The header image of the "White-Wolf" above can be used to represent something that is righteous (white) while at the same time possessing the qualities of being an overcomer and devouring that which is evil or compromise in the sight of God.

Genesis 49:27 (NIV)

²⁷ "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder."

Benjamin is depicted as a ravenous wolf who devours the prey and divides the plunder. Normally this would be a negative image with the wolf being one who represents the bad guy rather than the good. But nevertheless, Benjamin is represented as one of those who are blessed by God.

Deuteronomy 27:11-12 (NASB)

¹¹ Moses also charged the people on that day, saying,

¹² "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Benjamin was chosen by God (under the directions given to Moses) to stand on Mount Gerizim to represent those who are blessed by God. Those who stand on Mount Gerizim were all those who represent being overcomers. Simeon and Levi worked a separation from the assimilation of the family clan of Jacob with the idol-worshiping people of Shechem. Judah represents lordship to the Messiah and King. Issachar and Joseph represent the builders and creators who overcome to make the world a better place. Benjamin as the wolf was also an overcomer similar to the Lion which represents the tribe of Judah.

Devouring without Consideration

Wolves will devour just about any type of animal (livestock or wild) that can be eaten as prey. They are made for this purpose and they will naturally devour just about any prey within reach of their jaws!

The problem with Benjamin however was that he followed the instincts of a wolf to devour without first stopping to consider the circumstances or ask the question, "Why am I responding in aggression?" It was the attitude of Benjamin to devour first and then ask questions later!

Judges 20:12-14 (NIV)

¹² The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?

¹³ Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel." But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

¹⁴ From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.

There were some homosexual rapists who lived in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin who sought to molest a traveler who sought refuge in their town. When they were unable to abuse the man they instead raped and abused his concubine to death. This crime was reported to all other tribes of Israel and so they came together against the town of Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.

The Israelites requested that the Benjamite's hand-over those wicked and perverted men who perpetrated this crime so they could be executed for the evil crime they committed in assaulting and abusing a woman (which resulted in her death).

But the Benjamites did not listen to the other eleven-tribes who demanded they hand over the homosexual-offenders for justice. Instead they assembled from all of their towns and gathered at Gibeah in order to fight! This is an example of fight first and ask questions later! If they would have first considered their actions, they would not have sought to defend some homosexual rapists. It would be better to turn the perverts over for execution rather than dying together with them by fighting against all eleven-tribes! But Benjamin was like a wolf which had an attitude of devour first and ask questions later (without considering the long-term effects of their rash decisions).

Guilty Executed to Spare Innocent

2 Samuel 20:15-22 (NIV)

¹⁵ All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down,

¹⁶ a wise woman called from the city, "Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him."

¹⁷ He went toward her, and she asked, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he answered. She said, "Listen to what your servant has to say." "I'm listening," he said.

¹⁸ She continued, "Long ago they used to say, 'Get your answer at Abel,' and that settled it.

¹⁹ We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the LORD's inheritance?"

²⁰ "Far be it from me!" Joab replied, "Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!

²¹ That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bicri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I'll withdraw from the city." The woman said to Joab, "His head will be thrown to you from the wall."

²² Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

A man named Sheba rebelled against King David and took refuge in a certain town called Abel. Joab the commander of the army set up siege-works to batter down the walls of this town because they were harboring a rebel. If the people of that town did nothing and continued to harbor this villain then they would die together with him. But if they cut off the head of the rebel Sheba then they would spare their own lives.

Under this situation the citizens and leaders of that city had to consider the question, "Do we want to die together with this rebel? or will we execute this guilty one and thus save our own lives?" They made a wise and logical decision to cut off the head of Sheba and throw it to Joab who then sounded a retreat and put an end to his siege against that town.

In the same way the tribe of Benjamin should have asked themselves if they wanted to die together with some homosexual rapists or would they turn over the guilty party for justice. But fighting first without consideration was a bad choice that resulted in nearly all of the Benjamites being exterminated together with the guilty.

The end result of the Benjamite war was that everyone in the tribe of Benjamin was killed except for 600 sole male survivors! That was a big price to pay to defend some homosexual rapists that should have been executed for their crimes!

