Judges 21:1–7 – Be careful about making vows

The tribe of Benjamin was severely punished for protecting some worthless men who committed the atrocities at Gibeah. One would wonder how could thinking people become so illogical to prevent the guilty ones from being punished? This happens because they were blinded by pride. All they needed was to surrender those guilty ones and a national calamity could have been averted. But they didn’t. All because of pride. The rest of Israel was also just as guilty of playing into pride. Had they been more composed, they would not have rushed in to punish the Benjamites so mercilessly. Both sides had suffered losses and one tribe was now near extinction. Except for 600 of the Benjamites who fled and hid at the Rock of Rimmon, the rest of the Benjamites were annihilated.

Before the Israelites went to punish their brethren, the Benjamites, they made a rash vow never to allow their daughters to marry any Benjamite. But in the aftermath of the war, they realized that they had done a foolish thing. Now they were ensnared by their own words. If they carried out their oath, one of their fellow tribes would be extinct. Now they were scratching their head to devise a plan that could help them to circumvent their own oath. They were essentially looking at how to break the spirit of the law without breaking the letter of it.

Bemoaning the thought of losing a tribe due to the consequence of their stupidity, they gathered the next day before the Lord at Bethel. There they grieved before Him. They came before the Lord with offerings and sacrifices seeking to find a way to heal the breach in their nation. At least they still had some compassion. For they were concerned that one of their tribes would forever be wiped of their existence.

This incident brings to mind what the Lord Jesus said about letting our yes be yes and no, no. Anything more is like treading on thin ice. We put ourselves in needless consequence by making a thoughtless and rash vow. Haven’t we been ensnared like this before? Next time before we make a vow, think carefully what we are going to say. Take a piece of advice from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5:1-3, “Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore, let your words be few.” Obey this sound advice!