Judges 11-12: The Minor Judges

Introduction

Last time we were together we read the story of Abemelich, the evil son of Gideon. His story as an anti-Judge, formed something of a climax for the book of Judges. It almost happened to be about the half way point of the book. It’s like the author of Judges wants us to know, “Things didn’t get better from there.” and he’s going to give many subtle hints of the continued deterioration of Israelite society as their relationship with the Lord dwindled. We now turn to the next group of Judges known as the “minor Judges”, because of their shorter narratives.

Tola & Jair

Needing some fresh air before diving into the next uncomfortable story, the author briefly tells us about two other judges that came after Abimelech - Tola & Jair.

Neither Judge (nor any of the upcoming Judges) will be chosen/called by Yahweh. They simply “arose” - an indication that God is less and less involved.

Tola is characterized by his ancestry, which looks backwards in time. In the grand scheme of things, this is exactly a positive statement and demonstrates a tie to a past that is still coherent. However, even though he is from the tribe of Issachar, he doesn’t live in Issachar - he lives in Ephraim.

After him comes Jair. Instead of ancestry, he is characterized by his progeny - pointing forward in time. In contrast to Tola, this is a negative indication. Israel is changing, and her Judges are changing with them - in this case, Jair is very individualized. He has lots of children, who were extremely wealthy (donkeys and cities = extreme wealth in the ancient world), and all of them were named after himself.

There is also a theme starting to develop: the “good” Judges are typically identified with their tribe, but the “bad” Judges are identified by clan and/or territory. The earlier Judges were known mostly by their tribe, the latter Judges mostly with their clan.

Here Tola is identified with the tribe of Issachar. Jair is identified with the clan/territory of Gilead.

This is a way to describe Israel’s steady loss of identity. The original twelve tribes were the glue to the nation’s identity - but as their relationship with the LORD dwindles away....so does their identity. If our identity is not found in Christ, we have no identity!

We will also start to see this decay at identity happen at a personal level as the book goes on.

Both Ephraim and Gilead will play prominent roles in the next story as well, so the author is probably giving some narrative ties there as well.

As another point of emphasis on the “opposite” theme between these two Judges - Shamir and Gilead were on opposite sides of the Jordan river, and also opposite north (Gilead)/south (Shamir) wise.

Checking in...

You might have noticed that we aren’t told that the “land had rest” after the the previous two Judges, despite their lengthy reigns.

On the contrary, the author wants us to know, “the people again did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord”. There is no rest for the wicked!

Specifically we are told that they served seven different gods! 7 is that “complete” number, so in this case it’s indicating a complete descent into idolatry.

Understandably angry, God hands them over to the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites. It’s almost like the Lord says, “You want to serve their gods? Cool, you can serve their kings, too.”

After 18 years, the people try to bring out old reliable: cry out to the Lord! He usually raises up a Judge when this happens...so that should happen now right? Not so fast my friend!

Like children, they try to apologize...but this time the Lord isn’t having it. He gives them a brief history lesson: remember when I rescued you from those SEVEN people groups that oppressed you? And still “you have forsaken me and served other gods” so I’m done! Go cry to them. Toodles!

There’s that “complete” number again! The Lord is reminding them that he has completely saved them - and it didn’t matter. Now it seems that God is completely done with the Israelites.

How would you have responded if you were in God’s position here?

The people for their part do put away their idolatry and seem to turn back to the Lord here. This is a form of communal repentance. But is it enough? We’re given the ambiguous note that “the Lord became impatient over the misery of Israel”. But as we’ll see...He doesn’t really get involved, leaving the people up to their own devices.

Sometimes God will make us figure things out on our own - sometimes as punishment even, so that we will (hopefully) learn that we need Him. This could be why he doesn’t intervene in Jephthah’s tragic story later on. Like a parent dealing with a disobedient child who won’t stop throwing a tantrum until they get their way - sometimes you just have to let them go through it.

Jephthah

Approaching war with the Ammonites, the leaders of Gilead gather and decide they need a leader since the Lord won’t give them one. Surely they find their George Washington right? Wrong.

Who was Jephthah?

A mighty warrior - sounds promising?

...the son of a prostitute. Okay, so not ideal.

A “son of Gilead” - Gilead actually isn’t a person, it’s a location. This is like saying, “He was the son of a prostitute, and Vegas was his father.” It’s an almost vulgar way of saying that he’s a bastard son of this territory, and nobody knows his daddy really is. So when the legitimate sons of Gilead grew up, they kick him out.

What do you think happens to people, especially men, like this? No family, no father. They usually turn to crime. Which is exactly what Jephthah did. He gathered a gang of “worthless fellows” - this is the same phrase that was used to describe the murderers Abimelech hired.

Instead of George Washington, the people are about to pick their version of Jesse James. What could go wrong?

11:4-11

Even though they had kicked him out, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the leaders awkwardly call Jephthah up and ask him to be their leader.

An agreement is made - he’ll become their leader, assuming the Lord gives him victory, but notice that there isn’t a promise to reinstate his inheritance.

One thing Jephthah does have going for him is an apparent reliance on the Lord, which has been rare among the Judges.

We also get our first glimpse into Jephthah’s bartering skills: “If you do this...then I will do this.” He’ll do the same with the Lord, and it will ultimately get him in trouble.

