Judges 20:18
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.
The verse stands in the account of the crime at Gibeah, where after the murder of the Levite's concubine Israel asked counsel about going to battle against Benjamin, the tribe being identified with those responsible for the crime. That war left Benjamin least and nearly exterminated. Gibeah of Benjamin means high, stands 2,690 feet above the sea about 200 feet higher than Jerusalem, commands a view even beyond the Dead Sea into the mountains of Moab, and lies within an hour's walk from Jerusalem.
Judges 20 belongs to the group of chapters 17-21 whose events fall chronologically before the events in Judges 11-16. The verse belongs to the last chapters of Judges, which show the low state and backsliding into which Israel had fallen before the call of Samuel the prophet, as part of the book's concluding record of Israel's backsliding and God's mercy. That low condition in the time of the judges stands in mighty contrast to the miracles, teaching, and compassion of Jesus recorded in Luke, yet both speak of the goodness and mercy of God.
The "house of God" is Bethel, where the ark of the covenant was in the time of the judges and where the Israelites came to inquire of the Lord. The Hebrew word for "house of God" is the same word elsewhere translated "Bethel," and several translations render it that way; Bethel was then a center of worship where special services were held before the ark, with Phinehas serving before it. Those who held the other understanding identified the "house of God" where Israel sought counsel as the sanctuary, the Lord's tabernacle at Shiloh. The sanctuary was God's prepared dwelling among his people, with his special presence in the tabernacle's Most Holy Place, where Israel went to seek God's counsel before battle and received direction.
Israel was defeated twice when it went against the wicked Benjamites, but the Lord sent Israel a third time, and after being repulsed twice Israel ultimately prevailed. Israel's first defeats did not mean final defeat: God may allow his people to suffer danger and apparent failure to humble their self-confidence and lead them to depend on him, and when they turn to him sincerely distress can be followed by joy and success. The later choice of a king from that weakened tribe shows divine wisdom removing all grounds of jealousy among the other tribes.