Judges 11B When we last saw ur latest judge, Jephthah, he was trying t negtiate with the king f Ammn ver wh had right t the land east f the Jrdan River Jephthah yu remember is the sn f a harlt, a man rejected by the rest f his family Until they needed his help t defeat the Ammnites Ammn is the natin brdering Israel n the east, abut 13 miles east f the Jrdan River They had begun t crush the Israelites in Gilead and threatened t invade further west S Jephthah tried t avid war with Israel s neighbr by lecturing the king n wh was the rightful wner f the land He made gd arguments, and his rhetric was tp ntch But his plan was dmed t fail Because he was wrking against the Lrd s desires The Lrd had brught the Ammnites up against Israel as a punishment fr their sins under the Old Cvenant Nw that the cycle f punishment was abut t give way t deliverance, the Lrd raised up Jephthah t defeat the enemy He didn t want a negtiatr He didn t ask Jephthah t make friends with Ammn He wants a captain t lead an army as past Judges have dne S as we read last time, the king cared nthing fr Jephthah s lgic Judg. 11:28 But the king f the sns f Ammn disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him. War seems inevitable at this pint Which is the way the Lrd wanted it 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 2 f 12 There s certainly a time t fr Gd s peple t seek peace with ur neighbrs in the wrd But when the Lrd has declared t His peple that peace isn t His gal, then we can t substitute ur desires fr His Because there are times when cnflict and even war suit Gd s gd purpses better than peace and acquiescence In the end, we are called t bey Gd s will, nt secnd guess His instructins S nw that Jephthah s plan has failed, it s time fr the Lrd s plan t g int actin Judg. 11:29 Nw the Spirit f the Lrd came upn Jephthah, s that he passed thrugh Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed thrugh Mizpah f Gilead, and frm Mizpah f Gilead he went n t the sns f Ammn. Judg. 11:30 Jephthah made a vw t the Lrd and said, If Yu will indeed give the sns f Ammn int my hand, Judg. 11:31 then it shall be that whatever cmes ut f the drs f my huse t meet me when I return in peace frm the sns f Ammn, it shall be the Lrd s, and I will ffer it up as a burnt ffering. The Lrd brings His Spirit upn Jephthah The Spirit s pwer and directin is respnsible fr the sequence f events that fllws This tells us that the Lrd is wrking t create the utcme Specifically, the Spirit is said t cme upn Jephthah This suggests the Spirit was nt already wrking with the judge This reference and thers like it in the Old Testament demnstrate that the wrk f the Spirit in this time didn t invlve a permanent indwelling The Spirit came upn an individual fr a time and fr a purpse Later, He wuld depart as Gd determined That departure wasn t an indicatin that the Spirit disapprves f the persn Or that the persn was n lnger a child f Gd saved by faith 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 3 f 12 The ministry f the Spirit in this day was different than we knw Him t wrk in the Church age In the days prir t the New Cvenant, the Spirit was still the instrument f faith, but His ministry didn t include a permanent indwelling Tday, the Spirit cmes t permanently indwell the children f Gd at the mment f faith The Spirit is the seal f faith and the prf f salvatin fr every NT believer That s why we say the Church stands apart frm the rest f the saints f Gd In this mment, the effect f the Spirit s arrival upn Jephthah was t fill the judge with bld curage and clear understanding f Gd s desires The Spirit leads Jephthah nrth alng the brder between Gad and Manasseh in the Jrdan river valley He s recruiting an army t battle And when he s gt the frces he requires, he returns t Mizpah f Gilead, which was n the brder n Ammn At this pint, Jephthah is ready t g t battle, but his negtiatr nature cmes back We remember that his name means he pens as in he pens his muth t ften and t easily And here s ne f thse times he makes that mistake The Lrd has given him all that he needs fr success in the battle All that s required at this pint is t mve frward in the battle But Jephthah isn t cntent t rest in the Lrd s Spirit nr in the cnfidence f the Lrd s strength Jephthah want s additinal assurance s he decides t make a vw Befre we cnsider this vw, let s understand hw the Lrd sees vws in general 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 4 f 12 Num. 30:1 Then Mses spke t the heads f the tribes f the sns f Israel, saying, This is the wrd which the Lrd has cmmanded. Num. 30:2 If a man makes a vw t the Lrd, r takes an ath t bind himself with a binding bligatin, he shall nt vilate his wrd; he shall d accrding t all that prceeds ut f his muth. Under the Law, Israel was bligated t keep any vw they made t the Lrd T fail t keep a vw meant that the Lrd wuld required a penalty frm the ne wh vws In fact, the penalty fr failure t keep a vw was t suffer a similar payment as the ne requested Cnsidering the way the Lrd viewed vws, a Jew was encuraged t think carefully befre making any vw In fact, the Lrd warned the peple nt t make vws at all cnsidering the risks invlved Deut. 23:21 When yu make a vw t the Lrd yur Gd, yu shall nt delay t pay it, fr it wuld be sin in yu, and the Lrd yur Gd will surely require it f yu. Deut. 23:22 Hwever, if yu refrain frm vwing, it wuld nt be sin in yu. Deut. 23:23 Yu shall be careful t perfrm what ges ut frm yur lips, just as yu have vluntarily vwed t the Lrd yur Gd, what yu have prmised. The Lrd explains that vws are binding and the Lrd will see them thrugh ne way r anther Therefre, it wuld be better t refrain frm making vw2s In fact, yu can never sin by aviding vws That s why in the New Testament, Jesus says dn t make vws at all, but simply t act in trustwrthy and reliable way in all dealings Matt. 5:33 Again, yu have heard that the ancients were tld, Yu shall nt make false vws, but shall fulfill yur vws t the Lrd. Matt. 5:34 But I say t yu, make n ath at all, either by heaven, fr it is the thrne f Gd, Matt. 5:35 r by the earth, fr it is the ftstl f His feet, r by Jerusalem, fr it is the city f the great King. 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 5 f 12 Matt. 5:36 Nr shall yu make an ath by yur head, fr yu cannt make ne hair white r black. Matt. 5:37 But let yur statement be, Yes, yes r N, n ; anything beynd these is f evil. Jesus explains that making prmises by swearing vws t Gd is evil It s evil because in the end ur sinful hearts will lead us t prmise things we can t r shuldn t d Or we will be tempted t g back n ur wrd when things dn t turn ut the way we want and cmprmise ur wrd t Gd Either way, evil will be the utcme, s dn t make a vw Unfrtunately, Jephthah desn t seem t knw either Gd s wrd r the heart f Gd He has missed the warnings abut making rash vws, and in this case he makes prbably the mst ill-advised vw in all scripture He declares that he is prepared t kill smething r smene withut cnsidering wh that might be Maybe he assumes the first ut f the tent will be an animal r a slave Nevertheless, his muth is getting him int serius truble In this case, Jephthah vws that if the Lrd will give him victry ver Ammn, he will sacrifice t the Lrd whatever cmes ut f his tent t meet him upn his return This vw is quite dd, since animals weren t typically fund inside the tents thugh they might wander in n ccasin It s mre likely that a persn might be first ut f the tent S, Jephthah is essentially prmising t sacrifice either an animal r human being t the Lrd What caused him t say such a thing? Prbably a cmbinatin f an impulsive nature and a cmplete misunderstanding f Gd His vw suggests he views Yahweh in the same way pagan s viewed their gds 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 6 f 12 Pagan gds were capricius, unpredictable, uncaring and demanding Pagan gds demanded human sacrifice frm time t time And they had t be appeased befre the wrshipper culd expect payback The Living Gd is als demanding f righteusness and bedience But He is nt uncaring r cruel Nr des He dispense His mercy n a transactinal basis His mercy is fund thrugh faith alne in the wrd f Gd And He des nt delight in human sacrifice At the rt f Jephthah s flawed thinking was the expectatin that he can negtiate with Gd in the same way he tried t negtiate with the king f Ammn Scripture makes clear that Gd desn t negtiate Even when He appears t entertain ffers like that f Abraham interceding fr Lt r Mses interceding fr Israel, He still des as He planned in the end He invites us int such cnversatins s that he can mld ur thinking and shw us His will But He isn t lking fr advice nr is He pen t suggestins Be careful abut turning prayer int a negtiatin, making deals and making vws t Gd Negtiating with Gd is just anther way f trying t wrk ur wn plan instead f yielding t His Jephthah had already been given the Spirit f Gd Wh had revealed Gd s purpses and equipped Him t succeed in battle But Jephthah didn t rest in that...he still needed t feel he was in cntrl f his