Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. - 1 Samuel 12:11
Greetings. Thank you for joining us in worship this morning! This year we have been studying the Conquest and Judicial era of Israelite history. We began in the book of Joshua and are now working our way through Judges. Thus far, we have introduced the first 7 judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, and Jair.
After Jair’s death, Israel drifted into idolatry and the LORD allowed the Ammonites to oppress the people of Israel - namely the Manassites living in Gilead, the Judahites, the Benjaminites, and the Ephraimites. This heavy persecution went on for 18 years. Finally the men of Israel put together an army to mount a rebellion against Ammon, but they needed a leader. Who would the LORD provide?
I. JEPHTHAH IS CHOSEN (Judges 11:1-11)
Jephthah, the son of Gilead, was known as a valiant warrior, and thus suitable candidate to lead the soldiers of Israel. There was just 1 problem… he was the son of a harlot. Gilead’s wife had bore him several sons who collectively despised their half-brother Jephthah because he had a different mother. When they were grown, these brothers drove Jephthah out and withheld his inheritance. So Jephthah fled to the land of Tob where he befriended and associated with an unscrupulous crowd.
In light of their dire circumstances, the leaders of Gilead set aside their biases and went to find Jephthah. They asked him to be the leader of their army. Jephthah was surprised by their request, seeing how they had mistreated him in the past, and was hesitant to accept their offer. But the elders of Gilead urged him, so Jephthah ultimately agreed to serve as their leader. Though he had surrounded himself with worthless men, his speech indicates that Jephthah knew the LORD. He returned to Mizpah to prepare Israel for the coming battle.
II. GILEAD BELONGS TO ISRAEL (Judges 11:12-28)
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to ask why they had come to fight against Israel. The king answered that, from his perspective, Israel had stolen Ammonite land during the exodus many years before and they had come to take it back. Jephthah strongly refuted this outrageous claim and offered a few counter arguments.
First, he recounted how the Israelites had asked permission to travel through both Edom and Moab during the exodus, but were peacefully denied passage - so they went around. But when they asked if they might travel through the land of the Amorites, they were met with force and hostility. Israel did not initiate the conflict, but fought back and defeated the Amorites. Having been victorious, they occupied and possessed the conquered territory. Thus, God gave Israel the land - they didn’t take it as alleged. The Ammonites had done the exact same thing when their god gave them the land of the Amorites.
Second, Jephthah noted that king Balak of Moab never engaged in war with the Israelites even when they settled adjacent to his territory. Third, he wondered why the Ammonites had quietly allowed Israel to live in this “disputed area” for hundreds of years and were just now claiming it had been stolen. In short, Jephthah rejected the ridiculous notion that Gilead belonged to Ammon and he intended to defend it.
III. JEPHTHAH’S TRAGIC VOW (Judges 11:29-40)
The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah and he boldly led the sons of Israel out to face the Ammonites. Prior to leaving for the battle, Jephthah made a vow to the LORD that if God would give Israel the victory he’d offer up as a burnt offering the first thing that came out of the door of his house upon his return. Jephthah and the Israelites fought against and soundly defeated the sons of Ammon, so that their oppression of God’s people ended.
When Jephthah came home after the battle, his only child - a daughter - came out of the house to meet him joyfully playing a tambourine and dancing. Jephthah was devastated because of the vow he’d made, which compelled him now to sacrifice his daughter. Jephthah’s daughter agreed with her father that he couldn’t take back his vow and voluntarily consented to be offered as a burnt offering. However, she requested to go away for 2 months to mourn her virginity with her female friends. Jephthah allowed it, and after the 2 months ended, he carried through with the vow he’d made. Mourning over the fate of Jephthah’s daughter became a custom in Israel.
Scholars dispute whether Jephthah actually killed his daughter or instead committed her to the tabernacle as an alternative way of fulfilling his vow. Either way, she was lost to him and never bore him grandchildren. The Bible is clear that God does not accept or condone child sacrifice.
IV. EPHRAIM’S PRETENTIOUS DISGUST (Judges 12:1-7)
The men of Ephraim were furious that they had not been asked to participate in the conflict with Ammon. Remember this same attitude back in the days of Gideon (Judges 8:1)? They hastily came to Jephthah at Zaphon in Gilead and threatened to kill him. Jephthah answered that he had, in fact, invited them to join Israel in the battle, but they didn’t come. Therefore, he’d gone ahead without Ephraim’s support and the LORD gave Israel the victory despite their absence. Apparently the Ephraimites took offense to Jephthah’s answer. They slandered the Gileadites and started fighting against them.
