 Lord's Day, we examined the first part of this chapter where the children of Israel have gathered together. They have considered the testimony of the Levite and the atrocities that have been committed in Gibeah, and so now they are making preparations to wage war against their brother, Benjamin. And so tonight we're gonna begin reading, rather than reading the entire text, we'll start down in verse 18. That's where we'll begin tonight, and we'll read verses 18 through 48, and then we'll consider our texts together. So read with me. Judges chapter 20, beginning in verse 18, hear the word of God. Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin? The Lord said, Judah first. So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and on that day cut down to the ground 22,000 men of the Israelites. And the people, that is the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening and asked counsel of the Lord saying, shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin? And the Lord said, go up against him. So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day and Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day and cut down to the ground 18,000 more of the children of Israel. All these drew the sword. Then all the children of Israel, that is all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. The Ark of the Covenant of God was there in those days. In Phineas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron stood before it in those days saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin or shall I cease? And the Lord said, go up for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand. Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people as at the other times in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah and in the field about 30 men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said they are defeated before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways. So all the men of Israel rose from their place, put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar and then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Gibeah. And 10,000 select men from all Israel came against Gibeah and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day. 25,100 Benjamites, all these drew the sword. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah. The men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. And now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about 30 of the men of Israel. For they said surely they are defeated before us as in the first battle. But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. When the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked for they saw that disaster had come upon them. Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness. But the battle overtook them and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. And 18,000 men of Benjamin fell. All these were men of Valor. Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Ramon, and they cut down 5,000 of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Githam and killed 2,000 of them. So all who fell of Benjamin that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword. All these were men of Valor. But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Ramon. And they stayed at the rock of Ramon for four months. And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin and struck them down with the edge of the sword. From every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to. This is the word of God. Amen. Amen. Let's pray and we'll look at this text together. Pray with me. A father in heaven, Lord, we come again to your word this evening. You're so grateful, Lord, to have the blessing and the privilege of an evening service like this to gather with your people to do just that. Very grateful for your word. Grateful, Lord, for how you have condescended to reveal yourself, your will, your plans, your purposes through the text of Scripture. And Lord, most predominantly how you reveal the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and your plans and purposes and our redemption. And we thank you, Lord, for the admonitions that you give us through these texts, particularly this text that we're looking at this evening. And pray that for your glory, Lord, for our own good that we would not fall according to the same example of disobedience, but that we would cling to our King and not do what is right in our own eyes, but follow the loving and gracious leadership of our King, Lord Jesus Christ, and would submit to him, submit to your word for our life, Lord. It's for our good. And we thank you for it. Thank you for revealing these truths to us and help us, Lord, to live according to them. We love you. We're very grateful for this time. I pray that, Lord, that it would be edifying to your people. I pray that you would save sinners, Lord, for your glory. And we love you. In Jesus' name, amen. Again, the title of our sermon tonight, War in Israel, part two, Judges 20, verses one through 48. And as we return to Judges 20 this evening in part two of War in Israel, we find now that any hope of peace, any hope of unity between the tribes of Israel and their brothers from Benjamin, another tribe of Israel, any hope of peace or unity now is gone, has evaporated. Sin, sin has done its work of division and a tribe of Israel has now been ripped from his brothers and separated from Israel. On the one side, on one side of this fight, all of Israel has gathered together