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by Katie Erickson

“Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. While the Benjamites were saying, 'We are defeating them as before,' the Israelites were saying, 'Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.'
All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah. Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah.” (Judges 20:29-36)

Israel was fighting a battle against their own tribe of Benjamin, in order to rid the nation of the immoral town of Gibeah. In last week’s passage, we saw that even though Israel had a significantly larger army, they suffered defeats on the first two days of battle. They kept seeking God’s will, and God kept telling them to continue the fight.

But on the third day, Israel finally experienced the victory they had been expecting! The day starts out like the previous two, with Benjamin striking down some of Israel’s men. But this time the loss was only 30 men, significantly less than the 40,000 total from the previous two days. Israel then changed their strategy to an ambush.

Benjamin at first thought they were winning again, but the ambush changed everything. There were 26,000 Benjamites, and Israel killed 25,100 of them! After that crushing loss, Benjamin admitted defeat.

It is significant that this is the third day of battle, because 3 is an important number in the Bible. Jesus rose from the grave on the 3rd day, for example. This 3rd battle would be decisive in the war, and it was.

If Israel hadn’t been following what God commanded them, they likely would have lost again. It was clearly the Lord who won the battle, not Israel’s strength. They kept seeking God for counsel, and because of that He gave them the victory as He had promised to do. The immoral town of Gibeah was successfully purged from the nation rather than leading them astray.

What are you allowing the Lord to do in your life, rather than doing it yourself? Are you open to hearing a change of strategy from God, or are you too set in your own ways? Following the Lord is what wins the battle, not only in actual war but in every decision of our daily lives.

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