Year 7, Day 282: Judges 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 21 is an awful chapter. Don’t get me wrong.  As I say in my theological commentary linked above, it’s a part of God’s Word and therefore God’s truth.  It’s a true chapter.  That being said, it is an awful chapter.

This chapter shows us what it is like to be between a rock and a hard place.  The Hebrew people thought they were doing right when they took an oath to not give wives to the people of Benjamin for their rebellion.  However, in doing so they condemned the tribe of Benjamin to eventual destruction.  In trying to follow God, the people make a rash decision and put themselves between watching their brothers go extinct and going against a pledge that they made against God.

Every time that we act before we think we potentially place ourselves between a rock and a hard place.  Life is hard enough to navigate when we do go about making rational decisions.  When we make irrational decisions, life only gets harder.  It truly pays to think.

As often happens, we see this position cause the Hebrew people to make another rash decision.  They offer up a tribute to God.  When a tribe doesn’t show up, they decide to go out and slaughter the men of that tribe to provide women to the Benjaminites.  But two wrongs seldom make a right!  Killing more people to make amends is seldom ever the true solution, especially when that solution isn’t from god.

Judges 21 is an awful perspective about humanity.  We try to solve our own problems, seldom without the wisdom we need.  We make rash decisions to try and fix problems we make.  We really should turn to God.  However, as the chapter ends, we find another source of truth.  Often we are just doing right in our own eyes.

<><