as one man to Mizpa. There's a great and impressive unity that's on display among these tribes of Israel. They are indignant at the atrocities that have taken place in Gibeah. And now Israel is finally, after all this time, after having failed to be united in their battles against the Canaanites, Israel finds themselves united in a battle against their own brothers. All Israel finally united in indignation over the rape and murder of the Levites' concubine. Now, heeding the charge of our narrator in chapter 19 verse 30, the tribes of Israel have come together as one man to consider the matter and they have conference together and have now spoken. Benjamin must turn over those perverted and worthless men who are responsible for this wickedness so that they may be put to death and the evil removed from the nation or there will be war in Israel. Now, it's difficult to mention that without at the same time mentioning that these atrocities have galvanized the tribes of Israel as one man at Mizpa against these atrocities that the Levite has committed that the men of Gibeah have committed. And yet after all this, Israel themselves can't rouse themselves to some form of unity over the atrocities that have been committed by the nation of Israel and Israel. They've been sitting against the Lord. They have plunged themselves into idolatry. They have become wayward. They've become largely canonized. There doesn't seem to be any unity behind the covenant that God has made with his people after having delivered them out of bondage in Egypt. But as yet, we find the tribes in Israel now galvanized against their brother Benjamin for this incident in Gibeah. Now, last week we saw that last week all against one in verses one through eleven. All the tribes of Israel gathered together. It's one man against Benjamin. And then in a shocking and in an astonishing refusal, Benjamin is not recorded as having said anything in response to that demand. Israel demands that Benjamin turn over those worthless and perverted men. Benjamin doesn't respond by their actions and in keeping with the now horribly inhospitable reputation that they have justly garnered for themselves, Benjamin now sides with the wicked among them against God's covenant people. Benjamin, as it were, they're going to rally the troops. They're going to circle the wagons. In essence, harboring those wicked men who have committed these atrocities against their brothers and against the covenant people of God. It's amazing. It's a shocking refusal. Benjamin sides with the wicked now they simply gathered together at Gibeah without a word and they prepare for war in Israel. And we see in verses 12 through 17 one against all. One tribe, Benjamin, against all the remaining tribes of Israel. So tonight then we see the historical record of the war. From verses 18 through 28, we see Benjamin win a couple of battles. Versus 29 to 48, Israel wins the war. Now, so we consider the breakdown of the text. Remember, Benjamin is vastly outnumbered, vastly outnumbered. Israel boasts 400,000 men who drew the sword, men of valor. Benjamin has about 26,000 troops. Now, Benjamin's not going to go down without a fight, though. Benjamin has about 700 left-handed super slingers that crack troops. They're going to fight against Israel and this battle is not going to be easy. Benjamin won't go down without a fight. So we pick up the account then in verse 18. Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. Now the location here is important. The fact that they go up to the house of God here is important. The New King James, if you have that translation translates the location as house of God while your ESV or your NASB uses the proper name Betel, Betel or Bethel, all right? If you remember, Jacob made his own covenant with the Lord. The Lord reaffirmed his covenant with Jacob. Here, Bethel in Genesis chapter 28, house of God, remember? Betel or Bethel literally means house of God. But nowhere here is the name El used of God, used for God. So it's better to think of the city as Bethel as having become a center for worship in Israel and the location of Bethel is the proper, I think, translation of this term in verse 18. Rather than translating it, the house of God, I think what is referenced here is the actual city of Bethel. Now they go up to Bethel verse 18 and they said, they inquire of God and they said, which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin? The Lord said, Judah first. And we don't know if that's an audible response on the part of God. Very likely this was the Urim and the Thumam that they used to come to a decision of Judah first. But if that question and that answer sounds familiar, that's because it is. We heard that very same Q and A at the very beginning of the book, chapter one verses one and two, and there at the very beginning of the book, that question and answer was in reference to fighting the Canaanites in order to take possession of the territories that were given them in the inheritance of the land. They were going to take possession of their territories. So everything's coming full circle now, but rather than fighting the Canaanites here in a matter of one generation, this question and answer now is in reference to a fight against their own brothers. You have to recognize the irony in that, right? The decline of the nation in this short period of time, one generation, they go from entering the land in order to fight the Canaanites to take possession of their inheritance to now essentially having lost much