Judges 11:1–40

On whom did God lay His hand for the leadership in this work of deliverance? On a most unexpected individual. So far we have noticed how He was pleased to use weak and insignificant and even ridiculous things. Now we see Him selecting one whose very origin suggests not insignificance but shame.

Here again we find the same mark of what was worthless or unpromising in the instruments God used in a day of decline. Judges 11 tells us that Jephthah the Gileadite "was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute." Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine, but here we go lower still. Yet he was "a mighty warrior," a man who lived like a raider — the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperate men. Things in Israel were now so low that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was stamping His moral verdict on the people. In their condition He could not use vessels of greater moral worth.

One man in Israel had gifts for leadership above all the rest: Jephthah the Gileadite. But he was not popular, because he was the son of a prostitute (v. 1). His father's wife had sons of her own. When they grew up, they refused to own Jephthah as their brother, and they drove him out of any inheritance in his father's house (v. 2). Of course Jephthah's birth was not his fault, but his father's. But this made no difference to his brothers.

Jephthah was the judge who freed Israel from slavery to Ammon. He was born of a sinful union — "the son of a prostitute." Then he became an outcast and had to flee from his brothers... Yet he was a mighty warrior. So he was a lowly instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But in the end those who rejected him had to send for Jephthah to be their saviour from the Ammonites. They had to own him as their leader — the man they had hated and thrown out because of his low birth. He reminds us of our Lord. His own people hated Him, and He is yet to be their deliverer.

I have said that Jephthah's life suggests our Lord's. I choose that word with care, and with great hesitation. His brothers had moral reasons for rejecting him. He was the son of a prostitute. That makes us shrink from linking his name with the spotless Son of God.

Jephthah's history shows how far Israel had fallen. They had to turn to the captain of a troop of "worthless men." Jephthah suffered greatly through his rash vow. He also lacked the wisdom and humility to calm the anger of the men of Ephraim. God did not desert His people, but their low state is very clear. Heb. 11:32 speaks of the faith of Jephthah. He maintained the claim of God's people to the inheritance God had given them.

One man in Israel had gifts for leadership above all others: Jephthah the Gileadite. But he was not popular, because he was the son of a prostitute (v. 1). His father's wife had sons. When they grew up, they refused to own Jephthah as their brother. They expelled him from any inheritance in his father's house (v. 2). Of course Jephthah's birth was not his fault, but his father's. But this made no difference to his brothers.

Jephthah, who — apart from his origin — was the eldest of the family, was rejected by his brothers... "Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob" (v. 3). Jephthah allowed himself to be stripped of everything. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and to bring him to the front again. The moment came when those who had driven their deliverer away had to throw themselves at his feet and beg.

But here again is found the same brand of what was worthless or unpromising in the instruments that God used in a day of decline. Judges 11 tells us that "Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, and he was the son of a prostitute." Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine; but here we descend lower still. Still, he "was a mighty warrior," who lived something like an outlaw's life — the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperadoes. So low were things now in Israel, that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance... In the condition they were in, He could not use vessels of greater moral worth.

"Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, and he was the son of a prostitute" (Judges 11:1). Truly in these things God's ways are different from ours.

The son of a foreign woman, he had been disowned by his brothers in Israel, and cast out among the Gentiles. But this is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system? His brothers despised him and cast him out as a worthless thing, and now he is their only hope in their disaster.

He was therefore a lowly instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But in the end those who rejected him had to send for Jephthah to be their saviour from the hands of the Ammonites. They had to own him as their leader, the man they had hated and cast out because of his lowly birth. He reminds us of our Lord, who was hated by His own and who is yet to be their deliverer.

I have said that Jephthah's life suggests our Lord's. I use the word deliberately, and with great hesitation. There were moral reasons why his brothers rejected Jephthah. He was "the son of another woman." That makes us shrink from linking his name with the spotless Son of God.

The only deliverer of the people of God from the power of evil and false teaching is one whose own brothers have rejected him... This man's name is the Opener, the one who opens the word of God to us.

Abimelech sought, from the start, to exalt himself, and seized the place of Gideon's rightful family. Jephthah did the opposite. He allowed himself to be robbed. He humbled himself instead of raising his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a strange country. But God knew how to find him and to bring him to the front again.

Jephthah went to the land of Tob, apparently east of Gilead. There his abilities attracted a following of unwholesome characters (v. 3). They "went out" together, likely as a band of raiders, and this clearly made a name for Jephthah.

He lived in the land of Tob, which means goodness, and vain, or worthless, men gathered to him. Yet he was a mighty warrior. He was therefore a humble instrument, despised and rejected by his own.

"Jephthah the Gileadite," we are told in Judges 11, "was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute." Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine, but here we go lower still. Even so, he was a mighty warrior. He lived a raider's life, at the head of a reckless company of outcasts and desperate men. Things in Israel were now so low that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was clearly stamping His moral verdict on the people. He could not use instruments of greater moral worth while they were in that condition. He plainly meant to testify to their state by the agents He used for their good.

The history of Jephthah shows how far Israel had fallen in turning to the captain of a troop of "vain men." Jephthah suffered badly through his rash vow. He also lacked the wisdom and humility to calm the anger of Ephraim. God did not abandon His people, but their low state is very clear. Hebrews 11:32 speaks of Jephthah's faith. He held on to the claim of God's people to the inheritance God had given them.

The son of a strange woman, he had been disowned by his brothers in Israel, and cast out among the nations outside Israel. But this is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system? The man his brothers despised and threw out as worthless is now their only hope in their trouble.

