And the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah first.
Israel has raised a huge army to punish a terrible crime. Only now do they turn to God — and they ask who should lead the attack, not whether to attack at all. The verse looks like an act of faith. Commentators ask whether it was.
Israel went to Bethel to ask God. But the tent of worship stood somewhere else. One writer asks what that says about the state of the land.
From the story it appears that the ark of the covenant was in one place (Bethel). The tent of meeting was in another place (Shiloh) — and the ark with its mercy seat was the main feature of that tent... Yet the children of Israel went to Bethel to ask God for counsel through Phinehas the high priest. They went there because "the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days"... No one tells us why the ark was at Bethel, and not in the tent at Shiloh, where it stood later in Eli's day. Wasn't this serious break in the order of worship a sign of the lawlessness spreading through the land?
They had settled everything before they asked God. The way they word their question gives them away.
God leaves them alone; He does not check what was so obvious, He does not hinder it, and they are going to bring God into it. But notice: their first question is not even, "Shall we go up?" It is, "Who shall go up first?" They had already decided to go up against Benjamin. They were going to take vengeance on the whole tribe. The only thing they want the Lord to tell them is who goes first. He takes them at their word, and lets Judah go first.
Their inward state, not just their planning, shaped the question. And Gibeah, the town where the crime happened, was not the only party God meant to discipline.
Israel at first did not even take counsel with the Lord to learn how the sin should be dealt with. They acted from natural anger — which was still quite righteous... The evil that needed correcting had so dulled them spiritually that they never thought of waiting on the Lord first, to learn what should be done. They settle their course of action before they consult Him, for they were far from Him... Gibeah well deserved this discipline. But to carry it out, Israel itself needed discipline, and God let them all take part in it so that it would take effect on them all.
God's answer named one tribe. The meaning of that name carries a lesson.
Judah means "praise." That surely implied that God's honour always comes first when evil must be faced and judged. So there was no doubt that God meant Israel to attack Benjamin. Yet Israel still lost the first battle, and Benjamin killed 20,000 of their men!... Why did they lose? Because they had forgotten to judge themselves first, for we are in no condition to judge evil if we do not first judge ourselves as in the eyes of God.
God gave them a real answer, and they still lost the first battle. One writer explains what kind of answer folly gets.
They decide it all out of their own heads. Then they turn to God and ask Him to bless their effort to wipe out Benjamin... God does not fail to deal with us on our own ground. According to our folly He may answer us, as well as withhold an answer. But in the end He acts in His own way, which will always be what we little expect.
Being right about the crime did not make them fit to punish it.
But being fit for God to use against evil takes much more than being willing to be His instrument. They are too ready, as we see in the result. Their wrath is too prompt, too unyielding, too unsparing. Theirs is the reckless haste of revenge, not the solemn, careful work of God's judgment. They do not remember their own sins, bring no sin offering to God, no tears of repentance. They build on their numbers.
The loss changed the way they prayed — and the way they spoke of Benjamin.
What grace God displayed in this defeat! Israel had to learn this. In a fight between brothers there could be no winners and no losers. All had to lose so that the Lord could triumph at the end... First: it led them to seek the Lord's presence again. Second: instead of human anger, sorrow according to God filled them, and their tears proved it... Fourth: they learned to lean more truly on the word of God. They no longer said, "Who shall go up first for us?" but "Shall I go up again?" Fifth: love for their brother in his fall came back at last.
- Decide, then ask. They settled the war first and brought God in afterwards, asking only who should lead.
- Answered, then beaten. God replies on the ground we choose — a real answer to a shallow question, followed by defeat.
- Judah means praise. The tribe named first points to God's honour as the reason for acting, not human anger.
- Judge yourself first. Anger at another's sin without self-judgment leaves you unfit to deal with the evil.
- Defeat teaches prayer. Loss changed "Who goes first?" into "Shall I go up?" — and turned an enemy back into "my brother."
And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
Judges 20:19 is a single line of military routine. The whole nation breaks camp at dawn and lines up against one town of Benjamin. Everything hangs on what came just before and just after. They had already settled their plan, and only then asked God who should lead. Then the far smaller tribe cut them down by the thousand.
No word from God launched the march on Gibeah. The people made their plan first, then brought it to God for approval.
There is no question that the course the men of Israel took was bound to make the difficulty a thousand times worse. It was purely human. Where was their humiliation and grief before the Lord? They decide matters first. The case becomes only another instance of man's folly in dealing with evil. Having decided on their own, they then turn to God and ask Him to bless their effort to wipe out Benjamin.
The crime at Gibeah deserved punishment. But wanting evil punished and being fit to punish it are two different things.
Being fit for God to use against evil takes much more than being willing to be His instrument. They are too willing, as we see in the result. Their anger is too quick, too unrelenting, too merciless. Theirs is the reckless haste of revenge, not the solemn discernment of divine judgment. They do not remember their own sins, they bring no sin offering to God, no tears of repentance. They build on their numbers, and no doubt on the justice of their cause too. But they do it in self-righteousness, never suspecting themselves. So they go up to strike, and they are struck heavily, disastrously.
