Judges 20:28
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
Chapters 17-21 record events from the early part of the history of the judges, while the main story of the book ends with chapter 16. The last chapters show the low state into which Israel had fallen before the call of Samuel the prophet. They belong to a record of backsliding followed by disgrace and punishment.
The verse belongs to the account of the Levite's concubine, whose murder at Gibeah was the crime with which the tribe of Benjamin identified itself. That outrage nearly led to the extermination of Benjamin at Gibeah. In this war the tribe had become least and nearly extinct, and divine wisdom afterward selected Israel's king from this tribe to remove all grounds of jealousy among the other tribes.
In the time of the judges the ark of the covenant was at Bethel, and the people went there to inquire of the Lord. Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, stood before the Lord there during Israel's battle against Benjamin. After Israel had twice been defeated by the Benjamites, he asked whether to go out to battle again against Benjamin his brother or to cease. The Lord commanded him to go up a third time and promised to deliver Benjamin into his hand the next day.
The earlier defeats did not mean Israel should never try again, for God permitted them to return under different circumstances and gave them victory. The setbacks did not mean Israel's cause was lost, for victory came after they looked to God for direction.