This is an example of being a zealot without having knowledge and without thinking ahead to the consequences of their actions.

Judges 20:20-21 (NIV)

²⁰ The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.

²¹ The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.

The troops of the eleven-tribe confederation of Israel had 400,000 troops while Benjamin had 26,000. But the Benjamites were good warriors and came out and attacked like a pack of wolves and destroyed 22,000 of the Israelite confederation troops on the first encounter!

Judges 20:24-25 (NIV)

²⁴ Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.

²⁵ This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

The second day the Benjamites came out and cut down another 18,000 Israelite soldiers! This shows that these Benjamites were fierce warriors and devoured the large army that assembled against them like a wolf!

But the fact remains that they were not fighting a righteous war but were only fighting without considering the big picture. This is what happens when people are zealous for a cause but are in fact fighting for the wrong thing.

Benjamite Religious Zealot

Philippians 3:4-7 (NASB)

⁴ although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Apostle Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin and before he was saved Paul was a religious zealot! He would persecute and arrest and torture and kill those Jewish people who believed in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah and he thought that he was doing God a service.

Acts 26:9-11 (NIV)

⁹ "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

Before he was saved Paul went to one synagogue after another seeking to find any Messianic Jews who believed in Jesus so that he could have them punished. He even tried to force them to blaspheme God under torture seeking to damn their souls to hell! In his obsession against them he even hunted them down in faraway locations and foreign cites in order to arrest and persecute and destroy them in his great religious zeal!

Acts 26:12-18 (NASB)

¹² "While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

¹⁴ "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

¹⁵ "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶ 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

¹⁷ rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

Then on the road to Damascus (on route to hunt down more Jewish believers) Paul had an encounter with the Lord and was saved. At this time, he went from being a religious zealot against the Lord to becoming a zealot to serve the Lord and serve God's kingdom.

It is interesting that Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin because that tribe is depicted as a ravening wolf that devours the prey! This is just what Paul was doing as a religious zealot hunting down believers even to faraway foreign cities! But Paul was ignorant of the fact that as an unbelieving religious zealot he was actually fighting against the Lord and against the kingdom of God!

1 Timothy 1:12-13 (NIV)

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Paul acted in ignorance as a unsaved religious zealot and a violent man but once he was enlightened and saved then God used the same zeal for something that was good. The entire Gentile world was transformed by the preaching of Apostle Paul and the world has never been the same since!

At the point of Paul's salvation, he could be compared to a "White" wolf or one who became righteous when he was saved and became a believer. Instead of devouring and destroying the church he instead used his "zeal" to devour ignorance and unbelief and disorder and Paul brought multiplied thousands of Gentiles to the light of the gospel!

Psalm 68:18 (7KB)

¹⁸ You have ascended on high [into heaven], leading the righteous captives into eternal freedom. You have given [dispersed] ministry gifts among men, even among the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there.

The Lord dispersed ministry gifts among men (even among the rebellious) like Apostle Paul. Before Paul was saved, he was a rebellious religious zealot but even as a religious zealot he already possessed the gift of Apostle.

Galatians 1:13-16 (NASB)

¹³ For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;

¹⁴ and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

¹⁵ But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased

¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,

Paul was born with the gift of Apostle from his mother's womb but he did not realize this gift until after he was saved on the road to Damascus. This means that Paul was already born to be an Apostle even while he was yet a rebellious unsaved religious zealot! It was at the time of his salvation that he turned his zeal from destroying the church (as a religious zealot) and instead used his zeal (as an Apostle) to build the church and promote the kingdom of God on earth!

Before Paul was saved he served as an example of a Benjamite who was like a ravening "Black" wolf that devoured the church but after he was saved Paul became like a ravening "White"wolf that devoured unbelief and disorder and set the church in order according to the divine order of God as an Apostle!

This is similar to Paul's tribe of Benjamin because they were zealots for a fight and would end up fighting for the wrong thing (like defending homosexual rapists) only because an army had gathered together against them. But that is a poor reason to fight and they should have turned the criminal offenders over for execution rather than fighting for and dying with them later!

Zeal has to be matched together with wisdom otherwise these Benjamites (including Apostle Paul) will fight for the wrong cause and use their zeal to destroy and devour that which is good. However, if they have a transformation of heart (as Paul did on the road to Damascus) then they can be used as a force for God instead of acting as a force against God!

