Lord, be pleased to meet with
us. Brother Don, I pray for you.
I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me
to the book of Judges, chapter 11. Judges, chapter 11. While you're turning there, I'm
going to read a passage of scripture out of Hebrews. 11, verse 32, and then I'll be in Judges 11
with you. The writer to Hebrews says in
Hebrews 11, 32, And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David also, Samuel
of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword
out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant, in fight, turn
to flight the armies of the aliens. Now, in Judges chapter 11, I'd
like to read this chapter and then make some comments on this
very amazing passage of scripture. Judges 11, Now Jephthah the Gileadite
was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of an harlot. And Gilead begat Jephthah, and
Gilead's wife bare him sons, and his wife's sons grew up.
And they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt
not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange
woman. Then Jephthah fled from His brethren
dwelt in the land of Tob, and there were gathered vain men
to Jephthah, and went out with him. It came to pass in the process
of time that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
And it was so that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel,
the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land
of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, Come,
be our captain. But we may fight with the children
of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not
ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? And why
are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? And the elders
of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee
now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children
of Ammon, and be our head. over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home
again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver
them before me, shall I be your head? The elders of Gilead said
unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us, if we do not so according
to thy words. And Jephthah went with the elders
of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them.
uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. Jephthah
sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying,
What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me
to fight in my land? And the king of the children
of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took
away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even
to Jabbok. Now therefore, restore those
lands again peaceably. And Jephthah sent messengers
again unto the king of the children of Ammon, and said unto him,
Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor
the land of the children of Ammon. But when Israel came up from
Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea,
and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers unto the king
of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land.
But the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And like Mander
they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent, and
Israel abode in Kadesh. Then they went along through
the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom and the land
of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and
pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the
border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel
sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. And Israel said unto him, Let
us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon
trusted not Israel to pass through. Sihon gathered all his people
together and pitched in Jahaz and fought against Israel. And
the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into
the hand of Israel, and they smote them. So Israel possessed
all the land of the Amorites and the inhabitants of that country,
and they possessed all the coast of the Amorites from Arnon even
unto Jabbok, from the wilderness even unto Jordan. So now the
Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his
people Israel. And shouldst thou possess it,
wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy God giveth thee to
possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God
shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. And now,
art thou anything better? than Balak the son of Zippor,
king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel
or did he ever fight against them? When Israel dwelt in Heshbon
and her towns in Aurora and her towns in all the cities that
build along by the coast of Arnim three hundred years, why therefore
did you not recover them within that time? Wherefore, I have
not sinned against thee, thou doest me wrong to war against
me. The Lord, the judge, be judged
this day between the children of Israel and the children of
Ammon. Howbeit, the king of the children of Ammon hearken not
unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. And the Spirit of
the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and
Manasseh, passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of
Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon, and jepped
the vow to bow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without
fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, and it
shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house
to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall
surely be the Lord's. And I will offer it up for a
burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto
the children of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered
them into his hands. And he smote them from Aurora,
even till thou come to Minneth, even twenty cities, and unto
the plain of the vineyards in a very great slaughter. Thus
the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
And Jephthah came to Mizpah, unto his house, and behold, his
daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances,
and she was his only child. And beside her he had neither
son nor daughter. It came to pass when he saw her
that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter, thou
hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble
me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go
back.' And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened
thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance
for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.' And
she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me, let
me alone two months, that I may go up down unto the mountains
and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two
months. She went with her companions
and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. It came to pass
at the end of two months that she returned unto her father,
who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And
she knew no man. It was a custom in Israel that
the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter
of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days a year. There was a man, the Scripture
reveals, that was rejected by his brothers, half-brothers,
Jephthah was a man that was born of a harlot. And his dad, married,
