Lone Wolf Christianity

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

Genesis 49:27 NASB1995

Have you ever felt disconnected for the Church? From a community of believers? Whether the reason was from disagreement or offense, we are going to talk about how being disconnected from the Body of Christ is a recipe for disaster. Let’s check it out.

Now I got this lesson from the Lord after reading the book of Judges. If you have ever read the book of judges then you know that there is a really weird story at the end of the book that is about a concubine, a Levite, and Israel and Benjamin fighting. Let’s start at the beginning of this story. There was a Levite who had gotten a concubine and that concubine left him to go back to her hometown. When she was there, she was sleeping around and being unfaithful to her husband. But her husband came back to get her and then they left. On the way back, they stopped in a town called Gibeah. They searched for a place to stay, but no one took them in so they stayed in the town square. Later that night an old man took them in, but they had already been seen by some criminals. They knocked on the old man’s door and demanded that the man would be brought out so that they could sexually assault him. And as they pushed harder against the door, the man gave them his concubine instead.

But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn.

Judges 19:25 NASB1995

Now when the morning came, the man went outside to get his concubine, but she was found dead. Then the Levite man sent a message to all the tribes of Israel about this horrendous crime. The tribes of Israel rallied together to put the wicked men to justice.

Now then, deliver up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

Judges 20:13 NASB1995

Now, for whatever reason, the Tribe of Benjamin decided to defend the wicked men of Gibeah instead of coming against the wickedness with all of Israel. Then there was a battle that raged, causing the loss of over 40,000 men of Israel and 25,000 fighting men of Israel along with many other lives.

The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.

Judges 20:48 NASB1995

So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. They said, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?”

Judges 21:2‭-‬3 NASB1995

In the end, the Tribe of Benjamin paid the price for siding with wickedness. They only had around 600 men left and had no women to continue the tribe. They barely figured out a solution to the problem, but it almost cost them the Tribe. When I was reading this God showed me that this is what Lone Wolf Christianity looks like. Often times there is a sin or offense caused ( the concubine), then a rallying cry of the church and the Word against the sin ( Israel coming against the men of Gibeah), but then the one who caused the sin defends theirselves to their own detriment ( Benjamin defended the men of Gibeah). This is the pattern of the Lone Wolf. Instead of falling into this trap, have the humility to come against wickedness with your brothers and sisters, even if it comes for yourself. They want to unite with you and purge the evil, but they still love you. Benjamin was only spared because of the grace of God, it may not happen for you.

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