With Heroes Like These, Who Needs Villains?

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Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Psalm 67:1-5)

Prayer of Praise (Gloria Insley)

Let the Nations Be Glad

On Jordan's Stormy Banks

Prayer of Confession (Aaron Jordan), Worldliness

Assurance of Pardon (Ephesians 1:7-8)

Afflicted Saint to Christ Draw Near

It is Well

Scripture Reading (Judges 11:1-6, 29-40)

You can find it on page 249 in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Mike L)

Prayer for PBC—Culture of disciple-making

Prayer for kingdom partner—Carrollton Baptist Church (Lee Hess)

Prayer for US—Against pornography

Prayer for the world—Scotland

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

START TIMER!!!

John Lybarger was a man with very strong faith.

When his infant daughter, Jessica Ann, became sick with pneumonia, John believed God would heal her.

He prayed fervently for his daughter.

He prayed day and night.

He prayed with unshakeable faith.

But even though his faith was strong, John Lybarger's theology was wrong.

Since he believed God was going to heal his daughter, he refused to seek medical attention.

Going to the hospital would mean a lack of faith.

So even though the hospital was located directly across the street from his home, John stayed home and prayed.

Strong faith plus wrong theology can be a deadly cocktail. And in John Lybarger’s case, the results were tragic.

Despite her father’s strong faith and fervent prayer, Jessica Ann breathed her final breath at just five weeks old.

Even though her life could have been easily saved, simply by crossing the street, Jessica Ann’s story is a tragic example of how...

strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences. [1]

John Lybarger’s story is eerily similar to the life of Jephthah in Judges 11-12.

If your Bible isn’t already open, go ahead and turn there now. It will help you immensely to follow along in your copy of God’s Word as we examine the life of Jephthah together.

The story of Jephthah is one of the darkest, most tragic tales in the entire Bible.

The Big idea we’ll learn from this story is that Strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

We’ll unpack that by examining THREE SCENES from Jephthah’s life:

Jephthah’s Strong FAITH

Jephthah’s Wrong THEOLOGY

Jephthah’s Tragic CONSEQUENCES

Let’s begin by examining scene one, where we’ll notice...

1) Jephthah’s Strong FAITH

Outside of this story, Jephthah is only mentioned two other times in the entire Bible.

He’s mentioned briefly in 1 Samuel 12, and then again in...

Hebrews 11:32–34—And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

If you’re familiar with Jephthah’s story, you might be surprised that he’s remembered for his faith.

But the reality is, Jephthah’s faith may have been stronger than almost anyone else in the entire book of Judges...

Jephthah’s strong faith is evident in his BACKSTORY.

Judges 11:1–3—Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

Jephthah was born out of wedlock in a sinful relationship between his father and a prostitute.

Thankfully for baby Jephthah, his father took responsibility for his welfare and brought him into his house after he was born.

But imagine the pain Jephthah’s presence caused to Gilead’s wife. Every time she saw him she thought of her.

And imagine the conflict that created between Jephthah and his half-brothers.

You don’t have to work hard to imagine the sorts of names they would have called Jephthah and his mother.

This would’ve been no easy childhood for young Jephthah.

And once his father died, Jephthah’s half-brothers kicked him out of the family. They didn’t want to share the inheritance with him.

So Jephthah survived by gathering a motley crew of outlaws around him.

So far Jephthah looks like another statistic: young man from a broken home joins a gang and turns violent.

He is the last person you’d expect to be an example of strong faith.

But some time after being cast out of his home, his half-brothers come back looking for him.

The Ammonites are oppressing the people of Gilead, and they need a rescuer.

They had heard the exploits of mighty Jephthah, the gang leader from the land of Tob.

So they eat a bit of humble pie and ask their half-brother for help.

Initially Jephthah says no. Why should I help you? You kicked me out of the house!!!

But eventually Jephthah is willing to return under one condition...

Judges 11:9–11—Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.

Most commentators believe that what Jephthah is actually asking for is the renewal of his inheritance. He wants to regain what he has lost.

But I want you to compare Jephthah with some of the rescuers we’ve seen so far in this book.

Both Othniel and Ehud were raised up by the Lord.

Barak was personally commissioned by Deborah the prophet.

Gideon was personally visited by God Himself.

Jephthah had none of that. God is mentioned in these verses, but only as a silent witness to what’s happening.

Jephthah has no word from the Lord, like Barak. He’s received no signs, like Gideon. And yet he still believes.

