Ep.122 The War Against Benjamin

The shocking crime in Gibeah ignites one of the darkest chapters in Israel’s early history. After the Levite sends pieces of his concubine’s body to the tribes of Israel, the nation unites for the first time since the days of Joshua to confront the evil that took place. What follows is a devastating civil war between the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of Israel. Despite overwhelming numbers, Israel suffers massive losses before finally defeating Benjamin through strategy and ambush. Yet victory leads to another crisis—Benjamin is nearly wiped out, leaving only six hundred men alive and no women to preserve the tribe. In a desperate attempt to keep one of Israel’s twelve tribes from disappearing, the nation makes troubling decisions that expose just how far the people had drifted from the Lord. The Book of Judges closes with the sobering truth: when there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

Highlights

• The Crime That United Israel
• Civil War Among the Tribes
• Benjamin’s Elite Sling Warriors
• The Near Destruction of a Tribe
• When Everyone Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes

Scripture Referenced

• Judges 19
• Judges 20
• Judges 21
• Judges 3:15
• Joshua 7
• Deuteronomy 13:12–17
• 1 Samuel 11:7

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Sources

• ESV Study Bible
• ESV Archaeology Study Bible
• Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV)
• New Spirit-Filled Life Bible (NLT)
• Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Timelines
• Satellite Bible Atlas by William Schlegel
• The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History
• BlueLetterBible.com
• WorldHistory.org
• BiblicalArchaeology.org
• ArmstrongInstitute.org
• Chabad.org