Trusting God for Deliverance

*Pray before beginning sermon*

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The first part of this verse is written on every pair of sneakers that famous basketball player Stephen Curry has had since college. And I know he isn’t the only athlete to do so. Because of the fame this verse has garnered, I shamefully admit, as terrible as it sounds, that I have never found these words as comforting as I should. For me, whenever I read or hear them, my eyes roll to the back of my head knowing that there are athletes out there who have no care for the context of that verse or frankly even know what it means. Yet, I find these words most relevant to the narrative we will read today about a man named Jephthah who found himself strengthened by almighty God. Please turn with me to Judges 11 as we begin our time together this morning. We will be looking at specifically verses 29-40 of chapter 11. Once you have finished turning to Judges chapter 11 verses 29 through 40, please stand for the reading of the Word of God to show Him the reverence which he is due.

29 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. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 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.” 32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

Thank you, you may be seated. So we have this man named Jephthah who, up until this moment, we learn in the first half of this chapter that he was not someone that his family wanted. We learn that Jephthah’s father had given birth to him through a prostitute. His brothers drove Jephthah out of the family when the father passed away and the inheritance was divided. Despite the families abuse of Jephthah we learn that the elders approach him awhile later and offer to make him a ruler over the Gileadites if he went out against their enemies the Ammonites. After communication via snail mail, we learn that the Ammonite king is uninterested in returning the Israelite’s rightful land back to them simply by asking. And thus, Jephthah must go out and devastate the Ammonites to repossess the Israelite’s land. We see that this was a task with which the Lord was with him as we find in our opening verse: “Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah.” Yet, despite this we see that at some point during the journey Jephthah makes a hasty vow before the Lord. What I find myself asking is why Jephthah would make a promise to God even though he had the Spirit of the Lord already. And yet, I am reminded of the realities in which we live. How often do we who possess the Holy Spirit - God dwelling inside of us, at the same time, make promises of how we will change, do better, or live more faithfully in our own power, when we already have the almighty within us? Too often, we fail to trust God to deliver us, fail to trust him to transform us to be more like him, and we too often fail to accurately understand the enemies we face because we fail to understand the immeasurable presence and power of our God. When God’s people fail to trust in Him for providence and deliverance, their decisions are representative of their spiritual decay.

Though Jephthah made a hasty vow which wasn’t necessary because God had already provided him all he needed, it was permissible under the law to make such vows as long as the individual kept them. Upon receiving his victory over the Ammonites, Jephthah returns home and look what he discovers upon his arrival:

34 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. 35 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.”

It is unclear in the narrative what or who Jephthah expected to greet him when he got home, but what is clear was the devastation he had when learning that it was his daughter. We discover that the daughter was dancing and rejoicing that the Lord had delivered their enemies into the hands of her father. We also learn that she was the only child that Jephthah had. The response Jephthah has to learning that his daughter was the person required to fulfill his vow echoes the story of Abraham and Isaac when Abraham was tested by God in Genesis 22. If you are a parent in this room, you are able to imagine the devastation that Jephthah might have. Perhaps you don’t because you would never make such a vow. But remove that part, and focus on the overwhelming emotions that would come with her being the only child. A question that is often raised when reading this account is why Jephthah would make such a vow that seems so confounding and was made with such carelessness that would leave it possible for someone to sacrifice a person or unclean animal in the first place. However, there is a small Hebrew word that authors such as Warren Wiersbe suggest it changes the entire meaning of Jephthah’s vow that gives insight to this hasty vow. Jephthah says in verse 31 that “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, waw I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” The most common translation for waw is and, but another possible meaning is or. When translating it such that Jephthah either dedicates (a person) to the Lord or sacrifices (an animal) as a burnt offering, it clears up significant problems that Jephthah would encounter with killing a person such as his daughter. The latter half of this text seems to support the idea that Jephthah does just that. But how does the daughter respond to hearing of this news when greeting her victorious father?

36 “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. 37 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.” 38 “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.

In an increasing decay of spirituality in the nation of Israel, we find a beacon of faithfulness to the Lord. Despite learning of this hasty vow that Jephthah made before the Lord that has huge cost for his daughter, her response is admirable and faithful. The daughters response to the Lord delivering the hands of their enemies into her father is to acknowledge his providence. She is ready to accept that promise that her father hastily made before the Lord. However, before she does, she asks her father to grant her two months to roam the hills and weep with her friends.

So, I ask you friends, when you are surrounded by spiritual decay, are you remaining faithful to the Lord? When you observe the deliverance and providence of God, do you acknowledge him and trust him to do it again? Are you ready to fulfill the promises you make before the Lord? Let us see how Jephthah and his daughter fulfill the vow he made before the Lord:

39 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 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Upon roaming the hills for two months the daughter returns home to Jephthah. This further cements the daughters faithfulness to her father and the Lord that she would fulfill the vow made before the Lord. If I were in the daughters position, I would have abandoned my father and run away to a distant country where I was free from this vow and could marry freely. But the heart posture of the daughter was not focused on fulfilling dreams or expectations that a society had for her, but to be obedient and faithful to God even it was at the expense of her own comfort. And so upon returning, we learn that her father did as he vowed and she was a virgin.

Returning to the idea I raised earlier about the specific nature of the vow. Nowhere does the text declare that on this day the daughter was offered as a burnt offering. Rather, she remains a virgin. This gives notion to the idea that Jephthah vowed not to sacrifice his daughter, but to dedicate her to service at the temple. This was a practice that we see in verses such as Exodus 38:8 or 1 Samuel 2:22 and had requirements such remaining a virgin. For the young women of Israel to spend four days each year to commemorate/celebrate the daughter of Jephthah’s death would be horrifying. But to celebrate a women so dedicated to serving the Lord’s temple that she would give up the Israelite women’s longing to be married and give birth to children was highly honorable; something worth celebrating. Are you so dedicated to serving the Lord that people are celebrating your faithfulness?

The impression I was left with when returning to this text repeatedly was the sense that there are people who fail to trust in God for providence and deliverance, and thus are never able to do all that God has for them because they are never empowered by his strength. Yet, when people like Jephthah’s daughter remain faithful to God and trust in him to provide and deliver despite weighty, hastily made promises, those are the people who serve the Lord faithfully and embrace the power of the Holy Spirit. God will give the Spirit to all those who trust in him. Are you trusting in him? God will empower those who not only trust him, but do so with unwavering faithfulness despite the spiritual decay of those around them. Are you the person that has fully trusted in God? One of my old pastors once said, “partial trust is a failure to trust.” With that I ask, do you trust God so completely that he rules your heart and dwells so richly that the chains of idolatry break before you? Do you trust God so completely that the promises made before God are not hasty but done with the heart to fulfill them because you want to be found faithful? Do you trust God so completely that your hands and feet demonstrate to those around you that you truly are able to do all things because of the God that you serve?