Jephthah was a man with strong faith.

That strong faith is also evident in Jephthah’s DIPLOMACY.

Unlike some of the more trigger-happy characters in this book, Jephthah doesn’t immediately reach for his weapons.

He initially confronts the Ammonites with diplomacy. He begins by using his words.

In fact, Jephthah speaks more words than any other character in the entire book of Judges.

The name Jephthah means “he opens,” perhaps a sly reference to how often Jephthah opens his mouth, a trait that will eventually get him into trouble. [2]

You can read Jephthah’s attempts at diplomacy in Judges 11:12-27 but here’s a few highlights:

He uses God’s covenant name, Yahweh, more than any other person in the entire book of Judges. [3]

He apparently had a strong grasp of biblical history, even a few relatively obscure details.

He knew the promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And in Judges 11:27 he makes the most profound theological statement spoken by any human in the entire book of Judges...

“The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”

Jephthah believed what nobody else seems to get in the rest of the book: God is the ultimate Judge. He and He alone is the true hero of the book of Judges.

Jephthah was a man with strong faith.

But perhaps the greatest evidence of Jephthah’s strong faith is his OBSTINACY.

As we’ll soon see, Jephthah is going to make a rash and tragic vow.

Once it was obvious that Jephthah had made a foolish promise, he could have asked for forgiveness. He could have changed course.

Just like John Lybarger could have crossed the street and taken his daughter to the hospital once he realized she wasn’t getting any better.

But instead, both men obstinately persisted in their strong faith.

But strong faith in the wrong object isn’t helpful.

If you want to drive your car into the ocean it won’t float simply because you’re confident.

In the same way, you can have strong faith and the utmost confidence in something, but if your faith is in the wrong thing you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

Let’s move on to scene two and examine...

2) Jephthah’s Wrong THEOLOGY

Before we look at Jephthah, let’s answer a more basic question: What is theology?

The suffix “ology” refers to a field of study.

So biology is the study of life. Anthropology is the study of humanity. Psychology is the study of the human psyche.

The prefix Theo comes from the Greek word Theos, which means God.

So, simply put, Theology is the study of God.

For some of you the term theology reminds you of dusty old textbook or a bunch of outdated creeds and confessions.

Some people will even say out loud what others only think: “Who needs theology anyways? Just give me Jesus!”

The problem with that way of thinking is that EVERYBODY HAS A THEOLOGY!

If you say “I don’t need to know anything about who God is, I just need to be in a relationship with Him of simple, childlike faith” you are doing theology. You are saying by that statement that God doesn’t care about being rightly known.

That statement IS theology!

So the question is not, “Will I engage in theology?” but “will I engage in true theology or false theology?”

“Will I have right theology or wrong theology?”

Jephthah’s problem was not that he avoided theology, but that his theology was wrong.

His wrong theology is clearly seen by looking at his rash vow in Judges 11...

The very EXISTENCE of this vow reveals Jephthah’s wrong theology.

Judges 11:29—Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.

Remember, in the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell God’s people. But He did empower certain individuals for certain tasks.

And here the Spirit is empowering Jephthah to defeat the Ammonites.

At that point, Jephthah has everything he needs to defeat the Ammonites.

If God can rescue His people using southpaw assassins, oxgoads, tent pegs, trumpets, and well-aimed millstones, He can certainly rescue His people with this Spirit-filled man.

But even though Jephthah’s faith was strong, his theology was week. He did not believe God’s presence was enough. He believed God would be more inclined to rescue His people if Jephthah demonstrated how committed he was to the cause.

So Jephthah promises to do something big for God, if only God will do something big for him.

On September 30, 2002 I was in a hospital waiting room in Atlanta doing the same thing.

My baby brother had suffered a freak accident that left him on life support.

I spent the whole night—like Jephthah—bargaining with God.

“If you save my brother, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll stop living for myself. I’ll put my sin to death. I’ll be a pastor or a missionary, or whatever you want! I’ll even sacrifice my own life if you’ll just let my brother live!”

But when my brother died the following morning, I learned the same lesson God was trying to teach Jephthah thousands of years before: God is not like the pagan gods around us. He is not withholding His grace and goodness from us until we prove to Him how much we want it. He is not impressed by our vows and our sacrifices. He is motivated not by our promises and pleading, but by His grace.

But Jephthah didn’t understand that because he was a man with wrong theology.