The Gileadites defeated the antagonizing Ephraimites and killed 42,000 of their men. They seized the fords of the Jordan River and wouldn’t allow the men of Ephraim to cross over it to get back home. The Gileadites would ask those who came to the river to say “Shibboleth” as a means of identifying the fleeing fugitives of Ephraim, because the Ephraimites pronounced it differently. If an Ephriamite was discovered, they were immediately killed. Today, the Shibboleth test can be applied to Christians in this way - do the words you say and the things you do confirm who you claim to be or do they reveal you to be a fraud?
Jephthah was the 8th judge of Israel. He lived and ministered in Gilead, beyond the Jordan River. He served for 6 years. Upon his death, Jephthah was buried somewhere in Gilead - some Bible translations say it was in his hometown of Mizpah.
CONCLUSION
Jephthah was an imperfect character. He made a rash, ill-conceived, and foolish vow to the LORD that ended up costing him dearly. He possibly offered his own daughter as a burnt offering to God, a vile and disgusting act which would have been vigorously rejected by the LORD. He also killed many of his own countrymen - the Ephraimites - because of their pompous speech and aggressive conduct.
Despite his many flaws, God used Jephthah to deliver Israel from the hands of Ammom. Jephthah was an outcast who was shunned by his family and consigned to live with the undesirable people of Israel. But rather than harbor bitterness and hatred against his own brethren, Jephthah rose up to save them from their enemies. Unlike the evil Abimelech, who vengefully killed his brothers, Jephthah rescued his relatives and became their judge.
Jephthah illustrates that a person should never be judged on the basis of factors beyond his or her control. Jephthah couldn’t help that his mother was a prostitute. He didn’t get to choose the circumstances of his birth or what family he was born into. Still, Jephthah wasn’t disqualified from godly service because of his questionable background or family tree. God used Jephthah, and He can use you too.
Greetings. Thank you for joining us in worship this morning! This year we have been studying the Conquest and Judicial era of Israelite history. We began in the book of Joshua and are now working our way through Judges. Thus far, we have introduced the first 7 judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, and Jair.
After Jair’s death, Israel drifted into idolatry and the LORD allowed the Ammonites to oppress the people of Israel - namely the Manassites living in Gilead, the Judahites, the Benjaminites, and the Ephraimites. This heavy persecution went on for 18 years. Finally the men of Israel put together an army to mount a rebellion against Ammon, but they needed a leader. Who would the LORD provide?
I. JEPHTHAH IS CHOSEN (Judges 11:1-11)
Jephthah, the son of Gilead, was known as a valiant warrior, and thus suitable candidate to lead the soldiers of Israel. There was just 1 problem… he was the son of a harlot. Gilead’s wife had bore him several sons who collectively despised their half-brother Jephthah because he had a different mother. When they were grown, these brothers drove Jephthah out and withheld his inheritance. So Jephthah fled to the land of Tob where he befriended and associated with an unscrupulous crowd.
In light of their dire circumstances, the leaders of Gilead set aside their biases and went to find Jephthah. They asked him to be the leader of their army. Jephthah was surprised by their request, seeing how they had mistreated him in the past, and was hesitant to accept their offer. But the elders of Gilead urged him, so Jephthah ultimately agreed to serve as their leader. Though he had surrounded himself with worthless men, his speech indicates that Jephthah knew the LORD. He returned to Mizpah to prepare Israel for the coming battle.
II. GILEAD BELONGS TO ISRAEL (Judges 11:12-28)
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to ask why they had come to fight against Israel. The king answered that, from his perspective, Israel had stolen Ammonite land during the exodus many years before and they had come to take it back. Jephthah strongly refuted this outrageous claim and offered a few counter arguments.
First, he recounted how the Israelites had asked permission to travel through both Edom and Moab during the exodus, but were peacefully denied passage - so they went around. But when they asked if they might travel through the land of the Amorites, they were met with force and hostility. Israel did not initiate the conflict, but fought back and defeated the Amorites. Having been victorious, they occupied and possessed the conquered territory. Thus, God gave Israel the land - they didn’t take it as alleged. The Ammonites had done the exact same thing when their god gave them the land of the Amorites.
