| Lesson 36: The Law Of The Old That Is Covered In the New Testament: Oaths Made That Destroyed 2/27/2014 by turtle Judges 21:1-17 KJV (1) Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. (2) And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; (3) And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? (4) And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. (5) And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. (6) And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. (7) How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? (8) And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. (9) For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. (10) And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. (11) And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. (12) And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. (13) And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. (14) And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. (15) And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. (16) Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? (17) And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. Sometimes I wonder about what people say in haste. Israel seems through out scripture to say things without speaking. Some might blame it all on God. But in truth it was not God. Man desire to destroy the things of God without consulting God. A tribe of Israel did not get to official religious event. Israel had sworn to kill anyone not in attendance, figuring everyone would be there. Yet there were people missing at the sacrifice. One group from the tribe of Benjamin was missing and would be cut off from Israel and then it would be grafted in to restore that bloodline through the virgin women. Lucky girls of that tribe, to be saved by being a virgin. Yet it was never Israel place to cut off the people of Israel. If one took a close look at the issue one would discover that this vow was not directed by Lord. This vow to God was such that could have been broken to keep from causing problems within a tribe. Yet a vow was sacred when made to God. But who had a right to sacrifice God’s servants. Who had a right to decide something about attendance. If you ever been part of a team and then gotten cut off because you could not attend a meeting, one would assume you were not interested in being part of a group. That can be further from the truth. One might cut a person because of little involvement this is the way of society, yet it does not make one less a part of them in spirit or at the heart level. To be cut off to be grafted in again when one has more time to be a participant of a group. Yet the problem Israel had is they were killing someone breaking not only the law of do not kill, but breaking who God had already considered as His. They made a gap in the tribe of Benjamin. It like having a full mouth of teeth and then pulling a tooth or several teeth and there being one giant gap that needs to have artificial plate put in. In the hopes of restoring the natural function of the mouth. Israel would restore by giving the virgins to another tribe to fulfill the offspring line of that tribe. In today’s society orphans and foster kids restore many homes of people that have no children or feel the need to expand their family unit. Yet the issue is was this a foolish vow, or a vow not expecting to have to fulfill the consequences of a vow. The answer is probably yes. One has to remember these people were governing themselves without a king. They did not always ask of God what to do. Sometimes traditions became habits and not necessarily of faith. Things sometimes had nothing to do with faith but vows made were kept by the social law of that time. That caused them to look for a solution not to hurt a tribe completely but only punish them but killing and restoration. Vows of this nature should never be, it is unjust and unfair all around. If they had sought God in this matter God probably would of exempted them from this vow. Yet they neither repented of the vow but committed more sin to fulfill the vow, which finally brought them to their knees. Dear Heavenly Father help us to understand the weight of words before we speak and the foolishness of words spoken in haste and to repent of them. In Jesus precious name, Amen. http://www.turtle30cshell.com _ |
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