Their own message to Benjamin gives them away in one pronoun.
Israel looked on Benjamin as an enemy. Despite the fair show of unity, they did not treat the sin of one tribe as the sin of all the people. They said, "What wickedness is this that is done among you?" (v. 12) — not "among us." Zeal was not lacking, but it did not make up for having left their first love. … They added, "that we may put away the evil from Israel" (v. 13), but where was their brotherly affection? This is always the danger connected with discipline.
Israel camped against Gibeah sure of their cause. One writer warns against counting only two sides.
There are three sides to a thing more often than two. People sometimes say there are two sides: if A is right, then B is wrong. Is there not another side? Suppose both are wrong. That is the point. There is the side of one, the side of the other, and there is God's side. The point is to take His side, even if it seems the slow side at first. That is better than the harsh, careless judgment of evil, which by its very severity lessens the sense of sin in the soul.
The defeats that followed were not God siding with the guilty. Israel needed the discipline too.
Jehovah allowed all this so that the people might learn where they were. The evil that needed correcting had so dulled their spiritual state that they never thought of waiting on Jehovah first to learn what to do. … Gibeah well deserved this discipline. But to carry it out, Israel itself needed discipline, and God let them all share in it so that it would take effect on them all.
One writer counts five changes the defeat produced.
What grace God showed in this defeat! Israel had to learn that in fights between brothers there could be neither winners nor losers, but that all must be beaten for the Lord to triumph in the end. … First: it led them to seek Jehovah's presence again. Second: human indignation gave way to sorrow according to God, and their tears proved it. Third: their sorrow was not passing, for they wept until evening. Fourth: they learned to depend more truly on the word of God. They no longer said, "Who shall go up first?" but "Shall I go up again?" Fifth: affection for their brother in his fall was at last revived.
One writer points to the question Israel never asked.
The second time they weep before the Lord and ask, "Shall I go out again to battle against my brother Benjamin?" The Lord answers, "Go up," for nothing could change their need to judge the evil. But they had not considered "how" to go up — that is, in what spirit, and with what resources.
- Order. They planned first and asked God last. The plan came before the word, and the campaign failed before a sword was drawn.
- Question. Their prayer was "who goes up first," never "shall we go" or "how shall we go" — the "how" was the one thing they had not considered.
- Pronoun. "Among you" instead of "among us" made the sin Benjamin's alone, when the whole nation needed judging.
- Defeat. Losing to the guilty tribe was not God defending sin. It was grace: in a fight between brothers, all must be beaten before the Lord can triumph.
- Fruit. The chastening did what indignation never could. They sought God's presence again, wept until evening, leaned on His word, and called Benjamin "brother" again.
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
Israel's huge army lines up at Gibeah. They have a righteous cause, a united nation, and an answer from God about who should lead. Then they lose twenty-two thousand men. This verse marks the moment the two armies faced each other. It raises the hardest question in the chapter: how can people be right about the evil they fight and still lose to it?
Israel's outrage at the crime in Gibeah was genuine, but the plan came before the prayer. One writer points out what they never asked God: how to deal with the sin. They asked only who should march first.
At first Israel did not even ask the LORD how to deal with the sin. They acted out of natural anger (which was still completely righteous). The LORD allowed all this so that the people might learn where they stood... They settled their plan before they consulted Him, because they were far from Him. They only ask who should go up first... Gibeah fully deserved this discipline. But to carry it out, Israel itself needed discipline, and God let everyone share in it so that it would take effect on everyone.
Israel was ready to act against evil. One writer asks what God looks for beyond readiness.
Being fit for God to use against evil takes much more than being willing to be His instrument. They are too ready, as the result shows. Their anger is too quick, too unbending, too merciless. Theirs is the reckless rush of revenge, not the solemn care of God's judgment. They do not remember their own sins. They bring no sin-offering to God and no tears of repentance. They build on their numbers, and no doubt on the justice of their cause as well, but in self-righteousness and with no suspicion of themselves. So they go up to strike, and they are struck down heavily and disastrously.
The men who formed up against Gibeah applied one standard to Benjamin and another to themselves.
These people were thirsty for blood. That is what marks them. I do not see any horror at the sin. I do not see a spirit crushed that such evil could happen in Israel at all. In fact, if they were going to hold Benjamin so strictly to his responsibility, why could they not do the same for the whole nation?... Ah, there was the snare. It was pride and self-righteousness in their own heart.
Losing the day does not prove Israel was wrong to go out. One writer keeps two things apart: their failures, and the rightness of their cause.
It is easy to mark where they failed. They did not begin by humbling themselves before God for their own sin, and for the sin of their brother Benjamin. They did not first ask God's counsel. And they seem to have had little love for their brother Benjamin... But it would show great spiritual blindness, and twist this scripture, to condemn the path Israel took here because they failed while walking in it. Their cause was righteous. Their battle was the Lord's. Yet those who fought it needed His correction and discipline before He gave them victory.
The defeat here was not God giving up on His people. One writer counts the fruit it bore.