Second, Jephthah noted that king Balak of Moab never engaged in war with the Israelites even when they settled adjacent to his territory. Third, he wondered why the Ammonites had quietly allowed Israel to live in this “disputed area” for hundreds of years and were just now claiming it had been stolen. In short, Jephthah rejected the ridiculous notion that Gilead belonged to Ammon and he intended to defend it.
III. JEPHTHAH’S TRAGIC VOW (Judges 11:29-40)
The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah and he boldly led the sons of Israel out to face the Ammonites. Prior to leaving for the battle, Jephthah made a vow to the LORD that if God would give Israel the victory he’d offer up as a burnt offering the first thing that came out of the door of his house upon his return. Jephthah and the Israelites fought against and soundly defeated the sons of Ammon, so that their oppression of God’s people ended.
When Jephthah came home after the battle, his only child - a daughter - came out of the house to meet him joyfully playing a tambourine and dancing. Jephthah was devastated because of the vow he’d made, which compelled him now to sacrifice his daughter. Jephthah’s daughter agreed with her father that he couldn’t take back his vow and voluntarily consented to be offered as a burnt offering. However, she requested to go away for 2 months to mourn her virginity with her female friends. Jephthah allowed it, and after the 2 months ended, he carried through with the vow he’d made. Mourning over the fate of Jephthah’s daughter became a custom in Israel.
Scholars dispute whether Jephthah actually killed his daughter or instead committed her to the tabernacle as an alternative way of fulfilling his vow. Either way, she was lost to him and never bore him grandchildren. The Bible is clear that God does not accept or condone child sacrifice.
IV. EPHRAIM’S PRETENTIOUS DISGUST (Judges 12:1-7)
The men of Ephraim were furious that they had not been asked to participate in the conflict with Ammon. Remember this same attitude back in the days of Gideon (Judges 8:1)? They hastily came to Jephthah at Zaphon in Gilead and threatened to kill him. Jephthah answered that he had, in fact, invited them to join Israel in the battle, but they didn’t come. Therefore, he’d gone ahead without Ephraim’s support and the LORD gave Israel the victory despite their absence. Apparently the Ephraimites took offense to Jephthah’s answer. They slandered the Gileadites and started fighting against them.
The Gileadites defeated the antagonizing Ephraimites and killed 42,000 of their men. They seized the fords of the Jordan River and wouldn’t allow the men of Ephraim to cross over it to get back home. The Gileadites would ask those who came to the river to say “Shibboleth” as a means of identifying the fleeing fugitives of Ephraim, because the Ephraimites pronounced it differently. If an Ephriamite was discovered, they were immediately killed. Today, the Shibboleth test can be applied to Christians in this way - do the words you say and the things you do confirm who you claim to be or do they reveal you to be a fraud?
Jephthah was the 8th judge of Israel. He lived and ministered in Gilead, beyond the Jordan River. He served for 6 years. Upon his death, Jephthah was buried somewhere in Gilead - some Bible translations say it was in his hometown of Mizpah.
CONCLUSION
Jephthah was an imperfect character. He made a rash, ill-conceived, and foolish vow to the LORD that ended up costing him dearly. He possibly offered his own daughter as a burnt offering to God, a vile and disgusting act which would have been vigorously rejected by the LORD. He also killed many of his own countrymen - the Ephraimites - because of their pompous speech and aggressive conduct.
Despite his many flaws, God used Jephthah to deliver Israel from the hands of Ammom. Jephthah was an outcast who was shunned by his family and consigned to live with the undesirable people of Israel. But rather than harbor bitterness and hatred against his own brethren, Jephthah rose up to save them from their enemies. Unlike the evil Abimelech, who vengefully killed his brothers, Jephthah rescued his relatives and became their judge.
Jephthah illustrates that a person should never be judged on the basis of factors beyond his or her control. Jephthah couldn’t help that his mother was a prostitute. He didn’t get to choose the circumstances of his birth or what family he was born into. Still, Jephthah wasn’t disqualified from godly service because of his questionable background or family tree. God used Jephthah, and He can use you too.