Jepthah - a Faithful Man who did a Foolish Thing

Introduction

I began to name this the ‘Bible Person Study’, but chose to go with the ‘Bible Character Study’. I hesitated to name it that, as I don’t want to diminish the fact that these are real people we’ll be examining. But the reason that it’s named the Bible Character Study is because we’ll be focusing on the person’s character throughout. But don’t forget that these were real people, with real lives that made real choices that had real consequences.

I. Jephthah’s Nature

((What is their History / Background?)

A Mighty Warrior (v1a)

As the Bible tells us, Jephthah was a mighty warrior.

We know that by:

Declaration (v1)

Desire (v5)

His Doings (v32-33)

His ability as a warrior was widely known.

A Mighty Warrior

The Son of a Harlot (v1b)

The second fact about this man Jephthah was that he was the son of an harlot.

It appears the family dynamics are such:

Jephthah being the firstborn of the harlot

Then the wife giving birth to his children

After (most likely) the death of the father, the brethren cast him out

He was the Son of an Harlot

Forsaken by His Family (v2)

His family thought he was unfit to be included in the inheritance.

This shows their arrogance as well as their greed.

Make no mistake - if not right then, Jephthah could have certainly came back and taken that inheritance by force - but he never did. For several reasons, but mainly because Jephthah was a Godly person.

This is actually a trait of Christ. Jesus said: Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

What I mean is that Christ doesn’t occupy a place if He’s unwanted. He doesn’t save anyone against their will - he waits for an invitation.

But he was Forsaken by His Family

II. Jephthah’s Notoriety

(What they are known for?)

Defeating the Ammonites (v12-28)

Jephthah did as Judges before and after did - rid Israel of the heathen that oppressed them. In this instance, it was the Ammonites.

Defeating the Ammonites

Sacrificing His Daughter (v29-40)

There are two different viewpoints concerning what the Bible means by ‘sacrificing’. Some believe that Jephthah - given that by other criteria - represents himself as a Godly man, couldn’t have put his daughter to death as would commonly be interpreted. They believe he to have instead ‘Sacrificed’ her to not be married and remain a virgin to serve in the tabernacle.

The other is the most obvious, and I might add - the correct view, is that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter to fulfill the vow he made in Jg. 11:30-31.

The reason I say that is because it’s the only interpretation that doesn’t either ignore or contort or read into - the text.

Jephthah didn’t leave the TYPE of Sacrifice open to interpretation, he said: “I will offer it up for a burnt offering”. This is specific - and at the culmination we read (v39 - “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed”.

He Sacrificed his Daughter

Establishing Shibboleth (Jg. 12:5-6)

In the first 7 verses of Jg. 12, we see that the tribe of Ephraim spoke against Jephthah and the Gileadites for not inviting them. Then after they whipped them, they had what is in essence ‘border guards’ that gave those ‘crossing the border’ a ‘citizenship test’ by getting them to pronounce a word.

This word has actually made it’s way into the english language. It’s defined as shibboleth (def) The criterion of a party; or that which distinguishes one party from another; and usually, some peculiarity in things of little importance.

Establishing Shibboleth

III. What Makes him Noteworthy

(What Lessons we can Learn from them?)

We are Defined by Different Things to Different People (v1)

To his brethren, Jephthah was known as ‘the son of a strange woman’.

To the elders of Gilead, he was a ‘mighty man of valour’.

He was known as both of those things. But you know what? He WAS both of those things. One of them he couldn’t help, yet was cast aside for, the other was what he did - which he had full control over.

The lesson is this: Different people will define you in different ways. Some ways people cast judgment on you about you have no control over, others you do.

Jephthah had no control over the fact that his father laid with his mother, and his mother was a harlot. That wasn’t his fault at all - yet some found him unworthy because of it.

Different people view me different ways. Some judge me as a Bible preacher. Others as a homophone, transphobe, misogynist, legalist and whatever ‘phobe’ or ‘ist’ you can think of, but do you know what? I can’t do anything about that. As I’ve said on multiple occasions, it’s my job to cast the seed, not judge the soil. As Spurgeon once said “The same sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay”

We cannot live our lives by the opinions of others, lest we chase our tail and risk running in circles. As John Lyndgate once said: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

One may Suffer for the Sin of Another (v1-2; 34-35)

Jephthah did (v1-2)

Gilead slept with a harlot, and because of his sexual impurity, Jephthah suffered.

One might say “Yeah, but then Jephthah wouldn’t be here” - don’t you think God could have got Jephthah here another way?

Jephthah suffered

His Daughter did (v34-35)

But also Jephthah’s daughter suffered from Jephthah’s sin.

We must be careful to avoid the snares of sin as the consequences reach far beyond ourselves and touch the ones we love.

His Daughter suffered

Warriors are often Unpopular - Until there’s War (v2-5)

There was a time when no one wanted Jephthah. His brethren didn’t want him, the elders didn’t want him. They thought they were at peace, so there was no need of him.

You see, a warrior is not popular in what people perceive as a time of peace. But when there’s war, that’s another story.