In a far-off land he gathers around him men who were despised like himself — vain fellows, as they are called. They are like David's company in the cave of Adullam. I have said that Jephthah's life suggests our Lord's. I use the word deliberately, and with great hesitation. There were moral reasons for his brothers' rejection of him. He was "the son of a strange woman." That makes us shrink from linking his name with the spotless Son of God. Keeping this in mind, his rejection still suggests Him who was set apart from His brothers.

The children of Ammon used Israel's low condition to rise up against them. They wanted to strip Israel of their lawful territory and privileges and take these for themselves. What had the people gained by bowing down before the idols of Ammon? They had fallen under the judgment of God, and into the hands of the enemies of the Lord. If we step onto the world's ground, it robs us, causes us to lose the reality of our privileges, and takes them away. The world then says to us: my rights are as great as yours, I am as good a Christian as you are, for you are as busy with the things of the world as I am.

The worst enemies of the people of God are always the descendants of believers according to the flesh. Midian, whom Gideon fought, came from Ishmael, the seed of Abraham according to the flesh. Moab and the children of Ammon came from Lot. Edom was the son of Isaac after the flesh... our most determined enemies are the outcome of our failures or of the flesh in us.

However blessed this day of revival was, one thing was sadly missing. They did not know the basic truths God had entrusted to His people... They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead made himself into a separate party. They barely knew the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they said: "Who is the man?" Only one step was left for them — to choose for themselves. And they took that step... God did raise up Jephthah, but Gilead took part in the choice.

When Ammon then came to make war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Tob to urge Jephthah to consent to be their commander to fight against Ammon. Jephthah reminded them that they had shown hatred toward him by expelling him from his father's house, and he asks why then were they coming to him when they were in distress.

Jephthah let himself be robbed. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and bring him forward again. The moment came when those who had driven their deliverer away had to come and plead at his feet... They had mocked this very saviour, and now they had to acknowledge him in the far country, just as Joseph's brothers once did. In their distress they appealed to him and begged him to become their captain. Jephthah would not take this title until after the victory. And so will it be with Christ. Israel will openly recognise Him as their Head when He triumphs over their enemies.

He lived in the land of Tob (goodness) and vain, or worthless, men gathered to him. Yet he was a mighty man of valour. He was therefore a humble instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But finally those who rejected him had to send for Jephthah to be their saviour from the hands of the children of Ammon.

He lived something like a raider's life — the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and outlaws. Things in Israel were now so low that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was plainly stamping His moral verdict on the people's state. He could not in their present condition use vessels of greater moral worth.

Jephthah takes great pains to prove, when he comes forward, that he has clear right on his side. This is an important principle. He does not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he is sure in his soul that the cause is righteous. That certainty rests on how God had dealt with the children of Israel and with Ammon.

Then Ammon came to make war against Israel. The elders of Gilead went to Tob to urge Jephthah to agree to be their commander in the fight against Ammon (vv. 4-6). Jephthah reminded them that they had shown hatred toward him by driving him out of his father's house. He asks why, then, they were coming to him now that they were in distress (v. 7). They had no real answer. All they could say was that they were now turning back to him, to ask him to be their head in the fight against Ammon (v. 8).

Jephthah let himself be robbed. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and to bring him to the front again. Then the moment came. The men who had driven their deliverer away had to throw themselves down at his feet and plead with him... They had mocked this very saviour. Now, like Joseph's brothers before them, they had to own him in that far country. They appealed to him in their distress and begged him to become their captain. Jephthah did not consent to take this title before victory (v. 9). And so it will be with Christ. His triumph over their enemies will openly mark Him out as the Head of Israel.

He dwelt in the land of Tob (goodness) and vain, or worthless, men gathered to him. Yet he was a mighty man of valour. He was therefore a humble instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But in the end those who rejected him had to send for Jephthah to be their saviour from the Ammonites. They had to own him as their leader, whom they had hated and cast out because of his lowly birth. He reminds us of our Lord, who was hated by His own and who is yet to be their deliverer.

This man's name is the "Opener," the one who opens the word of God to us. It is as the truth, the word of God, is opened to us that we are enlightened by it. Our hearts open to its action upon us. Our eye is opened to see the wondrous things out of God's law. So as there is an opening of the Word, the power of error will take its flight.

They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead made itself a party. The authority and guidance of the Spirit of God were little known, for they said: "What man is he?" They had only one more step to take — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. Not that Jephthah was not raised up of God, but Gilead took part in the choice. How different this was from the call of Gideon! And how sadly typical of the last days of decline — this meddling of man.

He will be head, and is going to be recognised as that. His previous rejection rankles in his heart. He has not taken it as from God, but as bad treatment. So he reminds them that they had once despised him. Now, if he is going to be of any use to them, they must recognise him and give him a high place. In that claiming of headship we can see some of the springs of what led to sad failure later on.

Jephthah reminded them that they had shown hatred toward him and had expelled him from his father's house. Why, then, were they coming to him now that they were in distress (v. 7)? They had no real answer. They were simply turning back to him to ask him to be their head in the fight against Ammon (v. 8).

Jephthah let them strip him of everything. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and bring him to the front again. The moment came when those who had driven their deliverer away had to throw themselves as beggars at his feet.

Judges 11 tells us that Jephthah the Gileadite "was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute." Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine, but here we go lower still. Still, he "was a mighty warrior," who lived an outlaw's life. He was the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperate men. Things were so low in Israel that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was stamping His moral verdict on the people's state. He could not in their then condition employ vessels of greater moral worth.

