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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.
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We finished our eighth book of the Bible today.
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And since we're reading an entire book tomorrow, that means we're about to be at nine books
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Don't worry, the book we're reading tomorrow is super short, just four chapters.
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Also, I mentioned this at the beginning of the Book of Judges, and hopefully you've already
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read the text from today and know this is a tough section, but just a heads up that
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if there are little ears nearby, you may want to listen later.
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This is one of my least favorite sections in all of scripture, but there are still things
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to be learned about God in these chapters, even though he seems mostly absent.
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We open with a reminder that Israel is living in anarchy at this point, which sets us up
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for everything that happens in today's reading.
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We start with a Levite, the tribe appointed to work for God, who had a concubine, which
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is basically a household servant with fewer rights and less permanency than a wife, and
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whose main job is to sleep with the boss and have his babies.
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She decides she wants to leave this arrangement, but he goes after her to win her back.
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He meets with her dad and things are going smoothly.
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Her father keeps inviting them to stay day after day with him, but on the fifth day, the Levite
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is ready to move on, so they head out for the long journey home.
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His servant suggests they spend the night in a canonite area, but the Levite really
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prefers to keep moving until they hit an Israelite area.
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They stop in the city of Gabbaya, which is in the land allotted to the Benjamites.
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They're planning to sleep in the town square, but an old man comes by and urges them to
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stay at his place instead.
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Not long after that, the Benjamite men of the town show up and demand to have sex with
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If this is starting to remind you of Genesis 19 and what happened with the two angels who
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visited Lot in Sodom, you're not far off.
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And the old man responds just like Lot did when Lot offered his two virgin daughters.
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The old man offers his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine instead.
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The Benjamites didn't like this offer, but the Levite saved himself by sending his concubine
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And let me say this in case it isn't obvious.
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God doesn't endorse this.
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These things are the result of God's people turning away from God, which ultimately means
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they have no regard for his laws either since they have no regard for him.
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The men brutally assault her and rape her and beat her to death, and the Levite doesn't
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even seem to be moved by her condition.
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It's heartbreaking and infuriating all at once, and I don't know whether to be more angry
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at him or at the men of the town because they're all pretty terrible.
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He takes her back home and dismembers her, then he sends a piece of her body throughout
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Israel, probably one piece to each of the tribes.
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Most commentators seem to think he did this so the people would have proof that his story
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was true, and there'd be no denying that the Benjamites were guilty.
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And by the way, we find out in chapter 20 verse 5 that the men who did this to the concubine
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were the leaders among the Benjamites in that city.
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In response to this, the men of fighting age from all the tribes except for Benjamin gathered
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Anytime you see the phrase from Dan to Bershiva in Scripture, that's basically saying
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from north to south, because the new cities of the tribe of Dan just conquered and took
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over was about as far north as you could go in Israel, and the city of Bershiva was about
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as far south as you could go.
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And this passage even tells us that the tribes in Gilead, those 2.5 trans Jordan tribes,
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So 400,000 men from 11 of the tribes gather to talk about what the Benjamites have done
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The Levite tells them the story, conveniently leaving out the role he played in it, and
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asks them what should happen in response to this abomination.
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They decide to confront the city of Gavea in Benjamin.
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First, they try to reason with the people of the city.
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They ask them to bring out the men responsible for the crime so they can enforce the death penalty
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since they had murdered someone.
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But the city won't give them up.
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They protect their wicked leaders and refuse to hold them accountable.
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Then the whole tribe of Benjamin gets their backs.
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As a result, the Benjamites end up going to war against the rest of the country in Israel's
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They fight for three days, and every day Israel asks God for guidance.
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He gives it, and they obey.
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They can't figure out what they're losing if they're being obedient to God.
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But on days 1 and 2, God doesn't promise them victory.
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He just tells them what they should do.
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Obedience doesn't always guarantee our desired outcome.
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Sometimes its purpose is to teach us faithfulness to God, not to our desires.
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But on day 3, God does tell them that they'll win.
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And through the clever combo of an ambush and the bat signal, they pull it off.
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They defeat all the men of Benjamin except for 600 who go into hiding.
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The men of Israel burn the town and treat it like they would a Canaanite city.
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God never commands this, but they do it.
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And while they're all gathered and mourning what happened and offering sacrifices to God,
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two things happen almost simultaneously.
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First, they're trying to figure out how to keep the tribe of Benjamin from disappearing
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And second, they realize there's a clan who didn't respond to the call to come fight
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One thing I can tell you for sure is that it wasn't the Ephraimites, they love a fight.
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It was the clan of J. Beschiliad, a city in East Manassah, across the Jordan River.
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Without consulting God, Israel puts together their best, most efficient plan.
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They send 12,000 men over to go kill everyone except the female virgins.
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Then they bring back 400 virgins to give to the 600 surviving men at the tribe of Benjamin.
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But oh no, there's still 200 women short, so they hatch a plan for the Benjaminites
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to kidnap some women while they're dancing at a festival, problem-solved.
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I'm really thankful this passage is descriptive, not prescriptive.
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This was man's wicked plan to fix the circumstances they were in because of sin.
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When we fail to consult God and lean on our own understanding, we almost always make a
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And I just want to pause to point out that all of this can be traced back to the uncontrolled
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lust of a handful of so-called leaders and the self-protective measures of a leadite.
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Those upon thousands died as a result.
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There wasn't much joy in today's reading, was there?
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And do you know why?
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Because there wasn't much God.
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The last line of our reading reminds us again, everyone did what was right in his own eyes,
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and the whole book ends with their wickedness increasing.
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So that's actually my God's shop for today.
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Where God isn't regarded and feared and honored, where people do as they please and follow
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There may be a temporary solution or a fulfillment of desires, but there isn't deep, lasting,
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Because that isn't found in following every longing of our hearts.
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He's where the joy is.
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Tomorrow we'll be reading the Book of Ruth.
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We're linking to a short video overview in the show notes, so check that out if you've
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got a few minutes to spare.
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And just a reminder, if you're using our plan in the Bible app, this video will also
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be linked for you tomorrow in the Devotional tab.
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We love the members of our TBR family, who are our ASL Bible recappers.
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We're so happy to offer the Bible recap in American Sign Language.
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The full 365 days of recap videos are in a playlist on our YouTube channel.
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If you have friends or family members who would benefit from this, let them know.
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For more info, visit the ASL page on the BibleRecap.com under the Languages tab.
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For more, click the link in today's show notes.