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10
Mar '22
Seize the Moment – Day 723
10
Mar '22
The Near Death of Benjamin!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 10.
Have you ever had a near death experience? The tribe of Benjamin did!
Judges 20 continues the story of how the nation of Israel responded to the appalling news of the Levite’s concubine’s rape and murder at the hands of the sons of Benjamin, in the city of Gibeah. They declared war on their cousins – eleven tribes against the one tribe of Benjamin. It was a massacre on both sides as the Benjamites were fierce warriors (14-21). Judges 20:46-48 ends this heart-breaking chapter with the near-death experience of the tribe of Benjamin:
So all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who draw the sword; all these were valiant warriors. But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.
Before his death, when Israel blessed his twelve sons, he spoke these words over Benjamin in Genesis 49:27: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil.” These people were not to be taken lightly, yet they were nearly destroyed because of the evil they did against the Levite’s concubine. Why did God preserve this rebellious tribe? Because from the tribe of Benjamin came King Saul, the first king of Israel. Then, a thousand years later, came the Apostle Paul, God’s appointed apostle to the Gentiles, who wrote thirteen letters of the New Testament.
Seize the moment and be slow to judge a whole nation as deserving destruction. We never know what God may do in and through them for the good of all our futures.[1]
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] A scene that captures this action item comes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf stated to Frodo, after Frodo had commented that Gollum deserved death for his many horrible deeds: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
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