THE DANIEL FAST PART TWO: LAW OF FIRST MENTION

When studying certain subjects in the bible, you should look up the first time it’s mentioned. The first time that fasting is mentioned is in Judges 20:26. The word fast there is, tsûwm (tsoom); a primitive root; to cover over (the mouth) that (is) to fast. I’ve looked up every word having to do with fast—fast, fasting, fasteth, fasted, etc. Each definition means doing without food. They didn’t eat, but drank liquids. Not drinking liquids is a choice.

If you want to know about the bible’s first fast, you have to read the entire story, which is the last three chapters of Judges—19, 20, and 21. It’s about how the children of Israel deals with sodomites for the first time. After the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, that’s what they, and the sexual act itself, was called until the 19^th century. But now, let’s take a giant step backward into the past, and see what led up to the first recorded instance of fasting.

………………………

And it came to pass in those days, as there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite, on his way to a house of God at the border of mount Ephraim, stopped at Bethlehem-Judah. And seeing a girl there, took her to be his concubine. Yeah, took. Women weren’t given a choice in the matter. But this isn’t a woman. It says, damsel, which means, girl (from infancy to adolescence). Whoa. Since it was her father who agreed to give her away, we’ll assume she’s a teenager. All Levite’s serve in a house of God, taking turns by lot. We don’t know if he’s married, widowed, or single, but he went on his way and after arrival at his destination, stayed at an inn or someones house. She shows her immaturity by cheating on him almost right away, then runs home to daddy. No doubt she had her own donkey. Technically, she’s his wife, but the bible’s authors use wife and concubine interchangeably, to let the reader know that a concubine is the same as a wife. And she’s expected to remain chaste and true to the one man. Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, served as priest in those days—every Israelite knew, that if a spouse committed adultery, the punishment was death by stoning for both the man and woman (Leviticus 20:13).

Apparently, the Levite doesn’t report her sin (or go after the man), and after four full months have passed, duties done, the Levite travels to his concubine’s home at Bethlehem-Judah. Servants are mostly invisible till they’re needed, and we learn that this Levite is well-to-do financially, as a male servant is first mentioned when they saddle their donkeys for the journey. Judges 19:3 reveals that he plans to “speak friendly to bring her again.” That word friendly means: the heart; also used very widely for the feelings will and even the intellect. The word again means: turn back. Belatedly, the Levite is going to romance the girl and talk her into giving the marriage another chance. (Makes you wonder what exactly happened to cause her to behave the way she did.) The father-in-law greets him warmly, but uses delaying tactics for several days. Reading between the lines, you get the feeling that the girl’s father wants her to stay home. In late afternoon on the fifth day, the Levite has had enough. Saddling the donkeys, he leaves the father-in-law with his concubine and servant in tow. Scriptures say the Levite brought a couple donkeys, but the word couple means: yoke or team. It’s possible the animals were pulling a cart. A cart can hold more things than piling them on the donkeys’ backs—so the Levite was serious about having her back, in that the cart would hold all her stuff. As they approached the city of Jebus, it was getting dark, and the servant begged that they stop there, but the Levite refused.

“I’m not going to go into a city of strangers, who aren’t of the children of Israel! We’ll go on over to Gibeah.” (1) see below

It sounds like they have a good relationship, because the servant remarks; “Well, let’s get close to one of these places to spend the night, Gibeah or Ramah.” He sounds nervous about sleeping away from civilization.

They kept going till they came to Gibeah, a Benjamite city, just over twelve miles from the girls home. According to the custom of the day, the three travelers stood at the main thoroughfare waiting for someone to take them into their home to lodge for the night. But no one offered to take them in, so they sat down to rest.

An old man, coming in late from working the fields, sees the small group and asks; “Where are you going? Where did you come from?” He sounds surprised.

Coincidentally, the old man is from the hill country of Ephraim, where the Levite performed his priestly duties. The Levite tells the old man where he’s been, his destination, and that he has food for the animals, and also food and drink for himself, the girl, and servant.

