Defending Jephthah (Judges 10-12) Jephthah is Israel’s 9th judge overall, and the 5th major judge. The key verse spoken by Jephthah is Judges 11:27 (NLT), “Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.” • This is the high point of the story of Jephthah. • Jephthah has his head and his heart in the right place. • God is the Judge and Jephthah is the instrument of God’s judgement. • Jephthah is the most judged, the most questioned, the most criticized. God is the only one who can truly judge Jephthah. CONTEXT • Israel is under attack by the Ammonites. They have been oppressing Israel for 18 years. • They were in a dispute about Israel’s land. • God uses Jephthah to defeat Israel’s enemies. Jephthah’s Call Judges 10:18 (NLT), 18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.” 11:1 Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him… 5 When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. 6 The elders said, “Come and be our commander! • All of the commentators say here, that the people treated Jephthah just like they treated the LORD. They rejected him but now they need him because they are in trouble. • True repentance is turning back to God because He is God, not just because we are in trouble. 911 faith is calling on God when we are in trouble. • Jephthah’s calling is like a western movie. He’s the gunslinger hired to protect the townspeople from other outlaws. Jephthah’s Victory & Vow Judges 11:29 (NLT), At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory. 33 He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns… In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites. • V29 proves that Jephthah is not just a hired gun but he is the Lord’s Judge for this time. The Spirit of the LORD came upon all the major judges. • Jephthah talks about the LORD more than any other judge. • There is no reason to take anything but a positive view of Jephthah at this point. • It is curious that we have only 3 verses on the battle and 10 verses on the vow. • THE VOW: If you give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” (v. 30) • Why does he make this vow? Is he bargaining or bribing God like some say? • What does he think will come out of his house when he comes home? A pheasant? A sack of flour? • It was customary for the women to welcome the army home with singing and tambourines. • V34, his daughter came out of the house first to meet him! • Atheists like Richard Dawkins have a field day with this story. In The God Delusion, Dawkins says, “He cooked her.” Is that what happened? Defending Jephthah It's important to note: The Bible does not condone everything it records (if Jephthah DID kill his daughter, it was clearly wrong). Hebrews 11, “By faith these people [Jephthah] overthrew kingdoms and ruled with justice…” There are clues in the text that the vow is concerned with his daughter’s virginity, not death: • “I will die a virgin.” (37) • “She would never have children.” (38) • KJV - “...she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man.” (39) The last 5 words give the Hebrew word order preserved in the KJV. After the colon, there is an EXPLAINATION of the vow… and she knew no man. It seems reasonable that Jephthah is offering his only child, to serve the LORD in full-time service (that means no marriage, family life, no children, no grandchildren through her for Jephthah). • He gave her away as a living sacrifice wholly for the LORD’s use. • It truly is a sacrifice of love to the Lord. • We read about another vow like this in 1 Samuel. Hannah made a vow to the LORD and said, “IF you give me a son, I will give him back to you to serve you all his days.” That was Samuel. • The vow, the Spirit of the LORD, and the military victory are all closely linked together, so you would expect all of it to be in some way pleasing to the Lord. Jephthah’s Peace Judges 12:1 (NLT), Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!” 2 Jephthah replied, “I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. 3 So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?” 4 The people of Ephraim responded, “You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah… attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them. • Ephraim was mad at Gideon before, now they are mad at Jephthah. It’s the same complaint, “Why didn’t you call?” “Why didn’t you ask us to fight?” • They threaten to burn down Jephthah’s house with him in it. • Jephthah says, “I risked my life and went to battle!” (The Ammonites were attacking Ephraim too). • Jephthah receives no thanks – just insults and threats from the tribe of Ephraim. • So they go to war with each other and 42,000 from Ephraim died. • Ephraim is full of pride. The idols of envy, jealousy, greed for war booty are alive and well. Their pride leads to their fall. • Jephthah ends his career with a bloody conflict within Israel. Israel is in self-destruct mode. The surest way to self-destruction is doing what is right in your own eyes. This brings us back to our key verse: • Judges 11:27 (NLT), “Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon. • Let the Lord decide between Jephthah or Ephraim, or us and whoever we disagree with too! Let the LORD, and His Word decide who is right. CONCLUSION: Ezekiel 33:11, “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?” Why should you die? Turn to God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. The one God offered up for us on the cross so we would not die in our sins, but would have eternal life. John 3:16 For further reading on the vow: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/rethinking-jephthah-foolish-vow/ https://www.alisachildersblog.com/blog/does-the-bible-condone-human-sacrifice-whats-up-with-jephthah