Judges 20:12-17 Citizens of the Kingdom of God?

 ”Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss. Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.“

‭‭Judges‬ ‭20‬:‭12‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren: The other tribes of Israel did the right thing in asking the tribe of Benjamin to deliver up the men who committed this crime. They sought to justly resolve the crisis without full war. But the tribe of Benjamin committed a great sin by putting loyalty to their tribe before obedience to God’s Law.

i. Modern followers of God can make the same mistake today when they put the interests of their own nation before the interests of the Kingdom of God. It is important for Christians to remember that they are citizens of the Kingdom of God first (Philippians 3:20).

b. Seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss: The tribe of Benjamin not only failed to support the just cause of the other tribes, they actively resisted the other tribes with an assembled army. The army included this division of seven hundred select men.

i. And not miss: The Hebrew word translated miss is literally sin. This illustrates the principle that the word “sin” literally means to “miss the mark” - whether you are off by an inch or a yard.

c. Besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men: The tribes of Israel prepared for a small civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. Israel was right in believing that the greatest good was not unity. Unity apart from justice and truth is unity not worth having. (Guzik)

”For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,“ Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I can’t wait to go home! As the world turns, it moves farther away from the Lord! People are suffering, food prices are soaring and inflation is at the highest it’s been in my lifetime. All we can do is point people to Jesus Christ and pray. 

Recently my wife and I started leading a thirteen week twelve step program at our church using the Life Recovery Bible and the General LRB Workbook. On the way home after the meeting we were listening to Christian radio and the speaker revealed that in the US there are currently 14 million people in twelve step programs trying to deal with life struggles!

Please pray for these people and the twelve step programs to be centered around the Holy Spirit, to be drawn to Jesus Christ and that they can learn how to deal with life struggles.

Blessings