- Judges 20 Daily DEVO Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. Judges 20:26 – Don’t just follow God, keep following God even when it seems to be the wrong choice. Israel here asked of God twice what to do and He directed them to go out and battle, yet each time they were defeated. Israel though did something we should follow the example of. They continued to follow God and seek God’s direction even after the defeats. Make sure the defeats in your story aren’t pushing you off of the journey of following God. Victory is only found in God. While we may experience defeats along the path, following Him is the only way to ever taste victory. Keep up the fight and stay on the right path. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 600
- And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. Judges 20:34 – The battle was hard. This is actually the third time the men of Israel came to fight against the Benjaminites in this passage. The first time they lost 22,000 men. The second time they lost 18,000 men. Now after such heavy losses they are fighting once again because they know the fight is just and right. This is a truth about the path God is leading us on. Often it will be hard. Often we lose some battles. Often we’ll sacrifice. Often we feel dismayed and as if the battle is already lost. But the war that we are fighting is just and right. Our mission is to carry the message of the Gospel to a world that deeply needs it. Our fight is against an enemy that longs for the world to stay separated from Jesus. Yes, this fight will be hard, but it’s more than worth it. Today if you’re feeling exhausted from the fight, remember that God has set a table for you in the presence of your enemies to renew your strength. Lean into the peace, rest, and renewal He gives so you can keep fighting the good fight. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1803
- And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire. Judges 20:48 – The crime that was committed by the men of Gibeah was horrible and Israel coming together to execute punishment and bring about justice was the holy move to make. Yet what we see unfold by the end of the chapter goes beyond justice, its simply slaughter of their brother tribe. After hearing about the sin committed against the concubine in chapter 19, and after losing in the first two battles, the men of Israel were filled with fury against the tribe of Benjamin and let that fury loose. Now all that remained of the tribe of Benjamin after this slaughter was 600 men that were able to escape, something we’ll see Israel regret in the next chapter. Let us then remember that God is surely about justice being served, but we must be careful to not go beyond what the Lord has led us to do in scripture. We should hold our brothers accountable for their sins, we should seek to help them remove the speck from their eye, we can go to them with other believers and leadership if they are refusing to change, and we can even cut ties with them and treat them like Gentiles if they reject correction. Beyond this, our role is to pray and leave revenge to the Lord. Allowing sinful actions to take place because we let our rage, anger, and hate lead is not holy unto the Lord. Trust the Lord’s word on how to handle another’s sin and trust the Lord to bring about justice in situations where there is none yet. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2876
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