Thoughts on Judges 20

Today's reading: Judges 20; Romans 3

Reading Judges 20 this morning I couldn't help but think about the toll our sin takes on the people around us.

It is easy to look at our sin and think it is not such a big deal, and that it really isn't impacting anybody other than ourselves, and so it's fine, but that's not the case. Sin doesn't sit nicely in the corner, only coming out when we tell it to, and then peacefully going back to hide when we are done with it. Sin might deceive us into thinking it is sitting nicely in the corner, but the reality is that when we give sin a place to stay it is subtly taking over more and more of our lives and thinking without us even realizing it, gradually doing more damage to us and to those around us until it can no longer be ignored.

The sin of the men of Gibeah was like this. I guarantee you that what this Levite and his concubine experienced when they stayed in Gibeah was not the first time this happened. The men of Gibeah had not previously been upstanding citizens that spontaneously decided to go on a murderous rampage that they deeply regretted later. Not that that would have excused it, but the point is that, for it to get to this point, others would already have noticed and allowed it to continue. It's telling that when the the rest of the Israelites send men throughout Benjamin, expecting them to stand with them against the actions of the people of Gibeah, they not only won't stand with Israel, but they defend Gibeah! Benjamin allowed this sin to brew in their midst and when it festered long enough that others realized what was going on and wanted to address it, the entire tribe was willing to fight to defend such heinous sin rather than agreeing that it needed to be dealt with!

And just look at the damage that dealing with this sin caused. Benjamin was almost entirely wiped out as a result of being unwilling to give up the sin in their midst, but it was their choice and their sin, so it's not all that unreasonable. But the rest of Israel paid dearly to remove this sin from their midst, losing over 40,000 men. The sin of Benjamin didn't just impact Benjamin, but caused significant damage to the rest of the nation as well.

It is always worth it to eradicate sin, no matter the cost, but the longer we let sin fester, the higher the cost will generally be to remove it, both to us, and to those around us. We need to learn to deal with sin quickly, keeping short accounts with God, and being open and honest with those around us so that we aren't like Benjamin, letting issues grow and fester in the dark until they break forth into the light causing much greater damage and pain than would otherwise be necessary.