Title: Don’t run with insufficient revelation|Fire in my bones

Date: March 20, 2024|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 45

“Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not? The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”” (Judg 20:26-28NIV)

Why did the Israelites go up to Bethel to weep before the Lord? It was because they had suffered defeat at the hands of the Benjamites two times in a space of two days. And why did they have to fight the Benjamites, who were Israelites like them?Well, according to the account, certain men of the tribe of Benjamin did something outrageous, something unheard of in the land. They raped a woman all night and left her for death. And they did that because they were unable to lay hands on the woman’s husband and rape him. So, there were sodomites in the land of Benjamin at the time. (Cf. Judges 19)

Now, because of that, the people of all the other tribes of Israel gathered together and demanded that the leaders of Benjamin should hand over those wicked people to be dealt with according to the Laws of Moses. But they refused. So, again, according to the Laws of Moses, the remaining people of Israel saw it as their obligation to punish the people of Benjamin for condoning wickedness among them. And they called their men to arms and moved out to fight them. (Cf. Deut 13:12-18)

But then, before they went to fight the Benjamites, they inquired of the Lord. Look at what is said in the bible about that: “The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”” (Judg 20:18NIV) Did the Lord answer them when they called to Him or not? He did! Yet, as the account further shows us, they lost that first battle against the Benjamites.

That, of course, made them weep before the Lord. But they did not give up. Instead, they inquired of Him again to know whether they should go to fight the Benjamites. And His response again was, “Go up against them.” Yet they lost the second battle as well. (Cf. Judges 20:19-25)What, then, was the problem? Was God being deceitful in dealing with these people? Was He deliberately luring them to destruction? At least, what they wanted to do was a good thing. They wanted to maintain justice and righteousness in their land. And that was in accordance with His law.

Why, then, would He disgrace them like that?Well, the answers to these questions and other related ones about the matter are all in the passage. Yes, they first inquired of the Lord about who should first attack the Benjamites. But they did not ask Him when they should attack them and whether they would succeed in the attack or not. So, it was only the question that they asked Him, perhaps using the Urim and Thummim that were with their high priest, that He answered. (Cf. Ex 28:30; 1Sam 28:6)

Also, when they asked God the second time if they should attack the Benjamites again, they did not ask when to attack them or what would be the outcome of the attack. They only wanted to know if it was right for them to attack them. And He answered the question they had asked Him, telling them that it was right for them to do so. But He did not answer the question they did not ask, which was whether they would succeed or not. Well, having lost terribly twice, as we are shown in our opening text, they approached God the third time about the same matter, asking the same insufficient question.

But this time, God showed them mercy and answered the more important question that they were not asking, which was, “Are we going to succeed in this attack or not?” God told them that they would succeed. And they did succeed.What is the point of this for us? It is that it is not enough for us to pray about a matter; we also need to pray and study the word of God adequately about it before jumping into conclusions. Yes, we need to ask God sufficient questions in prayer and in His word about any matter we are presenting to Him before concluding on any course of action about it. Otherwise, we may find ourselves injured while sincerely following God’s word or revelation.

And that we will be because we are running with insufficient revelation.See, the fact that something is good, right and in line with the will of God for us does not mean that we will meet with success and satisfaction while doing it. There are good things that we do not at the moment have sufficient strength to handle. And there are good things that the time is not yet ripe for us to do. If we, then, rush ahead to handle such good things without a sure conviction that God Himself is ready for them, we may find ourselves being confronted with forces too much for us to handle. And like the Israelites of that time, we may find ourselves being defeated back-to-back, even though God is on our side.

Now perhaps this is the situation we are dealing with in certain areas of our lives. Perhaps we have been having series of defeat where we believe we are in the will of God. We too, like those Israelites, should not allow discouragement to set in. Instead, we should turn to God again in prayer and in His word, so that we can get sufficient revelation of what is wrong and what needs to be done. And He will surely show us compassion and answer us.Cheers!