Why did God allow such violence in Judges 20:35? Judges 20:35 “So the LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin, all armed with swords.” Synopsis of the Question Why would a righteous God permit, and even underwrite, such bloodshed within His covenant people? --- Canonical and Redemptive Setting Judges records the chaotic era between Joshua and Samuel, repeatedly summarised by the refrain, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The book’s structure cycles through apostasy, oppression, repentance, and deliverance; chapter 20 represents the culmination of national moral collapse provoked by the atrocity at Gibeah (Judges 19). Israel’s civil war, therefore, is the tragic outworking of systemic covenant violation (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). --- The Immediate Cause: Covenant Justice, Not Caprice a. The crime at Gibeah: A Levite’s concubine was raped and killed by Benjamite citizens (Judges 19:22–28). b. National obligation: Deuteronomy 13 commands corporate purging of idolatrous—or in this case, heinously criminal—cities. Failure to prosecute such evil would incur collective guilt (Deuteronomy 21:1–9). c. Judicial process followed: Israel twice inquired of the LORD at Bethel (Judges 20:18, 23, 26–28) before acting, demonstrating that the war was judicial, not vengeful. --- Corporate Solidarity and Federal Representation Ancient Israel functioned covenantally. One tribe’s unrepented sin jeopardised national standing (Joshua 7). The refusal of Benjamin to surrender the perpetrators (Judges 20:13) rendered the tribe corporately liable. In Scripture the principle “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6) operates nationally as well as individually. --- Divine Patience and Escalating Consequences God allowed Israel to suffer two initial defeats (Judges 20:19–25) to expose national sin and sober the avengers. Only after fasting, sacrifices, and asking through the high priest with the Urim and Thummim did God grant victory (Judges 20:26–28), underscoring both His reluctance and His righteous resolve. --- Ethics of Holy War a. Lex talionis: Proportional justice (Exodus 21:23–25) demanded severe measures for aggravated sexual violence leading to death (Deuteronomy 22:25–27). b. Non-genocidal intent: Women, children, and 600 surviving men were spared (Judges 21:13–15), proving the goal was judicial discipline, not extermination. c. Temporal and typological: OT holy wars foreshadow ultimate judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10). Today the church wages spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12); civil justice is delegated to the state (Romans 13:1–4). --- Preservation of Messianic Lineage The tribe of Benjamin would eventually produce King Saul (1 Samuel 9) and the apostle Paul (Philippians 3:5). The purging of lawlessness actually safeguarded the tribe’s future contribution to redemptive history. --- Archaeological Corroboration of the Period • Iron Age I destruction layers at Gibeah (Tell el-Ful) reveal violent conflagration consistent with Judges 20’s timeframe (circa c. 1200–1100 BC by conventional chronology; c. 1400–1300 BC on a shortened Ussher-style timeline). • Excavations at Shiloh display abrupt cultic cessation compatible with Judges 18–21 political turmoil. These findings affirm the historicity of inter-tribal conflict in early Israel. --- Philosophical Coherence: Morality Grounded in the Creator Objective moral outrage at the violence presupposes an absolute moral standard. If the Creator is personal, holy, and the source of moral law, then divine adjudication of evil is logically entailed. Intelligent-design evidence—from irreducible biological complexity to the finely tuned constants—underscores that this moral Lawgiver is real, not fictional. --- Christological Trajectory The carnage at Gibeah points forward to a greater judgment borne by Christ on the cross. He absorbed divine wrath (Isaiah 53:5–6), ending the sacrificial-holy-war economy (Hebrews 9:26). The resurrection, attested by multiple early, independent sources within one generation, vindicates God’s justice and mercy, offering peace to repentant sinners—including modern readers recoiling at Judges 20. --- Practical Exhortations • Take sin seriously; hidden evil festers. • Seek corporate repentance and redemptive discipline within the faith community (Matthew 18:15–17). • Rest in the final kingdom where “nation will no longer take up the sword against nation” (Isaiah 2:4). --- Answer Summary God permitted the violence of Judges 20:35 as a measured, covenantal judgment to purge unrepentant wickedness, preserve the nation’s redemptive mission, and prefigure ultimate justice satisfied in Christ. The account is historically reliable, philosophically coherent, theologically necessary, and practically instructive for every generation. |
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