Jdg 20:26,28 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
For the third time, the children of Israel went before the Lord. Twice, they had gone before the Lord making the same request ; whether they should attack their brother Benjamin and the Lord had assured them of victory. But unfortunately, the tribe of Benjamin had come out strongly and overpowered them( Jdg 20:18, Jdg 20:23)
This time round, in addition to weeping ,they fasted and made offerings. They also brought the ark of the Lord from Shiloh to Bethel. The Lord once again responded to their request for guidance promising that on the following day , he would deliver them over. And God fulfilled the promise. The Benjamin’s army suffered a total of 25,000 casualties.( Jdg 20:46) During their third attempt, God gave Israel victory.
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. In their attempt to punish their brother Benjamin for his grievous sin committed against the Lord, the Israelites suffered not only a major set back, but also humiliation. But on the third attempt, God gave them victory . We may have tried once or even twice to start that business, get that Job, start a family, build that house, bring back that wayward child , spouse but you gave up too soon. The Lord is saying , ” go up , I will deliver them into your hand”.
Further readings
Jos 1:9
2Chr 15:7
Pro 24:16
🙏 Blessed weekend 🙏