Author: Erin Newton

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 20 Listen: (7:13) Read: Hebrews 7 Listen: (4:01)

Scripture Focus: Judges 20: 12-13, 35-36

12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”

But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

35 The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.

Reflection: Tribe Over Truth

By Erin Newton

I have stood in that precarious place, watching and waiting to see how people—people I trusted with my story—would respond. Would they believe me? What about the perpetrator’s friends? Whose side would they pick?

The burden of proof for a victim of abuse is almost unbearable. Not only has one endured abuse, but it often falls on the victim to convince others that a wrong has been committed. Sadly, some people choose friendships over accepting the grim reality that a person in their circle has harmed another human being.

When those who should purge such wickedness instead grant it safe harbor, they too become complicit.

After the heinous acts were committed against the woman in Judges 19, a glimmer of hope arises as Israel responds. Envoys were sent to Benjamin to make them aware of what happened “and give them the opportunity to acknowledge the crime, to distance themselves from Gibeah and to ensure that justice was done” (Mary Evans, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary: Judges and Ruth). Now was the community’s chance to stand for what was right, but they chose their tribe over the truth.

War ensued after Benjamin defiantly refused to support the victim. (Some see the Levite’s description of the event as an attempt to cover his own complicit nature and an attempt to make himself the victim of “lost/damaged property.” The woman was clearly the victim here and Israel was right to respond in outrage.)

Let us not forget: The Levite sent proof! Even in this scenario, it is not a question of evidence, but of morality. It is a battle between allegiance to other humans and the justice God demands.  

Through Benjamin’s refusal to listen to the envoys and to react in a way that enacted justice, they were choosing either their own collective self-image or choosing to ignore faults for the sake of some past glory they had as a tribe. The motive in Judges 20 is not stated.

What is clear in this story is this: Evil should never be allowed a foothold within the community. This goes beyond abuse. Evil of all kinds cannot be tolerated; God hates unjust scales. This means that God not only hates it when evil is tolerated, but when people discriminate against which kind of evil is punished and which kind is pardoned.

We are called to be a voice for the voiceless. Don’t choose tribe over truth.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Facing Ugly Truths

When ugly truths that should shock us come to light today, how do we face them?

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/facing-ugly-truths

Read more: Allowing Injustice to Save Face

Jephthah’s vow was to his pride, not God. He saved face rather than his daughter.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 13 Listen: (3:44) Read: 1 Peter 5 Listen: (2:11)

Scripture Focus: Judges 13:21-24

21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”
24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.

Reflection: The Hero’s Parents

By Erin Newton

Samson is the Rapunzel of the Old Testament—at least relating to his luscious locks of hair. No one really thinks about his parents, perhaps we are all accustomed to granting his success as a gift from God (and his failure to the hands of his lover).

In the Bible, miraculous children are destined by God for specific purposes. The purpose of Abraham’s promised child (Isaac) was tied to the covenant already given by God. “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12). Zechariah’s promised child (John) would “bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 2). Manoah’s promised child (Samson) is to “take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

We often look at the joy that erupts at the news of a barren womb made fruitful. It is miraculous. But when Manoah prays to God, I can only imagine the element of shock—not because he was now going to be a father but that he was going to be tasked with raising a divinely appointed child. That would terrify me.

I’m glad Samson had both his father and his mother and that we get to see how both react. Manoah needs a little more reassurance. He tries to get the angel’s name as if that would grant him some sort of power or good luck. He delays the angel, trying to win favor by making an impromptu offering. And he is shocked when the offering billows up to heaven revealing their guest was divine.

Samson’s mother, though nameless here, has the steady demeanor of not freaking out. She meets the angel, receives the miraculous promise, and then rushes home admitting that she might have forgotten to get all the details. And when they realize the guest that was in their presence was the angel of the Lord, she has the logic and wisdom to reassure her husband that God does not promise blessing and then haphazardly kill you when he meets with you.

Once again, Judges gives us a glimpse of people having typical reactions to a very supernatural event. They are also imperfect in their faith and perhaps in their ability to raise this son (see chapter 14). But God knows this will happen. He calls them, meets with them, and continues to uphold his promises—even when they freak out.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him. — Psalm 103.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: It’s in the Bible

“Well, it’s right there in the Bible, so it must not be a sin. But it sure does seem like an awful dirty trick…” — Rich Mullins

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