Judg 20:27-28 | KingComments | STEP | Before the Israelites began the battle against the evildoers, they had expected an easy victory. They would do that job in a short time. After all, they were an overwhelming majority, weren’t they? The result of this attitude, however, is that they have already been defeated twice. They don’t understand anything about it anymore. In their desperation they humbly and in tears turn again to the LORD in Bethel (meaning ‘house of God’) and ask Him if they need to go up again. They even start fasting. There is now no longer any question of coming together and going back to battle again. They realize that they have failed. It begins to dawn on them that God has something to say to them first. Before they go to ask God, they offer “burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD”. That’s beautiful. By offering these offerings they say, as it were, that they can only exist before God on the basis of the value of these offerings. Both speak of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The burnt offering shows this work as a work by which the Lord Jesus on the cross glorified God completely. It is an offering entirely reserved for God ( ). On the basis of that offering God can bless His people and accept them. It is the only ground on which this can be done. For us this is beautifully expressed in Ephesians 1, where it says that God made us pleasant “in the Beloved” ( ). Bringing a burnt offering means that we are aware that God sees us in the value of the work of the Lord Jesus and not on the basis of anything in ourselves. The peace offering is a fellowship offering. It expresses that through the work of the Lord Jesus, fellowship is possible with God, with the Lord Jesus and with all members of God’s people. A description of this offering can be found in Leviticus 3 and 7 ( ). Bringing this offering means that the consciousness is present of the fellowship that exists among the people of God. Benjamin is also included in this. But because sin cannot have a place in this fellowship – it has been judged and is removed through the work of which this sacrifice speaks – sin must be judged. If there is then to be dealt with public sin among God’s people, it is from the meaning of this sacrifice and not from a personal grievance or a feeling hurt as a group. It is God’s purpose that Israel then (and we now) stand on the basis of these sacrifices. We are never in a position to act with someone else before God has been able to act with what is contrary to His Name in our own souls. Another important aspect is that the whole people are involved. If there are exercises to exercise discipline in a particular case, these exercises should not be limited to a few brothers. It concerns the entire local church. This is not a secret sin, of which only a few know, but something that is generally known. There is often little strength in the exercise of discipline because the exercise is often limited to a few who show a spiritual mind. If we really come to God’s presence with a disciplinary case, we can no longer be only indignant. Then there is real grief about what has happened among us and of what we ourselves are capable of. There is also talk of “the ark of the covenant of God”. It is the only time that the book of Judges mentions the ark. The ark is a beautiful picture of Christ. He is the basis of all the actions of God with us and of our actions for God. By always keeping this in mind, we are kept from acting in the spirit of being better than the other. A proper judgment of evil and its elimination is no basis for fellowship. Our fellowship as saints is based only on Christ and His death. Only from this position evil can be judged. There, in picture, God must bring His people through the discipline He must allow. This is not about a comparison between Benjamin and Israel, but about what is evil in the eyes of God and that it should be removed in the way He indicates. He cannot tolerate evil among His people because He dwells among His people. This applies in exactly the same way today for the local church gathers together in the Name of the Lord Jesus. He says of this: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” ( ). Therefore, sin must be removed from a local church. In the process to which God subjects His people to bring them into the right mind, the name of Phinehas is also mentioned. As noted earlier, this indicates that the period in which this event takes place must be just after the people have arrived in the promised land. Phinehas is a man who has fought for the honor of God in the wilderness. If evil has entered the camp, he judges it by killing the evildoers ( ). We have to be zealous with God’s zeal and not with our natural feelings. With Phinehas was a holy, priestly and spiritual indignation. With him we can perceive insight into God’s thoughts. That the people come to him to consult the LORD through him also shows us that the people are where they should be. We can say that Paul is the Phinehas of the New Testament. He has worked hard to make the will of God known in all churches. He has always fought when the believers threatened to deviate from Christ through wrong doctrine or wrong practices. It is to be hoped that each of us wants to be a Phinehas too.

