Proverbs 15:14: “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the fool feeds on foolishness.”

Proverbs 17:24: “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.”

Proverbs 26:11: “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

1 Corinthians 3:19: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” …

God, we have a problem due to a vow we made in anger with our fellow Israelites. But not to worry, even though we blame you, Lord, just a little—we will take matters into our own hands and “fix” it.  Judges 21:25: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”

Judges 21

Wives for the Benjamites

The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

² The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. ³ “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”

⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

⁶ Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. ⁷ “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” ⁸ Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. ⁹ For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

¹⁰ So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. ¹¹ “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.” ¹² They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. ¹⁴ So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

¹⁵ The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? ¹⁷ The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. ¹⁸ We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’ ¹⁹ But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰ So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’”

²³ So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.

²⁴ At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God, we have a problem—and it is us. 

Why is our first thought to blame God for the troubles we create?  The last words of this passage, which are repeated often in the book of Judges, tell us the answer…”everyone did as they saw fit.” 

The eleven remaining tribes grieved heavily for putting the Benjamite tribe to the sword. They came together to ask the Lord, “Why?”  In their grief, they remembered the ritual of their religion–build an altar and offer burnt offerings. But was that activity done only to soothe their feelings? 

This is a question I’m asking because sometimes we do that. When troubles come and confusion sets in by the circumstances we ourselves created; we panic and worry.  As we suffer the consequences of our behaviors—we return to what we know—go to church. But in the returning, are we coming back to the rituals of God or God Himself who wants to grow our intimate relationship with Him? Rituals do not save us. Our reconciliation with God by repenting of our sins to Jesus saves us! God knows our hearts. He knows our minds. He knows the sincerity of those who are committed to renew and restore their relationship with Him.

We must give up the foolish thinking of mankind as we become putty in the hands of God’s Enemy.  Ask for the wisdom of God! (Who loves to give it!)  Throughout history, Israel will fall in and out of their love for God. They will pay heavily for turning to their own foolish wisdom.  Prophets will be sent from God with wisdom and warnings but they will be ignored.  A verse we often quote to understand the benefits of trust and obedience to God with ALL our hearts, minds, and souls, comes from the prophet Hanani to King Asa who flipflopped often in his faith while at war with his enemies.  “Just follow your heart”, we still hear today. Asa did which was foolishness to God.  Asa’s mind is divided between what his heart says versus what a heart who seeks God and His will demands.

So, King Asa’s fundamental problem was not Judah’s lack of defenses in their current war; but the king’s lack of faith. Unlike David, whose heart had been sincere before the Lord (see 1 Kin. 15:5), Asa’s heart was divided—one day trusting God and the next day trusting in the arm of flesh. A perfect heart isn’t a sinless heart but a heart wholly yielded to the Lord and fully trusting Him. King Asa revealed the wickedness of his heart by becoming angry, rejecting the prophet’s message, and putting him in prison.

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

Now you know the rest of the story.

Humbled, repentant hearts do not ask why.  Our main concern is salvation from our sins.

Trials, troubles, and suffering will happen.  “In this world you WILL have troubles…” Jesus assures us. We live in imperfect world because all were born into sin and inherited the nature to sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every human on earth needs God’s saving grace which He provides oh so generously through His One and Only Son, Jesus—all because of His unconditional, relentless, compassionate love. (John 16:33, Genesis 3, Romans 3:23-24, John 3:16-17)

The foolish thinking of mankind who live without God’s wisdom, fall into never ending cycles of sin.  It’s like holding on to a merry-go-round that is spinning so fast and out of control that we feel we must stay on or we will die trying to get off.  But, that’s a lie from the enemy.  There is a Teacher on the playground of life who will rescue us!

Jesus can and will stop the wild ride we’re on when we call out to Him. Jesus will take us by the hand, cleanse our broken hearts, renew our troubled minds, and lead us to a new life that will last forever!  That’s the Truth because Jesus is Truth.

But we decide—choose wisely—for it’s a matter of life or death!

RECAP:  The destruction of the tribe of Benjamin began from one incident if brutality.  A Levite priest cruelly and unjustly handed over his concubine to be abused by wicked men living in Gibeah, a village of the Benjamites. The priest then cut her corpse into twelve parts and sent each tribe in Israel a part to dramatize the shamefulness of the act perpetrated by the men of Gibeah.  The nation of Israel had sunk to great depths, but God knew and God was at work, preparing a change and a new leader to help bring the nation back to himself.  God is always at work—even in our foolishness.  God is faithful-even when we are not. There is no one like our God.

Believe and be saved. Trust and obey for there’s really no other way to real wisdom.

Lord,

Thank you for leading our thinking back to you when our thinking leads us into dark places. Thank you for your faithfulness to us in our fool hardy behaviors. Thank you for not giving up on us—ever.  Thank you for sending Jesus, a part of you, to earth to fulfill what the Law with a demonstration of your love for us. Wow.  I will meditate on this all day long.

In Jesus Name, Amen