Judges chapter 11 and verse 29. We're speaking here about a judge
called Jephthah. Then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and
passed over Mispeh of Gilead, and from Mispeh of Gilead he
passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed
a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver
the children of Ammon into mine hands, then 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 Arwar, even till thou come to Minneth, even twenty
cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great
slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were
subdued before the children of Israel. And Jephthah came to
Mispeh unto his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet
him with timbrels and with dances, and she was his only child. Beside
her he had neither son nor daughter. And 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 and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity,
I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent
her away for two months. And she went with her companions
and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And 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. And it was a custom in Israel
that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter
of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading of his word. Today we come to another judge
in Israel. And just depending on how the
count goes, this might be around the eighth or ninth of the judge's
tenth that we've been thinking about. So we're moving on through
these individuals. This is a judge that is better
known and whose history is better known. You may remember that
last week we spoke of six judges who really only were mentioned
by name with very little spoken of concerning them. This is different. Here is a man called Jephthah
and his history is better known. He indeed achieved some great
accomplishments and we've read a little bit about a battle that
he fought with the Ammonites and a victory that he won. And yet, it is for a matter of
his own personal judgement. that he is perhaps most remembered
and thought about and it is to do with a vow that he made prior
to the battle with the Ammonites which has left us with perhaps
some uncomfortable questions. Jephthah ended up as a judge
of Israel. But had we taken time to read
more of the history of this man, we would have discovered that
he started out in life in a very disadvantaged way. He was an
outcast. and he had great public shame. The reason for that was that
he was born to a harlot and he was born outside of marriage. As a result of that, he was despised
by his brothers who were sons of a legitimate wife. and they
made sure that he would not be entitled to inherit any of his
father's property and he would as a result be very poor and
he was ultimately abandoned. He was cast out of his home and
he was not allowed to be a part of the family. And how often
we find that the sins of the fathers are visited on their
children, very often unjustly. Not perhaps directly in judgment
from God, but by consequence of the sins that have been committed
before them. and the scriptures speak of that
indeed. Jephthah fled from the presence
of his brothers and out of the family home. And it is perhaps
to some extent for this reason that we discover that he became
a man who was engaged in activities that were harsh and difficult. This hard start continued into
his adult life. he became the leader of a band
of what are called in scripture vain men. Now this does not necessarily
mean that they acted wickedly, although it probably means that
they acted in random ways and they didn't have any real ties
or responsibilities. But the name vain man implies
that these men were like Jephthah in that they had no families
and they had no inheritance and they were, as a result, empty
men. That's what the phrase vain men
means. They were empty and they lived
by what they could scavenge or by what they could forage for
themselves, perhaps in the mountains, perhaps in the woods, perhaps
they were hunters, but they didn't have any land, they didn't have
anything to farm and they didn't have anywhere firm to stay and
to dwell. and it may well be that they
were cross-border raiders as well, going into the neighbouring
country of Amman and there eking out some existence as best they
could. And what we discovered is that
Jephthah was successful in doing that. And that when the Ammonites
came to attack Israel, and we didn't read it, but in fact the
beginning of this narrative is that Israel, after a long period
of well, several decades, probably about 40 odd years. They went back to idolatry. There
had been peace. They went back to idolatry. They
went back to wickedness. And then the Ammonites came against
them to trouble the land. And when the Ammonites came against
Israel, because Jephthah had had some success in resisting
them and as a leader of men, he was recognised by people in
Gilead, the land that he had come from, as one who might be
able to help them and to bring his soldiers, his troop, his
band to the assistance of the people. And so these people who
at first ejected him from his home and rejected him from the
land, they asked him to come back to return and lead the people,
lead the soldiers, rule in the land where his family lived. Jephthah agreed to do that and
he took command of the army and twice he sent messages to the
king of the Ammonites telling them that he did not want war
and endeavouring to prevent any battles. But soon it became clear
that war was inevitable and that fighting would be unavoidable.
