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11 June 2008
Word on the Web
Judges 20 v 29-48
Then the Israelites set up ambushes all around Gibeah. They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day, getting into position for battle as they had done before.
When the Benjaminites came out to fight them, the Israelites backed up and led the Benjaminites away from the city. The Benjaminites began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About thirty Israelites were killed - some in the fields and some on the roads leading to Bethel and to Gibeah.
The Benjaminites said, "We are winning as before!"
But the Israelites said, "Let's run. Let's trick them into going farther away from their city and onto the roads."
All the Israelites moved from their places and got into battle positions at a place named Baal Tamar. Then the Israelites ran out from their hiding places west of Gibeah. Ten thousand of the best trained soldiers from all of Israel attacked Gibeah. The battle was very hard. The Benjaminites did not know disaster was about to come to them. The LORD used the Israelites to defeat the Benjaminites. On that day the Israelites killed 25,100 Benjaminites, all armed with swords. Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated.
..... Then the Israelites went back to the land of Benjamin and killed the people in every city and also the animals and everything they could find. And they burned every city they found.
Now the Benjaminites were complacent and suffered the consequences. The battle is almost an action replay of the battle of Ai in Joshua 8 - setback, deception, ambush and annihilation. The Benjaminites obviously hadn't studied history to learn from it.
Without any back-up, they couldn't afford even one loss. They were facing an enemy of eight times the strength, and they depended on everything going right all the time. Are you like that?
Of course, that could be just where God wants you - where you have to rely on him. This is where many of the heroes of faith lived - right on the edge in obedience to God.
The trouble was, the Benjaminites were nowhere close to obedience to God. Rather than seeking justice, they had gone to war to defend the unjustifiable, taking the side of the criminal gang against all decent people. They had nothing - not even the knowledge of being in the right - to help them in trouble.
Are you living close to the edge? If so, are you in the centre of God's will or are you playing with fire. What can you do to get yourself back to where God wants you? Is there any sin you need to turn away from to get yourself back under God's protection?
"To you, o Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, o my God. ..... Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." (Psalm 25) Amen
Written by James Archer
Word on the Web
Judges 20 v 29-48
Then the Israelites set up ambushes all around Gibeah. They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day, getting into position for battle as they had done before.
When the Benjaminites came out to fight them, the Israelites backed up and led the Benjaminites away from the city. The Benjaminites began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About thirty Israelites were killed - some in the fields and some on the roads leading to Bethel and to Gibeah.
The Benjaminites said, "We are winning as before!"
But the Israelites said, "Let's run. Let's trick them into going farther away from their city and onto the roads."
All the Israelites moved from their places and got into battle positions at a place named Baal Tamar. Then the Israelites ran out from their hiding places west of Gibeah. Ten thousand of the best trained soldiers from all of Israel attacked Gibeah. The battle was very hard. The Benjaminites did not know disaster was about to come to them. The LORD used the Israelites to defeat the Benjaminites. On that day the Israelites killed 25,100 Benjaminites, all armed with swords. Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated.
..... Then the Israelites went back to the land of Benjamin and killed the people in every city and also the animals and everything they could find. And they burned every city they found.
Now the Benjaminites were complacent and suffered the consequences. The battle is almost an action replay of the battle of Ai in Joshua 8 - setback, deception, ambush and annihilation. The Benjaminites obviously hadn't studied history to learn from it.
Without any back-up, they couldn't afford even one loss. They were facing an enemy of eight times the strength, and they depended on everything going right all the time. Are you like that?
Of course, that could be just where God wants you - where you have to rely on him. This is where many of the heroes of faith lived - right on the edge in obedience to God.
The trouble was, the Benjaminites were nowhere close to obedience to God. Rather than seeking justice, they had gone to war to defend the unjustifiable, taking the side of the criminal gang against all decent people. They had nothing - not even the knowledge of being in the right - to help them in trouble.
Are you living close to the edge? If so, are you in the centre of God's will or are you playing with fire. What can you do to get yourself back to where God wants you? Is there any sin you need to turn away from to get yourself back under God's protection?
"To you, o Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, o my God. ..... Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." (Psalm 25) Amen
Written by James Archer
