REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2019 MORNING SERVICE. (All quotations from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise) Sing beforehand: Psalm 12:1+2. Our help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Beloved, grace and peace be unto you, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, through the powerful operation of God the Holy Spirit. Amen. Song of praise: Psalm 146:1+3. Confession of faith: Nicene creed. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was made incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets And we believe one holy universal and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead; and the life of the world to come. Amen. Law Psalm 19:6+7. Prayer Doxology: Worship: Confession: Supplication (for pardon of sins): Thanksgiving: Intercession (for the need of the congregation, the church, authorities, sinful world and appeal to the promises of God) General supplication: Illumination of the Holy Spirit (necessary for the ministry of the Word): Amen. Psalm 34:4+6. 1
Scripture reading: Judges 11:12-40. Scripture text: Judges 11:35-36: - And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it. So she said to him, My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon. Theme: The importance of words the Word of the Lord and your words. Beloved congregation our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord gave man a wonderful gift of the ability of communicating with Him and his fellow man. This communicating can happen in various ways. One of the ways is with words that are written or spoken. In His Word the Lord also says much about the words people speak there are exhortations to speak words that build people up and warnings about what we say and how we say it. In the epistle of James we find the well-known chapter about the tongue that can so easily cause much trouble. All people sooner or later fall into the trap of saying something that subsequently they regret very much. Often it is not what you said but the tone of voice in which you said it that hurt somebody. To repair a relationship that was damaged because of words that were spoken may take a long time. Spoken words cannot become unsaid, no matter how dearly one would want it. Brothers, sisters and children, in Judges 10 and 11 we hear many words being spoken. Every time something was said, something happened as a consequence of what was said. In Judges 10 we hear the discussion between the LORD and Israel. Israel confessed to the LORD that it had sinned. Thereupon the LORD rebuked the Israelites because they had so often turned away from Him after He had delivered them. This rebuke resulted in the Israelites turning away from their idols and again serving the LORD. In Judges 11 we meet Jephthah and he speaks as well. The first time he speaks with the elders of Gilead who came to seek his help against the Ammonites. After he rebuked them about the injustices done to him in the past, they promised that he would be the leader of all the people in Gilead and not only their commander in battle. Jephthah reminded them that the LORD was witness to their words. The second time that Jephthah speaks, he is seeking a diplomatic solution to the pending war. In his dealings with the king of Ammon one gains respect for Jephthah. He is not a hothead who rushes into battle. He also knows the history of his people well. In his negotiations he mentions the facts of God's dealings with His people that show that the Ammonites are in the wrong in their attack on Israel. Unfortunately Jephthah's words did not prevent the war, because the king of Ammon did not heed them. We come to know Jephthah as a man who speaks well, but he also is a man of valour. That is how the Lord introduced him to us at the beginning of the chapter. Because the king of Ammon did not 2
heed the word's of Jephthah he declared war on Israel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah because the LORD could no longer endure the misery of Israel. When the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, the LORD appointed him as judge to deliver His people from the Ammonite oppression. This is the third time that the LORD appoints a judge through His Spirit. The first time was when the Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel and the LORD delivered the king of Mesopotamia into his hands. The second time was when the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon. Through the power of the Holy Spirit Gideon acquired the courage to gather men and eventually he encircled the camp of the Midianites with three hundred men, and saw how the LORD delivered the Midianites into his hands. There is a difference between the behaviour of Othniel and of Gideon when the Spirit came upon them. When the Spirit came upon Othniel he unhesitatingly went out to do what he was to do as judge. With Othniel's conduct the LORD shows Israel, and us, that, when the Spirit comes upon you, there is no need to hesitate or to doubt. Through the power of the Holy Spirit will happen what the Lord promised deliverance will come. Gideon lived a number of years later than the people who had known Joshua. The farther the time of the judges advanced, the less the Israelites remembered the mighty deeds the LORD had done for Israel (Judges 2:10). We have also discovered that people do not remember and learn from the valuable lessons from the past. When the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon he courageously sounded the trumpet and called up the troops. But even after he had witnessed what happens when he acts obediently to the Holy Spirit, he still doubted and asked the LORD: If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said. (Judges 6:36-37) When one's knowledge of the LORD becomes less and less and you no longer know of the mighty deeds of the LORD in the past, one tends not to believe and trust the LORD so readily. Gideon first wanted more signs to be sure that the LORD's words were the truth. And now fourty years after Gideon the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah as well. Perhaps he will act different from Gideon, be more like Othniel. Jephthah knows what the LORD did three hundred years before when He gave Israel the territory of the Amorites. Would he remember that Othniel immediately did what a judge is supposed to do when the Spirit of the LORD comes upon him? Or did he not know it? Will he trust the LORD unreservedly that He will deliver the Ammonites in his hands? If one listens carefully to verses 30 to 31 it seems that Gideon behaves more like Gideon than like Othniel. Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. Hear how he puts it: If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. (Judges 11:30-31) 3
