Judges 20:14
“Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.”
The book of Judges ends on a tragic note. Personal immorality, social chaos, and civil war mark the close of the book. This was certainly one of the darkest times in the history of the people of God. The rape and murder of a young woman led to a heated battle between the tribes of Israel. Instead of facing their true enemies, Israel was caught up in civil infighting that cost the lives of some of their most gifted men. When all is recorded, we find they were simply fighting all the wrong battles.
Instead of devoting herself to the Lord, the young woman who lost her life, spent her days in adulterous affairs. The Levite who reported the crime, was himself guilty of immorality. He was in a relationship with a woman with whom he was not married . She was his concubine, a practice acquired, not from the Word, but from the world. The night of the crime against his concubine, he was partying within the house. His drunkenness no doubt influenced his decision making. We read he is the one who sent her out to the mob of men, who eventually raped and murdered her. It is interesting to note, when he reports the crime, there is no mention of his own misdeeds, no repentance for his action, no mourning, no sackcloth, and no confession of sin.
As the story continues, the nation of Israel gathers for war, to avenge the crimes against this man and his concubine. The tribe of Benjamin, instead of realizing the immorality that was rampant within their tribe, stood up for the actions of these men, who raped and murdered the woman. Perhaps a spirit of freedom prevailed, and those who committed these deeds were only expressing their natural sexual inclinations. Whatever the case, Benjamin, instead of addressing a prevailing national sin, turned their anger against their brethren, and war broke out.
The lesson is clear. It is possible to spend a great deal of effort fighting the wrong battles. Instead of fighting to justify our own sins, or defending the sinful actions of others, we should be fighting for personal holiness and national righteousness. Because the people wandered from God, the nation lost sight of the holiness of God, and immorality spread like cancer throughout the land.
Pastor Jim
Jesus instructed His followers that their lives are to be lived as a testimony to the world. He taught “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In other words, the way we live should testify of a living God.
Israel had forsaken the Word of God and fallen into a place of spiritual confusion. We read of “homemade religions” with their own gods, priests and theology. As the story unfolds, we will see this spiritual confusion leads to social chaos and immorality.
The story of Micah is all too familiar. In a time when the Word of God was being neglected, Micah created his own “homemade religion.” He used terminology familiar to true religion, he had a priest and an ephod. However, his god, his worship, and his lifestyle, was really nothing more than a product of his own imagination. As time went on, his religion became even more organized. He established a priesthood consisting first of his own son, then of a wayward Levite, who pretended to be an expert on the things of God. Only in vocabulary, did this religion bear any similarity to a real relationship with the true and living God.
Time is an interesting thing. We are always spending it and it cannot be saved. Failing to do something today, does not guarantee we will have the time for it tomorrow. Felix’s encounter with the Gospel message teaches us something important about how we use this moment for eternal things.
The story of Samson is both fascinating and tragic. His feats of strength are paralleled only by legendary super heroes. He defeated lions, carried city walls, and fought off platoons of soldiers, with nothing more than skeleton bones. As far as Biblical characters go, he was the most gifted of all. Sadly, those gifts were never really used for the work of God. Each of his feats of strength was only used to get him out of difficult situations that his disobedience got himself into. Instead of reading of Samson leading the nation of Israel back to the Lord, we read only of his selfishness and continual compromise.
Whenever an artist attempts to illustrate Samson, he looks like a cross between an NFL linebacker and a competitive body builder. He is painted as bigger, stronger and more muscular than all those in in Israel or Philistia. You might find it interesting that no physical description of Samson is ever recorded in Scripture. What is evident is the fact that his strength and subsequent victories, were all directly connected to the Spirit of the Lord being upon him. It was not Samson’s ability that gave him strength, but the power of the Spirit. In this text, we find the Spirt of God enabling him to break the bonds that held him as a captive. Ropes that would hold the average man at bay were torn, as if they were wet tissue paper. 
Few people have ever had the kind of talent Samson had. He was gifted far above anyone else in his generation. Tragically, however, Samson wasted his gifts by consuming them in search of his own pleasures. Two truths seem to cry out from his story. 
Webster defines a trial as, “A test of faith through subjection to suffering or temptation.” Paul’s current situation may be the text book case of a trial. He came to Jerusalem with the goal of sharing Christ with his friends and countrymen, spent his time preparing to share with them, but before he ever spoke a word, he found himself under attack. After his unjust arrest, he had two opportunities to share the Gospel; both times he was cut short, as the people become enraged with him. To make matters worse, his Christian friends had warned him not to go to Jerusalem in the first place. They said he would be beaten, arrested and perhaps killed. Paul believed the trip was the Lord and ignored their warnings. Now, incarcerated and facing the threat of death, it would be natural to feel as though he had failed the Lord and his situation was hopeless.
After his arrest, Paul shared Christ with the mob that tried to kill him. They listened intently to him because his message was fascinating and relevant. It seemed they had a true interest, and even an openness to the Gospel. But that all changed once Paul mentioned the Gentiles. That single word caused the hearers to close their ears, harden their hearts, and reject the message of Christ.
Jim Gallagher 