had sons by his wife. He told Jephthah, we don't want
to have anything to do with you. So he left and he went to a land
called Tob. Well, in the process of time,
king of Ammon came up against Israel and was going to make
war with Israel. So those that cast him out now
have approached him and said, we want you to come back. And
he said, well, this is a strange thing. You cast me out and now
you want me to come back and He said, if I come back, will
you accept me as your head, as your captain? We will. We will. So he did. He did. And he sent a messenger to the
king of Ammon. He told him, he said, what seems
to be the problem? He said, we want our land back. And Jephthah told him. The Lord
gave us this land, and we're not giving it back. All we wanted
to do was pass through, and He wouldn't let us. He came out
against us, and God gave us this land, and it's ours. Are they going to go ahead and
go against Jephthah and fight against Jephthah? And the scripture
declares that Jephthah went before the Lord. Now Hebrews 11 said
that Jephthah did what he did by faith. Jephthah believed God. Jephthah 11 says concerning that
Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead And the people made
him head, and the captain at Jephthah uttered all his words
before the Lord in Mizpah. He made this a matter of prayer, told the Lord that which the
Lord knew in Jephthah Besot, God's guidance and God's direction. And the scripture says in verse
29, After Jephthah had talked, trying to reason with the people,
king of Ammon, the scripture says, then the Spirit of the
Lord came upon Jephthah and he passed over. It was going to
be a fight. It was going to be a battle. Diplomacy obviously didn't seem
to work. So Jephthah passed over. Now, it's at this point that
we find Jephthah. He's going to make a vow unto
the Lord. And this is what Jephthah's vow
entailed. He asked the Lord this in verse
30, 31. He vowed a vow and said, If thou
shout without fail, deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands. And it shall be that whatsoever
cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return
in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lord's,
and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Now, before I go any further,
I'm reminded of two men that were on the road to Emmaus. And they were talking about the
things that had just transpired in the last few days. And the
scripture says that the Lord came and began to walk with them. And he asked them about the things
that they were talking about. And they said, ìAre you new? Are you new in town?î And the
Lord said, and you can look at it with me, Iíll just turn over
there to Luke 24. Beautiful, beautiful passage
of Scripture. Luke 24. He said to them in verse 25,
ìThen he said, ìO fools, and slow of heart,î Luke 24, 25,
ìto believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. He drew nigh to the village,
and whether they went, he made as though he would have gone
further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us. It
is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in
to tarry with them. And as it came to pass, as he
said it meet with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break
it, gave to them, their eyes were opened, they knew Him. He
vanished out of their sight and they said one to another, did
not our heart burn within us as He talked with us by the way
and while He opened to us the scriptures. I pray this evening
that the Lord might be pleased to open unto us the scriptures. I know that the Scriptures bears
out that Jephthah, by faith, did what he did. The Scripture
says he did. Back in Judges 11, he made this
vow. Whatsoever, Lord, if you will,
without fail. Now listen, here is a beautiful
picture. sacrifice does God demand for
absolute victory over the enemies of God's people? What is the
character, what is the character of the sacrifice? Here was Jephthah,
and by faith we know that Almighty God rules in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no man stays His
hand. He doeth as He will. He is God,
and He works everything to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
and for the good of His people. And Jephthah, by faith, made
this vow. Lord, You rule. You rule, like
Nebuchadnezzar said, you rule in heaven and earth. Lord, whatever
comes out of my house, I'll offer that as a burnt offering. Lord,
you provide the sacrifice. You provide that which you demand. What is the character? Well,
the scripture says that Jephthah, verse 32, passed over unto the
land of the children of Ammon, to fight against them. And the
Lord delivered them into his hands, and he smote them. For Mororah, even till thou comest
to Menneth, twenty cities, and victoriously went back to
his home in Mizpah. And the scripture sets forth
that Almighty God now would set forth the character of the sacrifice
that he demands. This is one of those passages
of scripture that we might look at and say, what a sad, sad,
sad event. I'm here to declare tonight that
this sets forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This sacrifice
that's going to come out of this house is going to be his daughter. But I'm telling you that this
daughter sets forth the character, a beautiful picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jephthah came to Mizpah unto
his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with temperance
and dances. And here's what the scripture
says. Jephthah saw her, and when he saw her, he said,
O my daughter, Thou hast brought me very low. Thou art one of
them that trouble me. I have opened my mouth unto the
Lord, and I cannot go back. I cannot go back. I cannot. And this daughter said an amazing
thing to her father. This daughter said unto him,
My Father, if thou hast opened thy mouth
unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded
out of thy mouth. Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken
vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. Now, I know this. First of all,
this is what I know concerning the character of his daughter,
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice that God demands. She was a precious sacrifice. The scripture sets forth in verse
34 that she was his only child. Beside her he had neither son
nor daughter. Oh, how we look and behold the
only begotten Son. Almighty God has one Son, the
only begotten Son. And he is therefore precious,
the precious Lord Jesus Christ. Jephthah knew that Almighty God
would move in setting forth the one that was to be the sacrifice,
but do we not see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was
his heart. This was Jephthah's heart. He had one daughter. I think
of Proverbs 23, 26. My son, give me thine heart. I've opened my mouth to the Lord. I can't go back. I can't. What did it cost the Father? I scarce can take in the love
of the Father for the Son. I cannot. God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son. I have opened my mouth to
the Lord. Romans 8, 32, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Lord, what is
the sacrifice that you demand? Everything. Everything. I have opened my mouth to the
Lord. I cannot go back. Lord, whatever comes out of that
house is yours. Here is what I know secondly
concerning this daughter. She was a willing sacrifice.