What grace God showed in this defeat! Israel had to learn that when brothers fight each other, there can be no winners and no losers. All must lose, so that the Lord may triumph in the end... See what fruit their discipline bore. First: it led them to seek the LORD's presence again. Second: instead of human anger, sorrow according to God filled them, and their tears proved it... Fourth: they learned to depend more truly on the word of God. They no longer ask, "Which of us shall go up first?" but "Shall I go up again?" Fifth: love for their brother in his fall came back to life at last.
One writer asks why God's people so often lack the power to deal with evil.
Take worldliness, take greed, take abusive talk, backbiting and lying. Where do you find among the people of God the power to deal with them? Does God want evil like that dealt with in His Church? He certainly does. So why is there no power to deal with it? It is because, first of all, there must be the deepest judgment of self. I must feel my own sin and shortcoming, and judge myself without flinching, if I am to carry out any discipline on my brother.
- Right cause — Gibeah's crime deserved judgment. Writers agree that Israel's battle was the Lord's.
- Wrong order — they settled what to do before asking God how, asking only who should go first.
- Unfit instruments — readiness to strike is not fitness to strike. They came with numbers, and no tears for their own sin.
- Shared guilt — they held Benjamin to a standard they never turned on themselves. God's discipline fell on both.
- Grace in defeat — their losses broke their self-confidence. Defeat gave back what they had lost: God's presence, real sorrow, trust in His word, and love for a fallen brother.
And the children of Benjamin went forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty-two thousand men.
God Himself had told Israel which tribe should lead the attack. Yet the day ended with twenty‑two thousand of their own men dead on the ground. How can a people be right in their cause, guided by God, and still be crushed?
A defeat does not prove God has switched sides. One writer separates the rightness of Israel's cause from the state of the men who carried it:
When we think about how sinful Benjamin defeated righteous Israel in Judges 20, we can see there was a reason for Israel's repeated humiliation. But it was not a lack of integrity. I think the loose state of the nation had made Benjamin's sin possible, and Israel was probably self‑righteously angry. Their defeats did make them humbler before God and gentler towards Benjamin. But they did not turn back from what they were doing — the judgment of the sinful tribe, and in the main they were right about it.
Israel did the right thing on the surface: they asked God before moving. They never examined the spirit they brought to the battle.
The united people, on the other hand, did ask God for guidance. They asked who should lead the attack on Benjamin, and the answer came: "Judah shall be first." But being fit for God to use against evil takes much more than being willing to serve Him. They are too ready, as the result shows. Their anger is too quick, too unforgiving, too harsh. Theirs is the reckless haste of revenge, not the careful weighing of God's judgment. They do not remember their own sins. They bring no sin‑offering to God, no tears of repentance. They rely on their numbers... So they go up to strike, and they are struck down hard and with disaster.
One writer explains the guidance Israel was given, and then the reason they fell. Self‑judgment comes before judging anyone else.
Judah means "praise," and this surely implied that God's honour is always the first thing to consider when evil must be faced and judged. So there was no doubt that God meant Israel to attack Benjamin. Even so, Israel clearly lost the first battle... Why did they lose? Because they had forgotten to judge themselves first. We are in no condition to judge evil if we do not first judge ourselves as God sees us. They had not even asked what their attitude should be. Should it be only anger and righteous indignation? Oh no! The very fact of evil in the nation should have humbled them before the Lord.
The same writer puts the rule plainly for anyone ready to correct someone else:
If we think we can win over evil, we will find ourselves badly defeated, as Israel did... for if we judge others without first judging ourselves, God will humble us.
The winning side had its own guilt. Benjamin defended the evil among them instead of judging it.
As for Benjamin, they had sinned terribly by defending the evil among them. Israel's protest, instead of humbling them, drove them to their most serious act... Because they refused to be humbled, the results were terrible. They did not judge the evil. As a direct result they excused it, and that was fatal. They took sides with the evil‑doers against the people of God.
One writer reads this defeat as grace. A quarrel between brothers has no clean winner, so God levelled both sides before He gave anyone the victory.
What grace God showed in this defeat! Israel had to learn that, in fights between brothers, there could be neither winners nor losers. All had to be defeated so that the Lord could win in the end. God used this defeat to restore His beloved people. Israel came out stronger from a battle that had cost him his troops, because he came out of it truly judged by God Himself.
The victory finally came to men God had brought low. One writer makes this the pattern for handling evil among God's people:
Benjamin was defeated by a humbled people who showed themselves weaker than he was. This is the principle behind all discipline in the church. Without love, without dependence on God and His word, without self‑judgment, discipline will always fall short.
- Guidance — God really did send Israel against Benjamin. But being sent by God is not the same as being fit for Him to use.
- Cause — Israel marched out in quick, harsh anger, never remembering their own sins, and trusting their numbers.
- Collapse — the 22,000 fell because they judged another's evil without first judging themselves, and God humbles anyone who does the same.
- Grace — the defeat was mercy: among brothers there could be no winners until all were brought low, and the loss itself did the work of restoring them.
- Result — a humbled people, weaker than Benjamin, finally beat him — and that is how discipline must always be done: with love, dependence, and self‑judgment.
