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Judges Chapter 11
Jephthah Delivers Israel
- Judges 11:1 Now
Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was
the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
- 2 And Gilead's wife
bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our
father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
This is why God's plan of one husband
to one wife is the best way. Having plural wives or affairs outside
of marriage causes much jealousy and hurt. It also harms and brings
confusion to the children. Every child needs to be nurtured and
cared for. It is not their fault. They have no say in who conceives
them.
- Judges 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.
Even though the men that followed
Jephthah were not the best men of society, he became a man of war. A
strong leader.
- Judges 11:4 And it came to
pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war
against Israel.
- 5 And it was so, that when
the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of
Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
- 6 And they said unto
Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may
fight with the children of Ammon.
Jephthah must have had a reputation as
a fighter and good military leader that caused the elders of Gilead
to go to him for help.
- Judges 11:7 And
Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and
expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me
now when ye are in distress?
- 8 And the elders of
Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now,
that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of
Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
- 9 And Jephthah said
unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight
against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before
me, shall I be your head?
Jephthah and his band of men is similar
to when Saul turned against David and David had to flee and gathered
with him a band of men.
Looks like when people get in trouble
they will compromise their community standards. Blaming children for
how they were born is never good in any case.
Making public before all and before God
was a very wise decision. Let everyone know that he was asked to
lead and he didn't come on his own accord to usurp any authority.
- Judges 11:12 And
Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon,
saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against
me to fight in my land?
- 13 And the king of
the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah,
Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of
Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now
therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
Actually Israel was not to take any
land from Ammon or Moab. We see this in Deuteronomy 2:19.
-
Deuteronomy 2:19 And
when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon,
distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give
thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession;
because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a
possession.
Some of their land which was owned by
both Moab and Ammon, was taken previously by the Amorites. When
Israel conquered the Amorites, it became part of Israel, so they
didn't take any land directly. The land became the land of the tribe
of Gad. This is recorded in Numbers 21.
- Judges 14:14 And
Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of
Ammon:
- 15 And said unto
him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab,
nor the land of the children of Ammon:
- 16 But when Israel
came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the
Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
- 17 Then Israel sent
messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee,
pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken
thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but
he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
- 18 Then they went
along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom,
and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of
Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not
within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
- 19 And Israel sent
messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon;
and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy
land into my place.
- 20 But Sihon trusted
not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his
people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against
Israel.
- 21 And the LORD God
of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of
Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of
the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
- 22 And they
possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto
Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
So Israel posessed the land by conquest
when the Amorites started a war against them. It was the Amorites
that originally took part of the land of Moab and Ammon, not Israel,
for God forbade Israel to take their land directly because they were
from the children of Lot, the nephew of Abraham.
- Judges 11:23 So now
the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from
before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
- 24 Wilt not thou
possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So
whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them
will we possess.
Jephthah was reasoning with them that
if they take land from those that believe their god Chemosh gave
them, why shouldn't Israel be allowed to take land their God gives
them? He wasn't saying that that Chemosh was a real god.
- Judges 11:25 And now
art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of
Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight
against them,
- 26 While Israel
dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and
in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three
hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that
time?
- 27 Wherefore I have
not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against
me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of
Israel and the children of Ammon.
- 28 Howbeit the king
of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of
Jephthah which he sent him.
The king of Ammon rejected Jephthah's
words, so Jephthah turned it over to the Lord to judge righteously.
- Judges 11:29 Then
the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over
Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from
Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
- 30 And Jephthah
vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail
deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
- 31 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.
This part of Judges is really troubling
and many bible teachers disagree on what really happens. We really
need to be careful what we promise the Lord when we are hyped up and
don't have time to think first. It would be better to trust in God's
mercy and then be thankful, offering up praise later.
- Judges 11:32 So
Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against
them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
- 33 And he smote them
from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, 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.
- 34 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.
- 35 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.
- 36 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.
I want to interject here that first of
all God does not accept human sacrifice from us. The law given by
Moses is clear on the acceptable sacrifices. This was before Jesus
came to become the only acceptable human sacrifice to die for our
sins. Still it is clear that God does not want people to sacrifice
their children. People that did that were people that worshipped
idols, devils and false religious systems.
- Judges 11:37 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.
- 38 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.
- 39 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,
- 40 That the
daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of
Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
This was one reason why many bible
scholars believe that the sacrifice Jephthah made was not a burnt
offering but his daughter sacrificed by staying single and not
marrying. It was very highly important in those days for a maiden to
marry and have children. Children were counted as gifts from God.
This was his only child. He would not have any grand children. His
lineage would not continue. His daughter went two months to mourn
over her virginity knowing she would never marry and have children.
No matter how one interprets this
though one thing is clear from the study of God's word as a whole.
God does not require us to make promises to Him in order to receive
answers to our prayers. All He asks is that we believe. He said,
"Ask and receive that your joy might be full." We are to ask in
faith, not try to make promises to Him if He grants our petitions.
That way if it isn't God's will to grant a certain prayer that would
cause harm, God doesn't usually grant it if our hearts is right with
Him and we trust Him to answer only if it's in His divine will.
Trying to bribe God to answer by making rash promises is not
necessary. God delights is seeing our faith and then giving us what
we need.
I knew a person once who wanted a certain car
so bad that he promised God that if he got that car, he would keep
it until His coming. He meant the Lord's return to the earth to
gather His people in other words. Unfortunately, the car got old and
he was forced to trade it in for a newer one that worked. All he had
to do is ask God for the car in the beginning exercising faith in
God to provide it for him. Making promises to God is never necessary
because God wants to give us good things unless He sees it is not
for our good and it is out of His will for us at the time.
My dad use to tell me not to make rash
promises and decisions but say, "If the Lord is willing, I will do
such and such." I wonder if this part of the bible is where Dad got
that from. I heard it from him many times to speak "If the Lord will
when we make promises." Hank Williams was one that always said, "If
the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise." DC
Judges Chapter 12
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