Day 72, or March the 13th. We are all essential.
Our thoughts today are based on Judges chapter
21, verses 2 and 3. The people went to Bethel,
where they sat before God until evening, raising
their voices and weeping bitterly. Lord God of
Israel, they cried. Why has this happened to
Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from
Israel today? First, the big picture surrounding
these verses. Civil war breaks out between Israel
and Benjamin, and the tribe of Benjamin is almost
destroyed. It's ironic, really, as this small
tribe would produce King Saul, who ruled after
the judges. It was also the tribe that gave us
the Apostle Paul, who was probably named after
King Saul. It was only small, but the other tribes
of Israel saw, almost too late, that it could
not be allowed to disappear. A cunning plan is
devised and lots of young women are captured
from Shiloh and taken by the Benjamites to help
replenish their numbers. And now today's action
step. Having vowed not to intermarry with the
tribe of Benjamin, the other tribes then had
to search for an escape clause when Benjamin
was almost wiped out and needed replenishing
from outside. Even though the other tribes were
larger than Benjamin, they conceded that without
them the tribes of Israel would be incomplete.
This seems an early prototype used by the Apostle
Paul, who likens the church to a body, with each
part having a job to fulfil in order to achieve
whole -body ministry. Sometimes in local churches
we are relieved when someone, who constantly
raises queries and questions in the fellowship,
leaves. Beware, they are sometimes the folk who
stir us up into action, even if their ideas seem
crazy at the time. When a church is made up of
folk who agree with each other all the time,
the edge can wear off and stimulation for progress
is dulled. Thank God now for any of your fellowship
who may irritate you. Don't ignore them. Listen
carefully just in case God is speaking to you
through them.