Focus: By declaring
personal, spiritual bankruptcy, we find life in Christ. It is through death and
loss that we gain life.
Function: To help the people realize and live with the tension found in Benjamin and to lead the people to Christ, who is our gain. All else is loss.
Texts: Phil. 1:19-26; 3:1-16
(Gen.35:16-20;
49:1,2,27; Deut. 33:1,12; Mt. 2:16-18; Acts 9:1-19)
We all live with tension. If you don’t have any tension in your life, you must be dead. Only the dead are free from tension. For example, if you are a businessman, you live with the constant challenge to make a profit: in order to survive in your business, your gains must be greater than your losses. The same is true for each one of us when it comes to our checkbook: in order to stay afloat, we must make sure that our monthly household expenses do not exceed our monthly paycheck.
Our lives are filled with tension and juggling acts. The student must pass her exams, in order to get a degree; the airplane mechanic must do his repair jobs impeccably, lest the airplane should crash. The buss driver must keep control of his vehicle at all times, lest his passengers perish in some accident. Thus we seek to manage our lives; thus we try to control the circumstances of our lives; and thus we experience the wearisome hustle and bustle of life.
When we stay on top of our game, we think that we are winners. Those who succumb to the tension become losers—at least, that’s what Rachel, the mother of Benjamin, seemed to think. And that’s what most of us have learned to think. But here is the strange truth: With God, gain comes through loss. With God, we gain when we are at the end of our rope. With Jesus Christ, we find life only by declaring personal, spiritual bankruptcy. Or as Paul says in his letter to the church in Philippi: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:21). And “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (3:7). In other words, gain comes to us through loss.
In order for us to catch this Biblical truth, we do well to become familiar with the story of the “son of sorrow” (Ben-Oni) who, at the same time, is the “son of strength and joy” (Benjamin).
The story of Rachel’s second son begins long before his conception and birth. Rachel is barren; her sister Leah is fertile; Rachel is the apple of Jacob’s eye; Leah plays second fiddle in Jacob’s household. Rachel and Leah are driven by envy and rivalry, always seeking strength and comfort in their own conniving and wit. To bear children means to win the favor of Jacob. And for Rachel to beat Leah at her own game of producing kids, Rachel longs for a quiver of her own. When she gave birth to Joseph, her first-born child after years of barrenness, she called him “Joseph” meaning “May he add.” That is, may Joseph be the beginning of a multitude of children for me, Rachel.
Well, God answers Rachel’s prayers; she becomes pregnant with another son. But her pregnancy leads to the loss of Rachel’s life. The birth of this child means loss to Rachel. She is going down the grave. Leah will end up to live as Jacob’s only wife. Leah’s children will always outnumber Rachel’s two sons. In her birth chamber (which becomes a death chamber) Rachel weeps and laments her losses. Rachel will have no more sons, no more children. And her last act is one of great despair: This child must be called “Ben-Oni” for he signifies my sorrows. This is my son of sorrow: Ben-Oni shall be his name. Such is the death wish of Rachel.
But her husband Jacob intervenes. Though grieved by the death of his beloved Rachel, Jacob does not want Ben-Oni to live under the banner of loss. No, this child, says Jacob, shall be called Benjamin—child of my right hand; son of my strength and joy! This child shall live as my gain. This child shall receive my favor; this child of Rachel shall be my strength in the midst of my loss and sorrow for Rachel.
And thus it happened that Rachel’s second son lives with two voices in his head, creating tension in his life: Ben-Oni—son of sorrow; Benjamin—son of my strength and favor. Rachel’s lament and Jacob’s prophetic hope expressed in their son, echo all throughout the offspring of Benjamin. The Benjamites live with tension; their history is about losses and gains, about death and life, about losing and winning. Tension! Nothing but tension!
That
tension inherent in the names of Ben-Oni and Benjamin comes also to expression
on Jacob’s deathbed. Dying Jacob prophesies a blessing upon Benjamin, saying, “Benjamin
is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he
divides the plunder.” Here Jacob points to Benjamin’s place of strength
in the Land of Promise. Benjamin will produce soldiers, men of weapons and
warfare, men who will secure the borders of Israel--military men, thus, strong
and courageous as a wolf. But wolves are not only tenacious, strong and full of
courage; they can also be treacherous and dangerous. Jacob’s prophetic blessing
on Benjamin, then, contains an ominous shadow: “Benjamin is a ravenous
wolf.”
Centuries later, Moses has a more positive blessing for Benjamin: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him (Benjamin), for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” In other words, Moses envisions a future for the tribe of Benjamin that involves the “beloved of the Lord” dwelling in her midst. May Benjamin become the resting place, the dwelling place of the Lord’s beloved. Mmm, you can almost feel the tension running through the veins of the Benjamites: son of sorrow/son of my strength and joy.
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Let me give you some Biblical pictures that reveal the tension of gains and losses, of sorrow and strength.
a. The Benjamites became known as warriors, men of strength as the Israelites claimed the Promised Land. The Benjamites brought joy of victory to Israel; they defeated the Canaanites and gained their territory. The Canaanites’ losses meant gains for Jacob’s clans. With thanks to the wolves, the Benjamites.
b. The tribe of Benjamin also raised up heroes. Think of Ehud, one of Israel’s judges. Ehud is a member of the “son of my right hand” tribe—a Benjamite thus. Ehud is left-handed, and deceitful—like a wolf, dangerous to its prey. What does Ehud do? He enters the premises of Eglon, the King of Moab--an enemy of Israel for 18 years; Ehud asks for a private edition with Eglon; and left-handed Ehud killed his unsuspecting enemy with the sword. Eglon loses; Ehud wins.
