“Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites.” (Judges 21:1-15, NIV)

Today’s reading strengthened my appreciation for God’s holiness and love. God is completely holy and hates our sins, yet He cares deeply for us and wishes for no one to perish. In today’s story, the Israelites experienced this conflict when they almost wiped out the tribe of Benjamin, leading them to feel remorse for their actions. When the bloody war between the Israelites and the Benjamites was over, they realized that they had come close to extinguishing one of their tribe from Israel. Then they sought the Lord in brokenness and decided to let the 600 remaining Benjamites start over again. Verses 2-7 say,

“The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. ‘Lord, God of Israel,’ they cried, ‘why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?’ Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Israelites asked, ‘Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord?’ For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death. Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. ‘Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,’ they said. ‘How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?’”

The Bible describes God as both holy and loving. Holiness and love are both part of God’s nature. He is holy, and He will not allow wickedness to dwell among His people. He is also love, and He grieves over the wicked and does not want to see any person perish. In Ezekiel 18:23 (NIV), God said, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” What a crossroad to be in. God loves the sinners but hates their sins. He loves us but must judge our wickedness. This is the feeling that the Israelites were experiencing after the bloody war that took place in Gibeah.

It all started when the wicked men of Gibeah raped and killed the Levite’s concubine, and the cowardly Levite blew it out of proportion. When the battle smoke cleared, the Israelites suddenly realized that one of their tribes was about to go extinct. Verse 6 says, “Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites.” They had just fought and nearly destroyed Benjamin. Now they were feeling compassion for them. They grieved over the destruction of Benjamin and were left with the dilemma of the future of the 600 surviving Benjamite men. They could not give their own daughters in marriage because of their oath, and it was against the Law to marry outside of Israel, so what were they going to do? In the end, they found the solution with the people of Jabesh-Gilead, who were guilty of not participating in the war, and gave their virgin daughters to the Benjamites so that they could start over again. They hated evil so much that they were willing to destroy one of their tribes, but at the same time, felt compassion for them and wanted to give them a new start.

How about you? Do you feel anger towards evil in the world? At the same time, do you feel compassion for sinners headed toward eternal damnation? Out of all the stories in the Bible, the cross of Jesus Christ is the perfect and complete illustration of God’s holiness and love. He hated sin so much that He judged sin on the cross, but loved sinners so much that He placed our sins on Jesus on our behalf. You do not really know God’s heart if you only preach doom and gloom, but do not grieve over their death and destruction. This also applies to Christian relationships. When our brother or sister sins, we have the responsibility to rebuke and correct them, but if we do it without compassion, then we do not really know God’s heart. The Bible says that we are to “speak the truth in love” (Eph.4:15). To know God’s heart means that we preach His righteousness in the world with genuine compassion in our hearts for the lost.

• What caused the Israelites to grieve and feel sorry for the Benjamites?
• How do you think God can hate sin and love sinners at the same time, and how can we follow His example?