Today’s
Scripture Reading (June 6, 2019): Psalm
68
Burying the past is easy, it just isn’t healthy. We keep on going
back to dig up what it is that we have buried, and when we dig it up what is left
of the decaying mess is allowed to infect our lives. The harder solution is to
deal with our past and find a way to restore it into our present. It is harder,
but it is also much healthier in the end if we can stand the pain of the
process.
“Little Benjamin” had a checkered past in the history of Israel.
Some argue that David calls the tribe “little” because Benjamin was the
youngest of the brothers. But the truth is much more sordid. On his deathbed,
Jacob had prophesized this about his youngest son.
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
The
words betray the violence that would seem to follow the tribe. Trouble for the
Tribe of Benjamin begins early in the period of the Judges, soon after the
death of Joshua. The town of Gibeah decides, much like Sodom before them, to
enact a “no visitors allowed” policy within the town limits. Instead of building
a wall, they followed the example of Sodom in the punishment that was to be
handed out. The men of Gibeah found the very idea of homosexuality so repugnant
that they decided to weaponize it against any visitors that should happen by.
The idea was that if you were a male, a foreigner, and you found yourself in
Gibeah, then you should expect to be raped by a same-sex partner.
And
so, one day, a Levite and his concubine stopped to stay the night at the town
in Benjamin. An old man, who knew the customs of the town, quickly encouraged
the couple to spend the night at his house, but it was too late. The town
already knew that they had arrived. The men of the town came out in force
intending to inflict their punishment on the Levite. But the Levite refused to
come out of the old man’s house. Instead, he left his concubine on the front
step of the old man’s house for the men to do with as they please. The men
raped the concubine all night and then placed her back on the doorstep. When
the Levite awoke and prepared to leave the town, he found his partner dead at
the door to the house. He placed her on his donkey and made his way home. Then,
with the flair of a Halloween thriller, he cut her into twelve pieces and sent
one piece to each of the Tribes of Israel along with the story of what had
happened. The tribes were enraged. Benjamin decided to defend the people of
Gibeah while the rest of Israel took up arms against Gibeah. The result of the
First Israelite Civil War was the decimation of the Tribe of Benjamin. The
destruction of the tribe was so complete that the rest of Israel had to find
husbands for the women of the tribe or else the Tribe of Benjamin would have
ceased to exist.
At the end of the period of Judges, the tribe had recovered enough
that they were able to supply Israel’s first king. Saul was from Benjamin. But
Saul also failed God and David took his place. For most nations, the two
strikes would have been enough. But David decides not to bury Benjamin, but
rather to restore them. He gives Benjamin the honor of leading the victory
procession into Israel, in spite of their questionable past
In the Christian era, “little Benjamin” leads again in the person
of the apostle Paul, a proud child of the tribe. And it is a little disturbing
to wonder what might have happened if those who held the reigns of power had
decided to bury the tribe, rather than restore it.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Psalm 69
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