Judges 21:1-5
Judges 21:1
Now
the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give
his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
Apparently there were some of the men of Benjamin left and the men of Israel had
sworn in Mizpeh that none of them will ever give their daughters to any of the
men of Benjamin to be a wife. They
probably are keeping in mind the way they treated the wife of the Levite.
They also had in mind those who protected and defended the men who
perpetrated such a heinous crime and because of these attitudes, they did not
deserve any wives.
Judges 21:2
And
the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and
lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
The
children of Israel had come to the house of God, the Tabernacle which is in
Shiloh. They did not come for the
purpose of rejoicing in the slaughter of 40,000 Benjamites but they came to
grieve for the situation that existed in Benjamin.
The men of Israel realized that even though Benjamin committed horrible
acts, they were still one of the tribes of the sons of Jacob.
They were truly heartbroken over this situation.
Judges 21:3
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?
They
had beseeched the Lord and wanted to know why these things came to pass
especially since they now deemed Benjamin as a missing tribe.
There was approximately 600 men left, those who were able to escape into
the wilderness and Rimmon but without wives to procreate with, the tribe of
Benjamin will cease to exist. Maybe
the men of Israel did not know that there were 600 men of Benjamin who were able
to escape their hard pursuit.
Judges 21:4
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.
The
next day the men of Israel awoke to a spirit of devotion in their seeking the
Lord concerning the situation in Benjamin.
If the people were in Shiloh where the Tabernacle was, then perhaps they
had built a new altar for the Tabernacle which would not have been wrong.
Once the altar was complete, they commenced to offer burnt and peace
offerings unto the Lord. The burnt
offerings were for any sins they committed while they warred with the Benjamites
and also to thank the Lord for the victory.
Judges 21:5
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.