3 december 2025

BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
Daily Bible Reading

Judges 20 – The Civil War in Israel – When the people of God stand against each other
Broken unity, divine guidance, and painful consequences

Read online here

Introduction

Judges 20 is one of the darkest chapters in the Old Testament. It does not describe a war against external enemies, but an internal civil war, a battle within the people of God. A crime in Gibeah – cruel and barbaric – leads to a conflict that almost wipes out the entire tribe of Benjamin.
This chapter forces us to look closely: What happens when the people of God gather in religious unity, but are inwardly shaped by violence, defiance, and pride?

It is not an easy text, but an honest one. It shows: Sin always destroys more than just the offender – it consumes community, trust, and future.

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Commentary

Israel is gathered at Mizpah. Four hundred thousand men stand there – a nation united like rarely before. But this unity does not rise out of joy, but out of shock. A nameless Levite describes the horror inflicted on his concubine in Gibeah. His account is not neutral, but emotional, shocking, and brutal. He cuts her body into twelve pieces and sends them through the land. A terrible message, but it works: Israel wakes up.

The people demand justice. They ask for the perpetrators from Benjamin to be handed over. But Benjamin refuses. It is not the deed they protect – it is tribal loyalty over moral truth. This “us versus you” unleashes a wave of violence that no one can stop.

Israel asks God: “Who shall go up first?” – and the Lord answers: “Judah.”
But victory does not come immediately. In the first attack, the Israelites lose 22,000 men. They weep, they ask again. God says: “Go up!” But they lose again, this time 18,000.

Why does God allow them to lose twice, even though they are on the side of justice?

The text does not show it directly, but between the lines we read:
Justice does not automatically mean success. Truth does not guarantee immediate results. Sometimes God allows defeat before giving victory – because the people must first learn to weep, to fast, to ask, to wait.

Only when all Israel fasts, seeks the Lord, offers sacrifices, and consults the priests does the turning point come. Then God says:

“Go up; tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands.”

And so it happens. Through strategy, not mere strength: ambush, deception, patience. They lure Benjamin out, just as Benjamin had beaten them before. The city burns, smoke rises – the signal. Finally Benjamin is defeated.

But the victory tastes bitter. 25,000 men of Benjamin die. In the end, only 600 remain, who flee to the rock of Rimmon. Israel destroys entire towns, kills men, women, livestock, even houses. The people who sought justice lose themselves in anger.

Justice has come – but almost without mercy.

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Summary

Judges 20 shows a brutal rupture within Israel:

• A crime in Gibeah triggers a tribal war.
• Israel seeks God, yet loses twice – even though the war is just.
• After weeping, fasting, and sacrifice, they listen to God and succeed on the third attempt.
• The victory, however, leads to excessive vengeance and almost wipes out Benjamin.

The story does not end as a triumphal march, but as a tragedy with divine involvement and human excess.

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Message for us today

1. Justice without humility leads to violence.
   Israel sought the right goal – but in the wrong way. The moment of defeat was God’s correction.

2. God often works “tomorrow” – not “now.”
   We ask: “Why am I losing even though I’m doing the right thing?”
   God says: “Weep. Fast. Seek Me. Then act.”

3. Tribal thinking is destructive.
   Benjamin protects perpetrators simply because they are “one of us.” We see the same today in churches, politics, society.
   Loyalty replaces truth – and justice dies.

4. Even just wars leave wounds.
   Israel wins – but almost at a cost they later regret.
   Chapter 21 shows: They weep over their own victory.

5. God sometimes lets us experience defeat so we will not become like the offenders.
   The first two defeats made Israel soft, humble, praying, asking.

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Thought prompt

“Before you fight for justice – fight first for humility.”
“Don’t ask only: ‘Am I right?’
Ask also: ‘Am I right in spirit?’”

Maybe you are in a conflict in which you know: “I am right.”
But being right does not automatically mean you are fighting in God’s way.

This text invites us again and again to return to:

• Fasting
• Weeping
• Asking
• Listening
• Waiting

So that our victory does not become a defeat for our soul.

Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/%f0%9f%93%9cbelieve-his-prophets-03-12-2025-%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8fjudges-chapter-20-the-civil-war-in-israel-when-the-people-of-god-stand-against-each-other/

3 December 2025

Daniel – Strong in Faith. Faithful in the Fire
Devotions from the life of a young man of conviction

4. When You Are Asked – Your Voice at the Right Moment
Why God prepares you before He uses you

Daily Verse

“There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”
Daniel 2:28

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Introduction: Suddenly in the spotlight

There are people who serve faithfully for years without being seen.
They pray, though no one hears.
They live rightly, though no one applauds.
They train in silence.
They grow without anyone noticing.

And then – sometimes completely unexpectedly – a moment comes when they are needed.

A conversation.
A crisis.
A call.
A question no one else can answer.

And suddenly it becomes visible what God has been building in the quiet.

That is exactly how it was with Daniel.

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Devotion: When preparation meets responsibility

Daniel did not hold a special position when the story in chapter 2 begins.
He was one among many young men at the royal court – gifted, diligent, intelligent, but without power.
His days were filled with study, service, and adapting to the Babylonian environment.

He was far from home, but inwardly he held on to his faith.
He prayed, he sought God’s presence, and he did his work faithfully.
No one applauded, no one wrote about it – it was simply his life.

Then came the situation that changed everything.

The king had a dream that deeply disturbed him.
But he did not just want to know what the dream meant –
he demanded that someone first tell him what he had actually dreamed.

The wise men of Babylon said that no human being could do this.
Nebuchadnezzar reacted harshly.
He ordered all his advisers to be killed.

Daniel was included in this order, even though he had not been present in the first conversation.

When he heard about it, he did not look for excuses, he did not blame others, and he did not fall into panic.
He went straight to his friends and explained the situation.

Then they decided together to pray –
not loudly, not theatrically,
but simply, consistently, and earnestly.

During the night Daniel received the answer that none of the other wise men could give.
The dream was revealed to him, and with it the interpretation.

The next day he stood before Nebuchadnezzar –
not triumphant, not proud,
but clear and aware that what he knew did not come from himself.

He did not begin with self-promotion.
He plainly explained that no human could fulfil this task
and that only the God of heaven reveals mysteries.

Daniel then told the king the dream and its meaning –
clearly, understandably, without exaggeration.

And Nebuchadnezzar realised in that moment that the answer he had been seeking did not come from Babylon,
but from the God in whom Daniel believed.

Daniel was honoured, promoted, and given authority.

But the true foundation for that moment was not a spectacular event.
It was the unnoticed lifestyle he had lived for years beforehand.

Daniel did not stand there because he had looked for a stage,
but because he was ready when the stage came to him.

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What does this mean for us?

Sometimes your life feels like preparation without a platform.
You pray – and no one knows.
You stand firm – and no one sees it.
You remain faithful – and no one applauds.

But God is building in secret what He wants to use in public.

When the day comes when a voice is needed,
an answer, a stance, a testimony –

it may be that you are exactly that person.

Not because you pushed yourself forward,
but because you were ready.

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What we can learn from Daniel

• God often prepares us in secret before He uses us in the open.
• The moment you step forward is not the beginning of faith – it is the result of it.
• Whoever prays in the night can stand with courage in the day.
• The right moment will find you if you belonged to God beforehand.

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Practical steps for today

1. Practice faithfulness today in something small – without waiting to be seen.

2. When a question, problem, or opportunity comes – go to God first, not to people.

3. Thank God for every season of waiting – it is preparation.

4. Expect that God can open doors when the moment comes.

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Questions for reflection

• Where is God quietly preparing me right now – even if I don’t see it?
• Which “small spaces” do I take seriously, even though they seem insignificant?
• Am I ready if God suddenly calls me?

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Prayer

Lord,
I don’t just want to be seen – I want to be faithful.
Prepare me for the day when I am asked.
Give me courage to speak clearly when you send me,
and humility to give you the glory.
Prepare my heart now,
so that I can stand then.
Amen.

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Key thought of the day

God prepares you in the hidden place – so that you can stand when you are called.

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LumenCorde | Daily light for a living soul.

Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/%e2%9a%93heart-anchor-03-december-2025-4-when-you-are-asked-your-voice-at-the-right-moment-%f0%9f%9b%a1%ef%b8%8fdaniel-strong-in-faith-faithful-in-the-fire-youth-devotiona/