The old man says; “Peace, I’ll take care of everything, just don’t stay in the street!”

The old man brings them to his house. The donkeys are cared for, the travelers have their feet washed, they all sit down to eat supper, and they’re having a good time together. But now, the story takes a dark turn, and we see the reason for the old man’s urgency to get the group out of the street.

The men of the city, certain sons of Belial, surrounded the house, beat on the door, and demanded the master of the house to, “bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” Why are they using a military tactic by having the house surrounded? In case the intended target escapes?

The word Belial means: without profit, worthlessness, destruction, wickedness. Also, evil, naughty, ungodly (men), wicked. The word know, appears very tame, and has to do with the senses, with seeing. Reading the more than sixty definitions, one can’t find that it’s associated with sex. But keep reading. The old man steps out, begging them not to be so wickedly (morally bad), asking them not to do this folly. Now that word “folly” is interesting. Nebâlâh—it’s the feminine form of doing something wicked. Didn’t God command men not to have sex with another man as if he were a woman (Leviticus 18:22, Genesis 19:4)? According to the words used, these are worthless, evil, sodomites. A rape gang, roving the city, seeking to rape any man careless enough to be out after dark. They’re tired of each other, and want fresh meat. And it’s a great number of them, maybe a couple dozen or more, since they were able to surround the old mans house. (The old man was able to afford room and board to three people—he came in late from the fields, so he may have been an overseer or owner. His house, which would be enclosed within a wall, would be larger than average.)

We know from the old mans words and actions that the rape gangs were common knowledge. And the people did nothing about it! But wait, it gets worse. In a jaw-dropping moment, the old man tells the sodomites; “ My virgin daughter is here, and his concubine, I’ll bring them out and you can humble them, and do what seems good to you. But don’t do such a vile thing to this man!” (2)

That word “vile” is the same feminine word, folly, used in verse twenty-three. So now we do know that this is all about committing sodomy on a man. But the men won’t listen to the old man. The Levite hears the argument, and perhaps afraid he’ll become a victim, grabs his concubine and throws her outside. With their lusts denied, the sodomites take the girl away from the house, and, acting out their anger, she’s gang raped all night long. (Remember, she cheated on him, or maybe like the old man, he assumed they’d no nothing to her.) The sky was beginning to lighten when they let her go. A new day was dawning and they’d been up all night. The rapists made their way to their own residences, to sleep. It’s dawn when she arrives at the house of their host. (3)

Reaching the old man’s house, she uses her last bit of strength as she pitches forward, arms outstretched to the safety of her master. It’s creepy that the author of Judges, after the traumatizing incident, calls her woman (three times), and the Levite, lord. Indeed, he was her master, for he treated her worse than a beast of burden. He slept through her torment, and rising after sun up, opens the front door to look for her. And there she was, face down at the door, hands on the threshold. He’s completely ignorant and uneducated of a woman’s mental and physical health. Having been raped by God knows how many men, he curtly commands; “Up! Let’s be going”. He sounds angry. Inconvenienced. He expects her to spring up! Yes, master! But she doesn’t answer. She’s stone-cold dead, probably from shock. All that trouble and expense, then romancing her, and he tossed her out into the night and into the hands of those men.

He loads her on a donkey, and he and his servant walk to his house, though we don’t know exactly where he lived. The Levite’s servant is noticeably silent, the incident having rendered him speechless. Once at home, the Levite performs a gruesome task, cutting her body into twelve pieces, delivering them to the leaders of the tribes. Holy cow! Imagine getting a woman’s body part in the mail! No one knows what to make of it, and all the tribes meet at Mizpeh. The tribe of Benjamin heard about the meeting but didn’t show up (I wonder which part of her body they got!). The Levite, referred to as “the husband of the murdered woman”, told the sad story leading to her demise. He finishes with reminding them that they’re “all children of Israel, so give your advice and counsel, now.”

