Judges 11 & 12 -- Don't Count Someone Out Because Of Their Past

Gilead had a wife and several sons.  But he visited a prostitute who became pregnant and had a son.  Doing the honorable thing, he took the boy, Jephthah, into his home as his son.  Tormented by his half-brothers, Jephthah eventually left home and the area and became a leader of some worthless men near Syria.

 

The Ammonites attacked Israel, trying to reclaim land they’d owned some 300 years prior.  The Israelite leaders reached out to Jephthah for his fighting skills, offering leadership of the people in the area in trade.  He agreed and promised before the Lord to do his job.

 

To his credit, he tried diplomacy first, but it failed miserably.  So he prepared for battle and bargained with the Lord about the results, offering to make a burnt offering to the Lord of whoever or whatever came out of his house first upon his return.  God granted the victory, yet Jephthah was sickened when his only child – a daughter – became the subject of his vow.

 

My commentary spent quite a bit of time and space discussing this.  The vagueness of his vow would have made it tough for him to fulfill it.  For instance, if an unclean animal exited the home first, he would not have been able to offer it as a burnt offering.  Likewise, a neighbor’s child or a total stranger  could not have been offered by him because he held no authority over them.  Besides, God didn’t approve of human sacrifice!  And neither would any priest in Shiloh where he’d have to take the offering.  They’d likely advise him of the Mosaic option to buy back a life with a monetary offering.  The commentator honed in on the word “and” in 11:31, saying it can be translated “or”, meaning he would either dedicate to the Lord the person who came out first or offer as a burnt offering an acceptable animal that appeared first.  In his daughter’s case, he would not be burning her but dedicating her to the Lord.  She would be unable to marry, dedicated as a virgin.  He ended up having no descendants as a result of the vow!  This would certainly explain the positive commemoration of the event by Israelite girls each year!

 

Father, thank You for reminding me not only to watch what I promise, but also that birth circumstances don’t determine a person’s worth.  Nor do early associations.  What truly matters is a person’s dedication to You when You call.  Help me to remember always that Your commands are Your enablements, and regardless of what’s gone on in my life, You will always equip me to do what You want me to do.  I am never disqualified from service if I am in Your will.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford