LINK: Judges 10-12
BACKGROUND
Israel had peace for forty-five years under the leadership of the judges, Tola and Jair, but then the sons of Israel repeated the same old sin cycle:
SIN: They did evil, served other gods, and forsook the LORD (10:6)In this case, salvation came through Judge Jephthah. In Judges 11:23-26, he had three arguments against the Ammonite king's claim that the Israelites had stolen the land of Gilead from them:
SERVITUDE: The LORD's anger burned so they were oppressed by foreigners (10:7-9)
SUPPLICATION: They cried to God, repented, and God pitied them (10:10-18)
SALVATION: God sent a deliverer/judge (11:1-12:7)
1) Gilead was the land of the Amorites. So, they could not have stolen it from the Ammonites.
2) Israel's God had given the land to them, and the Ammonites should be satisfied with the land their god, Chemosh, had given them.
3) No one had contested this since Gilead's conquest 300 years before!The arguments did not work, but the Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, and he had victory over the Ammonites, but his rash vow to the LORD led to being obligated to give his daughter as a burnt offering. So sad!
The Ephraimites were jealous and angry that they were not invited to the battle against the Ammonites. Jephthah responded by slaughtering 42,000 of them. Ephraimites could be identified because they pronounced the Hebrew sh as a single s. "Shibboleth" is the word for stream.
Jephthah died after ruling for six years. Then, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon ruled for a total of 25 where they entered into a period of
SILENCE in the "Sin Cycle."
REFLECTION/APPLICATION
I made a rash vow to the Lord in the summer of 1980, and it was like a noose around my neck for many years (until 1990!) because I could never keep it! My zeal got the best of me. Do not make rash vows!!!
I should have heeded the directive from James:
Protect us LORD from making any kind of vow to You. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
REFLECTION/APPLICATION
I made a rash vow to the Lord in the summer of 1980, and it was like a noose around my neck for many years (until 1990!) because I could never keep it! My zeal got the best of me. Do not make rash vows!!!
I should have heeded the directive from James:
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment. (James 5:12)PRAYER
Protect us LORD from making any kind of vow to You. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
3 comments:
I must say Carol that even though I love God and I am sure of his goodness and I know that Jephthah should not have made that rash vow, I still struggle with the outcome. Why didn't God send word to Jephthah not to burn his daughter?
Jackie
Hi Jackie, I am so sorry! Here it is September 30, and I just saw your question.
The answer is "I don't know." There are many things in the Old Testament that are so hard to swallow. You and Cathi from the Bible Book Club have similar questions like that. God allowed things to happen that are so difficult. I sometimes feel like I need to "defend" God's actions, but I am now just encouraging people to dialogue with God and listen to Him. He can give you a much better answer than I ever could! :)
It is still hard to swallow that the daughter was burned because of her father's rash vow!
The lesson for me is no more rash vows. I am so much less that way. I don't make resolutions and vows, but I communicate desires and a Rule of Life. It is not as legalistic.
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