By Brig.-General H. BIDDULPH, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
IN the last three chapters of Judges a terrible incident is recorded which throws a baleful light on those days when every man did that which was right in his own eyes; but what was written aforetime was written for our learning, and even we may learn from this evil tale. If ever there was a righteous war, surely it was this in which Israel was involved against Benjamin, and yet Israel did not draw the sword without first of all asking counsel of God at the house of God and receiving the Lord’s answer. What was the result? The Israelites were defeated with great slaughter in the battle next day. Again the Israelites asked counsel of the Lord with tears, and again they received the answer to go up against Benjamin. For a second time the Israelites were defeated with heavy loss. A third time did Israel go up to the house of God, and wept with fasting the whole day, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord, and through Phinhas the High Priest received the Lord’s promise of victory. The third battle was decisive and the tribe of Benjamin was almost exterminated. *
What can we learn from this story? It is not enough to have a righteous cause in order to gain victory forthwith, and not even if we commit our cause to a righteous Judge, even as Israel did. At first Israel appears to have trusted in superior numbers and armament, but God hits straight with a crooked stick, and whatever the sin of Benjamin, had Israel no sins crying aloud to God? Disaster sobers Israel, and with tears they seek the Lord, but again disaster befalls them; and now at last with tears and fasting, signs of a sorrow that needeth not to be repented of, and with burnt offerings and peace offerings, expressing the feeling of guilt, and the necessity for the shedding of blood in order that peace may be restored between the sinner and his God, they seek earnestly their God and King. The answer is clear, the issue is decided, and victory is assured.
We too have a righteous cause, and we too appeal to the God of Justice, but have we no sins that deserve punishment? Have we learnt nothing from the tribulations of the last war? Do we deserve better treatment than Israel of old? We have days of prayer, but when have we had days of humiliation and repentance for our sins? We appeal to God, but where are our tears and fastings? and above all do we as a nation trust that one sacrifice, once made, for the sins of the world? It is only by the blood of the Cross that sinful man can be brought nigh unto God, and the wall of separation broken down. Will it be necessary for further disasters and losses to befall us, before we as a nation turn in repentance and faith to Him, who is the only Giver of victory?
It has been well noted that the evil conduct of the Benjamites, detailed in Judges xix, which so deeply shocked and roused all Israel, had been preceded by a definite act of apostasy and continued course of idolatry (ch. xviii) among the Danites, which does not appear to have provoked any appreciable degree of protest from the other tribes. Yet moral declension is the natural outcome of departure from the true worship of God. Do we not see it in Europe to-day?
The people of Germany, where the light of Truth once shone so brightly, having openly despised and rejected the Word of God, are now displaying a moral obliquity and brutality which profoundly shock the people of this country. Yet among our own religious leaders there are more who imitate than deplore that very attitude towards the Word of God which has brought Germany to her present pass.
*Printed with General Biddulph’s permission.—Editor.
Many who are on high position promise us a new world after the war, a world of justice, sufficiency, and material happiness; but true happiness belongs to the realm of the spirit and not of the flesh. Our Lord bade us “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and then all needful things will be added. These leaders appear to reverse this saying and to urge one and all to seek worldly good, with the expectation that the Kingdom of God will then be added unto us. May we as a nation be awakened to seeking first things first, to acknowledge our sins before God, and to learn the lessons which can be learnt from His judgments as well as His victories recorded on the page of history.