Now, all the fighting men of Israel were of one mind on this matter, but they didn’t foolishly run over to Gibeah and charge through the gate. It was decided that a tenth of them were to leave and get food for the army, while the rest would punish Gibeah for their crimes (Judges 20:10). Smart move. Not knowing how long this fight would last, the men had to have food and water.

In their anger, all the men swore that none of them would give his daughter(s) to be a wife of a Benjamite (Judges 21:1). They all made a great oath that they would kill anyone who hadn’t shown up there at Mizpeh (Judges 21:5). Those were the days when a mans word was his bond, and a man would rather die than break it. Messengers were sent throughout the whole tribe of Benjamin, asking about the wickedness that had been done, then demanding that the guilty be handed over.

But, Benjamin decided to defend the sodomites—they gathered for war. (I wonder if the old man joined in the fight.) The tribe of Benjamin had twenty-six thousand warriors. The city of Gibeah were able to offer seven-hundred chosen men for the war. Interestingly that word means—try, select, acceptable, appoint, choose. I think a more appropriate word is, draft or conscription. The city’s population isn’t given, but seven-hundred is a pitiful number for a city that enabled sodomy, refused to give up the murderers, then wouldn’t volunteer to fight for what they believed in! Among the twenty six thousand-seven hundred Benjamites, seven hundred left-handed slingers were “selected” who could sling a stone at a hair without missing! (4)

The men of Israel numbered four-hundred thousand men of war, experienced with the sword. They went to the house of God, seeking counsel. Phinehas, grandson of Aaron was there. And the people asked; “Which of us should battle Benjamin first?” And the Lord answered; “Judah first.”

In the morning, the Israelis encamped around Gibeah. And they marched out for war, arranging themselves in battle formation. And the Benjamites came out for battle, and killed twenty-two thousand men of the tribe of Judah. The Israelis encouraged themselves, planning to use the same battle formation, and they went back to the house of God, weeping till evening. And again, Phinehas went to the Ark, as they asked for the Lord’s counsel.

“Should I go battle my brother Benjamin, again?”

And the Lord told them; “Go up against them.”

So the second day, another battle, but this time, all eleven tribes came against the Benjamites (Judges 20:24). And the Benjamites came out of the city and killed eighteen thousand Israelis who were experienced with the sword. Devastation! Forty-thousand soldiers killed in two days! Notice that all the people went to the house of God this time, weeping, and stayed there fasting, till evening. They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

When the bible mentions someone inquiring of God, that means they went to the tabernacle, told the priest what they wanted, and the priest would go before God. As high priest, Phinehas had to prepare himself for standing before the Ark. Afterward, he asked the question, waited for an answer, then told the men. This wasn’t something that happened in seconds, it probably took hours. And they asked God; “Should I go out to battle again, against my brother Benjamin? Or should I cease?” God told them; “Go up. Tomorrow I’ll deliver them into your hand.”

Now, we see wisdom and craftiness in play. Right after receiving God’s answer, they make their battle plans. You probably wondered why they didn’t do this in the first place. But now, after fasting, they have God’s word that they’ll be victorious. That night, an unknown number of men are sent to lie in ambush in the meadows outside the city. I imagine they had a rough night, but you can’t win a war by being comfortable.

On the third day, using the same battle formation, the Israelis are ready for victory. The Benjamites rush out of the city, and begin attacking their kindred as twice before. In fact, the Benjamites were talking among themselves; “We’re striking them down just like the first day!”

But then, the leaders or captains, commanded the men; “Run, and draw them from the city to the highways!”

The Israelis feigned a retreat, and as they came to the meadows of Gibeah, another part of the strategy came into play. Ten-thousand Israelis were waiting at a place called Baal-tamar. As the action came near them, they put themselves in array, and clashed with the twenty-six thousand Benjamites. The battle was heavy, but the Benjamites had no idea what was about to happen. The Lord steps in at this point, keeping His word. “And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel.” The word smote means; push, gore. Before, has more than a dozen definitions, but the first is, the face. God pushed the Benjamites in front of the children of Israel, into their weapons. And the author added; “all these drew the sword,” letting us know they were experienced swordsmen. It was such a quick slaughter, that Israel had to stand still so the next part of the plan could be initiated.