We also see Jephthah’s wrong theology in the SUBSTANCE of his vow.

Judges 11:30–31—And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

If you’ve ever heard the story of Jephthah before, you probably heard it taught something like this:

Poor, poor Jephthah. He’s trying to do something special for God, so he promises to offer a burnt offering of whatever comes out of his house when he returns home. He was probably expecting a goat or a chicken or something like that. He had no idea who would walk out of his doors when he returned from the battle.

That sounds nice, and it certainly rehabilitates Jephthah a little bit, but it’s probably not accurate for several reasons.

First, we have no indication that homes like Jephthah’s would have had animals inside. [4]

Second, the word translated “whatever” in verse 31 actually means something very different.

The CSB translates it this way:

Judges 11:31 (CSB)—whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.

This translation, and others like it, give the sense that Jephthah was actually planning to offer a human sacrifice.

That idea is supported by the word translated “meet me” (or “greet me” in the CSB).

Jephthah says he’ll sacrifice whatever (or whoever) meets him when he returns.

The word refers to a purposeful and intentional greeting between friends. [5]

It’s not the word you would use to describe an interaction with a human and an animal.

I believe Jephthah made this vow expecting a human to walk out the door to greet him.

With heroes like this, who needs villains?!?

Jephthah was not sad because a human met him upon his return, he was sad because of which human it was.

Tim Keller asks and answers the natural question that arises at this point: “Why did Jephthah promise this? Deuteronomy 12:31 says that human sacrifice is “detestable” and something “the LORD hates.” There is no doubt about God’s will in the matter. Why then does Jephthah make the vow? First, Jephthah had clearly been deeply desensitized to violence by the atrocious cruelty of the pagan cultures around him. This is a most vivid and horrible example of how believers can profess faith in God and hold on to some truth, yet let the world squeeze them into its mold. . . . Second, Jephthah was not only infected by pagan moral codes, but also by the pagan works-righteousness understanding of God’s character. Human sacrifice was how you could “buy off” a pagan god.” [6]

Before we point the finger at Jephthah, we should examine the ways we look and think like our culture too. How many of us would tolerate the murder of an unborn child under certain circumstances? Or how many of us are willing to tolerate the perversion our culture celebrates every June?

Jephthah’s faith was strong, but many of his beliefs looked more like the pagans around him. He was a man with wrong theology.

Finally, we see Jephthah’s wrong theology in his INSISTANCE on keeping this vow.

Up to this point in the book of Judges, we are used to epic battles with amazing victories over God’s enemies.

But after Jephthah makes his vow, we’re treated to a relatively boring summary of the victory over the Ammonites:

It’s almost as if, the cameraman is focusing somewhere else.

Because the day of Jephthah's greatest victory would soon become the day of his greatest defeat. His dancing was about to be turned into mourning...

Judges 11:34–35—Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.

Why does Jephthah say he cannot take back his vow?

The law of God actually made provision for people in situations just like Jephthah’s.

In Leviticus 5:4-6, God’s people are told that they will sometimes make rash and foolish vows.

When they realize what they’ve done, they can tell God they’re sorry, confess their sin, offer up a lamb or a goat as a sacrifice and be freed from their foolish vow.

Jephthah—who seems to know his Bible pretty well—could have done this! He could have confessed his vow as sin and been released from it.

But instead, he piles sin upon sin and insists on keeping this foolish vow.

Once again Tim Keller is helpful here. He writes: “Why did he then keep his vow? This is the hardest one to answer. The best answer is an extension of the same reason that he made it. Jephthah seems to have no concept of a God of grace. He sees God as basically like the pagan gods—a being whose favor can be earned through flattery and lavish sacrifices. And when he obviously realizes his rash vow has trapped him (v 35), why does he not simply confess its sinful foolishness and break it and save his daughter? The answer is: he does not trust God. He is trapped by his mistrust of God. [7]

Brother, sister, friend, that’s where wrong theology leads. It will always trap you in the end because it’s always rooted in something that isn’t true!

Jephthah’s faith was strong, but he strongly believed the wrong things. He was a man with wrong theology.

And strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

Let’s move on to scene three and examine...

3) Jephthah’s Tragic CONSEQUENCES

We see tragic consequences when we understand what happened to Jephthah’s daughter.

What happened to that little girl is one of the darkest episodes in the entire Bible.