of their inheritance to a stubborn Canaanite presence in the land and now they're in battle against their own brothers, Benjamin, in a bloody civil war. Now the similarity in language here in verse 18, when compared to chapter one verses one and two, that similarity is meant to draw the connection. It's meant to draw that comparison in contrast. Benjamin, rather than the Canaanites, is now a canonized enemy of Israel. It's amazing, isn't it? It's as though Benjamin has become a tribe of enemy Canaanites. We know from the study of the book together that that's because of a persistent and pervasive and continual Canaanite influence or Canaanite insurgents. It's a pervasive canonization of the tribe. They become words we would use today more and more and more worldly. They've become like the Canaanites that are all around them. They become more and more like these pagan peoples. The tribe has become more and more Canaanites. Now we have pursued that application and that connection to ourselves in several texts leading up to this one, but it bears remembering that brothers and sisters, we are not to be friends with this world. To make yourself a friend of this world, you make yourself an enemy of God. We are to put off worldliness. We are to hold at bay that wicked influence. Don't let the world in through the eye gate. Don't let the world in through the ear gate. Don't let that Canaanite influence make a Canaanite out of you, right? We're going to hold the world at bay and cling to Christ in holiness. Now notice here, verse 18, the question isn't shall we go up? Interesting, isn't it? And then who shall go up first? The decision has already been made, hasn't it? Decision has been made and notice the decision was made entirely without going to the Lord for His direction. The decision was entirely made without the Lord's help, without the Lord's direction. Now does that sound familiar to you? Yeah, we see examples of that in Scripture where decisions have been made without inquiring of the Lord and we see professing Christians today, Christians today, often guilty of the very same thing, don't we? And this is part of the main point, I think, that we're to gather from these actions in particular of the tribes of Israel as they encounter Benjamin here. We're to consider the awful way in which they go about making this decision. Christians are often guilty of the very same thing. You've made the decision. You have your heart now set on the outcome. This is what we're going to do and then you seek counsel, right? How many times does that happen? I'm moving to Montana, Lord. Where do you want me to go to church? I would submit to you that the cart is slightly before the horse on that one. Brothers, I've decided to move to Montana. What do you think? I'm seeking counsel. Listen, that is a terrible way to make a decision. The Lord has established the means for us by which we should live and make decisions. The Lord has cared for us in the provision of those means. And to this point, how has the decision been made by Israel? It's been made in complete neglect of those means. Whatever we may think about the justice of Israel's decision, whatever we think may think about the just pursuit that Israel has here, it was made apart from any consideration of the Lord. Charged with emotion, right? Charged with his indignation. Israel indignant, ready for war. But what does God say? God says the vengeance is mine. God says vengeance is mine. Who should be king in Israel? God is king in Israel and yet they're making decisions doing what is right in their own eyes. We've seen it time and again, haven't we? Let me ask you, who's Lord of your life? Who is the Lord of your life? You're going to make decisions in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We just talked about that this morning in Romans chapter one verse one, Paul glories in the fact that he is a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, a slave of Jesus Christ. And now a slave of Jesus Christ, he is not his own. He has been bought with a price. His will is entirely submitted to the will and commandment of Jesus Christ, his Lord. You see? We are not our own. Well, what happens? What happens when the decision that you're making doesn't line up with what is good and just? You see what Israel has done, don't you? You see what they've attempted to do? They just, in making the decision, the way that they've made it, listen, they have subjected God to their decision. We're going up and then they turn to God and say, Lord, who do you want to go first? You see the absurdity of that? They're subjecting God, submitting God to the decision that they've made, rather than going to the Lord first about the decision that they were making. Do you see? They expect that everything in that is just going to turn out fine. Lord, you know this is what I need to do? I've got this reason. I've got that reason. Often the reasons are reasons that you come up with because you've already decided what you want and now you're justifying the decision that you've already made. You may say, I haven't made a decision yet. You're already coming up with reasons for why the decision that you've made is the right one. Who is Lord? You've been bought with a price. You are not your own. We're to make decisions in accord with God's word. We're to make decisions submitted to the Lord. In this case, Israel even gets an answer now from the Lord. Yahweh answers and said, Judah first. Now again, most likely the Urim and the Thumen could have been