Ep. 63 - Jephthah

Last we left the Israelites, they had just defeated the Midianites through our last judge, Gideon. By the time that Gideon died, the Israelites had been living the Promised Land for about 250 years. And during that whole time, the Israelites had been going through the never-ending merry-go-round of doom – turning from God, getting oppressed, turning back to God, getting a judge, fighting off the oppressor, staying with God, the judge dies, and then immediately turning away from God and doing the whole thing all over again. The Midianites were already Israel’s 5^th oppressor in just 250 years. Surely by now the Israelites were getting tired of the merry-go-round. Surely, they’re not going to do the same thing all over again, right?

Well, apparently they were. Because the Bible says, “So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their God. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;” (Judges 8:33-34) No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites turned back to idolatry…Baal…again. Now who came next to oppress Israel, and how long…well…we don’t know. What we do know is that a man named Tola judged Israel next. Tola was from the tribe of Issachar, and he judged Israel for 23 years. Then after Tola, another man named Jair judged Israel. We don’t even know what tribe Jair was from (though we do know that he was from the land east of the Jordan…which was called Gilead), and he judged Israel for 22 years. How these men lead Israel, and how God helped them to do great things and fight off the latest oppressors (whoever they were), we have no idea. What we do know is that the never-ending merry-go-round of doom didn’t stop.

Now, of course, as soon as the Jair died, the Israelites did what they always did…and turned away from God. And which false God did they start worshipping this time? Well, Bible says, “Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.” (10:6) So basically, the Israelites started worshipping every god under the sun, except for the one true God who had delivered them from Egypt. So, what did God do? Well, He did the same thing He’d done half a dozen times already over the last now 300 years…God withdrew His protection and one of the surrounding nations invaded. And the Bible says that God, “sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon.” (10:7)

So, this time it was the Philistines and the Ammonites. The Philistines were on the west side of Israel by the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines will be a thorn in the side of Israel for many many years to come and will be the target of the last Israelite judge…who we will talk about in the next episode. The Ammonites were on the east side of Israel, across Jordan River and shared a long border with the tribe of Gad. For 18 years, the Philistines attacked Israel from the West, and the Ammonites attacked Israel from the East…causing the Israelites a lot of trouble. But between the Philistines and the Ammonites, the Ammonites were the bigger problem. Because the Bible says, “the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.” (10:9) The Ammonites were striking deep into Israelite territory…all the way to the tribes that were right in the center or Israel.

Now after 18 years of this, and after things had gotten really bad, what do you think the Israelites did? Yah that’s right, they turned back to God for help. And they said, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!” (10:10) But this time, God’s response was a little different. Because God said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines?  (12)  Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand.  (13)  Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.  (14)  Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” (10:11-13) It seems that God was getting a little tired of the never-ending merry-go-round of doom. God had rescued the Israelites 5…maybe 6 times now. And not only that, but as it turns out, even while the the Israelites were asking God for help, they were still worshipping those other gods. So, God was telling the Israelites, yah know what…why don’t we let those gods rescue you this time. And the Israelites replied to God and said, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” (10:15) The Israelites were desperate, and, realizing that things were getting serious, they all decided to put away their foreign gods and worship only the Lord. And after they did that, the Bible says that God, “could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” (10:16) Even though the Israelites had only turned back to God because of 18 years of oppression, because they made real changes in their lives, God’s heart was touched. And now that they were following Him, God could no longer stand what was happening to the Israelites.

Not too long after this, the Ammonites gathered for yet another raid into Israel. But this time the Israelites knew that God was backing them up, so they also gathered…at a place called Mizpah…which is just on the border between Israel and Ammon, and geared up to fight the invaders. (BTW kidzos, I put up another map at papasbiblestores.com called “Jephthah Fights the Ammonites” if you want to see where all this happens…so go check that out.) But something was missing…oh yeah…there was no judge! And the Israelites asked themselves, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (10:18) Unlike the previous judges, it didn’t seem like God had appeared to anyone or in any way told them who the judge should be this time. So, the Israelites figured they needed to find a judge for themselves. They needed someone who knew how to fight, someone who knew the Ammonites, and someone who was brave. Who could that be?