In fact, it’s so dark many Bible teachers have tried to brighten it up just a bit to make it easier to accept.

Some have tried to sanitize this story by saying Jephthah didn’t, in fact, offer his daughter as a human sacrifice.

In verses 36-40, the author laments the fact that Jephthah’s daughter was a virgin when her father made this vow. So some speculate that, perhaps, she was merely sentenced to a life of perpetual virginity.

But that interpretation fails for two reasons:

First, if she was simply going to be sentenced to a life of celibacy, why does she ask for two months to mourn?

Nobody responds to this better than the Puritan preacher...

Matthew Henry—“Had she only been confined to a single life, she needed not to have desired these two months to bewail it in: she had her whole life before her to do that, if she saw cause. Nor needed she to take such a sad leave of her companions.” [8]

The text mentions her virginity to highlight the tragic irony of what Jephthah has done.

He risked everything in order to regain his inheritance from his brothers. But now Jephthah's inheritance will die with him. And once Jephthah dies, his inheritance will go back to the very same brothers who disowned him.

What a horrifying picture of what happens when we try to rescue ourselves in our own strength!

The second reason I believe Jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice is in verse 39.

The text says Jephthah “did with her according to his vow that he had made.”

And verse 31 is clear that his vow was to offer up whoever came out of the house as a burnt offering.

So Jephthah—in complete disobedience to the clear Word of God—offered his daughter as a human sacrifice to God.

Like John Lybarger after him, and every other zealous believer who ever put their strong faith in a lie, Jephthah is a horrifying example of how strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

We also see tragic consequences when we understand what happened to Jephthah.

In Judges 12:1-7 we see the postscript to Jephthah’s tragic vow.

The Ephraimites approach Jephthah after the battle and they’re angry.

You might remember these guys were also mad at Gideon after he defeated the Midianites.

They were a proud tribe, and they wanted to be involved in the action.

Judges 12:1—The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.”

How would you respond to that threat if you were Jephthah? Especially if you had just lost the one person you loved more than anything in the world?

One commentator writes...

Perhaps their reference to his “house” and “fire,” whether intentionally or not, touches a particularly raw spot in him after the sacrifice of his daughter. At any rate Jephthah is aroused and determines to settle the Ephraimite question once and for all. [9]

—Barry Webb

Jephthah has become an angry, vengeful, unhinged man with nothing left to lose.

His legacy ends in a mangled pile of bones and blood.

This is what often happens when you couple strong faith with wrong theology. You fiercely believe something that doesn’t happen, then you end up bitter, angry, and disillusioned.

Strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

Finally, we see tragic consequences when we understand what happened to God’s people.

Jephthah’s plan to take care of the Ephraimites revolves around accents.

Apparently the Ephraimite people could pronounce the “SH” sound.

Maybe like some of you can’t roll your “R’s.” Or many kids who can’t say the “R” sound at all.

So Jephthah’s men basically setup a checkpoint and ask people to say the word “shibboleth.” And when they cannot pronounce the word, they’re murdered.

42,000 of God’s people lose their lives.

That’s 14 times as many people were killed by terrorists in our country on September 11, 2001.

That’s 35 times as many people were killed by Hamas on October 7.

But these 42,000 Ephraimites weren’t killed by a terrorist. They were killed by the man who was supposed to be their rescuer.

People sometimes say that theology divides.

There is some truth to that.

If you say “Jesus is the only way to heaven” that’s a theological statement. And it automatically divides you from everybody who disagrees with that statement.

But good theology is meant to actually unite! It’s the truth that binds us together so we can faithfully fulfill our mission.

The people of God in Judges are supposed to be spreading the Kingdom of God. Taking over the Promised Land and spreading God’s righteousness.

But instead, God’s people are killing each other.

And we do the same thing whenever we elevate minor doctrinal disagreements—our own theological shibboleths—to a point requiring division.

Strong faith plus wrong theology can lead to tragic consequences.

How are we supposed to respond to a story like this?

Did the Holy Spirit record the tragic tale of Jephthah so we might be spiritual rubberneckers?

Are we simply meant to gawk at the wreckage of Jephthah's life out of morbid curiosity?

Or is there something more God expects of us?

The Apostle Paul answers that question in...

2 Timothy 3:16–17—All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We can and must affirm two truths about the story of Jephthah based on this text:

The story of Jephthah is the Word of God. It’s dark and gritty, but it’s true.

And the story of Jephthah is given so that we might be complete.