The men lying in ambush jumped up, rushing into the city, killing everyone there. Then they had to hasten and set the city afire, because they were commanded to build a great fire, causing a lot of smoke, that would be a signal to the rest of the army. The number of men attacking Gibeah’s citizens isn’t given. Remember, they lay hidden all night, and had to jump up, ignoring cramped muscles, run into the city, up and down the streets, into houses, killing civilians, then use flint, or fire from people’s hearths to burn the city down. It took time. Meanwhile, the Israelis are holding back in their fighting, and the Benjamites take advantage of it. They kill about thirty men and tell each other almost the same thing as when the battle started; “Surely they’re being struck down, just as the first day!”

But now Gibeah is burning fiercely, the smoke rising in a thick column into the sky. For some reason, the Benjamites look over their shoulders and see the black smoke ascending. The Israelis don’t have to hold back anymore, and they return to the fight with a fury, so that the Benjamites are alarmed. And they sensed something bad was about to happen. They turned tail and ran for their lives towards the wilderness—the Israeli army chased, and overtook them. Adding to the bloodshed were people who had escaped from the city, running alongside their fighting men, and they too were cut down (Judges 20:42).

In a pincer movement, the army surrounded them and easily kept up, as the Benjamites headed eastward, near Gibeah. Eighteen thousand men were killed, all men of valor. The remainder changed direction, heading into the wilderness for the rock of Rimmon. Along the way, five thousand more men were cut down. Pursuing hard on their heels, the Israelis killed two thousand more at a place called Gidom. But…six hundred Benjamites ran for their lives to the wilderness, to the Rimmon rock, and remained there for four months. So that day, twenty five thousand, one hundred Benjamite warriors fell in battle! (5)

Leaving the Rimmon rock for the moment, the Israelis turned back and systematically attacked all the Benjamite cities, killing every man, woman, and child, even the animals, then burned it down. After all the bloodshed and destruction…they went to church! And they stayed there till evening, shouting and weeping before God. And they said; “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass, that there would be a tribe lacking today, in Israel?”

God doesn’t answer them. Early next morning, the people built an altar, and burnt offerings and peace offerings were made. And they were talking among themselves, feeling sorry for Benjamin. “There’s a tribe cut off from Israel today. How will we get wives for the survivors? We all swore not to give our daughters to them!”

And then, they remembered the second oath, and suspicious, they asked each other; “Which one of the tribes of Israel didn’t come here?” So the tribes were mustered and it was discovered that none of the people from Jabesh-Gilead were present. The congregation sent twelve thousand of their most valiant soldiers to Jabesh-Gilead, with bone-chilling commands. “Go and attack the people of Jabesh-Gilead, including women and children. Kill every male, and every woman who’s been with a man.”

After killing the inhabitants, they found four hundred young virgins. The word young, is actually damsel. The soldiers took the girls back to their camp in Shiloh. And the girls—they just witnessed the deaths of their parents and siblings by the hand of their countrymen. After being taken against their will, they’re told that they’re to be brides! They’re not allowed to grieve or attend funerals, for word was sent to the congregation, who sent spokesmen to contact the Benjamite survivors. So the girls were scooped up and taken to the Rimmon rock, and the spokesmen approached. By this time, the Benjamites had been living in those rocks for four months—no doubt hairy and filthy. It was a peace talk, and the Benjamites came out of the rocks, and were given the four hundred girls as wives. But it wasn’t enough—two hundred men were left without a wife.

So, back to Mizpeh, and again the people pitied the Benjamites, because the Lord made a breach in Israel (they had to blame someone). And they said; “All the Benjamite women are dead, so how can we get a wife for those two hundred men? We can’t give them our daughters, because we swore an oath!” Then someone recalls; “Hey! There’s an annual feast of the Lord in Shiloh!” And he gives explicit directions to get there. At harvest time, it was traditional for people to celebrate, and apparently the virgin daughters of Shiloh would dance in the vineyards.

