Good day brethren,

The scripture below tells the story of a rape committed in israel that led to the death of the woman and eventually a war against the Benjamites.

My Observation: This war was sanctioned by God and God determined that Judah should go first into battle why then did they loose men on the first and second days until God specifically said that they'll win on the third day?

My Question: Was God doing this on purpose? what was the death of the Israelites in the first 2days expected to achieve?



Judges Chapter 20 : 18-end
18 Then the Israelites marched up to Bethel to ask for direction from God. They inquired, “Who should go up first to fight against the Benjaminites for us?”
And the LORD said, “Let the tribe of Judah be first.”
19 So the next morning, the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. 20 They marched out to fight against the Benjaminites, lining up in battle formation against them at Gibeah. 21 But the Benjaminites marched out from Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelite men that day.
23 So the Israelites went back up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, “Should we move in again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites?”
And the LORD replied, “March out against them.”[/i]
22 The Israelite troops regrouped and lined up in battle formation again in the same place they had lined up the first day. 24 The Israelites moved in against the Benjaminites the second day. 25 But the Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah to meet them on that second day and cut down another eighteen thousand Israelite men, all of whom were armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the LORD’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the LORD. 27 Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there, 28 and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the LORD, “Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?”
And the LORD replied, “March up, for I’ll hand them to you tomorrow.”[i]
29 So the Israelites set ambushes around Gibeah. 30 Three days later, the Israelites marched out against the Benjaminites. They lined up for battle against Gibeah as before. 31 When the Benjaminites came out to meet them, they were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down some of the troops just like the last time, about thirty Israelites along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah, as well as in the open fields. 32 The Benjaminites thought, They’re being wiped out before us like the first time. But the Israelites had planned, We’ll retreat and draw them away from the city toward the main roads. 33 The Israelites moved from their position and reformed their battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who had been set in ambush charged out from their positions west of Gibeah. 34 Ten thousand specially chosen men from all the Israelites came against Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, and the Benjaminites didn’t realize that disaster was almost on them. 35 The LORD wiped out the Benjaminites before Israel. The Israelites slaughtered twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjaminite men that day, all of them armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated.
The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah. 37 Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords. 38 The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the Israelites would turn around in battle. The Benjaminites had begun to defeat some of the Israelites and had killed about thirty men, thinking, They are definitely going to be wiped out before us, as in the first battle! 40 But then the column of smoke began to rise from the city. When the Benjaminites looked back, there was the entire city going up in smoke to the sky. 41 The main force of the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites lost heart, because they recognized that disaster had fallen on them. 42 They turned back before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but the fighting caught up with them, and those from the towns were slaughtering them there. 43 They encircled the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and trampled them to the east of Gibeah. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of whom were strong warriors. 45 When they turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites picked off another five thousand men on the main roads. And when they caught up with them at Gidom, they struck down two thousand more.
46 All in all, the total number of Benjaminites who fell that day was twenty-five thousand men, all of whom were armed with swords and were strong warriors. 47 Six hundred men turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 But the Israelites turned their attention to the rest of the Benjaminites and massacred them entirely—the city, the people, even the animals, and everything else they found. They also burned down every city they came across.

You are in no position to question God`s decision or challenge his authority.

oluchikeh:
Good day brethren,

The scripture below tells the story of a rape committed in israel that led to the death of the woman and eventually a war against the Benjamites.

My Observation: This war was sanctioned by God and God determined that Judah should go first into battle why then did they loose men on the first and second days until God specifically said that they'll win on the third day?

My Question: Was God doing this on purpose? what was the death of the Israelites in the first 2days expected to achieve?



Judges Chapter 20 : 18-end
.

The first attempt was their decision. They only sought God for a rubber stamp approval which obviously they would have ignored if God had remained silent.

The same applies to the second attempt. Shocked by the vileness of the act, their minds were made up. Ezekiel 14:4 "Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols [of self-will and unsubmissiveness] into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity [idols of silver and gold] before his face, and yet comes to the prophet [to inquire of him], I the Lord will answer him, answer him according to the multitude of his idols,"

Note that these men were astonished by the heinous act of the Benjamite but they also were guilty of idolatry, forsaking God and totally abandoning the law of God, but since ,to them, it was a 'small' sin nothing was done to confront it. They closed their eyes to the beam in their eye and focussed the beam in their brother's eye.

The last attempt was preceded with repentance, brokeness and surrender,"Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the LORD’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the LORD. 27 Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there, 28 and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the LORD, “Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?” If they had done this before the first attempt, victory was sure.

Dnarvaez:
You are in no position to question God`s decision or challenge his authority.

Really?

ifeness:

Really?

Who are you?

Dnarvaez:
You are in no position to question God`s decision or challenge his authority.

....now that she has put herself in the position and challenged his authority, what happens??

a simple question quoted frm ur own religious book and you re already in aroused veneration? smh!!

cognitive dissonance at its peak. let me remind you the question again, "was god doing this on purpose?"

read the article and provide thoughtful answers if you can.... otherwise, keep swimming in the pool of ignoratio

MrPresident:


....now that she has put herself in the position and challenged his authority, what happens??

a simple question quoted frm ur own religious book and you re already in aroused veneration? smh!!

cognitive dissonance at its peak. let me remind you the question again, "was god doing this on purpose?"

read the article and provide thoughtful answers if you can.... otherwise, keep swimming in the pool of ignoratio

I refuse to stoop so low to ur level of stûpidity, Monsieur.
Need you know, I don`t entertain acts of delibrate stûpidity.

Dnarvaez:

I refuse to stoop so low to ur level of stûpidity, Monsieur.
Need you know, I don`t entertain acts of delibrate stûpidity.

vraiment? ... the worst state of stupidity is to publicly display a poor ability to understand from experience.
the article was derived from the book of your religion, answer the questions if you can, or remain cognitively dissonant.. savvy?

MrPresident:


vraiment? ... the worst state of stupidity is to publicly display a poor ability to understand from experience.
the article was derived from the book of your religion, answer the questions if you can, or remain cognitively dissonant.. savvy?

Stay on your childish lane, kiddo. You ain`t worth my time and attention.

Dnarvaez:

Stay on your childish lane, kiddo. You ain`t worth my time and attention.

counter me when you grow brain to reason, granny!!

Its quite simple. God told them they would win, but the strategy on how to achieve that victory had to come from them.

Its just like a student who goes to his pastor to inquire from God whether or not he would excel in his exams, then receives a heart-refreshing news that his success has been decreed in heaven. If that student doesn't read his books, believe me he'll fail woefully despite the fact that a prophesy was made earlier that he would pass. God wouldn't read your book for you, but he can give you a retentive memory so you wouldn't forget what you've read.

If you read Verse 32 of judges 18, you'll notice that the Israelites came up with a strategy on how to achieve victory. God then blessed that strategy and made their victory a reality.

Therefore its safe to conclude that the 2 times they marched into battle, they went there without a plan, they were like the guy who went into an exam hall without studying simply because God told him he would excel. That was why they lost.