And the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and set the battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
Israel has just lost twenty-two thousand men to Benjamin, and this verse catches the army rallying between that defeat and the next one. Why did a cause this right keep ending in slaughter?
The men take heart, but the text never says where that strength came from. One writer notices what is missing:
Instead of being broken down before the Lord, however, Israel "encouraged themselves," but it is not said "in the Lord," as was the case with David in 1 Samuel 30:6. Yet they wept before the Lord and asked the Lord's counsel as to going against Benjamin. In fact, they say, "My brother Benjamin," which showed at least a better attitude than that of anger (v. 23).
The order of the sentence matters. Self-help comes first; the visit to God comes afterwards, almost as an afterthought:
Here we read the people encouraged themselves, and set their battle in array again in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. Scripture gives that statement first — that they encouraged themselves and set the battle in array. Then comes a parenthesis, like a postscript, showing the minor and secondary place it had in their own hearts: "The children of Israel went up" — you might say, had gone up — "and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?"
Nothing about the plan changes. They line up where they lined up before, and that repeated position shows what they were leaning on:
God allowed Benjamin to defeat and destroy twenty-two thousand men of Israel, which made it clear that God had a controversy with Israel as well as with Benjamin. It seems the men of Israel still trusted in their own strength to defeat Benjamin. They wept before the Lord until evening, and asked the Lord if they should go up again against Benjamin. Yet they had already "encouraged themselves, and set their battle in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day" (Judges 20:22).
Defeat produces tears, and with them comes a word about Benjamin that had not crossed their minds before:
Here God had to rebuke the people, even when they were morally right in the main, until He had purged out the wrong that their state and haste mixed into it. In judgment He must have righteousness; but He remembers mercy… When we truly come before the Lord in sorrow, in circumstances that call for sorrow, the heart is open to feel for the wrongdoer. Before this, their thoughts were all of destroying Benjamin. The memory that he was their brother had never even entered their minds.
God's answer is short: go up. But they asked only whether to go, never why they had been beaten:
When Israel asked the Lord, "Shall I go up against my brother Benjamin," God told them to go, for His judgment against evil must be carried out. But why did they not ask the Lord what was the reason for their shameful defeat before? They did not ask this, and God did not answer any more than they had asked.
Another writer traces the second defeat to a question they never weighed:
The Lord answers, "Go up," for nothing could change this: they must judge the evil. But they lacked the consideration of "how" to go up, that is, in what spirit, and with what resources. So, after their second defeat, they weep again — and now they add fasting and burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord (vv. 26-28).
One writer reads the whole painful sequence as God teaching one priority, for a person alone and for a gathered people alike:
But does it not tell us in tones of thunder that what God wants, more than judging evil in another, is that we judge it in ourselves? If we are to be ready — whether as people passing judgment on evil, or as a company of His people carrying out His own discipline — self-judgment must come above everything else. That self-judgment gives us spiritual discernment and spiritual power.
- Wrong strength. They took courage, but not in the Lord. David, in his crisis, strengthened himself in his God.
- Wrong order. The record puts the rallying first and the tears second, like a postscript. That order shows the place God held in their thinking.
- Same ground. They lined up where they lined up before, still leaning on their own strength.
- One right word. Defeat drew out something true: "my brother" — a thought anger had never let them reach.
- The unasked question. They asked whether to go, not why they fell. God answers no more than we ask — and what He wants most is that we judge the evil in ourselves.
And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even, and inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.
Israel had just lost twenty-two thousand men in a war they were sure was right. Now they return to the same place with tears and a new question. The change in their words is small, but it shows what the defeat had done to them — and why the answer "Go up" would still not be enough.
The crime at Gibeah demanded action, and Israel acted. They made their plan first and brought it to God afterwards.
Israel at first did not even ask the Lord how to deal with the sin. They acted from natural indignation (which was nevertheless quite righteous). The Lord allowed all this in order that the people might learn where they were. The evil that needed discipline had dulled their spiritual state. So it never occurred to them to wait on the Lord first and ask what should be done. They settled their course of action before consulting Him, for they were far from Him.
The same failure is easy to repeat whenever a wrong seems too obvious to pray about.
At first they did not need the Lord at all. Why, this case you do not need to pray about, some people say. You do not need to trouble the Lord. Is it not a clear case? All you need ask for is the Lord to guide you as to some minor detail; who will do the work, who will write the letter, and so forth. Ah, you do not realize your need of God; then He will teach you your need of Him. You will find that you flee before the wrongdoers, and have no power to judge the evil.
The loss was not wasted. One writer lists five fruits it bore in them.
What grace God displayed in this defeat! Israel had to learn that in a fight between brothers there could be no victors and no vanquished. All had to be beaten, so that the Lord could triumph in the end… See what fruit their discipline bore. First: it led them to seek the presence of the Lord again. Second: in place of human indignation, sorrow according to God filled them, and their tears proved it. Third: their sorrow did not pass quickly, for they wept until evening. Fourth: they learned to lean more truly on the word of God. They no longer say, "Which of us shall go up first?" but "Shall I go up again?" Fifth: their love for their brother in his fall revives at last.
