The aftermath of the civil war rendered the remaining men of Benjamin devoid of spouses, endangering the very survival of their tribe. Compounding this dire situation was the unwavering reluctance of other tribes to offer their daughters in marriage to the six hundred Benjamites, who had sought refuge in the desolate wilderness of Rimmon.
The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
Judges 21:1 (NIV)
God didn’t tell the people to make this vow. They decided on their own and are determined to keep it, even if it means losing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Basically, they didn’t want their daughters to marry a group of rebellious men who they thought wouldn’t survive anyways. Or maybe they wanted to keep their daughters from marrying into the tribe of Benjamin and thereby losing their inheritance.
Their decision was driven by their strong dislike for the tribe of Benjamin, but outwardly, they pretended to care about their fellow kin. All the tribes of Israel got together and put on quite the show at Bethel! Building an altar, offering up burnt offerings, and wailing like there was no tomorrow as they asked God why this tragedy had befallen them. But none of them really wanted to help the men of Benjamin. They conveniently hid behind a meaningless vow that no one even asked them to take.
The Massacre of Jabesh Gilead
The Israelite’s plea for divine guidance went unanswered, compelling them to exercise their own judgment and unleash violence upon the beleaguered inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead. The Israelites devised a plan on their own to repopulate the tribe of Benjamin. They looked for whoever among them was missing from the proceedings and used that as an excuse to murder them and capture the young women from their tribe as wives for the Benjamites. They went about this heinous act without an ounce of guilt as they brutally massacred the people of Jabesh Gilead and kidnapped four hundred young women as a peace offering for the men of Benjamin.
The end goal for the Israelites was to preserve the twelve tribes of Israel, something that did not dawn on them whilst they were slaughtering the men, women and even the children of Benjamin. They are in a downward spiral and have totally lost their moral compass. For some reason, the people of Jabesh Gilead chose to skip the meaningless rituals that were taking place in Bethel and the rest of the tribes jumped on this opportunity to eradicate another group of people just to subdue their own guilt. The people of Jabesh Gilead were severely punished for their perceived insubordination as they were massacred to the extent that only four hundred virgins were spared to be devoured by the remaining Benjamites.
Defiling the Festival of the LORD
Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
Judges 21:13-14 (NIV)
During one of the annual festivals, the leaders of the tribes of Israel hatched a plan to kidnap the young women attending the event and forcibly have them marry the remaining Benjamite men. They told the men from the tribe of Benjamin to go hide in the vineyards and keep watch. When the young women from Shiloh come out to dance, they should each grab one and carry them back to their homes in the land of Benjamin. So the Israelites use an annual festival of the Lord to enable the capture and rape of hundreds of young women. Have they forgotten that the rape of a single concubine started the civil war that almost eradicated the tribe of Benjamin?
People have always used festivals that were meant to worship God for their own ulterior motives. These festivals provide a perfect cover for all kinds of illicit activities. People have turned the modern festivals that were meant as days of remembrance, into a religious spectacle that has even found its way into pop culture.
Religion has established a monotonous way of worshipping God that has totally disconnected people from God and hence they don’t even realise when they contort the holy occasion to fulfil the desires of their own hearts. It is our tunnel vision that prevents us from seeing God’s plan for our lives while we go on to satisfy our current basic desires. Satan uses the very same festivals as an opportunity to push the people further away from God’s plan.
To safeguard their own vows the Israelites committed two more atrocities doubling down on their initial mistake. The book of Judges is full of stories about people of God rejecting His will to fulfil their own desires. They go to great lengths to subvert their wickedness and the most dire examples of this behaviour are in these final chapters.
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Judges 21:25 (NIV)
Even when we are deep into sin, we try to hide what we’ve done by doing more wrong things. We trick ourselves into believing that we are protecting our righteousness, but we don’t realize that only God can make us righteous. The first mistake we make is that we only go for a namesake repentance. If that does not work, we start finding faults in others so that we appear righteous in comparison. Lastly, we twist God’s words to justify our mistakes without even consulting Him. When we keep doubling down on our initial mistakes, we are simply pushing away the loving guidance of God. Seeing the plight of the people of Israel what we can learn from this book is that no matter what sins we have committed, it is only God who can bring us back on the path of righteousness.
Discussion Questions
- Did God tell the Israelites not to let their daughters marry the Benjamites? If not, why can’t they break their vow?
- How are the Israelites justifying killing another group of people just to provide wives for the Benjamites?
- The Israelites use an annual festival of the Lord to enable the capture and rape of hundreds of young women. Have they forgotten that the rape of a single concubine started the civil war that almost eradicated the tribe of Benjamin?
- To safeguard their vows, the Israelites are committing two more atrocities. What makes us double down on our initial sins and takes us further away from God?
The Jordan Valley 
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