Shocking!

“And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.” (Jud 20:41 AV)

One has to ask why the tribe of Benjamin was amazed they were losing the battle!  They were outnumbered.  The rest of the nation had learned from their mistakes and made adjustments.  Surely, given time and opportunity, the nation would eventually succeed against a wicked tribe in Benjamin.  Why would they be amazed?  Furthermore, why would they be amazed at the evil?  After all, it was the men of Gibeah who had abused the concubine of a priest to the point of death.  When asked by the rest of the nation to bring justice on the city, Benjamin decided to side with family rather than side with the LORD.  So, what were they thinking?  Did they really expect continued success in deep rebellion?  What did they think was going to happen?

I have this heart throb of a granddaughter!  She is the only granddaughter and had Papa wrapped securely around her finger.  She knows it, too.  However, for the longest time she knew where her limits were as she pressed our relationship.  She probed how far she could get away with something before Papa might swat her.  She was going along fine, listening and obeying, even with a slight delay.  Then it happened.  One morning, Papa gave her an instruction.  She looked at me sideways and began to deliberately disobey.  The act of disobedience was not complete, so I warned her.  She was probing again.  I could tell she got to the point that she had decided to ignore the command had disobey, so I gave her a little swat on the bottom.  It wasn’t enough to cause any discomfort, but the look of shock on her face was priceless.  She could not believe Papa would actually punish her!

This is what rebellion does.  It gives the perception of self-determination without consequence.  Don’t be fooled.  We are foolish to think the LORD would allow us to continue in disobedience without consequences.  They will come.  Count on it.  The longer God permits us to continue in our disobedience with the perception of measured success, the more amazed we will be when the hammer comes down!