One word in their question stands out. Earlier they thought only of the guilty tribe. In tears before the Lord, the family tie comes back to them. (Older translations read "my brother"; the ESV has "our brothers.")
When we truly come before the Lord in sorrow, in circumstances that call for sorrow, the heart opens to feel for the wrongdoer. Before this, their minds were full of thoughts of destroying Benjamin. The memory that he was their brother had not even entered them.
The verse before this one says the men of Israel took courage. One writer weighs where that courage came from.
Israel was not broken down before the Lord. Instead they "encouraged themselves" — but the text does not say "in the Lord," as it does of David in 1 Samuel 30:6. Yet they wept before the Lord and asked His counsel about going against Benjamin.
The order of the account says the same thing.
The account puts that first: they encouraged themselves and set the battle in order. Then, almost in a side remark, like a postscript, it adds: "The children of Israel went up" — you might say, had gone up — "and wept before the Lord." The order shows how small and secondary a place this had in their own hearts.
God's reply sends them back into the fight, and they lose again. One writer names the question Israel had still not asked.
The Lord answers, "Go up," for nothing could change this: they had to judge the evil. But they had not weighed "how" to go up — in what spirit, and with what resources. So, after the second defeat, they weep again, and this time they also fast and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
- Defeat teaches. Israel's cause was right. Their loss showed how far from God they were: they made the plan first, and asked Him second.
- Defeat softens. Weeping did what indignation never did. It changed the question from "Which of us goes first?" to "Shall I go up again?"
- Defeat restores the brother. Only in sorrow did they remember Benjamin was their brother. A heart broken before God can feel for the wrongdoer it must still judge.
- Defeat is not yet surrender. They encouraged themselves — but not in the Lord — and the tears came second to the battle line.
- Defeat asks "how." God said "Go up," because the evil had to be judged. What Israel still had to learn was in what spirit and with what resources to go.
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
Israel goes up against Benjamin a second time with God's own word behind it: they had wept, asked, and heard God say, Go up. They still lost another eighteen thousand men. Why would God let the army He sent be beaten twice?
The first day's loss was no accident of war. Commentators read it as God's own hand on Israel, and the second day repeats the lesson.
Now, broken down before God who had ordered their defeat, they are made to feel for their brother — guilty as he was, no doubt. Still, he was their brother. And the children of Israel have the answer from the Lord, "Go up against him." Yet they were beaten the next day. They had to be disciplined before the Lord before He could use them to deal with their brother.
They had asked whether to go. They had not asked in what state of soul to go. The answer settled the first question and left the second untouched.
The second time they weep before the Lord, and ask, "Shall I go again to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother?" The Lord answers, "Go up," because they still had to judge the evil, and nothing could change that. But they lacked the consideration of "how" to go up, that is, in what spirit, and with what resources.
The order of the account matters. Their self-encouragement and battle lines come first; their weeping and enquiry read almost as an afterthought.
They go up again the next day; they encourage themselves. They needed encouragement. But it is far better to do as David did when the people spoke of stoning him. David encouraged himself in the Lord. Here we read that the people encouraged themselves, and set their battle in array again in the same place as the first day. That statement comes first: they encouraged themselves and set the battle in array. Then, like a postscript, comes the rest. The order shows the minor and secondary place it had in their own hearts: "The children of Israel went up" — or rather, had gone up — "and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord."
Something had changed between the battles, though the second still ended in loss. The first defeat had already begun to work in them.
What grace God displayed in this defeat! Israel must learn that in fights between brothers there could be neither victors nor defeated. All must be defeated, so that the Lord could triumph at the end. God used this defeat to restore His beloved people… See what fruit their chastisement bore. First: it led them to seek the presence of the Lord again. Second: instead of human indignation, sorrow according to God filled them, and their tears were the proof of it. Third: their sorrow was not brief; they wept until evening… Fifth: affection for their brother in his fall revived at last.
Two defeats say something one could not. God had not gone soft on the crime at Gibeah. The men He sent to punish it were themselves unfit.
Does it not tell us in tones of thunder that God wants us to judge evil in ourselves even more than to judge it in another? And if we are to be ready — whether as one person passing judgment on evil, or as a company of His people carrying out His own discipline — what He wants above everything else is that self-judgment. It is what gives us spiritual discernment and spiritual power.
Look at what the second defeat produced in them.
Eighteen thousand men of Israel were struck down in the second defeat. Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up and came to the house of God. Now they did not merely weep until evening; they wept and sat there before the Lord. Their sorrow was deeper and lasted longer. They fasted that day until evening. That was more than sorrow; it was humiliation, judgment of the flesh and repentance… They recovered two things of priceless value: a true sense of the value of the sacrifice and of communion… Their own will was at last completely broken. "Shall I go out again, or shall I stop?" What thorough restoration!
- Ordered. The losses on day one and day two were not God changing His mind about Gibeah's sin. He had ordered the defeat. Israel needed discipline before He could use them to discipline Benjamin.
