The Meaning Of Life

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In Chapter 20, we read where the Levite’s concubine was raped and killed by the men of the tribe of Benjamin in Gibeah, and the Levite cut her into 12 pieces and sent a piece each to the 12 tribes. And when the tribes heard about the rape and murder, they gathered together to demand who was accountable for the crimes.. And when they heard that it was the tribe of Benjamin, they gathers 400,000 men together to attack the Benjaminites. And they conducted a wise move; they prayed for guidance first.

How many times when we are faced with problems do we turn to God Or do we try to handle it through other means. We have a purpose on this earth, and God’s Will will be done, so it is always best before making a decision, to consult with God. And God gave His blessing to the children of Israel to attack the Benjaminites. Before that though, they were so angry with the tribe of Benjamin that they made a vow to prohibit their daughters from marrying a Benjamiite.

There were a couple of battles that the Benjamites won, but finally God gave the children of Israel the promise that they would win, and they went up on last time against Benjamin and won, all but a few men who fled to the mountains.

Now remember, the tribes that were fighting were basically all cousins who share a heritage in Jacob. So why did they fight and kill their own blood? As scripture says, “13Now therefore, deliver up the men, the [a]perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” It was critically important, for everyone’s welfare, to cleanse the promised land of sin and evil. And before they went to war, they gave the tribe of Benjamine a chance, asking them to “give up” the perpetrators of the crime, the Benjamin would not give up the guilty. The tribes of Israel were so dedicated to serving God, they did whatever was necessary to blot out sin.

After they defeated the Benjaminites, men, women, and children, and the remaining warriors fled to the mountains, the other tribes of Israel were distraught that there were no women of Benjamin left to be fruitful and multiply, and without women, the tribe of Benjamin would have ceased to exist.And the children of Israel mourned at the thought of having only 11 tribes, but they had made a vow not to give their daughters to the Benjaminites as wives, and it was a sin to break your vow.

So they put their heads together, and realized that the children who lived in Jabash-Gilead, children of Manassah did not join in the fight, so they hadn’t made any vow about providing wives. So the children of Israel attacked Jabash-Gilead and killed everyone except the virgin women. And to the remnant of the tribe of Benjamin, they gave the virgins so Benjamin could reproduce and keep the tribe alive.

And the last verse of Chapter 21 reads, 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Today, even though we have churches, we have the Bible to study, God’s message is being told across the globe, we still have a large population that has abandoned God, and are living by “what is right in their own eyes.” and how is that working out for us?

It means people no longer have a conscience about God and His commands. People choose to turn their backs on God because His law infringes on our pleasures in life. Crime is high, violent crimes is high. People are no longer afraid of the law. I recently watched a YouTube channel in which a gang member conducted a drive-by shooting at a party, killing an innocent woman. In court, and as the relatives of the deceased were giving victim statements for sentencing, the defendant mocked and visibly laughed out loud and the victim’s family who were on the stand testifying about how their lives had been destroyed by this violent act, and the defendant showed no remorse at all, in fact, he was making fun of the tragedy he had caused.

Another gang member was found guilty of breaking into a 101 year old woman’s house to rob her, and when he found she had no money, he repeated raped and beat her so bad, she had to move to an assisted living facility because she was too frigihtened to live alone independentally any longer. And when the defendant was escorted into the court room for sentenacing, he was smiling and laughing, and yelled out, “You’re all gonna make me a celebrity today!”

There is a disturbing lack of God in people’s lives today. There is a disturbing lack of morality, a sense of right and wrong, a sense of compassion. And that is what the 11 tribes of Israel were trying to blot out when they attacked their own cousins.

If we sit idly by and do nothing about evil, it will destroy us. And I had a boss once that had a motto, “If you permit it, you promote it.”

Obviously we do not have the right to start attacking and killing the wicked today, but we surely can offer prayer to our Heavenly Father and ask that He defeat evil. It will be defeated in the end; we know from prophesy that good will triumph in the end.

Amen.