an audible voice. We don't know. We're not told, but they get an answer from the Lord, Judah first. An answer that we'll see will lead them to see the foolishness of their rash action. Sometimes the answer that you get will be an answer that will lead you to see your own need and dependence, your own foolishness. It's exactly the answer that Israel's going to get here. What do Christians often say? I've prayed about it. I prayed about it. I feel led. Well, you may get an answer. It may not be the answer you were looking for. And often when Christians say that, I've prayed about it. They stop their ears to God's word on the matter because they don't want to hear anything else on the matter. You've neglected or even rejected counsel as a means of God's wisdom on the matter. So having stopped your ears to the word of God on the matter and then having rejected counsel as a means of God's protection, God's wisdom on the matter, in the silence that is left, you think to yourself, well, I'm praying about it. I'm praying about it. But what do you expect? Where's that answer going to come from, right? What do you expect? In the silence that is left, you start interpreting leanings and start interpreting desire as God's will or God's providence. It's a dangerous place to be. Maybe you're expecting some sign from heaven, right? God, if you don't want me to move to my Montana, then show me a sign. Lord, if you don't want me to move to Montana, I pray the U-Haul breaks down before I get out of the neighborhood, right? It's like your inner charismatic comes out, right? The Lord has given me a job there. Look at the deal that the Lord gave me on the U-Haul. Surely this is a sign that I'm supposed to move to Montana. I got half off on the U-Haul. You wouldn't believe the great deal. You start interpreting carnal desire. You start interpreting carnal preference as God's leading. I feel this is the best decision. I've really sought the Lord on it. I've really prayed about it. You start interpreting personal preference. Start interpreting personal leanings as God's leading. This is an atrocious, idolatrous, self-willed, and destructive way to make decisions. Israel's going to pay a price for their presumption. Israel is making this mistake. We'll see. Verse 19, So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. Verse 20, And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin. And the men of Israel put themselves in battle ray to fight against them at Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. And on that day cut down to the ground 22,000 men of the Israelites. Now again, remember that Benjamin here is vastly outnumbered. 400,000 to 26,000. We don't have any record here of losses in Benjamin. It's possible that there weren't any Benjamin given a tremendous victory here on day one. And the Israelites might have been saying to themselves, Now wait a minute. You may even say that in reading the text. Now wait a minute. God told them to go up. No, he didn't. They merely asked who was to be first. And the Lord answered Judah. The Benjamites are given a stunning, you might even say, miraculous victory against a much larger force. What in the world is going on here? Verse 22. And the people, that is the men of Israel, they encouraged themselves. In other words, they took courage. It's what the word means. They bolstered their confidence and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. Only this time, now there's a little more concern demonstrated by their actions. Not quite so presumptuous this time. Some lessons are only learned in the school of hard knocks, right? In the soil of difficulty. They asked the question that they should have asked at the beginning. Verse 23. The children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening and asked counsel of the Lord saying, Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin? And the Lord said, Go up against him. Now, this time they have a very clear directive from the Lord. They've asked the question. They have a clear directive. Go up against him. Victory, they think to themselves will come swift and easy now. What's missing? What's missing is the common promise from God that we're used to hearing throughout the book of Judges and I will deliver them into your hand. We don't hear that. They may have thought to themselves, we have a clear directive. Certainly now victory will come easy. Verse 24. Children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day and Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day and cut down to the ground 18,000 more of the children of Israel. All these drew the sword. Okay. Okay. Wait a minute. All right. Wait a minute. What is going on here? I did what I was supposed to do. Israel might have thought to themselves. Why didn't things turn out the way that I wanted them to? In our account, we have to acknowledge, don't we, that both Israel and Benjamin were sinful. Benjamin has committed atrocities in Gibeah but that doesn't change the fact that Israel has sinned. Israel has squandered their covenant with God. Israel has neglected their covenant with God. Israel, a covenant of Israel with God, is in question at this time. Both Israel and Benjamin were sinful. Punishment or judgment isn't withheld from those who are less sinful. Is it? One commentator said that the text functions as a warning to our pride which grows most obese when it gazes on the more blatant sins of others. I don't think that's what's going on in Israel here. In other words, take heed lest you