Incident at Gibeah

Incident at Gibeah

Background from the OT: Judges 19 - 21 Background from the NT: Romans 11:1, Philippians 3:5

Paul's Heritage -- The Apostle Paul twice mentioned (Rom 11, Php 3) that he was of the tribe of Benjamin. At first it might seem it was just stating facts, but it was more like someone today claiming to be a descendent of a Mayflower Pilgrim. He wasn't boasting, he was pointing out that he could have something to boast about if he wanted to. Benjamites were special because they were preserved by God's grace. The birth of Benjamin occurred about 1730 B.C. (Genesis 35:16-19) See also Gen 49:27.

Reverse Chronology of Events -- [Judges 21:2-6] We're now at about 1400 B.C., 230 years later. The Tribe of Benjamin has been almost eradicated -- all but 600 men (vs 20:47). The Israelites devise a plan to keep the tribe from disappearing completely (vs 21:12-23)

- [Judges 20:48] D+4 Months: Total Destruction of the towns and people of the Tribe of Benjamin. The other 11 tribes have lost more than 40,000 men.

- [Judges 20:43-46] D+2: Israel loses 30 men, Benjamin loses 25,000

- [Judges 20:23-25] D+1: Israel loses 18,000 men

- [Judges 20:18:21] D-Day: Israel loses 22,000 men

- D-1: Israel has gathered 400,000 against 27,000 -- nearly 15 to 1

Side note -- Notice that God's instructions sometimes lead to what we would consider failure. Three times they sought God for direction, the first two attempts resulted in disaster. First they simply asked counsel. The second time they "wept before the Lord." The third time EVERYONE gathered before God in weeping, fasting, sacrifice. Only on their third attempt did God promise victory.

Precursor Events -- [Judges 19:1-15] An unnamed Levite from the Ephraim region brought home a girl from Bethlehem to be his wife or concubine. She ran off on him for another man. After four months, he goes to fetch her back from her father's house. They patch things up, the father-in-law is gracious, but delays his departure. When they finally leave, it's too late in the day to complete the journey before nightfall, so they camp out in the streets of Gibeah. (He was planning to go to Shiloh first, most likely to offer a sacrifice to God (vs 18) )

[Judges 19:16-27] In the town of Gibeah, only one kind soul offered to take them in for the evening. He too was a stranger there -- the town was inhabited by Benjamites. Somewhere in the evening, a gang of men came to the door and demanded to "know" the stranger. The man offered his daughter AND the Levite's concubine to them. When they refused, the Levite took his concubine out to them. They gang-raped her all night. In the morning she crawled back to the door and died.

Side note -- Compare this to the account of Lot in Sodom, Genesis 19:4-11 Both the Levite and the man who took him in would have been very familiar with the story of Lot. They probably expected God to intervene as He had done in the Genesis account.

Side note -- The Sons of Belial (vs 19:22) tend to hang around like a foot fungus. They particularly seemed to like the town of Gibeah -- see also 1 Samuel 10:26-27. Originally the term meant "lawless ones" but in New Testament writing is more often another name for Satanic-inspired wicked ones.

[Judges 19:29-30] The Levite takes her body home, then dismembers it into 12 pieces, sending a piece to each of the tribes of Israel, demanding justice. There was no King in those days. See also Judges 21:25.

[Judges 20:1-7, 12-14] The tribes gathered together in a general assembly in Mizpeh, the Levite retells the story.

[Judges 20:12-14] The assembly demands that the Benjamites turn over the criminals of Gibeah. They refuse to do so, joining with them instead. They sealed their fate.