They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead made itself into a party. They barely knew the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they said, "Who is the man?" Only one step was left — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. Not that God had not raised Jephthah up, but Gilead took part in the choice. This was very different from the call of Gideon.

He made a covenant with the people: if he delivered them, he should be their head... Remember how Abimelech craved headship, and how he used every effort to get kingship over Israel. We see traces of that same spirit in this man, though Jephthah is far better than Abimelech... His earlier rejection still rankles in him. He has not taken it as from God, but as bad treatment. In that claiming of headship I think we can see at least some of the roots of the sad failure that came later.

The only one who can deliver God's people from the power of evil and evil doctrine is a man his own brothers rejected. So it points us to Christ as the only One who can deliver. Look at the man himself: his name is very striking... This man's name is the Opener, the one who opens the word of God to us. When the truth, the word of God, is opened to us, it gives us light.

He was the son of a strange woman. His brothers in Israel had disowned him and thrown him out among the Gentiles. But this is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. So where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system? The man his brothers despised and threw out as worthless is their only hope in their disaster.

One man in Israel had gifts for leadership above all the rest: Jephthah the Gileadite. But he was not popular, because he was the son of a prostitute. His father's wife had sons of her own. When they grew up, they refused to own Jephthah as their brother. They drove him out of any share in his father's house. Of course Jephthah's birth was not his fault, but his father's. But this made no difference to his brothers.

Jephthah let himself be robbed. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and to bring him to the front again. The moment came when the men who had driven their deliverer away had to fall at his feet and beg. They had mocked this very saviour. Now they were forced to own him in a foreign land, as Joseph's brothers were before them. They appealed to him in their distress and begged him to become their captain.

This is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system? The man his brothers despised and threw out as worthless is their only hope in their disaster.

Once again the instruments God used in a day of decline carry the same mark of what was worthless or unpromising. "Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute." Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine; but here we go lower still. Still, he "was a mighty warrior." He lived a kind of outlaw's life, as chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperadoes. Things were so low in Israel that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was plainly stamping His moral judgment of their state on the people. He could not in their condition employ vessels of greater moral worth.

"And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, 'Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.'" They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead set itself up as a party of its own. They knew little of the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they said, "Who is the man?" Only one step was left — to choose for themselves. They took it. God did raise Jephthah up, but Gilead had a hand in the choice.

Apart from his birth, Jephthah was the eldest of the family, and yet his brothers rejected him: "You shall not inherit in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman." Does that not remind us of the words, "We do not want this man to reign over us"?

His brothers cast him out. They would have nothing to do with him. They refused him as a disgrace to themselves, and when they saw him there was no beauty that they should desire him. In that way he reminds us of Him who was rejected by His brothers... I have said that Jephthah's life suggests our Lord's. I use the word deliberately, and with great hesitation. There were moral reasons for his brothers' rejection of Jephthah: he was the son of a strange woman. That makes us shrink from linking his name with the spotless Son of God.

When Ammon came to make war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Tob to urge Jephthah to agree to be their commander in the fight against Ammon (vv. 4-6). Jephthah reminded them that they had shown hatred toward him by expelling him from his father's house, and he asked why they were now coming to him in their distress (v. 7). They had no real answer except that now they were turning back to him to ask him to be their head in fighting against Ammon (v. 8).

Jephthah let himself be stripped of everything. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and to bring him to the front again. Then the moment came. The men who had driven their deliverer away had to throw themselves as beggars at his feet. "Did you not hate me," said Jephthah to the elders of Gilead, "and drive me out of my father's house?" (v. 7). They had mocked this saviour. Now, in the far country, they had to acknowledge him, just as Joseph's brothers once did. In their distress they appealed to him and begged him to become their captain. Jephthah did not agree to take this title before the victory (v. 9). And so it will be with Christ. By His triumph over their enemies, Israel will openly acknowledge Him as its Head.

The people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead" (10:18). They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead made itself into a party. They knew little of the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they asked, "Who is the man?" Only one more step was left — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. Not that Jephthah was not raised up by God, but Gilead took part in the choice. How different this was from the call of Gideon! How sadly typical of the last days of decline — this meddling of man.

Israel has no leader. So they turn to the captain of a troop of "worthless men," and promise to obey him if he will put himself at their head. Jephthah agrees. But although this was a deliverance, we still see in all of it how deeply Israel had fallen.

He made a covenant with the people, that if he delivered them he should be their head... Abimelech craved headship and used every effort to get kingship over Israel. We see traces of that same spirit here, though Jephthah is a man far superior to Abimelech... But he will be head, and he means them to recognise it. His earlier rejection still stings him. He has not taken it as from God, but as bad treatment. So he reminds them that they had once despised him. If he is to be of any use to them now, they must recognise him and give him a high place. I think that claim to headship shows at least some of the roots of his sad failure later on.

His brothers rejected Jephthah, though apart from his origin he was the eldest of the family: "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman." Does that not remind us of the words, "We do not want this man to reign over us"? Jephthah let himself be stripped of everything. He humbled himself instead of lifting up his head among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and bring him to the front again. The moment came when the men who had driven their deliverer away had to throw themselves at his feet as beggars. They had mocked this saviour, and now, like Joseph's brothers, they had to acknowledge him in a far country. Jephthah did not agree to take this title before the victory. And so it will be with Christ, who will be publicly recognised as the Head of Israel by His triumph over their enemies.