fall according to the same example of disobedience. It's removing the plank that is in your own eye prior to addressing the speck that is in your brothers. Do you see? I think we have to acknowledge another biblical truth here as well that your way, your ease, your comfort, your success isn't earned by your obedience. You don't earn prosperity through faith. Hear what I said. You don't earn prosperity through faith. What does that make faith? That makes faith a work, doesn't it? You don't earn prosperity. You don't earn success. You don't earn ease, earn comfort through faith. That makes faith a work. Faith is trusting God in your obedience no matter how it all turns out. Do you see? No matter how it all turns out. If adversity leads to more adversity, trust God, praise God, and keep moving forward. Keep pressing on in obedience. Keep pressing on in faith. Do you see how these, these charismatic tendencies, the health, wealth, prosperity, gospel, so-called gospel, for example, the charismatic way of laying out fleeces to make decisions, you can see how all of that undermines the word of God, right? Undermines the word of God, undermines true faith, undermines faith-filled obedience to God's word. It undermines our faith in Him, our trust in Him. We start looking to our faith as a means to earn God's favor, simply not going to be the case. There are many, many reasons why God may determine additional adversity for you. Many reasons why God may determine difficulty for you. God has promised to work all things together for good to those who love Him, but the good that God provides may come through the means of difficulty, may come through the means of adversity. Even when the course of action you're taking is in complete harmony with the word of God, even when the course of action you're taking accords with God's word and even when you take that action independence upon Him, God may determine more difficulty, more adversity. We must be, what must be the foundation of our confidence is not an expectation of good in payment for faith rendered, do you see? Or obedience rendered. Our foundation must be the word of God, wherein we find the promises of God to us regardless of what our circumstances are. All of those promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. So regardless of your circumstances, regardless of the difficulty, regardless of the adversity, we press on in obedience, in faith filled obedience to the Lord, simply trusting Him regardless of the outcome. Certainly we pray and we ask for the Lord's help. Certainly we pray and we ask for those things that we desire to be the outcome, but however they turn out the Lord is the Lord. He is sovereign and works all things together for our good, we can trust Him. So you face adversity, you face difficulty and you examine yourself when you do, you make sure that you are aligned with God's word, you examine your heart, make sure that you're trusting Him alone and then you press on in obedience to Him, trusting in Him for the results, whatever they may be, even if that is more adversity. And God promises to work all things together for your good. Well the children of Israel are naturally very dismayed at their second defeat. Notice first now they prepare their hearts, verse 26. First they prepare their hearts and all the children of Israel, that is all the people, not just the leaders now, all the people, they gather together, went up, they come to the house of God and they wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening. They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. This is important and it's significant. Israel's more earnest now, aren't they? It's taught them a hard lesson. Not just weeping, notice, but weeping and fasting until evening. Not just weeping, but now burnt offerings and peace offerings are given to the Lord. Israel now, it looks like in verse 26, comes to acknowledge their sin before that's the purpose of the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. It's an acknowledgement of Israel's sin and an offering for sin, a burnt offering and a peace offering for sin. They have come to see through this that their covenant relationship to God is in serious doubt and this looks now more like humility, more like repentance. First they prepare their hearts, then they seek the Lord and notice the question changes again, verse 27. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. Now the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days and Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron stood before it in those days and the children of Israel inquired of the Lord saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin or shall I cease? Do you see? Question has changed again, this is better. Lord said, go up for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand. Now we have a directive from God and a promise of God. Their stubborn, prideful, self-reliance seems to have been broken and that is broken in the midst of adversity. It's often what it takes to break us, isn't it? It's hardship, it's difficulty. We have to go through difficulty often in order to break our stubborn, prideful wills. Their self-reliance seems to have been broken and now the Lord makes a promise I will deliver them into your hand. The parenthetical comment there in verse 27 is worth noting. Where was the ark of God, the ark of the covenant supposed to be in those days? The ark was supposed to be in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was supposed to have