Judges 20:21
And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
The verse records that Benjamin's men came out from Gibeah and killed twenty-two thousand Israelite men in one day, as part of the record of Israel's backsliding and the disgrace and punishment that followed. The defeat came in the conflict that followed the crime at Gibeah, the murder of the Levite's concubine, when the whole tribe of Benjamin identified itself with Gibeah and sided with its wicked men. Although the account appears near the end of the book of Judges, the events occurred early in the history of the judges.
It belongs to the closing chapters recording Israel's backsliding and troubled, low, fearfully checkered condition under the judges before the call of Samuel the prophet, and the disgrace and punishment that followed. It belongs to the time when the ark was at Bethel and the people went there to inquire of the Lord. It was Israel's first defeat by Benjamin in that fight, for Israel was defeated twice and repulsed a second time before the Lord sent the people a third time to final victory.
The conflict nearly resulted in Benjamin's extermination and brought the tribe close to extinction. Benjamin's reduction to a small, nearly extinct tribe explains why Saul was later chosen king from that tribe, since choosing from such a tribe removed grounds for jealousy among the other tribes. The account teaches that God may allow his people to suffer temporary defeat and apparent destruction to humble their self-confidence and lead them to seek victory from him, so that their distress can be turned to joy and success and opposition need not prevent their cause from ultimately triumphing.
That pattern of temporary setback followed by hoped-for success applies to the Scottish reformers in their defeats. Its record of defeat and loss stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teaching of Jesus in Luke, yet both speak of the goodness and mercy of God.