We will have gaps in our spirituality if we do not learn what God intends for us from the story of Jephthah.

So what does God intend for us to learn?

What lesson should we take away from a story about strong faith plus wrong theology leading to tragic consequences?

Some might be tempted to respond by choosing a life of weak faith.

Maybe Jephthah’s problem was that he was too zealous.

"Being too passionate about anything will just get you into trouble!”

Better to be lukewarm, to not get too worked up about anything. A little apathy never hurt anybody, did it?

To respond this way would be dead wrong.

I believe American Christians cause far more harm by their misguided apathy than by their misguided zeal.

Consider one example: People often complain that America has changed drastically over the past few decades or so. We used to be a nation with such strong Christian values. Now there’s certainly some truth to that. But why have we changed?

It’s not an influx of immigrants that have changed the religious views of our country. If anything, most immigrants are more religious than those born in this country.

Religious views in America have changed because for decades American Christians have failed to successfully pass on their faith to the next generation.

Now why does that happen? More often than not it’s apathy. It’s weak faith.

Mom and dad say “Church is important! Following Jesus matters!” But then time and time again they choose other things over gathering with God’s people.

Kevin DeYoung pulls no punches when he writes, "The man who attempts Christianity without the church shoots himself in the foot, shoots his children in the leg, and shoots his grandchildren in the heart.” [10]

Parents of little children, I plead with you: prioritize the church! You will teach your children what matters most by the reasons you give for skipping out on God’s people!

The right response to the story of Jephthah is not to settle for weaker faith.

The right response is to pursue stronger theology.

Four Practical Ways to Pursue Stronger Theology:

1) Belong to a Faithful Church

A faithful church will regularly teach and preach God’s Word, which is where all true theology comes from.

And if you belong to a faithful church—and don’t merely attend one—they will hold you accountable to live in obedience to God’s Word.

PLUG DISCOVER CLASS

2) Know Your Roots

When we first arrived at PBC we met people who said “listen, we don’t need commentaries or Christian books or Christian creeds and confessions. All we need is the Bible!”

The problem with that mindset is that every generation has blind spots, and the men and women who have gone before us in church history protect us from serious errors.

Maybe Jessica Ann Lybarger would still be alive today if her father had someone in his life who told him it’s possible to trust God for healing and use the modern medicine He has provided.

So don’t limit yourself to books, blog articles, or Tiktok videos written by people in this generation. Read the Puritans. Read the Reformers. Read the church fathers. You will grow in your theological understanding as you get to know your Christian roots.

3) Dig Deep

At some point, you’ll be helped immensely by digging deep.

One way we protect ourselves from wrong theology is by learning what the entire Bible teaches about a given topic.

This is a Christian discipline that’s been around for hundreds of years called systematic theology.

There are countless resources that explain Christian theology systematically:

Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel Beeke

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem

Everyone’s a Theologian by R.C. Sproul

You Are A Theologian by Jen Wilkin and J.T. English

The Ology by Marty Machowski

4) Teach Others

If you’re like me, you learn the most when you share what you’ve learned with somebody else.

Maybe this means teaching your kids or grandkids. Maybe it means leading a discipleship group or a Sunday School class.

But as you grow in your own understanding of theology, you will be helped immensely if you help someone else.

But as important as all of this is, I need to remind you of one final truth before we conclude:

WRONG theology can lead to devastating consequences. But GOOD theology, by itself, won’t save anybody.

When John Lybarger was convicted for manslaughter after his daughter’s death, he was asked what he thought about the verdict.

He replied, “God is my judge. I’ll give an account to him.” [11]

That’s true, isn’t it?

God will judge John Lybarger, and Jephthah, and every single one of us.

But that’s not exactly good news.

Remember what Jesus said would happen to anyone who causes one of His little ones to stumble.

Our only hope is the Rescuer to whom this story points.

The little girl in this story isn’t the only one who willingly died as an innocent sacrifice.

Thousands of years later, another Father would sacrifice another Child.

But this Child was the Son of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

John 3:16—For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Have you trusted in this Jesus? You can do that today!

REPENT AND BELIEVE

If you have trusted in Him, then strong faith and right theology aren’t important simply so you can avoid tragic consequences. They’re important because you love Jesus! And you want to know Him better and follow Him more closely!

May God help us to faithfully do that together.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

His Mercy is More

Benediction (1 Chron 22 (p 156))