November 29, 2025
At the beginning of the wilderness journey, God had declared that He would be Israel’s God and they would be His people:
Exodus 6:7 - I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
For their part, the Children of Israel promised to obey:
Exodus 24:7 - Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey."
As we know, God’s people struggled to keep up their side of the covenant. They were drawn to idolatry. They were drawn to the “green grass” on the other side of the fence.
They wanted all the blessings of the covenant with none of the responsibility.
By the time we arrived at the book of Judges, they were hanging on by a thread.
Judges 2:10 - After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither Yahweh nor what he had done for Israel.
And not long after they were deep in the spin.
With the death of Samson, the record of Israelite Judges comes to an end. There is no further talk of foreign oppressors or heroic liberators. Instead, the final chapters tell 2 stories:
• The 1st - a Levite from Bethlehem, in Judah, who went into the hill country of Ephraim in search of a new place to live.
• The 2nd - a Levite from the hill country of Ephraim who went to Bethlehem, in Judah, to retrieve his concubine.
Both stories shed a light on the religious and moral standards of the time – revealing that God’s people were hardly better than the nations they had dispossessed.
What is interesting is that these stories appear to have happened during the time of Joshua.
The 1st story takes us back to Joshua 15-19 and the division of the land. According to Joshua 16, Ephraim was one of the 1st tribes to receive their inheritance.
Joshua 18:1-2 tells us that the people gathered at Shiloah and set up the Tabernacle there…… but that there were still 7 tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.
Joshua 19:40-48 reveals that Dan was the last tribe to receive their inheritance, which included the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. The Danites had difficulty taking possession of their territory, (described in Judges 1:34) because the Amorites did not allow them to occupy the fertile plains. So, looking for land, the Danites headed north. They came to a town called Leshem (Laish), attacked it, put the people to the sword and occupied it – renaming the town Dan.
It seems a straight forward story. Just more conquest. Just more bloodshed. Just more doing what Yahweh told them to do…..
Judges 17 and 18 fills in the gaps of the Joshua account – which will lead us to a completely different conclusion.
I couldn’t find a commentary that shares the following opinion, but never-the-less, I would argue that the reason these stories are so far out of chronological order is because whoever wrote Judges (Jewish tradition says Samuel) was making a direct link between the state of Israel without a king
Judges 17:6 - In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he saw fit.
Judges 18:1 - In those days Israel had no king….
Judges 19:1 - In those days Israel had no king….
Judges 21:25 - In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
and the eventual establishment of the Monarchy in 1st Samuel 9.
Story 1 -
There was a man named Micah “Who is like Yahweh” who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. His mother thought someone had taken her 1100 shekels of silver and she cursed them.
It turned out Micah had taken the silver and when he confessed, his mother said, “May Yahweh bless you, my son!" and she swore that she would consecrate the money to Yahweh……. By having idols made from the silver.
She took 200 of the 1100 shekels and went to the local silversmith. He cast the image and the idol and they were put into Micah’s home shrine along with the rest of his idol collection – then he consecrated one of his sons as his priest.
Micah clearly had a dim understanding of the covenant because he was mixing the worship of Yahweh with the worship of local gods – thinking nothing of the obvious contradictions.
***Judges 17:6 - “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he saw fit.”***
The story continues…..
A young Levite from Bethlehem, in Judah, left home and went looking for another place to live. He journeyed into the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s home. Micah welcomed him and invited him to become his personal priest, offering him wages, room and board. The young Levite agreed.
With the addition of his own personal priest, Micah was confident that Yahweh would be good to him.
***Judges 18:1 - In those days Israel had no king….***
And here is where we find the link to the story in Joshua 19….
In those days the tribe of Dan was seeking a place to settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
They sent 5 spies from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. When they entered the hill country of Ephraim, they went to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
Apparently, they knew the young Levite, because they recognized his voice and asked him why he was there.
He told them he was Micah’s personal priest, so they asked him to inquire of God to learn whether or not their journey would be successful.
“Your journey has Yahweh’s approval." He answered.
The spies continued their journey north, eventually coming to Laish.
They saw that the people were living in safety - unsuspecting and secure. Since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. They lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.
The spies returned home and reported their findings. 600 soldiers set out - arriving in the hill country of Ephraim.