‏ Judges 20:27-28

Preparation for the Third Encounter

Before the Israelites began the battle against the evildoers, they had expected an easy victory. They would do that job in a short time. After all, they were an overwhelming majority, weren’t they? The result of this attitude, however, is that they have already been defeated twice. They don’t understand anything about it anymore.

In their desperation they humbly and in tears turn again to the LORD in Bethel (meaning ‘house of God’) and ask Him if they need to go up again. They even start fasting. There is now no longer any question of coming together and going back to battle again. They realize that they have failed. It begins to dawn on them that God has something to say to them first.

Before they go to ask God, they offer “burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD”. That’s beautiful. By offering these offerings they say, as it were, that they can only exist before God on the basis of the value of these offerings. Both speak of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.

The burnt offering shows this work as a work by which the Lord Jesus on the cross glorified God completely. It is an offering entirely reserved for God (Lev 1:1-17). On the basis of that offering God can bless His people and accept them. It is the only ground on which this can be done. For us this is beautifully expressed in Ephesians 1, where it says that God made us pleasant “in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6). Bringing a burnt offering means that we are aware that God sees us in the value of the work of the Lord Jesus and not on the basis of anything in ourselves.

The peace offering is a fellowship offering. It expresses that through the work of the Lord Jesus, fellowship is possible with God, with the Lord Jesus and with all members of God’s people. A description of this offering can be found in Leviticus 3 and 7 (Lev 3:1-17 ; Lev 7:11-21). Bringing this offering means that the consciousness is present of the fellowship that exists among the people of God.

Benjamin is also included in this. But because sin cannot have a place in this fellowship – it has been judged and is removed through the work of which this sacrifice speaks – sin must be judged. If there is then to be dealt with public sin among God’s people, it is from the meaning of this sacrifice and not from a personal grievance or a feeling hurt as a group. It is God’s purpose that Israel then (and we now) stand on the basis of these sacrifices. We are never in a position to act with someone else before God has been able to act with what is contrary to His Name in our own souls.

Another important aspect is that the whole people are involved. If there are exercises to exercise discipline in a particular case, these exercises should not be limited to a few brothers. It concerns the entire local church. This is not a secret sin, of which only a few know, but something that is generally known.

There is often little strength in the exercise of discipline because the exercise is often limited to a few who show a spiritual mind. If we really come to God’s presence with a disciplinary case, we can no longer be only indignant. Then there is real grief about what has happened among us and of what we ourselves are capable of.

There is also talk of “the ark of the covenant of God”. It is the only time that the book of Judges mentions the ark. The ark is a beautiful picture of Christ. He is the basis of all the actions of God with us and of our actions for God. By always keeping this in mind, we are kept from acting in the spirit of being better than the other. A proper judgment of evil and its elimination is no basis for fellowship. Our fellowship as saints is based only on Christ and His death. Only from this position evil can be judged. There, in picture, God must bring His people through the discipline He must allow.

This is not about a comparison between Benjamin and Israel, but about what is evil in the eyes of God and that it should be removed in the way He indicates. He cannot tolerate evil among His people because He dwells among His people. This applies in exactly the same way today for the local church gathers together in the Name of the Lord Jesus. He says of this: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Mt 18:20). Therefore, sin must be removed from a local church.

In the process to which God subjects His people to bring them into the right mind, the name of Phinehas is also mentioned. As noted earlier, this indicates that the period in which this event takes place must be just after the people have arrived in the promised land. Phinehas is a man who has fought for the honor of God in the wilderness. If evil has entered the camp, he judges it by killing the evildoers (Num 25:6-15).

We have to be zealous with God’s zeal and not with our natural feelings. With Phinehas was a holy, priestly and spiritual indignation. With him we can perceive insight into God’s thoughts. That the people come to him to consult the LORD through him also shows us that the people are where they should be.

We can say that Paul is the Phinehas of the New Testament. He has worked hard to make the will of God known in all churches. He has always fought when the believers threatened to deviate from Christ through wrong doctrine or wrong practices. It is to be hoped that each of us wants to be a Phinehas too.