So the people obeyed Jephthah's call to arms and in verse 29
we read together that the spirit of the Lord came upon him. So
Jephthah was chosen by the people and he was anointed by the Lord
to be a judge of all Israel. And it was at this point that
Jephthah made what was likely a hasty and certainly a foolish
vow. And we read about it in the passage
that is before us. It was a vow that seems to reflect
a lack of faith on his part and an attempt to make a deal with
God. He promised the Lord that if
the Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites, he would give
in return a burnt offering. whatsoever cometh forth of the
doors of my house to meet me. Now we'll come back to this in
a moment but the Lord did give Jephthah victory over the Ammonites
and they were subdued and A little bit later we discovered that
that didn't, however, bring peace into the land because Jephthah
was provoked by the tribe of Ephraim who seemed for some reason
to want to pick a fight with him and with the people of Gilead
and Jephthah had to go to war also with the Ephraimites and
he defeated them. Ephraim was defeated with many
men slain. and afterwards Jephthah judged
Israel for six years and then he died and was buried in his
home in Gilead. But it's the lessons that relate
to the making and fulfilling of this vow that I want to draw
to our attention today. And I think there are some lessons
that we can take from this little passage, unsettling as it is. And there's no doubt that it
is a disturbing and a puzzling passage in the Word of God. It
makes for uneasy reading, that here is a man of God, and I think
we should note this about Jephthah. He is a man of faith. And this
is mentioned in the context of the passage, but it is also reinforced
because in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 32, in that list of
the people who were people of faith, Jephthah is mentioned
amongst them explicitly and directly. So he was a man of faith, but
he was also a man upon whom the spirit of the Lord rested, the
spirit of the Lord came. And indeed he came, the spirit
of the Lord came on Jephthah before he made this vow. So unsettling as the vow is,
we discover that he is both a man of faith and a man upon whom
the spirit of the Lord is resting even before he said these things. Now the history of this matter
is as it is and it was a long time ago and we would probably
be unwise to be overly judgmental about what we think this all
means and what was happening here. And yet we find ourselves
thinking, how could a man be so foolish as to make such a
promise to God as could result in making his own daughter a
burnt offering? And we may well say, well, that
was the last thing that he imagined would happen. And yet it was
explicitly stated that it would be whatever came to meet him
at his door that would be made an offering to the Lord. And I think that we need to just
pause and reflect upon that. Let me also say this in the context
of what we read together. We are not actually told that
this girl was ever slain. It appears that she was, but
it is not explicitly said and we just have to remember that. It may well be that there are
things here that we are not told about and we don't fully understand. Remember what we said last week,
that not everything is written down and there is much that is
left out because the true message is the message of salvation and
deliverance by the Lord. We should note in the context
of what is said here in this chapter that it was against the
law of God to offer human sacrifice, so therefore it was against the
law what seems in a sense to be unfolding before us. and it
was also an abomination to the Lord. It not only was against
the law of God, but it was hated by God that such a thing should
be done. And there is a reference in scripture
a number of times to passing through the fire and the worship
of a God called Molech. Interestingly, the Ammonites
were Moloch worshippers, and they practiced this passing of
their children through the fire, whatever that actually means. There's also something else which
is perhaps pertinent here. The Mosaic law allowed for extreme
vows, which undoubtedly this was, to be redeemed with money. And values were set for specific
examples. So that had Jephthah wished,
he could have redeemed his daughter from this sacrifice that is suggested
here. Now I don't want to be emphatic
about what did or did not occur here, but I think there are some
lessons for you and me today. And here's the first one that
I want to just leave with you. Don't try to make deals with
God. Don't try to deal with the Lord. Don't say things to the Lord
in your prayers or in your moments of difficulty or in your moments
of trial. Don't say things to the Lord
like, if you do this for me, then I will do this for you.
We should not do that. You are in no position to barter
with God and let it be known, we speak from experience, that
whatever you offer, you won't be able to deliver. So don't
make deals with God and don't make promises to God at all because
you will not be able to keep them and you will end up ashamed
and then you will feel guilty and you will feel disappointed
because of the experience. So there's the first point. Don't
try to do deals with God or make promises to him that you can't
deliver. The second point is this. If
you do do that, If you have made promises to
God and made statements to the Lord that you later regret, as
undoubtedly Jephthah did, then tell him you are sorry. Tell him you were foolish to
do so. Ask for forgiveness. The Lord
is merciful, the Lord is kind, and the Lord is patient with
his children. He knows that we think more of
ourselves than we ought to. He knows that we have weak faith. He knows that we say and do foolish
things, that we get into situations and we think the only way out
of them is to make a commitment, and then we discover we can't
keep up our end. He knows that. He knows us better
than we know ourselves. And asking for forgiveness is
what Jephthah ought to have done. No matter how solemn, no matter
how earnest, how well-meant his promise was, the Lord will not
enforce our mistakes upon us if we repent. Now we've noted
that Jephthah was a judge, we've noted that he was a man anointed
of God, we've noted that he is a man of faith, but we learn
from his life that we all make mistakes and the Bible assures
us that the Lord is gracious to forgive. Perhaps it was that
Jephthah's faith faltered in the moment as he faced the Ammonites. Maybe there was an element of
bravado. Here was this man who had to
wrestle all his life, who knew what it was to have nothing and
who knew what it was to have to keep face as a leader of men. Maybe he felt that he had to
keep his word in order to save his pride or to stave off embarrassment. But a humble apology would have
been better. It is never a good idea to do
something wrong in order to cover up a mistake. And the scriptures
not only teach us by positive direction and instruction how
we should live, but we are also encouraged to learn by seeing
the mistakes of others and knowing that we are all sinners and we
are all in need of grace and forgiveness. We read a little
bit about Jephthah's daughter here and the things that she
said and the things that she did and there's much in the meek
attitude and the meek words that Jephthah's daughter spoke that
are admirable and even delightful. But may the Lord preserve us
all from endangering our loved ones and indeed endangering the
testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ by the foolish things that we
say and do. God did not want Jephthah's daughter's
life. He wanted Jephthah's humble faith
and trust. And trust is all that we have
to give to the Lord. The final thing I want to mention
is this, and then we're through today. Jephthah was foolish and
he lived to regret his words. But God the Father wisely, willingly
and mercifully gave his own dearly beloved son, his only son, because
the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood was the only price
for our redemption and the cost of our salvation. You and I can
never do a deal with God. As sinners, the price of redemption
is beyond our ability to pay. But the good news of the gospel
is this, the deal is already done. The contract or the covenant,
because it's the same word, the contract or covenant made has
been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus and the cost of our release and
the deliverance from the curse of the law has been paid. We are blessed today because
Christ has paid the full ransom price for our salvation. May we learn from the stakes
of Jephthah and the mistakes of others in the word of God.
And may we never forget what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ
to save our souls. Amen.