Judges 11
There’s a lot that can be said about this chapter and the man, Jephthah, whom it’s about. Pronounced in Hebrew as Yiphtach, his name means, “he opens.” The only reason that I mention this is that my personal studies have shown that in the scripture, the meaning of person’s name often has something to do with their life story. And Jephthah most certainly had an interesting story.
Born the illegitimate son of Gilead, he was despised by his brothers. The King James Bible refers to him as the son of a harlot, but the Hebrew literally translates as “fornicating woman.” This could mean a prostitute or an adulteress. We don’t know exactly. All we know is that Gilead was a married man and Jephthah was the only one of his sons not born of his wife. In verses two and three, we read how Gilead’s sons kick Jephthah out of the family, but how even on his own, Jephthah quickly becomes a sort of leader.
Jdg 11:3 “Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.”
Note that here the word “vain” does not refer to appearance. The Hebrew word is “reyq” which means, “empty, idle, worthless.” In essence, what this verse is saying is that when Jephthah arrived in Tob, the men there were pretty much good for nothings and found themselves naturally drawn to Jephthah as a sort of leader.
So, some time goes by and the nation of Ammon decides to wage war on Israel and more specifically Gilead. So, to make a long story short, Gilead finds itself in dire need of a military leader, so the men of Gilead, Jephthah’s brothers, come to him and beg him to lead them into victory against Ammon, promising him the position of leader of Gilead.
Oh, how the tables have turned for Jephthah. The one time exile gets to return to his home as a hero. But this is where the story gets most interesting. Before he fights Ammon, he does something…something that he will later regret…something that Isreal would never forget. He makes a vow.
“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.” (verses 30-31)
This is the perfect example in scripture of why you need to be so careful about you say and what you promise before God. The Lord did use Jephthah to defeat the Ammonites and it was an incredible victory. But for Jephthah, the joy of victory would not last long, for when he returned home, what should emerge from his home? It was not a goat…It was not a sheep…nor any pet or livestock… What should emerge, but his own daughter.
“And Jephthah came to Mizpeh 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.” (verses 34-35)
The last thing that Jephthah wanted to do was to sacrifice his own daughter, but he realized that he had no choice, because he could not turn his back on a promise that he made to God.
Here’s an interesting study: Look up vows in the Bible and see what the scripture says about them and the importance of keeping them. In the story of Jephthah, we find a man who made a vow that didn’t turn out the way he had intended at all. Still, he never thought for a moment about breaking it or ignoring it. And perhaps what makes the story even more incredible is the fact that his daughter did not fight it either. Obviously, she did not want to die, but she offered herself willingly for her father sake. An image of Jesus, don’t you think?
on May 25, 2009 on 2:23 am
I have to respectfully disagree with part of your take on this story. This story and the few that surround it would appear to have God condoning things that we see elsewhere in Scripture he condemns. The idea that God honored him for keeping his vow when keeping his vow meant making a human sacrifice to God is contrary to God’s stated word elsewhere. Human sacrifice was clearly forbidden by God. God even listed human sacrifice by other nations and when Israel went astray as major reasons for His judgment.
This part of Judges, in my opinion, was God’s way of showing us how depraved Israel had become. A man feels that sacrificing his own daughter will please God. In another story, a man gives his concubine to the violent, lustful desires of depraved men and then kills her and cuts her body and sends it to the other tribes, in a show of “righteous” anger.
God does not accept sin as a means of doing right. Keeping a vow does not remove the requirement to obey God’s law. If God had been pleased with his willingness to keep his vow, even when he realized that he made a horrible mistake, I would have expected to see a ram caught in the thickets (that would be the symbol of Christ)
on June 17, 2009 on 11:00 am
Numbers 30 “1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. 2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.”
Deut 23 “21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. 22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. 23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.”
I agree that Isreal was not what it should have been at this moment in time, nor do I mean to say that Jephthah was acting in the right when he sacrificed his daughter. But as you can read in the above quoted passages, once a vow is made to God, it is meant to be kept. Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter out of sinful disobedience, he did it because he felt that he had no choice and he was fearful of the Lord. If I had to pinpoint the moment of Jephthah fault, it would not be the sacrifice, but rather the vow that he made, on his own, and without the Lord’s blessing. The Lord had already decided to grant Jephthah the victory in the battle, his vow had no impact on it, and yet he was still bound by his oath to fulfill it. So then, my question always becomes, “Why didn’t the Lord cause a ram to come out of his tent?”
The only explanation I can think of, is to teach Jephthah and all of us a powerful lesson on the consequences of not only our vows, but of stepping outside of God’s will to do something that would “seem” to be right. Jephthah assumed that promising the Lord a sacrifice would grant him favor in the eyes of God. In the same way, King Saul assumed that sacrificing cattle would be more beneficial than waistfully slaughtering them. (1 Samuel 15)
Doing the “right thing” can ultimately be the “wrong thing” if it is done outside of the Lord’s will. And I think that that is ultimately the lesson to be learned. The second is simple, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
And of course let’s not forget the wisdom of Deut 23:22 “But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.”
When in doubt, that is always the safest route.