Ep. 65. Judges 19-21 | Benjamin and Jabesh Gilead

EPISODE 65

BENJAMIN AND JABESH GILEAD: JUDGES 19-21

Today, like yesterday, requires careful observation to place this story in its proper place in Judges. Though these are the final chapters of Judges, they certainly fall somewhere near the beginning. We know this because in chapter 20:28, we find, "And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered in those days."

If Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, is ministering, then it is VERY early in the days of the Judges. Consider that Phinehas was the one who put an end to the sin of Peor in Numbers 25, six months before the people entered the Promised Land. He is the one who led the people of God to war in Numbers 31, about three months before entering the Promised Land. There is no way this priest is still alive 350 years later. It's possible that though this is the last story in Judges, it may have even happened earlier than the one we looked at yesterday. I can not overstate the importance of understanding the timeline of the Scripture. It will make a huge difference in how you read the text.

At this point, the tribe of Benjamin is all but eradicated. Yet when Saul becomes king, we see the tribe of Benjamin has grown to respectable levels again. This could absolutely happen over 350 years, but it is not possible if we place this story at the end of the 350 years rather than the first.

The people of Benjamin, and especially of the city of Gibeah (where King Saul would eventually come from), were exceedingly wicked. When the people of Israel gathered together to go to war against Benjamin, no one from the city of Jabesh-Gilead came to their assistance. This is an important matter after Benjamin has been destroyed with only six hundred souls left to the tribe. Jabesh-Gilead is destroyed as well, and their virgin women are given to the remnant of Benjamin so that the tribe won't be completely destroyed in Israel.

When Saul became king, he rescued the people of Jabesh-Gilead from an attack. He even cut up his ox and sent the pieces through the land of Israel, no doubt thinking of the woman who was cut into pieces and sent throughout Israel to bring them together against Benjamin nearly four centuries earlier. In First Samuel, when Saul is killed at the hands of the Philistines, it was the people of Jabesh-Gilead that went and rescued his body from the enemy and give him a proper burial. The Benjamites and the people of Jabesh-Gilead will always be tied together.

This story ends with the line, "In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Again, this is before the days when God raised up Judges to lead and rule over his people.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 Samuel 31:8-13; 2 Samuel 2:4-5; 2 Samuel 21:12; 1 Samuel 11:6-7; Genesis 19; Numbers 25:10-11; Numbers 31: 6