- Whether, not how. They asked if they should go, and God said go. They never asked in what spirit or with what resources. That missing question cost eighteen thousand men.
- Self-encouraged. They encouraged themselves and formed their lines first; the weeping and the enquiry read like a postscript. David encouraged himself in the Lord — the contrast is the whole difference.
- Softened. Defeat still bore fruit. Indignation turned to sorrow, the enemy became "my brother," and they sought God's presence again.
- Broken. Only the second loss brought fasting, offerings, and a will that could ask, "or shall I stop?" Self-judgment is what qualifies anyone to judge evil in another.
And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and again destroyed to the ground of the children of Israel eighteen thousand men all these drew the sword.
The second day of battle ends like the first. Israel goes up against Benjamin and loses another eighteen thousand armed men. Israel's cause is right, and God has just told the nation to go up. So why does God let the side He sent lose twice?
The crime at Gibeah deserved judgment. But the army sent to punish it was in no state to carry it out. Commentators read these losses as God dealing with the judges as well as the judged.
At first Israel did not even take counsel with Jehovah about how the sin should be dealt with. They acted out of natural anger, which was still quite right. Jehovah allowed all this so that the people might learn where they were. The evil that needed chastening had so dulled their spiritual state that they never thought of waiting on Jehovah first, to learn what He wanted done. They settle their course of action before they consult Him, because they were far from Him... Gibeah well deserved this discipline. But to carry it out, Israel itself needed discipline. So God let everyone take part in it, so that it would take effect on everyone.
Between the first defeat and this second one, Israel did go back to God. But their question was only about the next step, never about the last disaster.
When Israel asked the Lord, "Shall I go up against my brother Benjamin," God told them to go, for His judgment against evil must be carried out. But why did they not ask the Lord the reason for their shameful defeat before? They did not ask this, and God did not answer any more than they had asked.
The same writer looks at how they asked, not only at what they asked:
At first they had asked God which tribe should lead in the battle, and God had answered, "Judah," which speaks of the spirit of praise in contrast to mere indignation. But it was not a real waiting on God for full guidance. They lacked the consideration of "how" to go up — that is, in what spirit, and with what resources.
Their weeping after the first loss was real. But they had already drawn up the battle line before they prayed. One writer ties this to the second defeat.
It seems the men of Israel still trusted in their own strength to defeat Benjamin. They wept before the Lord until evening, and they asked the Lord whether they should go up again against Benjamin. But they had already taken courage and "again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day" (Judges 20:22). Again the Lord allows Benjamin to defeat Israel, killing eighteen thousand of them.
The bigger army lost twice, and one writer draws the lesson from it.
What a terrible price to pay in seeking the just judgment of the wicked men of Gibeah! But there is a lesson in it: sin is far too strong for us. We can never gain the victory over it in our own strength. Even a majority cannot win in such a battle. Only God can defeat the awful power that sin has wielded in raising itself against His people.
Benjamin has now won twice. Does losing mean Israel was in the wrong? Commentators say no.
Their cause was a righteous one; their battle was the Lord's; though those who fought it needed His chastening and discipline before He gave them victory. If anything should teach us that God will not tolerate evil among His own people, this should: He would not give the victory even to those who were on His side against Gibeah, until their own souls had been disciplined by their defeats, and they had wept and humbled themselves with fasting before Him.
What did the loss finally produce? One writer counts the changes.
Then, first, "all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel" — the house of God. No one was missing; they were united in seeking Jehovah. Second, instead of only weeping until evening, they wept and sat there before Jehovah. Their sorrow before God was deeper and lasted longer. Third, they "fasted that day until evening." That was more than sorrow; it was humiliation, judgment of the flesh and repentance. Fourth and fifth, they "offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Jehovah." They recovered two things of priceless value: a true sense of the worth of the sacrifice, and of communion. Sixth, their own will was at last completely broken. "Shall I go out again, or shall I stop?"
- Cause — the fight against Gibeah's evil was right. God twice told them to go, and two defeats never changed that.
- Confidence — they drew up the same battle line in the same place before praying, and lost the same way again.
- Collapse — eighteen thousand more fall. Sin is too strong for human strength, and a majority cannot outvote it.
- Correction — Gibeah deserved judgment. But the army sent to carry it out needed judging first, so God spread the discipline over all.
- Contrition — only after this second loss come weeping, fasting, sacrifice and a broken will. Only then comes victory.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel, and wept, and abode there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
Twice Israel had marched out against Benjamin over a terrible crime, and twice they had come home beaten, with heavy losses. Verse 26 is their third approach to God — and this time everything about how they come is different.
The two defeats did their work. What was missing the first two times now appears: sorrow joined to sacrifice, self-denial, and a real question put to God.
This second defeat brought all the people of Israel, the whole army, to the house of God. There they asked the Lord for guidance. God's discipline worked a great change in His people. They no longer line up for battle before seeking the Lord's counsel, and they no longer trust their own strength and numbers. Now their weeping comes with sacrifices, fasting, sitting before the Lord, and seeking His mind and will.
God had told them to go up, and still they lost. The problem was never whether to act.
