“So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 'This is what you are to do,' they said. 'Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin. ' They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. And the elders of the assembly said, 'With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,' they said, 'so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’” (Judges 21:10-18)
For the context of this situation in the life of the nation of Israel, check out last week’s post. Israel has two problems right now. First, the tribe of Benjamin is basically going to die out, after they got almost completely wiped out during the civil war in Israel. Second, the city of Jabesh Gilead in the territory of Manasseh didn’t show up to the initial meeting, so according to the oath made among Israel, they need to be put to death. In addition, the men from the tribe of Benjamin who remained had been hiding in the caves of Rimmon, so Israel needed to do something to let them know it was alright to come out, and so they could begin to repopulate their tribe.
Israel came up with a creative idea to solve both problems at once: keep the virgins of Jabesh Gilead and give them to the men of Benjamin!
This was a good solution, because of the genealogy of the tribes of Benjamin and Manasseh. Jacob was the father of the nation of Israel, and he had two wives and two servants whom he had children with. One of his wives, Rachel, gave birth to two sons - Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So, Benjamin and Manasseh were uncle and nephew, and therefore closely related in the bloodlines of the nation as they came from the same wife of Jacob.
But what about that whole idea of re-populating a tribe using virgins? Didn’t the virgins get a say in the matter? Not really, unfortunately; but their other choice was to die. According to Numbers 31:17-18, the law says it’s encouraged to save the virgins (and only the virgins) after a war.
After 4 months of hiding in caves, the remaining men of Benjamin were eager to get out and get on with their lives. However, as it turned out, there weren’t enough virgins for the men, and it would not have been right for some of the few survivors to not continue their family lines. Benjamin was already a small enough tribe after having most of their people wiped out!
In verse 15, it says, “The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.” The word there for “gap” literally means a breach, like a break in a wall. This suggests that Israel really wasn’t whole or complete without Benjamin. At this point it seemed like the breach was only partially repairable, given the oaths that had been made previously. Fortunately, Israel comes up with an even better plan, which we’ll take a look at next week.
What do you feel is broken in your life? Is there a hole that you feel can’t be filled? Perhaps you’ve experienced the death of a loved one, a divorce, a child moving away, a breakup of a relationship or close friendship, etc. We all have places in our life where we feel things aren’t quite as they should be and are broken.
What can we do about the holes in our life? Often, we can do nothing to fix them on our own, but God can fill them. He can fill us with His presence and give us His peace about the broken situation, and He likely has a solution for you, even if it may not be what you expect. It won’t be the same as what was lost, but just as God will provide a solution for Israel, we too can trust in God’s perfect timing and will for our lives. We need to trust that He will take care of us and give Him glory in all situations, including the broken ones.
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