I think certain things in the life of Jephthah strongly suggest our Blessed Lord — though with many reservations and additions. His brothers cast him out. They refused him as a disgrace to themselves, and when they saw him, there was no beauty that they should desire him... In a far-off land he gathers around him those who, like himself, were despised — "worthless fellows," as they are called, like David's company in the cave of Adullam. I use the word "suggests" deliberately, and with great hesitation. There were moral reasons for his brothers' rejection of Jephthah — he was the son of another woman — which make us shrink from linking his name with the spotless Son of God.

He made a covenant with the people that if he delivered them he should be their head... Remember how Abimelech craved headship, and how he used every effort to get kingship over Israel. We see traces of that same spirit in this man, though Jephthah stands infinitely above Abimelech... But he will be head, and he is going to be recognised as such. His earlier rejection still rankles in him. It has not been taken as from God, but as bad treatment. So he reminds them that they once despised him, and now, if he is going to be of any use to them, they must recognise him and give him a high place. I think in that claiming of headship we can see some of the springs of what led to sad failure later on.

Perhaps no man shows the danger of rash vows in the joy of a divine deliverance more than Jephthah, and that vow touched him in the closest possible way. Yet he was the very opposite of rash when he entered on his service for the people of Israel. Listen to the solemn appeal Jephthah makes to the elders before he acts. No doubt his desire for his own importance and advancement is only too obvious. But when he enters on the service itself, he makes sure Israel feels the right is on their side beyond dispute. He also makes sure his enemy knows it, and presses it on his conscience.

They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead set itself up as a party on its own. The authority and guidance of the Spirit of God were barely known, for they said, "What man is he?" Only one more step remained — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. Not that Jephthah was not raised up by God, but Gilead took part in the choice.

Things were so low now in Israel that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was plainly stamping on the people His moral verdict on their condition. In their state He could not use vessels of greater moral worth.

Jephthah would agree on one condition. If he defeated Ammon, would Israel agree to make him their head? In agreeing to this proposal, the elders called God as a witness to their agreement (vv. 9-10). They brought him to Mizpah. There the elders and the people appointed Jephthah as their head, and he spoke to them as in the presence of the Lord (v. 11).

They had no sense of the unity of the people. Gilead made himself into a party of his own. They barely knew the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they said: "What man is he?" Only one more step was left for them — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. God did raise Jephthah up, but Gilead took part in the choice. How different this was from the call of Gideon, and how painfully typical of the last days of decline — this meddling of man.

Israel had no leader. They turned to the captain of a troop of "worthless men." They promised to obey him if he would put himself at their head. Jephthah consents. But although this was a deliverance, we see in all of it how deeply Israel had fallen.

He was therefore a lowly instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But in the end those who rejected him had to send for Jephthah to be their saviour from the hands of the children of Ammon. They had to acknowledge him as their leader, the one they had hated and cast out because of his lowly birth. He reminds us of our Lord, who was hated by His own and who is yet to be their deliverer.

There would be much to puzzle us and little to build us up in the history of Jephthah, if we did not look in it for what showed God's character. On one side, the word of God shows us the natural man, completely cut off from God. It also describes all the weaknesses and failures of men of faith such as Jephthah. But God gives us more than that in their history. He presents Christ to us, and this is what makes them so interesting... Jephthah would not take this title before the victory (v. 9). And so it will be with Christ. He will be publicly recognised as the Head of Israel through His triumph over their enemies.

He made a covenant with the people that if he delivered them he should be their head... Remember how Abimelech craved headship, and how he used every effort to get kingship over Israel. We see traces of that same spirit in this man, though Jephthah stands far above Abimelech... But he will be head, and is going to be recognised as that. His earlier rejection still stings him. He has not taken it as from God, but as bad treatment. So he reminds them that they once despised him, and now, if he is going to be any use to them, they must recognise him and give him a high place. I think in that claim to headship we can see at least some of the springs of what led to sad failure later on.

Jephthah let himself be robbed. He humbled himself instead of holding his head high among the wicked. He gave up all his rights and went away to a foreign country. But God knew how to find him and bring him to the front again. The moment came when those who had driven their deliverer away were forced to throw themselves at his feet as beggars... Jephthah would not take this title before the victory (v. 9). And so it will be with Christ, who will be publicly recognised as the Head of Israel by His triumph over their enemies.

They hardly knew the authority and guidance of the Spirit of God, for they said, "What man is he?" Only one more step remained — to choose for themselves. They took that step in verses 4-11 of the following chapter. Not that Jephthah was not raised up by God, but Gilead took part in the choice. How very different this was from the call of Gideon! This meddling of man is painfully typical of the last days of decline.

He made a covenant with the people that if he delivered them he should be their head... he will be head, and is going to be recognised as that. His earlier rejection still stings him. He has not taken it as from God, but as bad treatment. So he reminds them that they once despised him. Now, if he is going to be any use to them, they must recognise him and give him a high place. I think in that claiming of headship we can see at least some of the springs of what led to sad failure later on.

Jephthah would agree on one condition. If he defeated Ammon, would Israel agree to make him their head? In agreeing to this proposal, the elders called God as a witness to their agreement (vv. 9-10). At Mizpah the elders and the people appointed Jephthah as their head. There he spoke to them as in the presence of the Lord (v. 11).

For Israel, the place of meeting before God was Gilgal under Joshua and Mizpah under the judges. At this time the name of Mizpah meant nothing to the hearts of the people. They did not even speak it (compare Judges 11:11; Judges 20:1; Judges 21:1, 5). The natural result of forgetting God's presence is that the people do not consult Him.

He was "a mighty warrior," who lived a kind of outlaw's life — the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperate men. Things were so low in Israel that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance. In all this God was clearly stamping His moral verdict on the people's state. He could not, in their condition then, use vessels of greater moral worth. He plainly meant to testify to their state by the agents He used for their good.

