10,000 of Israel’s best trained soldiers attacked the city of Gibeah. The fighting was very heavy. But the army of Benjamin did not know what terrible thing was going to happen to them.
A person never knows what will happen to him next. He is like a fish caught in a net—the fish does not know what will happen. He is like a bird caught in a trap—the bird does not know what will happen. In the same way, a person is trapped by the bad things that suddenly happen to him.
“But troubles will come to you.\par You don’t know when it will happen,\par but disaster is coming.\par You will not be able to do anything\par to stop those troubles.\par You will be destroyed so quickly\par that you won’t know what happened!\par
“Be careful! Don’t spend your time drinking and getting drunk. Or don’t be too busy with worldly things. If you do that, you will not be able to think right. And then the end might come when you are not ready.
People will say, “We have peace and we are safe.” At that time destruction will come to them quickly. Destruction will come like the pains of a woman who is having a baby. And those people will not escape.
Later, the king of Ai saw the army of Israel. The king and his people hurried out to fight the army of Israel. The king of Ai went out the east side of the city toward the Jordan Valley, so he did not see the soldiers hiding behind the city.
The Lord used the army of Israel and defeated the army of Benjamin. On that day, the army of Israel killed 25,100 soldiers from Benjamin. All those soldiers had been trained for war.