Judges, chapters 19 and 20 is one scary passage of scripture. In it we encounter a priest who is much more focused on himself than upon God.  This man who is supposed to represent God on the earth decides to avenge the brutal rape and murder of his live-in girlfriend. The fact that a man who is supposed to represent God even has a live-in companion of a sexual nature should speak volumes about his character, or lack thereof. The fact that his society put up with that kind of immoral behavior from the priesthood should speak volumes about the deteriorated condition of the culture in which it occurred. Anyway, following her rape and murder by the men of a city the two of them had been traveling through on their way home, the priest carves her body up into 12 pieces and ships her dismembered body all around the country to the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel, explaining that the tribe of Benjamin is to blame for this horrible act.

But that isn’t the scary part.

You see, all of Israel, 400,000 warriors, gather together to make the rapists pay for their wicked behavior, but their brothers in the tribe of Benjamin are offended that the rest of the family wants to hold them accountable. Accountability wasn’t the norm in those days. So the men of Benjamin rose up to defend the offenders! Apparently these people valued loyalty to their immoral and depraved relatives above loyalty to God. Because they were determined not to “snitch”, they protected a group of rapists & murderers from those who were seeking to “put away the evil from among [them]”, as God’s law required. The result of that soft choice on their part was that the rest of the Israelites gathered together to ask God who to send into battle against them first, and He tells them to send Judah.

Judah acts in obedience to the Lord’s direction by going up against the tribe of Benjamin, and is promptly defeated by Benjamin! Twenty-two thousand men of the tribe of Judah are killed in the battle, and the people of Israel are completely confused! “God said go, we went, and we got hammered! What is that about!?

Again they seek the Lord, and again they are sent against Benjamin, but again they suffer a huge defeat! This time 18,000 of their finest and bravest are slaughtered by their countrymen! “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE, GOD!?” This is scary stuff! Following the leading of the Lord results in defeat!? I don’t get it!
Finally, after once again fasting and praying for God’s direction, Israel goes up against Benjamin, and this time they are victorious. But why did they fail the first two times!? When God is on your side everything should just work out smoothly, shouldn’t it? Success and victory are guaranteed when you follow the Lord, aren’t they?!

Not necessarily; at least, not in every single situation.

You know, I love the fact that God includes this in the Bible! If I were keeping the historical records for God, I would be tempted to leave this one out! They trusted Him, obeyed Him, and look what happened; they got slammed! Most of us tend to focus primarily on those two initial defeats because we value “success” above almost anything! But in God’s economy there are more important things than us achieving our goals and completing our personal agendas. Remember, God is far less concerned with our temporal success than He is with our character. Who you are is a much bigger priority for Him than what you accomplish…

I’m still not entirely sure why all those young men had to die. I do know that our temporal perspective, reaching only as far as the grave, doesn’t begin to grasp God’s eternal plan for humanity. Maybe this was a part of His divine pruning process, weeding out the lukewarm or rebellious from among the children of Israel. All I know for sure is that He is sovereign in the affairs of men, His plan is perfect, and at the end of the age we will all stand before His throne and sing His praises with clarity, conviction, and joy!

Rev 19:1-2  “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

Rev 21:3-7  “And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away. And He sitting on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the Water of Life freely. He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.”

The Bible says that in the end, when we see clearly, we will acknowledge His wisdom and praise His decisions! And you and I who continue to walk in faith and humility will be His heirs – sons – and will inherit from Him ALL THINGS!

As Jesus Himself worded it in Luke chapter 12:

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32

And that, my friend, is real success!