“For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord until evening. They had asked the Lord, ‘Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?’
And the Lord had said, ‘Go out and fight against them.'”
Twice the Israelites marched out to fight against Gibeah, and twice they were defeated in battle, losing thousands of men. And yet the Lord had said, “Go out and fight against them.” It wasn’t until the third day that they were able to defeat Gibeah, killing all of its people and burning the city to the ground.
Although this ancient scene is very gruesome, it does teach us a lesson. We are called to obey the Lord, i.e., to center our lives around Him. If we do, we should count it a victory, our present circumstances notwithstanding.
