Day 159 8-28

So even though the Benjaminites raped and murdered one of their own essentially, the Israelites still didn't want their tribe to disappear completely. This is tough. When the Israelites assembled altogether, one tribe (Jabesh Gilead) failed to show up so the people of Israel decided to kill all of them except for their 400 virgins of the village. Bizarre. Then, the next decision was to give these pure, innocent, young girls to the remaining disgusting immoral men left from the Benjaminites because they didn't want one tribe to completely disappear, like I said earlier. Jabesh Gilead must have just been a branch of one of the 12 tribes of Israel because killing every male among them would have eliminated them too and I know Jabesh Gilead is not one of the original names of the 12. 

Anyway, it's all very bizarre, that's like the main word that keeps coming to my mind. It's super tough to read, especially as a woman and a mom with a daughter. I was unsettled and angry quite frankly that God would instruct this for His people. Then, all of a sudden, a light bulb went off. Duh!! these were not His commands at all. The Bible clearly says, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."

That's it. That's the message in all of this, really I think of the whole book. The people of God were not trusting God, loving, obeying, and teaching their children about God and His greatness and it was complete anarchy and unimaginable terrible chaos stemming from our sinful human nature. I'm sure this saddened, disheartened, and made the Lord mad and jealous, but I can't speak for Him.