Verse 36, she said, My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto
the Lord. Now you think of this. according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth. Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken
vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. Here was his precious daughter. Oh, how we behold her willingness.
Father, you made a vow unto the Lord. Do it. Do it. Of the Lord Jesus Christ,
He said in John 4, 34, ìMy meat is to do the will of Him that
sent me and to finish His work.î Look at John 6, 38, 40. John
6. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that if everyone which seeth the Son believeth on him
may have everlasting life, I will raise him up at the last day. If there be any way that this
cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Father, you made a vow unto the Lord. Do to me that which you
vowed. Thirdly, the sacrifice of God's
demand must be a pure sacrifice. Verse 37, she said unto her father,
Let this thing be done for me. Let me alone two months, that
I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity,
I and my fellows. Her virginity was a beautiful
picture of the purity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
that lamb before the Passover in Egypt, what was that lamb
to be without blemish? The angel of the Lord speaking
to Joseph in Matthew chapter 1, telling Joseph concerning
that which was conceived in Mary. While he thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, of our precious Lord. The scripture
says in Hebrews 7, Hebrews 7 verse 25, 27, Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest
became us who is holy. harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, made higher than the heavens. This sacrifice that
Almighty God demanded has a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom the Lord said to the two on the road to Emmaus, in
all the scriptures concerning himself. And as he opened up
those scriptures, those two men said, our hearts burned. As he revealed to us himself, those cherubims and Isaiah over
the throne, what did they cry? Holy, holy, holy. The sacrifice that God demanded
to give absolute, without fail, without fail, victory over the
enemies of Israel, God's true Israel. What sacrifice does God
demand? Precious, willing, pure. And I'll tell you what else He
demands, one that He trusts. Look at verse 38. She had said
in verse 37, I ask you this thing, let me alone two months that
I may go up and down unto the mountains and bewail my virginity,
I and my fellows. And look what it said in verse
38. Go. Go. She asked to go for two months and there is no indication that
Jephthah ever doubted that she'd come back. You know why? He trusted his daughter. But
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1, 11, in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will, should be the praise of the glory of His grace,
praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. Who trusted
Him first? The Father. The Father trusted
Him. You think of this, God's honor,
God's purpose, God's will, the redemption of God's people, the
fulfillment of of the everlasting covenant of grace, all in the
hands of the surety, everything, all power given unto the Son,
that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father hath
given Him. That sacrifice that God demanded was faithful. Back in Judges
11, the scripture says she was trusted. Jephthah trusted her. But I'll tell you this, she was
faithful. 39, it came to pass at the end
of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with
her according to his vow which he had vowed she'd do no man. Jephthah's daughter came back. She said, Father, would you give
me two months to go up into the mountain, bewail my virginity? And he said, yeah, yeah. He knew she'd come back. And
she came back. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
do only, always, those things that please the Father. And this
precious, pure, willing, trusted daughter was faithful to her
word. And the Scripture says that that
vow that he had vowed whatever the fullness of that vow was,
whatever it was, he did it. He did it. And lastly, Jephthah's sacrifice
was a remembered sacrifice. The last part 39 and verse 40
says, and it was a custom in Israel that the daughters of
Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the
Gileadite, four days a year. We are here this evening remembering
the Lord. We remember. We preach We declare
Him who He is. He is the precious, pure, willing,
trusted, faithful, faithful Savior of His people. And they went up every year and
remembered. We remember the Lord Jesus Christ
when we take the Lord's table. Someone might say, well, I just
see a piece of bread and a little cup of wine. Our Lord gave us
this bread and wine, told us to remember Him, and we do. They
said, I don't see how that's just something God's people do. Before Brother Scott died, he came over to the study one
day and I reached in his pocket and he said, I'm going to give you this knife. And he said, I want to give this
to you so when I'm gone, you can remember me. I said, Brother Scott, you think
I need a knife to remember you? But you know what? I don't ever
take that knife out. I don't remember him. We come tonight in remembrance
of Him who has wrought a mighty victory over death, hell, and
the grave. Who is He? He is our Lord, precious,
willing, pure, trusted, faithful, faithful Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart, for Christ's sake.