So the two hundred Benjamites were commanded; “Go lie in wait at the vineyards of Shiloh, and hey, if their daughters come out to dance, then grab a wife and go back to your land. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we’ve got your back. We’ll tell them to be favorable to you for our sakes, because during the war we didn’t save a wife for each man. And they won’t be guilty of breaking the oath since they didn’t voluntarily give their daughters to you.”

I noticed they said if. They weren’t sure there would be any dancing girls! But, the two hundred Benjamites made their way to Shiloh anyway. And, yay, girls came out dancing! The men chose their wife, caught her up, and went back to their inheritance, their land. They repaired the cities and lived in them. And the Israelites finally left Mizpeh, every man returning to his tribe and family. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Whatever a man did, in his eyes, it was the right thing to do.

1. If the Levite harbors animosity towards the Jebusites, it’s because he does! The Jebusites were a remnant of the Canaanite tribes God had commanded Joshua to conquer.
2. Remember that God made it law that men were not to lie with men, adding that it was an abomination. In Hebrew, the word was written twice—tô`êbah tô`êbah (to-ay-baw` to-ay-baw`). It means: something morally disgusting, an abhorrence. When God repeats Himself, we need to sit up and pay attention. In Genesis 41:32 when God reveals to Joseph the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph says that it was repeated because the thing is established by God, and He’ll shortly bring it to pass. In this case, God has firmly established that sodomy is an abomination. Also, tô`êbah is taken from a feminine primitive root, tâ`ab (taw-ab’), meaning: to loathe, morally detest. In Daniel 5:25 the word MENE is written twice. Are you beginning to comprehend the seriousness of God’s laws? The old man knew the seriousness of the situation, but he was overboard in his zealousness to keep the law. Concerning the old man’s offer of throwing out the women to the sodomites—he absolutely had no idea of the evil he was facing that night, or what was in store for the concubine. He must’ve assumed that since they preferred males, no harm would come to the girls. The word humble, `ânâh (aw-naw) is: looking down or browbeating; to depress. Further down, the fifteenth definition is, ravish, which is too soft a word for what happened to the girl.
3. I timed it one morning. From where I’m at in this part of the world, it was thirty-four minutes from when I noticed first light, to the light of dawn. For about thirty-four minutes, the poor girl stumbles through the streets of Gibeah, naked and injured. The KJV word used to describe what happened to the girl is force—the word rape wasn’t used until 1721.
4. This isn’t a Y-shaped stick you’ve seen in movies. These were braided leather (or cloth) with a pocket, into which a smooth stone would be placed. A rough or jagged-edged stone doesn’t fly straight. It would kill or cause serious head injuries. Ancient armies would have a company of slingers, and was a much respected weapon.
5. Rimmon was the name of a Syrian deity, and five different places, meaning; marked off. But is taken from another word spelled and pronounced the same, and means: pomegranate, from its upright growth. And, this is taken from a primitive root word meaning: to rise. The Rimmon rock was a giant boulder, the size of a hill—for their desperate situation, an impenetrable fortress. Good luck though in finding pictures of it because there’s two different places in which scholars claim is the Rimmon rock. The few pictures I saw showed very little vegetation, no noticeable water source, isolated.

