Judges 20:8-17 - Let wisdom and not aggression prevail

Moved by the dramatic and eloquent account of the Levite, those gathered at Mizpah decided to teach the Benjamites at Gibeah a lesson. They were moved by impulse and wanted to jump into action straight away. They assumed that the Levite’s account was trustworthy. In life, we should not act just because someone else has our ears first. In any conflict, we should act only after we clearly understand the situation. A thinking person would have asked what’s the need of cutting up the body of the concubine even if he was seeking justice? No doubt the atrocity did to her was indescribable but why mutilate her body further? Isn’t this to incite anger and cause an all-out war against the Benjamites? So, the Israelites that gathered pledged not to return to their home without launching a campaign to punish the Benjamites at Gibeah. They set aside a tenth of the 400,000 men to administer the ration and food for the fighting men while the rest marched on to Gibeah.

   

One thing we need to do when provoked is not to act in haste. By acting in haste, we needlessly put innocent people at risk. Psychologically speaking, between the moment one is provoked and the moment one takes action there is a short gap that a person can choose how he or she will respond. If a person pauses and takes the time to weigh the situation, needless troubles can be avoided. The Benjamites were particularly guilty of not doing this. The issue here is that not every one of them committed the rape, only some worthless fellows did it. All they needed was to surrender the guilty men and the matter could have been settled without much bloodshed. The Benjamites chose to shelter the guilty ones at the expense of a peaceful resolution. They even chose the side of wrong instead of right.  

Instead of dealing with the sin objectively, the Benjamites chose aggression. In so doing they had shared the guilt of those rapists. The people of Benjamin were prepared to go to war with the rest of their fellowmen from the other tribes. There are a few thoughts to consider. A peaceful resolution is always better than aggression. For this to happen, people must learn to look at the situation objectively. Only the guilty one should be dealt with. When we know someone is guilty, not exposing and dealing the wrong is condoning it. Condoning a wrong can harm the larger fellowship in the end when they had to be drawn into needless conflicts. We need wisdom to avoid unwarranted conflict. Let us be guided by wisdom and admit when wrong and then repent and change for the better. The Bible exhorts us to be at peace with all men. Let’s go for it!