How am I to be set free from false doctrine? This man's name is the Opener, the one who opens the word of God to us. It is as the truth, the word of God, is opened to us that we are enlightened by it. Our hearts open to its action on us. Our eye is opened to see the wonderful things in God's law.

Rather than going to battle first, Jephthah sent a message to the king of Ammon asking him why he had come to fight against him in his land (v. 12). The king of Ammon sent the reply that Israel had taken away Ammon's land when they came out of Egypt. So now he demanded that Israel should restore those lands peaceably.

First, the demon-possessed man used the phrase "What have I to do with you?" to voice his own sense that darkness and light do not belong together. He knew there was nothing in common between himself and Jesus. This question appears elsewhere in both the Old Testament and the New with a similar meaning. Jephthah used it to the king of Ammon, David to the sons of Zeruiah, Elisha to Jehoram, and the Lord to Mary at Cana of Galilee (Judges 11:12; 2 Sam. 16:10; 2 Sam. 19:22; 2 Kings 3:13; John 2:4).

Jephthah takes the greatest pains to prove, when he comes forward, that he has clear right on his side. This is an important principle. It was not enough that the Ammonites were wrongly oppressing the people. Jephthah does not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he is certain in his soul that the cause is a righteous one. That certainty rests on how God had dealt with Israel and with Ammon. This is deeply instructive.

The answer however was incorrect. The king of the Ammonites was not being honest. Israel had not taken those lands, as he claimed. Ammon had already lost them before Israel took them from others, and those others Israel was allowed to attack and plunder. But God had forbidden Israel to plunder Ammon, Moab or Edom. God held even to the distant tie of connection — a most striking proof and witness of the ways of our God.

Israel was low, and the children of Ammon used that moment to rise up against them. They tried to strip Israel of the land and privileges that were lawfully theirs, and to take them over. What had the people gained by bowing down before the idols of Ammon? They had fallen under the judgment of God, and into the hands of the enemies of Jehovah. If we step on to the world's platform, it robs us, causes us to lose the reality of our privileges, and takes them away.

That may be why you find none of the details and methods of conflict when it comes to Ammon. Instead of methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years Israel had enjoyed it without dispute.

The king of Ammon had forgotten the real rights of the case, or had never asked about them. All he felt was that these lands had once been his, and that the children of Israel now held them. He knew no more, and he did not want to learn more. But this was far from the true and full history of the case. The fact was that other races and peoples had taken these lands from the Ammonites.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite got them from Ammon in the first place — as he no doubt did — that was a matter between Ammon and Sihon, not between Israel and Ammon. It was for the Ammonites to defend their claims against the Amorites as best they could. If they could not make those claims good, if they had lost their land and could not get it back, what did that have to do with Israel? They had won the land in a fight the Amorite forced on them. They had sought peace, and Sihon wanted war.

They are well known records, quoted to prove that the country in question was in the hands of the Amorites, and not of Moab, when Israel took possession of it. This mattered enormously, because Israel was forbidden to touch Moab, while the country of the Amorites was given to them.

The answer was incorrect. The king of the Ammonites did not speak honestly. It was not true that the children of Israel had taken those lands, as he pretended... God had forbidden the children of Israel to plunder Ammon, or Moab, or Edom. God held on even to a distant tie of connection — a striking proof and witness of the ways of our God... Years might pass, hundreds of years go by, but moral principles and even natural relationships do not lose their force. And it was of the greatest importance that His people should be trained in this. The lands might be good pasture, and the temptation great.

Instead of the methods of conflict, Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of the Bible. He gives them the history of God's ways. He tells how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them. Israel had enjoyed it for three hundred years without dispute.

Hence we find Jephthah quoting the Word against the king of the Ammonites: much of what he says being simply a quotation from the book of Numbers... Faith is ever and only the fullest reason, and it is the word of God alone that is able to make the whole field of reason a fruitful and goodly portion.

The children of Ammon, taking advantage of the low condition of Israel to rise up against them, sought to despoil them of their lawful territory and privileges and to appropriate them to themselves... If we step on to the world's platform, it robs us. It makes us lose the reality of our privileges and takes them away. The world then says to us: My rights are as great as yours. I am as good a Christian as you are, for you are as busy with the things of the world as I am... Such are the consequences of our unfaithfulness.

They claim the right to take away the land, on the ground that they own it... And notice that it is the land east of the Jordan which they openly demand, while in fact they are using it as a base for their attack on the tribes across the river.

When Jephthah comes forward, he takes the greatest pains to prove that right is clearly on his side. This is an important principle. It was not only that the Ammonites were oppressing the people unjustly. Jephthah would not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God would not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he was certain in his soul that the cause was a righteous one — a certainty founded on God's dealings with the children of Israel and with Ammon.

No doubt his desire for his own importance and advancement is all too plain. But when he begins the work itself, he makes sure Israel feels that right is beyond dispute on their side — and he makes sure his enemy knows it too, and feels it on his conscience.

But the answer was wrong. The king of the Ammonites was not speaking honestly. It was not true that the children of Israel had taken those lands, as he claimed. The Ammonites had already lost them before Israel took them from others — people Israel was free to attack and plunder. But God had forbidden Israel to plunder Ammon, Moab or Edom. God held to even the distant tie of kinship — a striking proof and witness of the ways of our God... Years might pass, hundreds of years roll by, but moral principles and even natural relationships do not lose their power.

