Judges 21:1-25
21:1-7 The children of Israel are fractured: the tribe of Benjamin is missing. As they began as a family, they feel hollow continuing without their 12th part. They grieve Benjamin's absence and turn to God for consolation. God's children cherish the spiritual unit. God's first lesson, and the lesson within all of is lessons, is love. It's a melancholic victory, the circumstances of the last chapter, because although justice was served, the family was not reunited.
The children of Israel decide that each tribe will disallow their daughters from marrying into the tribe of Benjamin. This is problematic because the tribe will cease to exist.
21:8-12 To solve their problem, the children of Israel decide to take wives from peoples who do not back God. They decide to overtake Jabesh Gilead, kill all of the males and take the young women (their intention being to take women who could be malleable to the their faith).
21:13-14 In effort to rebuild their relationship, the children of Israel offer as wives the woman taken.
21:15 Still, the relationship is not whole and healthy. The children of Israel are still distressed about Benjamin's absence; their inability to follow God rendered them worse than strangers or enemies...loved ones unreachable.
21:16-22 The children of Israel continue to concoct plans for wives for the men of the tribe of Benjamin.
21:23 The tribe of Benjamin go along with the plan and take wives.
21:24 Deciding the matter settled, each tribe returned to its apportioned land.
21:25 The book of Judges ends on a somber, conclusive note. The summation, the reason for the depravity within its chapters: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
The children of Israel do not need a king - they have THE King. As do we. But the point is that we cannot function as individuals, as groups or as nations without our spiritual King. The constant cycle of chaos in these chapters is due to the fact that they stray from God. They walk away from His insight, His organization and protection.
As fallible humans, we are not suitable for deciding and exacting justice. Our selfish tendencies, born of personal bias, cause us to act unjustly. We react affronted. But God's orchestration is perfect: He does what is right. Period. The takeaway from the book of Judges is this: in the absence of order, call on the King. When you need a leader, call on the King. When you need to establish, manifest, receive justice, call on the King. Humans are fallible; God is not.
The children of Israel constantly stopped listening to Him. They stopped communicating with God. They traded their faith for their earthly, material desires. They traded peace, patience and hope for chaos, impatience, grief and greed. They allowed corruption to taint and ultimately destroy them. Remain with God in every moment; consult God on the details. Keep your faith alive.
The children of Israel constantly stopped listening to Him. They stopped communicating with God. They traded their faith for their earthly, material desires. They traded peace, patience and hope for chaos, impatience, grief and greed. They allowed corruption to taint and ultimately destroy them. Remain with God in every moment; consult God on the details. Keep your faith alive.
