men going into Jabesh-gilead and killing every married woman and child along with their husbands and fathers. But relate this event in Jabesh-gilead to the time of the end. Only those select virgins of the bride of Christ escape with their very soul.

Revelation 20:11 "And I saw a great white throne, and Him That sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."

This final judgment takes place after the Millennium age, and following this time God brings forth a new heaven and new earth.

Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

The "dead" are the spiritually dead. It is those that worshipped Satan the "instead of Christ" in ignorance, and there was no grace offered to them. It is because the this that these spiritually dead souls are judged on their works only, that were recorded in the Millennium age and it from those works that they will be given life eternal.

The Lamb's book of life are those souls from the flesh age that have repented of their sins, who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and were not deceived into worshipping Satan. They were sealed in their minds with the Word of God and knew the events that would take place, and God protected them for their diligence to His word.

Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

The dead are the ones that were spiritually dead from this age of the flesh, that are to be judged at the great white throne judgment.

Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

The first death is the death of the flesh body, whereas the second death is the death of your very soul. The "lake of fire" simply doesn't exist an any form now, however following the Millennium age, and the great white throne that follows that age, God will be that consuming fire that shall turn all of the spiritually dead, including Satan and all those that follow him into ashes.

Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

If your works from the Millennium age found you worthy, your name is found written in the book of life, and all those not found there will go to the lake of fire with Satan. You had better understand that this thing we call Christianity in this age of the flesh is a very serious thing, for it establishes your relationship with our Heavenly Father and your salvation that can only come through your belief and faith in Jesus Christ, and your repentance of all your sins in Jesus name. As we get closer and closer to that hour of visitation of our Lord, things are going to get very serious. It is not just a matter of losing you flesh body, but your very soul.

Judges 21:15 "And the People repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel."

The people of the rest of the tribes were very sore because of what happened to Benjamin. The Lord forced the rest of the tribes to clean up their houses and get rid of the evil and wicked things that were going on. Sodomy, rape and all sorts of wickedness will destroy a people, as it had in Benjamin, and God did not want it to spread through all the other tribes. Remember from the book of Joshua that God swore that He would not ever again cleanse the sanctuary until My visitation. This means that if man makes a mess of his life, it is up to him to clean up his own mess. That is what the Israelites did when they cleaned up the tribe of Benjamin.

Judges 21:16 "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?"

So they found four hundred wives from the town of Jabesh-gilead, when they routed the draft dodgers and their families and took the virgins, but there was needed another two hundred wives to find for these six hundred men of Benjamin that are hid away in the rocks and cliffs. What made this so difficult was that all the men of Israel had sworn an oath to death, that they would not give of their daughters to the men of Benjamin.

Judges 21:17 "And they said, "There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel."

Judges 21:18 "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.' "

All of the eligible ladies of Israel are given to others, and not able to marry into the Benjamin tribe, and it was against God's law for the men of Benjamin to marry foreign women.

Judges 21:19 "Then they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."

Shiloh is where the house of God is located, and once a year there was a feast for all the children of Israel of all tribes to attend. So this is the instructions that the elders of Israelites are given to the two hundred men of Benjamin that had no wives, nor a chance to marry. The place of the feast is north of the place of worship, and on the east side of the road that passes from Beth-el to Shechem. So the directions and instruction have been given, and the men of Benjamin have been instructed to go and wait, then select their wife.

"Lebonah" in the Hebrew is "frankincense", it is a fragrance that sets the stage for a romantic evening. The big prom is ready, for the big night.

Judges 21:20 "Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;"

Though the fathers could not give the daughters to the Benjamites, every year the daughters came to this feast dance to present themselves to the men folk, and the men sought out their future wives. However this year was something special because there would be no courting of the wives, what a man of Benjamin saw and likes, he took home that night with him. So the men have their instructions.

Judges 21:21 "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."

These reverends and elders of Israel have it all figured out how they can allow the father's to respect their oaths, and at the same time have their daughters taken from right under their noses. Before the fathers know what has happened to their daughters, the men and their brides will be long gone back to the reservation of Benjamin. One way or another the tribe of Benjamin will not die out.

Think about this, God is the same yesterday, and today and forever; and man is also the same in his human nature then as he is today. You know that if the fathers got wind of what this plan is all about, they would not send their favorite daughters to the dance. This is why it must be kept secret to work. The bonding desire must be there for the men of Benjamin.

Judges 21:22 "And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, `Be favorable 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.' "

This is the way that both man's oath can be respected, while God's law is also obeyed. God was probably finding much humor in what was going on here. So this prom was the place to find a husband if any of these gals had a problem.

After the dance when these fathers come to complain at the tabernacle as to were their daughters had gone, these leaders would tell these father to be favorable to these Benjamites, for remember we killed their wives and children in the war. They would tell them that they are innocent of their oath, for you did not give your daughter to any man of Benjamin, but they come and took her from you.

The thing to consider here is that when there is a will, there is always a way. God allowed the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin for the sake of saving the rest of the tribes, and now that the filth of Sodomy is removed from the tribes, it is time to allow things to mend over. We have a very understanding Father and He looks over His own. It is quite common that the leaders of the Israelites used common sense in resolving this problem.

Judges 21:23 "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."

Remember that there was no lady out there dancing that was not looking for a husband. That is the purpose that this feast dance was given annually, and this time some two hundred ladies were taken by the men of Benjamin alone. It is from these six hundred men that survived the war, that now have their wives that the entire tribe of Benjamin was rebuilt, and it would take many generations. We now have a tribe of Benjamin again, and the cities that were torched during the war, will now be rebuild with families in them, and children playing in the streets.

Judges 21:24 "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."

When the dance was over, and the feast days were completed, every person returned back to his own land. Remember that each tribe was given an inheritance by Joshua when they entered into the promised land, and each tribe was to go and take the land from the heathen that occupied it, as we read at the beginning of this book of Judges. This story of the war with Benjamin took place at the beginning of the times of the judges, for these chapters are an appendix to the rest of the Book of Judges.

Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

So after Samson's death the rest of the chapters of the book of Judges were mostly Appendix to help us understand the frame of mind of the people of that day. In reality, there is still the live of Eli, and Samuel the prophet to lead the children of Israel, before the tribes take a king to lead them.

Remember that Paul tells us in I Corinthians 10:11 that all these things of the Old Testament were given to us a ensamples [examples] of how thing would be in the time of the end. The end of the world is coming upon us as the New Word order tightens it's grip on the nations of the world, and it is time to wake up, and stand watch for the events of the end times. They are happening now daily, and this is why we must gird our selves with the Word of God, that we will be able to stand firm when the world around us goes chasing after deceptions and illusions that will be given through Satan's supernatural powers.

This Book of Judges was not over until we had the final lesson of the book. You don't ever go out to correct someone that is sinning against God, unless you have repented to the Father in Jesus name, and made yourself right with Him. Through all the times of the Judges, each time when the tribes of Israel fall into Baalism and other heathen religious forms, God had his own man or woman that He would raise up to fill the gap, and lead the charge against the enemy.

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?