That may be the reason why you get none of the details and methods of the fighting with Ammon. Instead of methods of fighting, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways — how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people. But when he spoke to the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings. Far from accepting this state of things, and the yoke Ammon had laid on the people for eighteen years, he took his stand on Israel's original blessings, in the day when they came out of Egypt to enter Canaan. He held to those blessings as the ones the people had been established on. We will go forward, he said, according to the principles which God gave us at the beginning, and which are ours for ever.

There is the victory over false teaching for us. It comes with an open Bible, and an open heart and conscience. We will find that the first thing we have to do is to draw the line between ourselves and the false doctrine... We can bear with ignorance. We can bear with any failure to grasp the full scope of divine truth.

History and experience both show this: firmness that will not bend toward the enemy is often followed by the same unbending firmness toward our own fellow believers. Is it not true that Jephthah's offering up of his own daughter is followed by his slaughter of his own people?

Jephthah takes the greatest pains to prove, when he comes forward, that he has clear right on his side. This is an important principle. It was not only that the Ammonites were oppressing the people unjustly. Jephthah does not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he is certain in his soul that the cause is a righteous one. That certainty rested on how God had dealt with Israel and with Ammon.

The man who perhaps more than any other shows the danger of rash vows... was anything but rash when he entered his service for the people of Israel. His desire for his own importance and advancement is all too plain. But once he takes up the work itself, he makes sure of two things. Israel must feel that the right is clearly on their side, and his enemy must know it too and feel it on his conscience.

The Ammonites had already lost that land before Israel took it from others, and those others Israel was free to attack and plunder. But God had forbidden Israel to plunder Ammon, Moab or Edom. God held even to a distant family tie. That is a striking witness to the ways of our God. Long ago there was a link between Israel and both Ammon and Moab. A cloud of shame hung over it, yet the link was real, and God would have it never forgotten. Years might pass, hundreds of years roll by, but moral principles, and even natural family ties, do not lose their power... God does not let Israel treat a nation as an enemy just because that nation is hostile to them. They must never have an enemy unless he is God's enemy.

Nothing justifies departure from the word of God. It does not matter what good you hope to gain, or what harm you hope to avoid: the only place that suits a believer is obedience.

And what did Israel do? Resent it? No: they took the insult patiently... It was a long way round, and very inconvenient. Did anyone doubt that Moab and Edom were unfriendly? Everyone knew it, and they meant to be. Even so, as Jephthah showed, Israel would not go against the word of God.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorites took that land from Ammon first, and no doubt they did, then the matter lay between Ammon and Sihon, not between Israel and Ammon. It was up to the Ammonites to defend their claim against the Amorites as best they could. If they could not make it good, if they had lost the land and could not win it back, what did that have to do with Israel? Israel won the land in a fight the Amorites forced on them. Israel asked for peace, and Sihon chose war.

I think that may be why you get none of the details and methods of conflict with Ammon. Instead of methods of conflict, you get a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways: how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. Jephthah opens up the Scripture to them, and as he does so, he takes clear issue against them.

We need an opener. We need that spirit of faith which would take our Bibles and open up the truth in the face of any false doctrine, whatever its name may be.

I think that may be why you get none of the details and methods of fighting when it comes to Ammon. Instead of methods of fighting, you have a chapter of the Bible read out to them. Jephthah goes to them and reads them a chapter of Scripture, so to speak. He gives them the history of God's ways: how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them.

The Ammonites were oppressing the people unjustly, but that alone was not enough. Jephthah does not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he is certain in his soul that the cause is a righteous one. That certainty rested on how God had dealt with the children of Israel and with Ammon, each in turn. This is very instructive.

Nothing justifies departure from the word of God. It does not matter what good seems to be gained, or what harm seems to be avoided: the only place that suits a believer is obedience.

The answer, however, was incorrect. The king of the Ammonites was not speaking honestly. It was not true that the children of Israel had taken those lands, as he claimed. Ammon had already lost them before Israel took them from others — people Israel was allowed to attack and plunder. But God had forbidden the children of Israel to plunder Ammon, Moab or Edom. God held even to a distant family tie, and that is a striking proof of the ways of our God. Long ago there had been a link between Ammon and Moab and the children of Israel. A cloud of dishonour and shame hung over them, yet the link was there, and God would have it never forgotten. Years might pass, hundreds of years roll by, but moral principles and even natural relationships do not lose their power.

God's people are redeemed. But He must still show His holiness in the way He deals with them. Kadesh-barnea, the "sanctuary of the wanderer," may well remind us of that. God had a place of refuge for His people in the wilderness. But it was a "sanctuary," a holy refuge, and they, because of their sins, were "wanderers."

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people. But when he spoke to the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings (vs. 15-27). He was far from agreeing with the way things now stood, far from accepting the yoke Ammon had kept on the people for eighteen years. He took his stand on Israel's original blessings, given in the day they came out of Egypt in order to enter Canaan.

When Jephthah had spoken like this, a fresh blessing was given to him: "Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah" (v. 29). He found the power of God in the path he was walking. Refusing to go along with the ruin as though God could accept it, and acting on the principles God gave us at the beginning — that is the path of power, even when we are reduced to two or three gathered together in His name.

Jephthah replied that Israel had not taken the lands of the Ammonites, but had in fact bypassed Moab and Ammon. The Amorites then refused Israel permission to pass through their land. So Israel defeated the Amorites and took possession of their lands. These lands therefore were not taken from Ammon, but from the Amorites, but now Ammon was demanding them.

Moab, Ammon and Edom were left out of the sentence God passed on the nations of Canaan, at least because they were relatives. His answer was, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites." Nothing justifies turning away from the word of God. It does not matter what good might come of it, or what harm it might avoid. The only place that suits a believer is obedience.