Well, apparently the Israelites knew a guy – a man named Jephthah. Now Jephthah had an interesting story. His father was a well-known man named Gilead, but his mother was a harlot (that is to say, his father and his mother weren’t married). And when Jephthah grew up, his brothers from his father’s actual wife kicked him onto the street to fend for himself. Horrible right? Well, because of this, Jephthah grew up taking care of himself. He drifted off to a place called Tob, managed to find other cast-outs like himself, and through his bravery and leadership, ended up forming kind of like a band of armed mercenaries (that is to say, soldiers for hire). And from what we can tell, Jephthah and his mercenaries would go raiding against the Ammonites. So, here was a guy who was obviously brave, obviously knew how to fight, and who had experience fighting the Ammonites. But, would he fight for the Israelites…for the people who, in Jephthah’s mind, had thrown him out onto the street? Well, it took a bit of convincing, but Jephthah eventually agreed. And the Bible says that Jephthah, “went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.” (11:11)

Now that Jephthah was the leader of the Israelite army, how was he going to take care of this Ammonite problem? Well, at first Jephthah tried talking with the Ammonite king…who knows…maybe they could avoid fighting altogether. After all, Ammon was one of the countries that God had told the Israelites to avoid fighting. (Actually, if you kidzos will remember, the Israelites had run into the Ammonites before…they were one of the three countries that God had told Moses and the Israelites to go around on their way to the Promised Land. Remember that Israelites came to fight Edom, then God had said no…go around them. Then the same happened with Moab…and then again with Ammon.) But after sending a few messages back and forth with the King of Ammon, it was obvious that he wasn’t going to change his mind. The Ammonites were set on taking away at least part of Israel’s land, and there was no talking that was going to change that.

After trying the diplomatic route, the Bible then says, “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon.” (11:29) As they say, the best defence is a good offence. Through the leading of the Spirit, Jephthah decided to take the fight to the Ammonites. And he gathered his army together and…invaded Ammon. And just as Jephthah was leaving his house, in the excitement of the moment he made a promise to God, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,  (31)  then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” (11:30-31) In those days, people kept with their animals on the bottom floor of the house while the people lived upstairs. So, what Jephthah was promising God was that when he came back from fighting the Ammonites that whatever first came through the front door of his house…whether it was a sheep, goat, or maybe even an expensive ox…that Jephthah would sacrifice it to God if God gave him the victory.

And indeed, God did give Jephthah and the Israelites the victory against the Ammonites. And the Bible says, “Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.  (33)  And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter.” (11:32-33) In Ammon there was a road called “The King’s Highway” along which were most of Ammon’s major cities. And Jephthah led the Israelites down the King’s Highway and conquered the Ammonite cities from one end of the country to the other. It was an unexpected and crazy victory. And the Bible says, “Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.” (11:33) Once again, God had delivered the Israelites from their oppressors. 

Of course, Jephthah didn’t forget about his promise about sacrificing the first thing that walked through the front door. And so after the amazing victories, Jephthah headed back home to keep his promise. Jephthah and all the Israelites were obviously all super excited…celebrating the amazing victory that God had given them. Despite their unfaithfulness, God had been so good to them! And as Jephthah arrived at his house, the Bible says, “When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing” (11:34) When Jephthah saw his one and only daughter come dancing through the front door, his heart sank to the floor. And the Bible says, “And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it."” (11:35) So…what was Jephthah saying? He wasn’t actually going to go through with it, was he? I mean, what Jephthah meant was whatever animal came through his front door…not a person…and especially not his very own daughter! But don’t forget kidzos that back in ancient times, when someone made a promise or an oath, it was a big deal…you just didn’t go back it…it was unthinkable. Jephthah had said what he’d said…and a promise was a promise…an oath was an oath…and Jephthah was going to go through with it.

Interestingly, once Jephthah’s daughter realized what was going on, she didn’t run away or go crazy. Instead, she actually agreed with him that he had to follow through with his promise. And she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” (11:36) From Jephthah’s daughter’s thinking, God had followed through on His end of the promise, so her father had to follow through too. All she asked for was a few months with her friends up in the mountains. After which, she (amazingly) came back home to her father. And even though God obviously would never have asked this of Jephthah, the Bible sadly says that he, “carried out his vow with her which he had vowed.” (11:39)

Remember kidzos when we started talking about these judges how they were kind of a mixed bag? Yah, well Jephthah is definitely one of those. Through his leadership he delivered an amazing victory for God’s people. But because he made a foolish promise (and because in those times everyone always followed through on their promises), Jephtha’s story ended in tradgedy. Jephthah didn’t have any other son or daughter…and so Jephthah’s family ended by his own hand. There would be no descendants of Jephthah. Ya know, later in the Bible, we are warned against making grand promises, vows, and oaths. The Bible says in the book of James, “Above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes, and your “No” be “No” lest you fall into judgement.” (James 5:12) So kidzos, let’s be careful not to make big promises. Ya know, ‘I promise that I will do this or that’. But let your word be your word. Otherwise, one day you might find yourself having to do something that you would never otherwise do…just like Jephthah.