look up, not within

Judges 21:1-3 (JDV)

Judges 21:1 But the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”
Judges 21:2 So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and long,
Judges 21:3 and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it happened that one tribe is missing in Israel today?”

look up, not within

The civil war in Israel was prompted by a terrible wrong, but when it was over, the Israelites came to see that the war itself resulted in a terrible wrong. It had practically wiped out an entire tribe. All during the war, the Israelites had consulted God each step of the way. Now they were consulting God again. This time they wanted to know why.

Reading the whole book of judges, it is not hard for us to know the answer to that question. When any people are so focused on doing what they think is right, disaster can happen. Every culture has examples of this in their history.

We need to look beyond ourselves for an ethical standard. We cannot look within, because the darkness is there. We have to look up. Any society that refuses to do this is destined to destroy itself.

LORD, help us to learn the lesson the Israelites learned, before we devastate ourselves.