It appears that Jephthah also did not simply accept the LORD's word and trust Him. The LORD made His Spirit come upon Jephthah because He wanted to do it and not because he was obliged to do it. Jephthah now wants to reward the LORD with the vow he makes instead of simply obediently doing what the LORD expects of him. It seems that Jephthah manages his relationship with the LORD as he does with people he negotiates everything. With the Lord one does not negotiate. What the Lord does for man He does out of mere grace and His love for people who do not deserve it. The best answer to the Lord's work in and for a person is to obey the Lord as He reveals it to us in His Word. I do not need to bind the Lord to His word when He makes a promise. He always remains true to His word. Jephthah's vow therefore does not speak of faith, but rather of doubt. It does not testify to courage but rather that he wants to be in control, as he was with the elders of Gilead and the king of Ammon. Jesus also had a disciple who thought that he could remain in control of circumstances. Peter was a braggart and said that he would never, like the other disciples, forsake Jesus. We know Peter's sad history. Even after Jesus had warned him about the trial that was to come, he persisted that was prepared die with Jesus. Eventually it appeared that he was not really willing to die with Jesus. He denied Jesus three times because he did not always guard his tongue. When Jephthah made his vow to the LORD he also speaks too hastily and too much. Jephthah who wanted to be in control, could not determine who would come to meet him from his house. The Lord alone is in control and He disposed it that Jephthah's daughter, his only child, would meet him at his return. In our text we hear Jephthah's sorrow. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it. Jephthah discovered too late that for once he had spoken too quickly and too much. His daughter replies to his lament saying: My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon. In the heart of many people the burning question is did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering to the LORD? Applying the principles of interpreting Scripture, it appears to me that he did. However, there are well-respected commentators who say that for the rest of her life she served in the sanctuary and that she died a virgin. Many books could be written about this and much be debated, but finally we should ask ourselves what does the Lord teach us in this history that is of value for us in the twenty-first century in Bellville? In the days of Jephthah not only the voices of the LORD and of Jephthah were heard. The voices of the idols of the people around Israel often seduced the Israelites to idolatry and rebellion against the LORD. Remember that Israel worshipped many of the idols of the heathen, not because the images of the idols were so pretty, but because the promises made were so attractive. Among all this noise one has to distinguish the voice of the LORD. One has to listen carefully to what the LORD says and not simply latch onto one word and forget the rest. 4
Commendable in Jephthah is his knowledge of the LORD's work in the past, his trust in the LORD and that he remained faithful to his word to the LORD. Although Jephthah remembered the LORD's work in history, he either forgot, or did not hear properly, two of the LORD's words. The first word of the LORD that he failed to obey was the LORD's prohibition of human sacrifices. In the days of Moses the LORD twice expressly forbade the Israelites to sacrifice their children: Leviticus 8:21, Deuteronomy 2:31 and 18:0. The other word of the LORD that Jephtah forgot or did not hear properly, was a word of mercy. In His omniscience the LORD knew that his people would make rash vows that they could not perform. If someone rashly dedicated a person or a child to the LORD such person or child could be redeemed with a sum of money. The sums are set out in detail in Leviticus 27:1-8. The word of the LORD that Jephthah kept faithfully was that he did not break his vow to the LORD. He remained obedient to the demand that a promise made to the LORD was to be kept and not broken. At the same time he disregarded another basic word of the LORD he sacrificed his daughter. The Lord teaches us not to obey only some of His words and to ignore the other. In His grace the Lord gave us the whole of His revealed Word in writing. Let us not read only the parts we like but let us study all the Word and all the Counsel of God. And the Lord is gracious for, in addition He gave us the Author of His Word, the Holy Spirit, and He alone is able to illuminate your mind so that you can read and understand the Word of the Lord. But where does this all lead to? It all leads to and is concentrated in the last and the clearest Word of God the Word that became flesh Jesus Christ. It is only through Christ's ministry of salvation that it became possible for us to hear the voice of God again. In the shade of the cross we can receive the grace to hear, but also to repent and to find salvation. Christ gave Peter the opportunity to confess his guilt about his quick and thoughtless words. And Christ restored him in his office of apostle and the Lord employed him further in His kingdom. Although it is not stated here, we may infer that the Lord gave Jephthah as well the opportunity to repent his thoughtless words. In the Son of God his guilt was also washed away so that his name appears in the honour roll of the faithful. With this the Holy Spirit calls on you and me as well. If you have spoken a thoughtless word it is not the end. Confess your guilt and pray the Lord for forgiveness. He remains faithful to His promises. Amen! Closing prayer Closing song: Psalm 12:6+7. The LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the LORD turn His face towards you and give you peace. Amen. 5
Rev Coenraad Vrey Reformed Church Bellville Date: 3 March 2019. Translator: Willem de Haan. 6