been in Shiloh and the ark was to have been kept in the Holy of Holies. What does Israel tend to do during this period and later? They tend to move the ark of the covenant around like a good luck charm. So we find that later they may have taken cues from the invasion of the land, the emancipation generation or the inheritance generation going into Jericho, the ark of the covenant, preceding them. Here it looks like they've moved the ark of the covenant to Bethel using it as a good luck charm. Nevertheless, it is the ark of the covenant. That's important in Israel. Combined with the offerings made in repentant worship, again, this is representative. These things are representatives, representative of Israel's covenant relationship to Yahweh, something that we don't see any indication of in Benjamin, right? Benjamin now it looks to be entirely outside of these covenantal institutions. So the next battle is not going to bode well for Benjamin. Having displayed the depravity of Benjamin in chapter 19, we now see the defeat of Benjamin beginning in chapter 20 verse 29. Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. Children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people as at the other times in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field about 30 men of Israel. The children of Benjamin said they are defeated before us as at first, but the children of Israel said, let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways. And so all the men of Israel rose from their place, put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar, and then Israel's men in ambush burst forth in their position in the plain of Gibeah, and 10,000 select men of Israel came against Gibeah and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. What does it say in verse 35? The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. Amen. The children of Israel destroyed that day 25,100 Benjamites. All these drew the sword. Subsequent to prior defeats, we now see a near complete route of the tribe of Benjamin. Remember Benjamin was a force of 26,000. Here 25,100 Benjamites were slain in the battle. All these drew the sword. Battlet, if it sounds familiar, again I think it's because it it should, it is familiar, reminds us of the battle at AI, doesn't it? The whole context reminds us of the battle at AI. When the Israelites had taken Jericho, the next town was AI. Substantially smaller town. What happened with Israel? Israel became prideful. Israel became self-reliant and Israel failed to inquire of the Lord. And what had happened in Jericho? Akin had taken some of the treasure for himself and hidden it under his tent. Now Israel, prideful, presumptuous, self-reliant, not knowing, ignorant, fails to inquire of the Lord. They send men into AI and this small town of AI pushes Israel back, kills 36 men and Israel is left weeping, having been defeated by this town. So what does Israel then do? They go before the Lord. They repent and dust and ashes. The Lord reveals to them the sin in the camp. They deal with the sin in the camp and they go back to AI. The Lord now going to deliver AI into their hands and what do the men of Israel do? They set up an ambush. They draw the men of AI out of the city. They leave a force behind to burn the city to the ground behind them and they trap the men of AI and win a glorious victory. The Lord wins a glorious victory but the the connection is clear, isn't it? We should learn from these mistakes. We should learn from these examples. The Lord has clearly said, 1 Corinthians 9 is a good example of this, right? Learn from these examples that are given to us for our admonition. Brothers and sisters, we can't act presumptuously. We are not our own. We've been bought at a price. We cannot act pridefully or in a self-willed way. Lord, I am at your disposal. Whatever you want me to do, that will I do, right? And you pursue obedience to the Lord in faith, trusting him as Lord and King over your life. We have to obey him and that brothers and sisters is for our good. It's for our good. The Lord knows what is for our good and he promises to work all things together for our good. Verse 36, the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites because they relied on the men of ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. The men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah. The men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the with the edge of the sword. It's how they should have handled the Canaanites incidentally. They didn't handle the Canaanites that way and the Canaanites have become thorns in their sides and snares to the children of Israel. But this is how they handled their brother Benjamin in verse 38. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about 30 of the men of Israel for they said surely they are defeated before us as in the first battle. But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke the Benjamites looked behind them. There was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. When the men of Israel turned back the men of Benjamin panicked for they saw that disaster had come upon them. Just an exposition of the more brief statement of victory that came in the verses preceding these. This reminds us though of the initial defeat and then final victory of the Israelites at AI. They did not first consult the Lord lost the battle and then one using a similar ambush technique. It seems like Israel has learned at least the military lesson here in Judges chapter 20 if not the spiritual lesson they should have learned from AI. We brothers and sisters we need to learn these lessons. Sometimes because the judgment against an evil act is not executed speedily the intent of men's hearts is to do evil. You know what Solomon says? Consequences come judgment will come. God is appointed today on which he will judge the world in righteousness judged by the man whom he has ordained given evidence of this to all by raising that man the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Verse 42 therefore they looked they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness but the battle overtook them. Literally the word means it clung to them. It clung to them. In other words there was no escape. No escape. Whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. Look at the the totality if you will of the judgment. Verse 43 they surrounded the benjamites chased them easily trampled them down as far as the front of gibbia toward the east. If you persist in your sin and do not turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith your trampling will be easy. Is easy. It's nothing for the Lord to cast the wicked into hell. It's nothing for the Lord to trample down the wicked. Eighteen thousand men verse 44 of Benjamin fell. All these were men of valor. Those that will be raised to judgment at the last day will be great and small kings nobody's like us. All these were men of valor and yet the Lord easily tramples them down. Verse 45 they turned and fled toward the wilderness of the rock of Ramon and they cut down five thousand more of them on the highways. They pursued them relentlessly. Again listen this is the judgment of God upon them. This is the judgment of God. These descriptors these words used to describe God's pursuit of judgment against them. They pursued them relentlessly. Who pursued them relentlessly? God pursued them relentlessly. You see killed two thousand more of them. So all who fell of Benjamin that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword. All these were men of valor. Great men in the world's eyes. Only 26,000 among them to begin with. Almost all of them wiped out. But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness of the rock of Ramon and stayed at the rock of Ramon for four months. The men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin and struck them down with the edge of the sword. From every city men and beasts all who were found. God's judgment is relentless. They also set fire to all the cities they came to. We've considered the depravity of Benjamin in chapter 19. We consider the defeat now of Benjamin in chapter 20. Next time we're together we'll conclude with the dilemma of Benjamin then in chapter 21. The whole account really is intended to exhibit or manifest some irony here. The nation of Israel was to take the promised land by faith in the Lord. By driving out her enemies from before her. And what happened? She repeatedly fails to obey the Lord in doing what he has commanded. And here is chapter 20. After Israel's disobedience, after Israel's failure, Israel's now fighting against her own countrymen. She's found now that the enemy is no longer the Philistines, no longer the Midianites, no longer the Amorites, no longer the Canaanites. The enemy is Israel herself. The enemy of Israel has been seen now to be within Israel all along. This is a physical manifestation of that spiritual reality. When brothers and sisters let us not fall according to the same example of disobedience. We must say with Paul, I am a slave of Jesus Christ. I've been bought with a price. I'm not my own and we judge thus. But if one died for all, then all died and he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again. Let us not do what is right in our own eyes. We have a king, amen. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. All praise, honor, glory, blessing, dominion, and might to him and him alone. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, our king, the head of the church, our Lord. We thank you, Lord, that he has given himself up in death to ransom us, to deliver us from bondage to our sin, to redeem us from the slave market of sin, to set us free, to set our feet, to seat us in heavenly places in him. We praise you and thank you, Lord, that we can trust him, trust you in all things without doubting, knowing, Lord, that your ways are good and true and perfect and right and just. It is fresh water and clean air and purity and goodness and we know it's good that we should obey you in all things in faith and trusting you for what is right, and yet we find ourselves often this other principle in our members warring against the law in our mind, agrees with the law of God that it is holy, just and good. We find this other principle in our members that doubts, that worries, that lays hold of circumstances for ourselves, is self-reliant and prideful and fleshly and carnal. Help us, Lord, to repent of that way that we subject to that other principle in our members. Please help us, Lord, to rely upon you in faith and not give heed to that stinking thinking. And help us, Lord, to follow you, obey you in faith, knowing, Lord, that you take us by the hand and are leading us well to our heavenly inheritance. I pray, Lord, you protect us, protect us from the influence of this world, protect us from those things that would become snares to us. Help us to cling to you by faith and give us strength by your spirit to do that. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.