Saul the Benjamite Destroys Wrong People Out of Zeal

2 Samuel 21:1 (NIV)

¹ During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death."

Saul was another example of a zealous Benjamite who acted with great zeal but without knowledge to his own detriment. In Saul's great zeal he had tried to destroy the Gibeonites who lived within the territory allotted to his own tribe of Benjamin.

Joshua 18:28 (NASB)

²⁸ and Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families.

The city of Gibeah was included among the cities which were listed as being within the tribal territory of Benjamin.

Judges 19:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites.

The men who occupied the city of Gibeah were Benjamites because that city was located with the territory of Benjamin. It was the inhabitants of this city which made a covenant with Israel in the time of Joshua.

Joshua 9:3-19 (NASB)

³ When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

⁴ they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended,

⁵ and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.

⁶ They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."

⁷ The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?"

⁸ But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

⁹ They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰ and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth.

¹¹ "So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us."'

¹² "This our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.

¹³ "These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey."

¹⁴ So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.

¹⁵ Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

¹⁶ It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land.

¹⁷ Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸ The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹ But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

The Gibeonites in fact exercised faith in the God of Israel (even though they resorted to a ruse in order to save their own lives). This ruse however resulted in tricking the Israelites into making a covenant that was ratified by oath. This covenant was binding and God honored this covenant with the Gibeonites because they pursued it by faith and even declared their faith in the God of Israel by seeking this treaty of peace with Israel.

The other Canaanites were to be fully exterminated through the agency of Joshua and his Israelite army. However, the Gibeonites were different because they came under oath and as a result had protection from being annihilated.

But Saul in his blind-zeal thought to eradicate the Gibeonites from Israel entirely regardless of their treaty made in the time of Joshua. Saul's misplaced zeal to kill the Gibeonites later caused a curse and a famine for the entire nation of Israel.

2 Samuel 21:3-6 (NIV)

³ David asked the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?"

⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, "We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death." "What do you want me to do for you?" David asked.

⁵ They answered the king, "As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel,

⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul--the Lord's chosen one." So the king said, "I will give them to you."

In order to make amends for the innocent blood that was shed by Saul (under treaty) the Gibeonites requested seven-male descendants of Saul to be executed for this crime of genocide against them.

Genesis 9:5-6 (NASB)

⁵ "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man.

⁶ "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

When innocent human blood has been shed then only blood can be used to make atonement for that bloodshed. In this case Saul had already perished in battle so they executed seven of his descendants to make atonement for the bloodshed of Saul killing off the Gibeonites in his misplaced zeal!

2 Samuel 21:9 (NIV)

⁹ He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed and exposed them on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.

These descendants of Saul were executed to make atonement for the innocent blood Saul had shed when he killed the Gibeonites who were under treaty ratified by oath before God!

Again, Saul as a Benjamite is an example of having zeal without knowledge when he did not think of the consequences of his actions. Saul destroying the Gibeonites (who were under oath) caused a famine for the entire nation later. This is similar to weed seeds that spout at a later time and bring a curse. In the same way, the actions and misplaced zeal of King Saul in killing off the Gibeonites resulted in a delayed curse when a drought and famine later affected the entire nation. Only after atonement was made was the drought ended and the famine ceased.

Fighting without Reason

Genesis 16:12 (NIV)

¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

Ishmael was another example of a man whose descendants were said to be against everyone and everyone was against them. There are some people who fight first then ask questions later. This type of blind-zeal largely results in misplaced energy that serves no good purpose but only causes conflict or war with everyone!

I believe that the tribe of Benjamin was not actually fighting to defend some homosexual offenders but rather it was because the eleven-tribe confederation of the Israelite army of 400,000 troops gathered together against them and Benjamin rallied out to meet the challenge like a pack of ravenous wolves (without considering what they were doing). If they had considered the situation first, they would have been logical and surrendered their criminals for execution and averted a war. But because their first reaction is to fight first and ask questions later, they went to war. It was as if they were fighting for some homosexuals and nearly got exterminated because of it! But actually, they were fighting with blind-zeal (not employing logic) on this occasion.