The 5 spies informed the little army that Micah was in possession of some idols, so they went to the house and while the priests and little army waited at the gate, the spies went into the house and took the idols.
The priest made a brief protest, but when he was offered a better position, he joined the warriors…. And off they went.
Micah and his neighbors gave chase and when they got close enough they started to shout.
Words were said. Threats were made. In the end, the Danites went on to Laish and Micah turned around and went back home – minus his idols.
The Danites attacked the peaceful, unsuspecting people of Laish and burned their city – no one came to their rescue.
The Danites rebuilt the city, renaming it Dan. The Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.
They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
(This captivity was likely during the time of the Philistines. Archaeologists have found that the destruction of the temple at Dan occurred during that period).
***Judges 19:1 - In those days Israel had no king….***
Story 2 –
A Levite, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She was unfaithful and returned home.
After 4 months, the Levite, with 2 donkeys and a servant, went to Bethlehem to get his “wife” (the writer of the story uses wife and concubine interchangeably).
The girl’s father was happy to see his son-in-law and convinced him to stay for a visit. On the evening of the 5th day, despite the best efforts of the father-in-law, the Levite, his concubine, servant and 2 donkey’s left Bethlehem and headed in the direction of Jebus (Jerusalem) 5-ish miles to the north.
The servant suggested that they stay the night in Jebus, but the Levite declined because the people of Jebus were not Israelite. They headed for Gibeah instead, reaching the city just as the sun set.
They decided to spend the night in the city square, because no one invited them home.
An old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah, came in from the fields and he noticed the strangers, engaged them in conversation and eventually inviting them home, noting that it was not a good idea to spend the night in the square.
While they were all eating, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house and demanded the male guest be handed over to them, "so we can have sex with him."
The old man tried to talk them out of it, offering his own virgin daughter and the guest’s concubine as an alternative, "I will bring them out and you can do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."
The men would not listen, so the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them. They raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
At daybreak she went back to the house and fell at the door. The Levite opened the door, intent on resuming his journey, and there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway with her hands on the threshold.
He said, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer – she was dead. He put her on his donkey and went home.
When he arrived, he took a knife and cut her up into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.
All the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled at Mizpah – 400,000 soldiers armed with swords (did not include Benjamin).
After the Levite told his story, the Israelites were furious, “We will go against Gibeah and repay them for all this vileness done in Israel!!!”
Men were sent throughout the tribe of Benjamin demanding that the guilty men of Gibeah be surrendered, but the Benjamites would not listen and formed their own army = 26,700 men, including 700 left-handed soldiers.
The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?"
Yahweh replied, "Judah shall go first."
Day 1
Israel and Benjamin took up battle positions and 22,000 Israelites died on the battlefield.
The Israelites went up and wept before Yahweh until evening,
Then inquired, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?"
Yahweh answered, "Go up against them."
Day 2
Another 18,000 Israelites soldiers were killed.
Then the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept before Yahweh. They fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to Yahweh, then asked again, "Shall we go to battle with Benjamin or not?"
Yahweh responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."
(In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)
Day 3
This time, Israel set an ambush and by the end of the day over 25,000 Benjamites were dead and 600 had fled into the desert, where they stayed 4 months.
Meanwhile, the Israelites went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.
Conclusion
The men of Israel had taken an oath that none of their daughters would be given in marriage to a Benjamite. But now they realized that they had gone too far. There were only 600 Benjamites left and there were no women to marry – the tribe of Benjamin was on the verge of extinction.
The elders of Israel came up with a plan:
"Who from all the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before Yahweh?"
The answer ---- Jabesh Gilead (east Manasseh).
12,000 soldiers went to Jabesh Gilead with orders to kill every living thing, including men, children and women who were not virgins. Job done, the 400 young women who had never slept with a man, were taken back to Shiloh.
An offer of peace was sent to the 600 Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. They returned home and were given the 400 virgins from Jabesh Gilead. However, 200 of them still did not have wives, so the elders came up with another plan and instructed the Benjamites to kidnap the girls of Shiloh as they were going to dance at the annual festival. Which they did.
When the fathers and brothers complained, they were told, “Do us a kindness by helping the Benjamites. We did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.”
The Benjamites returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
The book concludes with these words:
Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
Until Next Time…………..