The whole point of what happened to the tribe of Benjamin, is that they disobeyed the law of God concerning sodomy. God said in Leviticus 20:13 that if a man lies with another man, they both should be put to death. Because like so many other sins, sodomy influences and deceives the gullible. Some preachers say that sin is sin, implying it’s all the same. But some, like sodomy or witchcraft, is worse than others. Centuries ago, the Benjamites disobeyed the law of God, and instead of executing two men, thereby ending the sin, they allowed the evil to grow. Perhaps they thought it wasn’t harming anyone. As a result, numerous people were killed and they very nearly became extinct. And what about the un-named concubine, and the women and children who were killed, even their animals? Don’t be deceived, this is a spiritual war. Satan, who attempted high treason, is at war against God and His creations, namely humans. Until he’s thrown into the lake of fire, he works to drag down as many humans as he can.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:37, and Luke 17:26, that just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of man. In the days of Noah, he was building the ark because God was planning to destroy everything with water! Humans were so evil, God was sorry for creating us! In this sliver of time before Jesus’ return, things are just as evil as it was when Noah was alive! Everything that’s happening now, stealing, homicides, corrupt officials, the conditioning and grooming children to become gay or tranny, etc. was happening when Noah was alive (Romans 1:26, Romans 8:22). Not to mention that the earth is groaning against the evil upon it (Romans 8:22). This deceiving spirit is manipulating adults who firmly believe that children should be taught the evils of sodomy, and transitioning, pornography, and proudly celebrating the sin of it.

You think the story in the book of Judges is horrific, shocking, traumatizing? The casualties of this evil today is far surpassing it. Authorities come against parents, families, churches, to destroy, steal, arrest, vilify, those who would dare speak the truth and push back against the filth. People have lost their reputations, jobs, marriages, doxed, and attacked, because they defend their children or speak the truth. I could go on for several pages, but you see it all around, and the despair of those who refuse to bow the knee and keep silent. Every child, every adult, who practices unnatural sex or goes under the knife to transition, that is the death of future potential humans, two or three or four per person, who will never be born, never exist, never have a life.

So, what do we do? The swords we use are the word of God. We’re under a new covenant, one of mercy and forgiveness—but that doesn’t mean we’re to be door mats, allowing the enemy to walk and wipe their feet on us. We’re of the kingdom of Light, they are of the kingdom of darkness. Jesus said we’re to love our enemies—if they’re thirsty, give them something to drink. If they’re hungry, give them something to eat. Not just physical food and water, but the gospel (John 6:54). After the Israelis fasted, and after many deaths, God gave them the victory. Go back to the law of first mention—all the people fasted till evening. That means they fasted at least, two meals. You’ll also note that God told them twice to fight against the evil before they fasted. Now, God did not tell Lot and the old man in Gibeah to throw their virgin daughters out into the night. And at first I thought that God didn’t command them to attack and kill the Benjamite’s. Remember the Exodus, when God commanded that the children of Israel wipe out the inhabitants of Canaan. Evil, demons, cling to objects and wicked people. When He allowed them to bring things (silver, gold, expensive objects) into the tabernacle, it had to be sanctified to the Lord first. While fasting, you talk/pray to God–wisdom is from God, and as you come close to God, you get wisdom. Queen Esther, after fasting for three days, suddenly had the perfect plan to present her case to the king. Neither did God “make a breach” in Israel—the Benjamites did by disobeying His law.

We must speak up for those who cannot (Proverbs 31:8,9). Children are not mature and cannot articulate effectively to things they see, hear, do, and things happening to them. They’re immature, their minds a blank slate, and we should stop comparing them to an adult. They’re not little adults. They’re not idiots, morons, stupid, or vipers in diapers—they’re children! Learning each day something new. Parents have allowed lawmakers and school teachers to steal our rights to discipline our children, and teach them about Jesus. Who’s the idiot here? Even adults are susceptible to con men, emotional manipulation, pressure, bribes, threats—how much more, children and teenagers. There is no such thing as “family friendly” sexual perversion. Drag queens consorting with little children, and children’s books written to deceive them into believing that such things are normal. Pray and fast for wisdom to stand up to this tsunami of sexual perversion and body mutilation. Psalm 92:7 says, that when the wicked are numerous as grass, and the workers of evil flourish, it’s because they’ll be destroyed forever. Ever wonder why tyrants, and evil men live and reign for decades? Because God has no desire that the wicked should perish in hell (2 Peter 3:9). He gives them one chance after another to repent. In every war there are civilian casualties–how much more, when there is a spiritual war for the advancement of the kingdom of darkness?