Blind Zeal

It is interesting that there are three examples of Benjamites employing blind-zeal in fighting.

1. The entire tribe of Benjamin gathered together to fight against all Israel (after the incident with their homosexual criminals).

2. King Saul was a Benjamite and he also was fighting against all Gentile nations but in his blind-zeal he even went so far as to even include the Gibeonites in his destruction (who were under covenant with God)!

3. Saul of Tarsus (later named Paul) was also a Benjamite and in his blind-zeal he thought it was his duty to destroy all messianic Jews as traitors to Judaism. But in his blind-zeal he was in fact destroying the church and fighting against the Lord!

King Saul Zealous to Fight

1 Samuel 14:47-48 (NIV)

⁴⁷ After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.

⁴⁸ He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

King Saul was zealous to fight against all of the Gentile enemy nations surrounding the country of Israel. This in fact was a good thing because these Gentile nations were to be removed from the land just as Joshua was commanded to destroy everyone who breathed!

But again, there is an exception with the Gibeonites who made a treaty with Israel and it was ratified on oath! God honored this treaty just as he did also with Rahab who saved herself and her family by making a deal with the Israeli spies to save her own life in exchange for theirs.

2 Samuel 21:2 (NIV)

² The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to [spare] them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)

This scripture speaks of Saul and his zeal for Israel which was expressed in annihilating the Gibeonites. This was acceptable for the destruction of any other Gentile nation (but not for the Gibeonites) who were under treaty and God honored that treaty because it was done in faith.

The principle to see here is that zeal with a directed purpose is a good thing but blind-zeal is meaningless and accomplishes nothing and often does more harm than good.

Choose Your Fights

This principle of choosing your fights speaks of how people can be saved and then stop fighting against God and instead fight against those things that hinder the kingdom of God. This is directed-zeal when someone fights for the right cause instead of fighting against those things that are a part of God's kingdom.

Apostle Paul was fighting against the Jewish messianic believers seeking to destroy them as traitors until Paul encountered the Lord and became a believer himself. Until Paul was saved, he was a religious zealot and was fighting against the believers and working to destroy the church instead of building it. Zealots operate in zeal without knowledge and often fight for the wrong cause simply because they are ignorant and misinformed.

Misplaced Zeal

Judges 20:46-48 (NASB)

⁴⁶ So all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who draw the sword; all these were valiant warriors.

⁴⁷ But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months.

⁴⁸ The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.

The tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated entirely (except for only 600 sole male survivors) and this was a result of their zeal in fighting for the wrong cause. They were like ravening wolves ready to devour but they were fighting the wrong cause never stopping to think that they would end up fighting and dying for some homosexual rapists!

King Saul the Benjamite was also zealous to destroy the Gibeonites like a wolf devouring them! But this was misplaced zeal and he should have destroyed only the Canaanites who were not under treaty with Israel because destroying the Gibeonites brought a curse of drought and famine to his own nation!

Apostle Paul was zealous to persecute and torture and destroy all Jewish believers who followed the Messiah until he found he was fighting against God in doing so!

Zeal is only good if it is joined together with knowledge so that the zealot is directed toward fighting for the right cause. Otherwise such misplaced zeal is only a curse and will in the end result in their own destruction!

God-Given Dominion and Authority

Believers have been given dominion and authority upon the earth and they can use that authority to stop the work of the devil in their homes, and society and nations. If they do nothing at all then the devil will have free reign to kill and steal and destroy and bring disorder and defilement of all kinds.

Believers are to be like a "White" wolf or good wolf that devours all of the disorder and chaos that is sown by the devil through the unbelievers on earth. Believers are to exercise God's plans in aggressive manner using their God-given authority.

Principle Benjamin speaks of directed zeal to use zeal (with knowledge) so that those who are zealous will fight for the right cause. Apostle Paul was transformed on the road to Damascus when he encountered the Lord. From that time forward he used his zeal with great effect to build the kingdom of God on earth. The preaching of Apostle Paul transformed the Gentiles from immoral and godless people to clean and good citizens. This is an example of the proper use of directed zeal to serve the Lord and build God's kingdom rather than tear it down as a religious zealot.