It must have been very hard for Israel to bear the unfriendliness of the Edomites, Ammonites and Moabites in silence. But whatever the provocation, however much these peoples insulted them — and they did — Israel must not lift a hand against their brothers. The Lord reminds them of the link, and gives those peoples the closest name possible: their brothers. Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites might be unfeeling and ready to harm Israel. Still God would train His people to remember every natural tie of family. If blows came, God would not forget the offender.

And what did Israel do? Resent it? No. They bore the insult patiently, and these were people called to be witnesses of righteousness on earth... They took it quietly and went on their way... It was a great way round, and very inconvenient. Who doubted the unfriendliness of Moab and of Edom? Everyone knew it, and it was meant to be known. Yet still, as Jephthah showed, the people of Israel would not go against the word of God... The king of Ammon's aim was to put Israel in the wrong, and Jephthah proves beyond doubt that the right was all on Israel's side.

They had just come up to Kadesh, on the very borders of the Land. Between them and it lay a small strip belonging to Edom, and the king's highway ran through it. Edom refused to let them pass that way. God arranged that it should be so, because that was not the way for the redeemed to enter Canaan. They were turned back for two years, to be tested and to show what had been hidden in them until then. They had to go far south around Mount Seir, which belonged to Edom. Then they turned north up the east side of the Jordan, and entered the Land through its dried-up waters, following the Ark of God. Death and resurrection is the only pathway there.

When Israel was in the wilderness, Esau stopped their way. The power of God could have struck him down, as He had determined long before; but the time had not yet come. So Israel did not strike a blow against their guilty brother, but rather turned back like a rebuked child. Their patience was itself a sign that an even more terrible judgment was in store for Edom. Nothing is more ominous than God bearing the wrongdoing of men patiently.

And what did Israel do? Resent it? Not so: they took the insult patiently... They took it quietly, and passed along their way... It was a great way about, and extremely inconvenient. Who doubted the unfriendliness of Moab and of Edom? It was known, but intended to be so; but for all that the children of Israel, as Jephthah showed, would not go against the word of God.

But in Deuteronomy 2 we find the LORD, faithful and righteous, stepping in to protect three distinct nations in the enjoyment of their national rights. He protects them against the encroachments of His own chosen people. He says to Moses, "You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir... do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession."

God held even to the distant tie of connection — a most striking proof and witness of the ways of our God... The lands might be good pasture, the temptation great, the provocation given by Moab or Ammon very considerable. On human grounds there might be a just right of conquest; but all this would not do for God...

"The close relationship between the two peoples, indicated in their origin, continued throughout their existence," says Grove. "Their union was so close, and their identity so near, that each is sometimes called by the other's name... In Jephthah's answer to the king of Ammon the allusions are continually to Moab (Judges 11:15, 18, 25), while Chemosh, the particular god of Moab (Num. 21:29), is called 'your god' (v. 24). The land from Arnon to Jabbok, which the king of Ammon calls 'my land' (v. 13), is elsewhere plainly said to have once belonged to a 'king of Moab.' (Num. 21:26.)"

Ravine or wadi with its mountain torrent, which formed the border between Moab and Ammon, now known as Wady Mojib.

The two poems quoted in Numbers 21 are well known records, cited to prove that the country in question was in the hands of the Amorites, and not of Moab, when Israel took possession. This was of the utmost importance, because Israel was forbidden to touch Moab, whereas the country of the Amorites was given up to them... This is so true that the children of Ammon claimed exactly this territory in the time of Jephthah (Judges 11). Jephthah goes over all this same ground as the thing that justified Israel in keeping the country. It was not Ammon's, nor Moab's either.

You have none of the details and methods of conflict in connection with Ammon. Instead, Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them.

The moral importance of this was immense. If they were simply doing the will and word of God, who could stand in their way? The aim of the king of Ammon was to put the children of Israel in the wrong. Jephthah proves in the most convincing way that the right was all on their side. ... They did not wish to quarrel with the king of Heshbon, Amorite though he was, unless he was actually in the holy land. But it was of God that these Amorites, to their own ruin, would not let them pass through in peace.

In this case let us see the principles of Jehovah's discipline. Did He authorise Israel to force Sihon with threats of vengeance, or to win him over by flattery? Did He offer him the book of the law with one hand and the sword with the other? Nothing of the sort... Israel kept the path of right and courtesy. Sihon rushed on them to his own ruin; and only so did Israel strike down and dispossess the king of Heshbon.

We meet with people with whom we do not wish to have war, but they will not let us pass peaceably. Our warfare is with the possessors of our inheritance beyond Jordan. If we are attacked, we must defend ourselves; but we are not to be aggressors. Israel wishes to pass quietly through the land of the Amorites, but the Amorites refuse. So they suffer the consequences of the war they had sought against the people of God.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite first took them from Ammon, as was no doubt the case, that was a matter between Ammon and Sihon, not between Israel and Ammon... They had won the land by the fight the Amorite provoked and drew them into. They had sought peace, and Sihon would have war.

God Himself had ordered things so. He knew very well that having the Amorites on their borders would be a constant snare and evil. He allowed that no one would trust Israel's peaceful intentions, for the very purpose of putting them in possession of the land.

Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them, and, as it were, reads to them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. He tells how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute.

The land of the Amorite was part of God's original gift to Israel. So the question arises: why send messengers asking permission to pass through it, as they did with Edom?... To ask permission to pass quietly through a land given to them by God — was that the obedience of faith? The Amorite met righteous retribution, for they had taken that land from Moab. And now Israel, by the will of God, takes it from them.

