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Outrage in Gibeah Sparks Civil War 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we continue our journey through the word of God. Today, we're looking at the final 2 chapters of the book of Judges, chapters 20 and0:21 21, where we see the the moral and the cultural chaos that flowed from the spiritual apostasy. Verse 25 of chapter 21. In those days, there was no king in0:33 Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now these last 2 chapters conclude with a civil war in Israel, which was the result of the unrestrained wickedness of the0:45 men of Gibeah. Now, let me let me just let me give a trigger warning upfront. If you're new to this journey, if you've just joined us recently,0:57 or if you happen to be a critic of the scripture and can easily be triggered by hard truths, then you might you might just wanna stop right here. Because I'm gonna acknowledge upfront once again that these1:08 are 2 of the more difficult chapters that we're going to encounter in the word of God. But they're here for a reason. They're here for our edification. There are important principles1:20 for us in this passage, and 1 of those principles is made abundantly clear and and that is this, that that unrestrained evil does not go away. Alright? It only multiplies. Sin never stands1:32 still. It is never satisfied. It never says it is enough as the writer of Proverbs states. Sin must be confronted. It must be restrained. And the longer we1:44 wait, the human cost of confronting it becomes higher and higher and higher as we see in this passage today, and and I would argue as we see in our society1:56 today as well. Verse 1, chapter 20. So all the children of Israel came out from Dan to Beersheba. Now that's kind of a geographical reference. That would be, like, from2:08 California to New York. I mean, basically, all across the country. As well as from the land of Gilead. And the congregation gathered together as 1 man before the Lord at Mizpah.2:20 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400000 foot soldiers who drew the sword. Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of2:32 Israel had gone up to Mizpah. The then the children of Israel said, tell us how did this wicked deed happen? So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered answered2:44 and said, my concubine and I went to Gibeah, which belongs to to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah arose against me and surrounded2:56 the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead, they ravaged my concubine so that she died. So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory3:07 of the inheritance of Israel because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. Look. All of you are children of Israel. Give your advice and counsel here and now. So all the people3:19 arose as 1 man saying, none of us will go to his tent nor will any turn back to his house, but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah. We3:31 will go up against it by lot. Now the actions that we read about last time that this Levite took shocked the nation into action and unified3:43 them to address this evil. Now what ensues is horrible. We we we don't have the total number of lives that were lost in this civil war, but just the number3:55 of warriors that died was somewhere between 60 and 70000. Now you add on top of that the women and the children of Benjamin as well as those of,4:07 Jabesh, Gilead, Gilead in chapter 21, and it's easy to say that there were a quarter of 1000000 of people that probably died in this civil war.4:19 And as I said, these are difficult passages to read, and we we should read them not just as words on a page, but think of them in terms of the human tragedy that they were, that4:31 unfolded here in this account of history. You know, we hear and we see so many reports today about death and destruction happening everywhere, that unless we're personally experiencing it, we4:43 rarely ponder the human anguishing and suffering that's taking place. And, of course, complicating our cultural's ability to to, to comprehend the reality of of of4:55 suffering and death and destruction is is modern entertainment, where death and destruction are ubiquitous, and it has this desensitizing effect upon us. So 1 way5:07 that we may respond to this passage is to ask, you know, where is the justice in this? The the the innocent people were killed in response to this evil in5:19 Gibeah. You know, the I think the proper question to ask is is why? Why did this happen? The children of Israel actually asked that question in chapter 21. Look at verseApostasy: The Root of Chaos 5:31 verse 2, chapter 21. Then the people came to the house of God and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, and said, oh, Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in5:42 Israel, that today there should be 1 tribe missing in Israel? Now I'll be honest. I'm not sure they really wanted an answer. You know, sometimes we ask, but we really don't want to know because the5:54 truth is hard. And we find the answer to that question in, in a verse that we started with in verse 25 of chapter 21. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own6:06 eyes. It was not that they needed to elect a king. God was to be their ruler. He had established the rules by which the nation lived, and he promised to provide and protect them if they did.6:18 And he did initially when the people walked in obedience, but as the parents failed to fulfill their responsibilities to teach the next generation who God was, what he had done6:30 from the for them, and what he expected of them, they forgot God. They forgot his word. They forgot his ways. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, meaning they rejected the standard of God.6:42 They said we know better than God. This spiritual compromise, apostasy, led to moral corruption, which brought about cultural and political chaos as evidenced by a civil6:54 war. I mean and no nation is immune from this. We we see this unfolding in our own nation today, how divided we are. As it has always been, the answer is this,7:06 to voluntarily return to the Lord in repentance who is full of mercy and ready to forgive. And let me, you know, let me just keep going here for a moment. Let me put out7:18 a word of caution to some of what we see happening today today, this very day. And I think it's very good for our nation to acknowledge God and begin to, on this 200 and fiftieth anniversary, to restore7:30 the foundations that have been chiseled away at over decades. However, repentance is more than recognition of wrong. It is a return to God in both our words and7:42 our actions. You know, quoting from Isaiah, Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 15, these people draw near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far7:54 from me. You know, we've got to do more than just give lip service to God. That means we have to change our behavior and return to him. Back in chapter 20, we see the8:06 tribes trying to exercise this understanding. In verse 12 of chapter 20, 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,8:18 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 brother and the children of8:28 Israel. Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to cities to Gibeah to go to battle against the children of Israel. Now had Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin, I think, responded differently,8:40 taking responsibility for the wickedness, the perversion, the homosexuality that they were advocating, and repenting of it, I think the outcome would have been totally different. But they8:52 refused, choosing rather to harbor the perverted men. And the result was the entire nation paid a heavy price. As I said, these theseModern Warnings and Call to Restore 9:03 passages are are are shocking because they lay bare the fallen nature of man and what happens when we have departed from the truth of god. Now some may be offended by these words9:15 that are recorded in scripture, and I understand that. But let me ask this. Are are you just as offended by today's headlines? It's easy to look back and9:27 see the blatant evil in the old testament and ask, how could how could they be so blind? How could this happen? You know? But I have to ask the question, what will future generations, if the Lord tarries,9:39 say about our generation and about what is happening in in in our culture, the redefinition of of marriage, the the the the shedding of innocent blood in the into the9:50 millions, into the millions, and and and this whole transgender ideology. I I think if we were to dispassionately10:02 step back, we could we could easily insert into this what we see happening in our nation today. Alright. Chapter 21 is 1 of the darkest and most morally and politically10:14 chaotic accounts in the Old Testament. There's sexual violence, civil war, near genocide, massacre, and kidnapping, all revealing what happens when people try to preserve the appearance of10:26 righteousness while abandoning its foundation, and that is the word of God. The nation twists itself into moral and spiritual distortions, trying to justify10:38 violence and abduction in order to escape the consequences of their own foolishness. And and what is most disturbing is that what we read suggests that they thought10:50 they thought their actions were good, even sanctified by God, revealing how spiritually distorted their thinking had become again by departing from the word of God from their11:02 faithfulness and obedience to God. I again, folks, this this is a difficult, difficult passage of scripture, but I think it's here for a warning11:14 to us. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you. Thank you for warning us. Thank you that this is here to show us how how quickly and rapidly a society11:26 can lord, just slip into this cultural and political chaos as a result of their spiritual apostasy11:38 of turning away from you. And, father, we also read in your word how you are ready and willing to forgive and to restore. And I pray, lord, we would take warning in in11:50 what we have seen in history and what we read here in scripture, what happens to a society that turns and departs from your truth. Lord, in this 200 and fiftieth year of this nation, may we return12:02 to and restore not in word only, but, lord, in our actions. May our hearts be drawn close to you. And I I just continue to pray for the holy spirit to guide us on this journey,12:14 opening our eyes and our understanding that we might serve you. We pray and ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Let me let me just remind you. We're starting Ruth next, and12:25 then we're gonna be going into first Samuel. And we have a resource available for Samuel. It is, 1 of our study guides. If you'd be interested in that, just text Samuel to 6 7 7 4 2. That's Samuel12:37 to 6 7 7 4 2, and you'll get, first Samuel, our study guide for that. Alright. Until next time, keep standing on the word.12:47 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you12:59 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Outrage in Gibeah Sparks Civil War5:27 Apostasy: The Root of Chaos9:02 Modern Warnings and Call to Restore
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