11:12-28

Now that he’s their leader, Jephthah wisely tries to avoid war by attempting diplomacy with the Ammonites. Maybe his criminal background had shown him the futility of war?

Turns out this conflict comes down to something simple: land...as it has been in that part of the world for thousands of years.

The Ammonite king claims the Israelites took his territory and he just wants it back. Jephthah’s response? A history lesson...

He draws upon certain historical records like Deuteronomy 2, Numbers 21:10-20, and Numbers 33:5-49.

There’s just one problem...he was wrong.

He’s talking with the Ammonites....but the history he recounts clearly has to do with the Edomites, Moabites, and Amorites.

To top it off, he ends by telling the Ammonites to let their god Chemosh get their land back for them.....but Chemosh was the god of the Moabites NOT the Ammonites.

He also claims that these events happened 300 years prior....but no matter how you make the numbers try to work throughout the OT, it is almost impossible to come up with 300 years between the Israelites entering Canaan and the days of Jephthah.

Maybe it’s not a surprise that “the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah”?

It’s a good thing he’s known for his brawn and not his brains, because it is now time for war.

11:29-40

Now we come to the most well known part of Jephthah’s story.

We’re told that, surprisingly, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. This doesn’t always happen in Judges.

Given what is about to happen, it is a little shocking. But keep in mind, at this point in Israelite history, the Lord is working with what he can.

Maybe Jeph didn’t know this? Because instead of being confident in war, he decides to make a vow to the Lord....why? Again we see that “If you do this, then I’ll do this.” gamble. Maybe he thinks that since he’s been able to bribe everyone else in his life to success, he can do the same with God.

The vow is simple: “If you give me victory, I’ll sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever comes out of the front door of my house.” Again, what could go wrong?

Keep in mind, unlike the Gilead leaders who had agreed to his terms, the Lord never once speaks in any of this. He never agrees to this vow.

Well...wouldn’t you know it, Jephthah gets victory. Let’s head home and see what comes out to greet him...

Oh no! It’s his only daughter. What a shocking twist. It seems his luck and wanton gambling has run out at the worst possible time.

Crazy enough, he actually blames his daughter and takes no personal responsibility in this. But of all people, it’s actually the daughter who encourages her father to fulfil his vow!

She just has one stipulation - let her go mourn her virginity/lack of marriage/future children and progeny. This apparently spawned an annual tradition among the Israelites, but we have no record of it elsewhere.

We are left with the cryptic and vague comment that Jephthah, “did with her according to his vow that he had made.”

So what do we do with this story??

The traditional interpretation is that Jephthah did in fact literally sacrifice his daughter. Another, but much later, interpretation is that he “sacrificed” her by dedicating her to the tabernacle for serving the Lord - a position that would prohibit her from getting married.

I think it’s pretty straightforward that he literally sacrificed her. “Did with her according to his vow” is vague, and that’s probably on purpose - but his vow was to “offer it up as a burnt offering”.

Two conflicting problems with fulfilling this vow: the Lord prohibited human/child sacrifice in the Law. But He also made clear that vows had to be fulfilled (this was so serious that eventually the Lord Jesus says, ‘Don’t make vows at all!’)

Stuck between those two positions...why did he pick the former?

My take: It’s not that simple.

There is a strong connection between this story and that of Abraham sacrificing Isaac in Genesis 22.

I think Jephthah was at least familiar with that story....and tried to apply it to himself. But he misinterpreted it.

3 why he misinterpreted it:

First, he might have thought that God was raise his daughter back to life like Abraham did (according to Hebrews 11).

Second, Jephthah wasn’t good at history (we saw that previously!) and may not have known the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac clearly - namely that Abraham didn’t actually sacrifice Isaac, nor did God actually bring him back to life.

Finally, Jephthah was living in a culture where child sacrifice was common (Canaan), and also as a leader of the Israelites he would have felt pressure from them to keep his vow. Both of these would have added negative influence to his decision making.

So what could have been different? A strong community and upbringing (instead he was exiled), and a father figure, who could have taught him how to interpret Scripture better. This is something the Church should do to educate and prevent people from haphazardly using the Bible to justify really terrible actions.

12:1-7

The Ephraimites seem to have a problem with Jephthah. Just like they complained to Gideon about not getting invited to the battle, here they complain about the same thing. They threaten to burn Jephthah alive (ironic?)

Could be theological cover - they know vows need to be fulfilled....but also child sacrifice is wrong. The Lord gave them victory...but Jephthah still did something really terrible. How do they ease all that tension? Apparently by killing Jephthah and avenging his dishonor.

Jephthah isn’t having it, and ends up killing 42,000 Israelites! This mini-Civil War further shows Israel’s descent into darkness, as once again, one of their leaders turns on them.

Conclusion

What’s all the hoopla about Jephthah anyway? Can’t we just dismiss him as another Abimelech? Unfortunately, no. We saw that he did have the Spirit of the Lord upon him. And the author of Hebrews mentions Jephthah in his Hall of Faith! How on earth could this guy be remembered for his faith?? There is no easy answer, and that tension is probably want Scripture wants us to sit with. Sometimes faith is messy. Sometimes “moral” people are also the most faithless, while sometimes “immoral” people have the most faith.