Israel must act; there is no other choice. Yet twice they suffer defeat, losing many men... The Lord answers, "Go up," for they still had to judge the evil; that could not be changed. But they had not thought about how to go up — in what spirit, and with what resources.
This time fasting is added. The men who were ready to judge Benjamin had to judge themselves first.
What a lesson about hasty, self-righteous judgment of real evil! Yet the Lord's word was still, "Go up," and judging such evil is just as necessary today. But the judgment must go all round: self-judgment before any other.
Israel had to see that the trouble was not limited to one tribe.
Israel had to learn that God had a dispute not only with Benjamin, but with the whole nation. It was not enough to rise against Benjamin in righteous anger. They had to see that Benjamin's sin was their own sin too, and that they needed God's discipline just as Benjamin did.
The fasting was the negative side. The two offerings are the positive side, and each one says something different.
Fasting was an admission of their own unworthiness. That is the negative side. The offerings speak positively, for they picture the one great offering of the Lord Jesus on Calvary. That offering is the only basis either for forgiveness of sins or for judging sin... The burnt offering reminds us that the glory of God comes first, for all of it went up in fire to God. If Israel's motives were only their own relief, that is not good enough. God's glory is far more important than Israel's honour. Yet they added the peace offering, in which the offerer had a share. It shows Israel sharing with God in the value of the sacrifice of Christ, which would give Israel the right to share in God's work of judging evil.
Where they went mattered. Bethel was God's house, and coming there meant meeting God as Ruler, not only as a giver of benefits.
All the people went up to Bethel, to the presence of God, to His house. This is God as the God of His house, the way Jacob had to find Him. Not merely the God of Israel, the God who has given me benefits, but God who is over His house as Lord and Ruler, and who will dictate His will... And now they get the answer from the Lord that they could have had at the start, if they had asked in the right way.
The verse lists a sequence: going up, weeping, sitting, fasting, offering. Taken step by step, it traces a recovery, and the last thing to give way is their own will.
Instead of only weeping until evening, they wept and sat there before the Lord. Their sorrow before God went deeper and lasted longer. Third: they "fasted that day until evening." That was more than sorrow. It was humbling themselves, judgment of the flesh, and repentance... They recovered two things of priceless value: a true sense of what the sacrifice is worth, and communion... Sixth: their own will was broken at last. "Shall I go out to battle again, or shall I stop?" What a complete restoration! And what brought it about was a horrible evil. God does not make light of how terrible that evil was. But because of the care He has for His people, He uses even the evil for their blessing.
- Defeat. Two losses were God's discipline, not His absence. He would not use Israel against their brother until He had humbled them.
- Fasting. The fast is self-judgment — judgment must be "all round," and the accusers had to see Benjamin's sin as their own.
- Offerings. The burnt offering puts God's glory above Israel's honour. The peace offering gives them a share with God, and so a right to share in His judging of evil.
- Presence. They come to Bethel, God's house — to the One who rules there and dictates His will. There they get the answer they could have had at the start.
- Surrender. The recovery is complete only when their own will breaks and they ask whether to go on at all. Then God can bless them and promise victory.
And the children of Israel inquired of Jehovah (and the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Benjamin has beaten Israel twice, and now the story pauses to name what stood at Bethel: the ark of the covenant. Why was it there in such a ruined moment, and why are we told only now, after two defeats?
The verse records something out of order. The ark belonged inside the tabernacle, but the two now stood in different towns.
The account shows that the ark of the covenant was in one place (Bethel). But the tent of meeting, whose main feature was the ark with its mercy seat, was in another place (Shiloh)... Yet the people of Israel went to Bethel to ask God for counsel through Phinehas the high priest, for "the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days"... We are told no reason why the ark was at Bethel, and not in the tabernacle at Shiloh, where it stood later in Eli's time. Was this serious break with the proper order not a sign of the lawlessness spreading through the land?
(Some translations read "the house of God" in verses 18 and 26, where others read "Bethel".)
The ark is named here, at the point where the people stop trusting themselves.
God's discipline worked a great change in His people. They no longer line up for battle before asking the Lord for counsel. They no longer trust their own strength and numbers. Now their weeping comes with sacrifices, fasting, sitting before the Lord, and seeking His mind and will. It is then that we are told of the presence of the ark of the covenant of God (Judges 20:27). Despite all the evil in Israel and in Benjamin, God was in the midst of His people.
At Bethel the people gained more than an answer. They recovered something they had lost.
They "offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD." They recovered two things of priceless worth: a true sense of the value of the sacrifice, and of communion. Through God's discipline they came to prize dependence on the word of God and a real sense of His presence. The people knew they stood before God Himself, who dwells between the cherubim over the ark. They drew near to Him through a living High Priest who interceded for Israel.
They had asked twice before. What changed was not where the ark stood, but how they came to God.
"All the people went up to Bethel," to the presence of God, His house. They met God as the God of His house, as Jacob had to find Him. He is not just the God of Israel, the God who has given me good things. He is God over His house as Lord and Ruler, and He lays down His will... Now they get the answer from the Lord that they could have had at the start, if they had asked in the right way.