circumstances and culd frce a certain utcme While we aren t under the Law f Mses, Gd still expects us t perate in faith and trust by His Spirit Having made his vw, the die is cast fr Jephthah, and with that he ges t war 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 7 f 12 Judg. 11:32 S Jephthah crssed ver t the sns f Ammn t fight against them; and the Lrd gave them int his hand. Judg. 11:33 He struck them with a very great slaughter frm Arer t the entrance f Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. S the sns f Ammn were subdued befre the sns f Israel. Ntice the Lrd makes n cmment regarding the vw There was n need fr a respnse, fr the Lrd wasn t bargaining with Jephthah The Lrd had his plan, and His Spirit will mve it frward with r withut the vw That s the prblem with vws...they dn t bligate the Lrd They nly bligate us The Lrd may chse t answer in the affirmative r the negative t ur request But we are bligated either way...nt a gd deal fr us In this case, the Lrd always intended t grant a victry, and s when Jephthah crsses ver int Ammnite territry, the Lrd is with Israel The army f Jephthah chase the Ammnites frm place t place In the prcess, they destry twenty cities in a great slaughter As a result, the peple f Ammn cease t ppress the peple f Israel Gd has delivered His peple as He prmised in His wrd, but because f Jephthah s muth, ur fcus mves frm the Lrd t Jephthah s vw Judg. 11:34 When Jephthah came t his huse at Mizpah, behld, his daughter was cming ut t meet him with tamburines and with dancing. Nw she was his ne and nly child; besides her he had n sn r daughter. Judg. 11:35 When he saw her, he tre his clthes and said, Alas, my daughter! Yu have brught me very lw, and yu are amng thse wh truble me; fr I have given my wrd t the Lrd, and I cannt take it back. As we feared, the first ut f the tent upn his return was a persn, his daughter and his nly child 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 8 f 12 Based n Jephthah s vw, he was nw bligated t sacrifice his daughter t the Lrd, r s he thught He takes ne lk at her and ges int murning knwing what must fllw He declares that he has given his wrd t Gd and cannt take it back This is true in the sense that yu can t make a vw with yur fingers crssed The vw stands Obviusly, we see the flishness f Jephthah s vw clearly nw He prmised smething that depended n a certain future utcme Yet he lacked the ability t cntrl the future S he was making cmmitments withut knwing the future Hw much better is it t simply rely n the Lrd s wrd, since we knw He can see int the future Jephthah s ignrance f Gd and f the wrd f Gd has placed him in this psitin And irnically, his ignrance is als respnsible fr leading him t g thrugh with his vw Because Jephthah desn t knw r didn t remember that the law f Gd made prvisin fr situatins like this In Leviticus, the Lrd tld Israel that they culd escape frm keeping their vw if they paid a ransm instead Lev. 27:1 Again, the Lrd spke t Mses, saying, Lev. 27:2 Speak t the sns f Israel and say t them, When a man makes a difficult vw, he shall be valued accrding t yur valuatin f persns belnging t the Lrd. Lev. 27:3 If yur valuatin is f the male frm twenty years even t sixty years ld, then yur valuatin shall be fifty shekels f silver, after the shekel f the sanctuary. Lev. 27:4 Or if it is a female, then yur valuatin shall be thirty shekels. All Jephthah needed t d was pay this ransm and he culd have avided sacrificing his daughter 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 9 f 12 As we said befre, the Lrd has n interest in seeing a human being sacrificed And in fact, He desn t receive such an ffering He expects that the vw be met with a ransm payment But remember, the mistake here was Jephthah s, nt the Lrd Jephthah made the vw, nt the Lrd And he desn t have t carry thrugh with it if he pays the ransm But since he desn t knw the wrd f the Lrd, he thinks his nly chice is t either kill his daughter r be killed himself And althugh she is inncent, he s nt willing t die in place f his daughter Once the daughter learns what her father vwed, she respnds with faith in the Lrd Judg. 11:36 S she said t him, My father, yu have given yur wrd t the Lrd; d t me as yu have said, since the Lrd has avenged yu f yur enemies, the sns f Ammn. Judg. 11:37 She said t her father, Let this thing be dne fr me; let me alne tw mnths, that I may g t the muntains and weep because f my virginity, I and my cmpanins. Judg. 11:38 Then he said, G. S he sent her away fr tw mnths; and