Do you sense the tension inherent in the tribe of Benjamin?
c. Then there is the sordid story of Benjamites raping the mistress or concubine of a Levite. (Judges 19-21). The rape and the death of that woman eventually led to enormous loss of life for the Benjamites. Their tribe was almost completely wiped out. Read the story, feel the tension, and hear the voice of Rachel, weeping over her children who are no more.
d. Think of Saul, the first anointed King of Israel. He is from the tribe of Benjamin—a warrior king. But Saul is like his ancient mother Rachel. He is bent on doing things his own way. He does not look for God’s guidance in his life; he is bent on securing his gains as king of Israel. Secure your own destiny, by your own means, and by your own wit—that’s the way of Rachel; that’s the way of Saul—it’s the way of so many of us. But it leads to loss.
Saul loses God’s favor; Saul loses the kingdom; Saul loses his throne to David. Saul gains David as a servant, but loses David as his right hand. Saul benefits from David’s fighting spirit against the Philistines; but Saul is threatened by David’s popularity.
Saul is a pathetic figure: You feel for him—as you feel for Rachel. But you also want to pull him away from his self-destructiveness to do things his own way. You want to bless Saul as his ancient father Jacob did to Ben-Oni. “You shall be called “son of my right hand, my favor, my strength, my joy.” But the story of Saul ends differently. The house of Saul is nearly wiped out, Rachel weeping over her children again, gains and losses. Must it be that way forever?
No, thank God! There is also true gain for Benjamin. The Benjamites inherit the region of Bethlehem, along with the hill country that contains Jerusalem. Jerusalem built on the hills or mountains becomes Benjamite territory. And there, in Jerusalem, between the shoulders of Benjamin (so to speak) the Lord makes his dwelling place. The temple of God rests in the midst of Benjamin.
And there in Jerusalem, the Son of God temples or dwells among his people; there in Jerusalem, Jesus proclaims the reign of God; and there in Benjamin’s territory, the Lord Jesus Christ brings the rest of salvation to a sinful people and a dying world. For there in Jerusalem is the mount of Golgatha. And there, in Jerusalem, the Son of God demonstrates what he does with tension of gains and losses.
Think about it: Jesus is without sin; yet he becomes sin for us—that we may have life; Jesus is the Holy One of God; yet he becomes an outcast, made unclean by taking upon his shoulders our sins and the wrath of God on our sins. Jesus is like a Benjamite—he is like a wolf—strong, like a lion, feared by its prey; yet, unlike most Benjamites, Jesus is willing to be a Lamb—led to the slaughter—so that we might have life. Gain through loss, life through death. That’s the pattern that Jesus holds before us as we struggle with Benjamite tensions in our lives.
Listen to this early Christian hymn found in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
There you have it: loss and gain; sorrow of death, strength of joy and life. Jesus gave up everything he had. And in doing so, he won life for us; And God the Father seated his eternal Son at his right hand. The Son of the Right Hand gained life and exaltation through loss of life and humiliation.
Now we are getting close to the secret of life in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul introduces us to that secret. It is by declaring personal, spiritual bankruptcy that we find life in Christ. It is through the loss of self that is, through self-denial, dying to sin, Satan and self—that we gain life. That is the pattern to live out in life today.
Consider the Apostle Paul. Before his conversion, his name was Saul. At that time, Saul thought he had much gain, much to hold on to, much to brag about, and much to die for. Listen to his assets or gains: “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
But you know what, says
Paul, all of these assets or gains or advantages or wins, I now consider
rubbish: “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake
of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, who whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found
in him….”
Before his conversion, Paul lived like a son of sorrow. Saul was his name; his assets were his pride to hold on to; his zeal was to wipe out the Christian Church and to oppose this Jesus Christ. Thus we find Saul on his way to Damascus, to round up a bunch of Christians and have them executed.
The road to Damascus was a dead-end street, however. For Jesus Christ stopped Saul in his tracks and struck him blind. And Jesus turned Saul’s heart around and gave Saul a new name and a new mission in life: Saul, you shall be Paul. And you shall have eternal life, and you shall live as my follower here on earth, and you shall be found in me. And here’s how: You shall learn to live as a loser, so that you shall become a winner. Your losses will mean life for you. You shall suffer for my name.
That’s what Christ told Ananias concerning Paul: “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” In other words, Paul must lose his life, give up his assets--his worldly wins, and be found in Christ.
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Here’s what God is saying to us today: So much of what we consider wins or gains in life, are really nothing but rubbish compared to the privilege and joy of being found in Christ.
If Rachel, in her barrenness, had only come to God for mercy, without finagling and conniving the affairs in her household! If only Leah, in her pain of having to play second fiddle in Jacob’s household, had turned over that pain to God! I think things would have been so much different for Jacob and his household.
There is
nothing in life, there is nothing in ourselves, there is nothing about us—that
we can claim as our own and offer to God as an asset. We must come to God and
declare personal, spiritual bankruptcy: “Lord, I am a sinner; I am lost; I
have nothing to offer you. Have mercy on me!”
It is then that God delights in making us sons and
daughters. It is by humbling ourselves and seeking our salvation beyond
ourselves, that God shows us the fountain of life—his Son, the Lord Jesus.
So then,
resolve the tension of life, by taking up the cross life, by dying to sin and
self, by resting in God’s guidance in your life, and by coming to life in
Christ Jesus. To live is Christ, says Paul, and to die is gain.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!