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"You have sinned from the days of Gibeah"

Text: Hosea 10:9

A LONG AND SAD HISTORY OF SIN

The history of Israel is sadly pock-marked by sin. Hosea deeply lamented the dark history of Israel’s sin problem.

“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah;
There they stood.
The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity
Did not overtake them.”
Hosea 10:9

1. “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah”

a) Gibeah was already mentioned in Hosea 9:9.

b) It was mentioned again in this word.

2. “There they stood. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them”

a) It was the place where the concubine of a Levite was gang-raped.

b) In despair, the Levite cut his concubine into twelve parts and sent out to all the tribes (Judges 19).

c) The tribes of Israel went to war against Benjamin and caused 25,000 men of valour from Benjamin to perish (Judges 20).

3. The Civil war

a) 400,000 men represented Israel (Judges 20:2).

b) They listened to the Levite and how his concubine was raped to death (Judges 20:4-7).

c) The 11 tribes demanded the release of the guilty rapists to face justice (Judges 20:8-13).

d) Benjamin refused to deliver the perpetrators (Judges 20:13-17).

i) They had an army of 26,000 troops.

ii) Gibeah had 700 men.

e) Benjamin slew 18,000 Israelites in this civil war (Judges 20:25).

f) Great losses were suffered from Israel and Benjamin.

4. The sad reality

a) Many from Benjamin managed to escape.

b) The civil war only cost many lives to be lost.

c) And many cities burned.

d) The problem was not dealt with totally.

e) The perversity remained.

f) The iniquity of the evil doers also persisted.

Israel had not learned much from this terrible episode in their dark history!