Pastor John,
In Judges 20*, why were the first two sets of Israelite men defeated when they were fighting at Gibeah? They inquired of Jehovah, and He said go, but it wasn’t until the third time they fought that they won the battle.
Michelle
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Hi Michelle.
God’s justice was perfect. The men of Gibeah could not possibly have grown so immoral if the rest of the tribes had been righteous. Those defeats were an indication of the poor spiritual condition of all the tribes of Israel. None of the tribes had fallen into the gross debauchery of the tribe of Benjamin (thus the eventual victory of the eleven tribes), but they were all guilty to some degree. We aren’t told all the details, but we can trust God, that He worked it all out just right.
Pastor John
* https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_translation.html?tname=judges#CH20