March 14, 2014 - Friday

Start Time: 6:26 A.M.

End Time: 7:16 A.M.

Title: Jephthah

Scripture: Judges 11:1 – 40  

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.  Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.  “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.” Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?” The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.” Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”  The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.”  So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah

NOTES:

Ø God teaches His people to be humble always by choosing people that are least expected to lead the Israelites!  In many stories in the Bible, the men that were driven away because of selfishness or wickedness of the Israelites are normally the men that the Israelites will later on call for help or God uses to help and deliver the Israelites from their enemies.  Jephthah was a son of a prostitute and was driven away because of the legitimate sons.  Despite of this, Jephthah accepted what his brothers did to him and decided to live far from them yet when his brothers needed him, he came and gave his help.  A true sign of humility!  While the brothers are humbled down by God, Himself.  This also shows that humility is one of God’s requirements when choosing a person to lead His people/flock.

→ Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”  The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”  Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, saying: “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea^[a] and on to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab,and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.  “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.  “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’  Sihon, however, did not trust Israel^[b] to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.  “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan. “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?  For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time?  I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,  whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

NOTES:

Ø God reveals the truth to the innocent and the ignorant!  God showed the truth to the Ammonite king first before engaging into battle but the Ammonite king doesn’t want to believe the truth.  God was warning the Ammonite king that he is fighting with His people and that the reason why their land was taken away was not because the Israelites took it but because God has driven them away from it.  God revealed the truth thru Jephthah to the Ammonite king but the ammonite king paid no attention to Jephthah.  In this passage, we see that Jephthah tried to reason with the ammonite king first, trying to settle it thru words, but the ammonite king did not accept it and went into battle.  The setting was like in a courtroom where, Jephthah is presenting facts about the incident when God drove the Ammonites away from their land and the Ammonite king was trying to defend his action of going to war yet failed so he took matters into his own hands by getting into war.

Ø God is our Judge!  In every dispute or issue or disagreement or any crime, God is our ultimate judge.  He decides who wins the case and in this passage we see that Jephthah presented the truth and not only the facts.  He presented God’s words and plans and doings and got justified.  So the ammonite king loss his case and was defeated by Jephthah for the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.

Ø God honors the vow of the people who stands by the truth!  Jephthah made a vow to the Lord as he stood by God’s truth and God honored his vow though he may have spoken carelessly by promising to sacrifice as burnt offering what comes out of his door the moment he arrives home.  Thinking about it, what does one expect to see that will come out of the door of his house when he gets home?  There are only 2 possibilities, an animal or a human.  It is possible that Jephthah was leaning towards an animal when he made this vow but he carelessly said it without considering that his family could be it.  Or if he did, he would have think that his slaves would be the 1^st one to come out of the door to meet him when he arrives…still the vow was made carelessly but God honored it and Jephthah honored it as well.  Note that God did not ask for it, it was spoken by Jephthah freely.

→ Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”  “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”  “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.  After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite tradition that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

NOTES:

Ø God fulfills His end of the vow so we should fulfill our end as well!  God knows our hearts and knows the pain Jephthah went thru when he saw his daughter came out of the door, yet instead of demanding for Jephthah’s end of promise, He allowed Jephthah’s daughter to freely go to the hills for 2 months as she requested before being offered to God.  God’s heart is for us and His love brings wisdom and understanding.  The daughter could have become angry with her dad and run off but she didn’t, she knew that a promise to God must be fulfilled.  Jephthah clearly raise his daughter in the Lord’s way.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, conquering king and praiseworthy Lord.  Thank You because You reveal the truth to both the innocent and the ignorant.  You do not encourage violence or fight, instead, You encourage settlements with words and understanding.  But when the settlement doesn’t go smoothly, You are our judge and You decides justly for the sake of Your people.  Thank You Lord because when we stand on the truth, You stand with us.  Thank You because in the end, Justice is served when You are the judge!  Thank You God because You honor our vow even when we say it carelessly and You accept it even when we speak it without much consideration.  And thank You because You fulfill the end of the vow even when we say it without thinking much.  Thank You Lord because even though we are not aware of the consequence of our vow (because we speak of it carelessly), You ensures that everything went smoothly and without issues even when it is hard for us.  You make it easier.  So thank You Jesus – again this shows of how great Your love for us.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!