(Ill.) I saw a movie called ‘The Highwaymen’ - (It’s rated R, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you watch it on Vid-angel). But, it’s the true story of the men that ended up catching and killing Bonnie and Clyde. They were ‘EX’ Texas Rangers. The reason they were ‘EX’ Rangers was because they Rangers were disbanded as being ‘too uncivilized for proper society’. Then come Bonnie & Clyde - and the ‘civilized’ with all their gadgetry and such couldn’t stop them. They realized they were at war and then called for the old Rangers to help.

Why do I say this: I say that because people view this age of Christianity in America the same way. The old guards aren’t needed anymore. They are vestiges of a time gone by - too uncivilized. Not ‘up with the times’. You know, old preacher like me. What they don’t realize is that we’re at war!

Christianity is rotting in America from the inside out. We are fig trees with leaves, yet no fruit. Many think that it’s going to be the gay agenda or the socialist agenda or Biden’s agenda that is going to hurt the church - but Satan doesn’t need exterior forces to destroy the church, the love of the world is destroying the church!

Of course, Israel experienced the same thing. The Prophet Jeremiah said: (Read Jer. 6:10-19)

If one will simply read this passage, and consider the history of the Nation of Israel, and the history of America - they SHOULD tremble for this country!

Warriors are unpopular - Until there’s a war

Diplomacy is Preferred, yet not Always Accomplished (v12-13)

After Jephthah’s installation as leader, he first tries diplomacy.

This is of course God’s first order of business unto man:

Psalm 81:13 “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, And Israel had walked in my ways!”

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Jeremiah 7:25 “Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:”

God desires for the divide between He and man be remedied by Words, instead of Judgment. However…

Diplomacy is preferred, but not always accomplished, because Reason is not Always Reciprocated

Reason is not Always Reciprocated (v14-28)

In these 14 verses we see a sort of back-and-forth in the sense that Jephthah reached out to the Ammonites and began to reason with them. He reasoned with - the Facts of History of the conquest of the land (v14-22); He reasoned that it was God that dispossessed the people (v23-24); Israel was there for 300 years (v25-26) lastly, they would be fighting against the LORD (v27).

So Jephthah tried to reason with the Ammonites, but we see the result in Judges 11:28 “Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.”

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much reason you have, some people just will not hear.

Here are some reasonable things:

There is a God

Evolution, the Big Bang (as the textbooks describe it) is nonsense… yet many will not listen to reason.

Men are sinners in need of a Saviour

It’s so easy for me to explain the reasoning behind this truth, yet most people believe man to be ‘universally good’.

The fact is, many just will not listen to reason - and as is the case of the Ammonites, they end up suffering because of it.

When you are Led by the Spirit, you Need not a Vow (v29-30)

We see in v29 that Jephthah has the Spirit of the LORD come upon him - then he makes what is known as an ‘unforced error’ in the very next verse.

This is called a ‘vow’, however it more so resembles a ‘bargain’. “God, if you’ll do this, then I’ll do that”.

Now understand a some things here:

This is not faith.

Jephthah won the victory - but faith lost. Jephthah was working the IFTT strategy when it comes to prayer - “God IF you’ll do THIS, THEN I’ll do that.

(Ill.) Let me ask you this: What do you think pleased God more: David cutting off the head of the giant, or David’s faith in God to enable him to cut off the head of the giant? David didn’t have to make a vow, because the Spirit of the LORD enabled him to secure the victory!

As we pray & as we go through life, if we be led by the Spirit of God, then nothing shall be impossible for us - vow or no vow!

When you are Led by the Spirit, you Need not a Vow

Jephthah was Victorious In Spite of the Vow

God did not give Jephthah the victory BECAUSE of the vow, but IN SPITE OF THE VOW.

God did not, nor does condone human sacrifice. In fact, the law spoke against it.

(Ill.) I am a blessed man today. But I’m an imperfect man. In much the same way, though I sin and fall short, God still blesses me - not because of my sin & iniquities, but in spite of them.

That being said, because Jephthah made the vow, he was obligated to keep it. It’s for reason such as this that Solomon wrote: Ecclesiastes 5:4–5 “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

Jephthah was Victorious In Spite of the Vow

Vows are Foolish and Dangerous (v30)

For reasons already stated:

A vow doesn’t please God, faith does

A vow is simply not necessary when led by the Spirit of God

A vow once made is expected to be kept

So there’s no reason to make them in the first place, and all they can do is get you in trouble.

Therefore Vows are foolish and dangerous

Seeing Jesus in Jephthah and His Daughter

The Bible being filled with types and shadows, it’s interesting to see that we can see a shadow of Jesus even in a story such as this. We see Him in two ways:

In Jephthah himself:

He was hated and expelled by his own people

Those who saw him for what he could do, turned to him in their distress

When the people turned to him, he became their deliverer

In Jephthah’s daughter:

Submitted obediently to be a sacrifice according to the Father’s plan

She was morally pure - being a virgin

Was sacrificed as a ‘burnt offering’

Her sacrifice was in relation to the deliverance of a people

She was the ‘only begotten’ of her father

Her loss broke the father’s heart

Before her sacrifice, went to a mountain full of sorrow with her companions

As with every type and shadow, it’s not perfect, but it gives a shadow of God’s plan of Salvation

Conclusion