she left with her cmpanins, and wept n the muntains because f her virginity. Judg. 11:39 At the end f tw mnths she returned t her father, wh did t her accrding t the vw which he had made; and she had n relatins with a man. Thus it became a custm in Israel, Judg. 11:40 that the daughters f Israel went yearly t cmmemrate the daughter f Jephthah the Gileadite fur days in the year. She willingly agrees t die in accrdance with the vw She is mre cncerned with hnring the Lrd than with her wn life But befre the sentence will be carried ut, she asks that she may have a 2 mnth delay t murn her virginity 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 10 f 12 She means she is murning the fact that she will never marry r have children Jephthah s daughter is perhaps the mst Christ-like character we will find in the entire bk f Judges She is a persn dedicated t trusting the Lrd and serving n matter the persnal cnsequences She des s at great persnal sacrifice And she remains pure in her devtin We re tld she remains a virgin, which means she desn t seek fr earthly pleasures at the risk f her virtue And after her tw mnths f murning, she dutifully returns t submit t the will f the Father As a result, the peple f Israel cmmemrated her persnal faithfulness with an annual bservance f her sacrifice Nw nce mre, there is n indicatin frm scripture that the Lrd desires that this happen r that he is pleased when it des The entire stry is tld t reveal the evil and ignrant heart f this judge Her death wasn t required by the Lrd But the daughter s bedience t her father was ut f lve fr the Lrd and was cmmendable In the end her death was a testimny t Jephthah s sin and ignrance and t his daughter s piety Althugh the present stry ends with the death f the yung girl, her father is the tragic figure, presenting a pathetic picture f stupidity, brutality, ambitin, and selfcenteredness. Irnically, the ne wh appeared t have becme master f his wn fate has becme a victim f his wn rash wrd... -Blck But if we re making cnclusins abut the Lrd, then dn t place any f this at His feet The Lrd is ntably silent thrugh the entire stry It indicates t us that He s nt playing a part in these circumstances 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 11 f 12 He s just as saddened by it as we are, and the stry was preserved s we might see the deteriratin f Israel s leaders Finally, we re als bserving the beginning f a steep decline in the cnditin f wmen in the culture Earlier in Judges we nted that men had stepped back frm their appinted rle as leaders in the family and natin Wmen stepped frward t fill the vacuum, which was t their credit But the fact that wmen had t rule and lead was an indictment against the men And the effect f a weak men is a weak sciety verall And the past 250 years f histry cnfirms the dangers f a culture f weak men Irnically, nw we re seeing the final stages f that decline When the men becme spiritually weak and unfamiliar with the Lrd, eventually the wmen will suffer t Instead f leading men ut f darkness, wmen becme victims f that darkness Here we find a father vwing t kill whever walks ut f his tent, knwing that tents were generally ccupied by wmen Ging frward frm this pint in the bk, we see a rapid decline in the frtunes f wmen in the stry f Judges A wman will be raped, killed and dismembered 400 yung wmen frm ne city will be abducted And anther grup will be kidnapped frm Shilh If weak men can be ne measure f a deterirating culture, than the neglect, abuse and explitatin f wmen is anther And ne is usually the prduct f the ther Bth are an indicatin that the Lrd is preparing t step in and judge the culture that abuses His mercy in these ways 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 11B 12 f 12 We knw that the Lrd will act again in Israel, because that s the pattern f this bk And we can als be sure that the Lrd is preparing t mve in ur wrld t But in bth cases, the Lrd s respnse isn t immediate He has a plan and a timing all His wn But the Lrd isn t slw abut His prmises While we await the Lrd s return, we serve Him by learning the lessns f scripture, instead f frgetting Gd s wrd like Jephthah And we bey withut negtiating We resist taking matters int ur wn hands Men lead in their hmes and in the church bdy, while wmen serve by their side, submitted t the will f Gd We lean n the Spirit and the cunsel f the wrd And we live sacrificially knwing that the Lrd is prepared t make gd things cme frm ur bedience 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.