Waiting was part of it. Alongside the weeping and the fasting, the text says they sat.
They do not go up and stand, as if to say: We must get on with this business, and it has to be done. We would like an answer, but if we cannot get one we must go ahead anyway. People need to learn that lesson too. You must go before the Lord, not only to weep or fast, but to sit before Him and wait until He sees fit to answer the desire of your hearts.
The next verse names Phinehas as the priest. That one detail sets when this story took place.
The last five chapters form an important appendix, and these events belong to a very early period of the book. The mention of Phinehas (Judges 20:28) shows this. This added part shows the moral state of the people: lawlessness, disorder, and idolatry.
Israel won only after they were humbled themselves. That order carries over to how God's people deal with sin among them.
A humbled people, weaker than Benjamin himself, defeated him. This is the principle of all discipline in the assembly. Discipline will always fall short without love, without dependence on God and His word, and without self-judgment.
- Ruin — The ark sat at Bethel while the tabernacle stood at Shiloh. That disorder matched a land full of lawlessness.
- Presence — The ark is named just as the people stop trusting their own numbers. God was still in the midst of them.
- Access — There they recovered the value of sacrifice and communion. They drew near to the God who dwells between the cherubim, through a living High Priest.
- Asking — The answer came because they asked in the right way: weeping, fasting, and sitting before the Lord until He chose to speak.
- Result — Benjamin fell to a humbled people. That is the pattern for all discipline: without love, dependence and self-judgment, it always falls short.
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 Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will give them into thy hand.
Israel had already asked God about Benjamin's sin, and had come home beaten. Now the verse names the priest standing at the ark and records the question Israel finally asked. The real issue is not whether evil deserves judgment. It is why God let His own people lose first.
Their first approach assumed the war and only asked who should lead the march. Defeat changed the wording of their question:
They ask God, not whether they may go, but who is to go up against Benjamin. They did not humble themselves. They assumed instead that they were in the right. As a judgment on them all, God allows the war, and Benjamin wins for a time. But the triumph of wickedness is short-lived, and only leads on to a fiercer judgment. Defeat humbles the other tribes, and then they ask God what they should have asked at first: "Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?" If God told them not to go, they would stay under the shame of defeat. By calling Benjamin their brother, they count themselves as deserving judgment just as much as he does. They do not set themselves apart in proud self-righteousness. Then God tells them to go, and He judges the evil of Benjamin.
Phinehas was a grown man in the wilderness years. That places this horror near the start of the age of the judges, not at its end. The verse also shows what God had to do in Israel first:
We know Phinehas was alive in the wilderness years. He led the fight against Midian before Moses died, and he was one of those who crossed the Jordan. Yet he is still alive when this tragic deed took place, which almost wiped out the tribe of Benjamin… At last God had brought them down to their right place. They had taken the shame to themselves. The Lord had disciplined them, and they had needed it and rightly deserved it. Now they could deal with guilty Benjamin. We are not in a position to deal with another until God has dealt with what is contrary to His name in our own soul.
The verse sets two things side by side: the ark, the chest that carried the covenant, and the priest who stood before it. Each pictures something of Christ:
Phinehas pictures the Lord Jesus as our Great High Priest, and the ark reminds us of Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God, the One therefore in absolute authority. Priesthood speaks of His compassionate intercession, a lovely complement of His authority.
Before this question the people wept, fasted, and sat before the Lord. That last detail is the one we skip:
How little of that sitting before the Lord there is. Not sitting, dear friends, to feel how bad the evil is. They had that at the very beginning. This is sitting to get the mind of God, for God has His mind. He has His mind as revealed in His word, and He also has His mind for this particular case. And to get that mind we must wait on the Lord. Rushing ahead is never the way to get His mind.
This time they asked over burnt offerings and peace offerings. The sacrifices gave them what anger alone could not:
There is nothing like a humble, proper appreciation of the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ to give us a right perspective of what evil is, and to enable us to judge it rightly as before God. The burnt offering reminds us that God's own glory was what was chiefly at stake in this matter. Only the sacrifice of the holy Lamb of God can rightly vindicate that glory. The peace offering speaks of fellowship with God and with one another. That fellowship had been brutally broken, and only the same blessed sacrifice of Christ secures it. Why do we forget this most vital test of all when we face matters of such great weight?
The account stresses that all the people came up, not a few leaders:
It is universal. It is serious. It is not enough for half a dozen people to be stirred in conscience about evil… There is so little power because all the people are not stirred before God about it.
- Ask first. Their first question took the war for granted and settled only the marching order. The question God answers is the one that leaves Him free to say no.
- Brother. Calling Benjamin their brother drops the pose of innocence. They count themselves as deserving judgment too, instead of standing apart in pride.
- Sit. Weeping and fasting came first. But sitting before the Lord is what waits for His mind on this case, and haste never gets it.
- Sacrifice. The burnt offering gave them God's measure of the evil. The peace offering points to the fellowship the sin had broken, which only Christ's sacrifice secures.
- Then act. God dealt with them first. Only then could they deal with Benjamin, and that order still holds for anyone who would judge another's wrong.