Judges 11

Judges 11

'Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.'

Judges 11:1-11

So there was a guy named Jephthah who was the son of a harlot. But it also says in the first verse here that he was a mighty man of valor, the same title give by the angel of the Lord to Gideon. Obviously, the Lord had His eyes upon this man, as we will see shortly. Jephthah's father, Gidead, was married, and his wife had two sons, who when they grew older, threw their brother out of the house, and told him that he would not be sharing any of their father's inheritance. Jephthah then ran away from his brothers, and hid himself for a while.

The Ammonites then attacked Israel, and Jephthah's brothers came to him, and begged him that he be captain over them and assist them in driving the Ammonites out of the land. He agreed to do so, and he sent and asked the king of Ammon what they were doing in the Israelites' land. The king sent messengers back to them, and said they were reclaiming the land that they had lost when Israel had first come through the Promised Land and conquered. Jephthah replied that Israel had not stolen any land and they would not be relinquishing any of it. He told them that when the Israelites had first come into the land they had peaceably asked all of the different nations whether they could pass throught their land, and each one of them said no. There was thennothing to do but to conquer each and every one of these nations. Jephthah then, with the Lord's direction, attacked the Ammonites and drove them from the land of Israel.

'And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to

fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.'

Judges 11:30-35

Jephthah learned firsthand of the power of the Lord, but he also learned the importace of vows. He learned not to make hasty decisions, without thinking of their consequences later.

Am I known for making decisions like this, that I and others will regret later?

Should I instead seek the Lord about everything that I do?