“The men of Israel turned back on the people of Binyamin and killed them with the sword, the entire city, the cattle and everything they found. Moreover, they set on fire all the cities they encountered.”-Judges 20:48
The 11 tribes of Israel launch their third offensive against the city of Gibeah…
And exactly as the Lord had promised, this time they achieve a stunning success.
Since the Benjamites assumed they would be attacked in exactly the same way as before, they expected the same result.
But it was not to be this time.
This time Israel’s frontal assault was a deception whose purpose was to lure the the warriors of Benjamin out into the open far away from Gibeah’s defensive walls.
And that’s exactly what happened.
The 11 tribes launched a frontal attack against Benjamin and then midway turned around and ran as if to communicate they were giving up.
This encouraged the soldiers of Benjamin to chase after them.
But they had no idea they had fallen into a big trap.
Because a few minutes later when they looked backwards they saw thick black clouds of smoke billowing upwards towards the sky.
At that instant, they knew their city Gibeah had been set on fire and had fallen into enemy hands…
The smoke was also a signal for the Israelites who were being chased to turn around.
The tables had instantly turned.
In an instant, those who were the object of a hot pursuit became the pursuers.
With the city of Gibeah now captured, the warriors of Benjamin found themselves caught between two forces.
They were doomed.
We’re told 18,000 men of Benjamin died trying to protect Gibeah while 5000 who tried to escape to the Rock of Rimmon (Pomegranate tree) were killed en route.
And an extra 2000 Benjamites who fled towards the city of Gidom were also caught and slaughtered.
Only 600 men were able to make it the Rock of Rimmon.
They stayed hidden there for about 4 months and were the only survivors.
The final verse of chapter 20 says it all.
We’re told the “entire city” was executed.
This included every remaining man, woman and child and even the farm animals.
What makes this situation so tragic is that this was a war of Hebrews against Hebrews…
The tribe of Benjamin was now on the verge of being completely wiped out forever.
We’ll continue on with the final chapter of Judges the next time we meet.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JUDGES CHAPTER 21
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