Judges 20:18-25 – Don’t act presumptuously

Determined to give the Benjamites in Gibeah a lesson, the Israelites from all the other tribes sought the Lord concerning which tribe should lead them in this campaign. The Lord indicated the tribe of Judah should take the lead. It is sad to think that one man could stir up civil war and hatred. However, led by Judah the Israelites went to confront the Benjaminites at Gibeah. In this round, the Benjamites were victorious in the fight. They came out of Gibeah and fell 22,000 of the Israelites. At the beginning of this chapter in verse 2, we are told that the combined men of the other tribes were about 400,000 fighting men. Of this group, they took out one-tenth, about 40,000, to handle the quartermaster duties. This would still leave them with a force of 360,000 men. Logically they should win the battle hands down. Yet the Benjamites’ manpower totalled only 26,000 was able to kill 22,000 of the 360,000 Israelites. Despite the initial loss, the Israelites recouped. After some weeping before the Lord, they were told to go up against the Benjamites again. In this second round, they lost again. Another 18,000 men were taken out. In total all the other tribes lost about 40,000 men in the two rounds of the battles.

What should puzzle us is why with such a large force they still lost twice to the Benjamites? Why were they not able to win despite the numeral advantage? Didn’t they inquire of the Lord? We are not explicitly told that they did. Why then did the Lord allow them to go through these two losses. The text did not provide any reason. So using our sanctified imagination, we can speculate a few reasons. Firstly, when they went to inquire of the Lord, they already wanted to go up against the brethren. The question should not have been who should lead us? But Lord should we go and fight our own brothers? Or Lord, is there a better way to deal with the situation? They just assumed and asked the Lord who should lead them into battle with their brethren. Secondly, they could have assumed that with a much bigger force, they would have no problem taking the Benjamites down. They were being too presumptuous. Numerical number alone does not equate advantage. Thirdly, they were probably unaware that among the Benjamites, there were 700 choice men who were left-handed. These could sling a stone with dead accuracy. In other words, they could get a person without getting close.

The lesson we glean from the first two lost battles of the Israelites is: We must not act presumptuously. Don’t assume that with a bigger number, we will have the advantage. Might is not necessary strength. Wisdom is far better than might. In dealing with wrong, we need to have a clear objective and not just bulldoze our way. Helping the offender see the wrong is more important than just bent on punishment. Don’t play God in dealing with wrongs. Be clear before any encounter.