The moral importance of this was immense. If they were only doing the will and word of God, who could stand in their way? The king of Ammon's aim was to put the children of Israel in the wrong. Jephthah proves in the clearest way that the right was all on their side... They did not want to quarrel with the king of Heshbon, Amorite though he was, unless he was actually inside the holy land. But it was God's doing that these Amorites, to their own ruin, would not let them pass through peacefully.

And what did Israel do? Resent it? No: they took the insult patiently... They took it quietly, and passed along their way... It was a long way round, and very inconvenient. Who doubted that Moab and Edom were unfriendly? It was known, and it was meant to be so. But for all that, as Jephthah showed, the children of Israel would not go against the word of God.

Israel kept the path of right and courtesy. Sihon rushed on them to his own ruin; and only so did Israel smite and dispossess the king of Heshbon.

God Himself had ordered things so. He knew well that Amorites on their borders would be a constant snare and evil to them. He allowed that no one would trust Israel's peaceful intentions, and He did it for the very purpose of putting Israel in possession of the land.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite first took them from Ammon, as no doubt he did, that was a matter between Ammon and Sihon, not between Israel and Ammon... They won the land in a fight the Amorite provoked and drew them into. They wanted peace; Sihon wanted war. The result was that the Amorite lost his land... So Israel's title to that land could not be overturned.

There is not much agreement about his name. What seems to come most fairly from the Hebrew root is "sweeping off," perhaps "refuse" or "off-scouring" — which is how the wisdom of the world would count God's wisdom. Or it may mean "sweeping away," as pride of intellect would sweep away the things of God. He is always called king of Heshbon, the place where he lived. The common English version translates that word only as "account," "device," or "reason." It clearly carries the thought of mental work. He comes out to meet Israel at Jahaz, which... is given as "a place trodden down," probably a "threshing-floor."

Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them, and, as it were, reads to them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways; how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years Israel had enjoyed it without dispute. Through those three hundred years Ammon had to acknowledge the rights of the children of Israel, who had received the inheritance from God... Jephthah opens up the Scripture to them, and as he does so, he takes clear issue against them.

The moral importance of this was immense, for if they were simply doing the will and word of God, who could stand in their way? The object of the king of Ammon was to put the children of Israel in the wrong. Jephthah proves in the most triumphant way that the right was all on their side.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite took them from Ammon in the first place, as was no doubt the fact, then the affair was not between Israel and Ammon. It was between Ammon and Sihon. The Ammonites should have defended their claims against the Amorites as best they could. If they could not make those claims good, if they had lost their land and could not win it back, what had Israel to do with their affairs?

We meet people we do not want to fight, but they will not let us pass in peace. Our warfare is with those who hold our inheritance beyond the Jordan. If we are attacked, we must defend ourselves; but we are not to be the aggressors. Israel wants to pass quietly through the land of the Amorites. The Amorites will not allow it, and they suffer the consequences of the war they had sought against the people of God.

Yet Israel gained these lands east of the Jordan by conquest, and according to God. "Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you," is the Lord's word to Moses: "begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land" (Deut. 2:31). Of Israel's right to hold it, then, there can be no question.

Israel had the direct authority of God for what they did to Sihon and Og. The Spaniards could show no such authority for what they did to the poor, ignorant native peoples of South America. This alters the case completely. The introduction of God and His authority is the one perfect answer to every question, the divine solution of every difficulty.

Instead of the methods of conflict, Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. He tells how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. In all that time Ammon had been forced to acknowledge that the children of Israel had received the inheritance from God.

God Himself had ordered things so. He knew well that the presence of the Amorites on their borders would be a constant snare and evil. So He allowed that there should be no confidence in Israel's peaceful intentions, in order to put them in possession of the land. Thus the king of Ammon had lost his old claim, and had no present title to question Israel's right of conquest... The king of Ammon might attack the Israelites and let the sword decide again, but he was unrighteous in demanding the land from Israel.

Jephthah replied that Israel had not taken the lands of the Ammonites, but had in fact bypassed Moab and Ammon. The Amorites refused to let Israel pass through their land. So Israel defeated the Amorites and took possession of their lands. These lands came from the Amorites, not from Ammon — yet now Ammon was demanding them.

If the Amorite first took these lands from Ammon, as was no doubt the fact, that was a matter between Ammon and Sihon. It was not a matter between Israel and Ammon. It was the business of the Ammonites to defend their claims as best they could against the Amorites. Suppose they could not prove their claims. Suppose they had lost their land and could not win it back. What did any of that have to do with Israel?

The object of the king of Ammon was to put the children of Israel in the wrong. Jephthah proves in the most triumphant way that the right was all on their side. They did not want to quarrel with the king of Heshbon, even though he was an Amorite, unless he stood inside the holy land itself. But God was behind what followed: these Amorites would not let Israel pass through in peace, and it ruined them.

God Himself had ordered things so. He knew very well that Amorites on their borders would be a constant snare and evil. So He allowed there to be no trust in Israel's peaceful intentions. He did this for the very purpose of putting Israel in possession of the land. So the king of Ammon had lost his old claim, and had no present title to question Israel's right of conquest.

Stream on the east of the Jordan, near which the angel wrestled with Jacob. It was afterwards called "the border of the children of Ammon."

The Amorite territory east of Jordan was to form part of the inheritance of Israel; of this God told Moses. "Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle" (Deuteronomy 2:24).

Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites. He had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute.

Israel's own statements might carry weight with Israel, but they were no proof against their enemies. So the record preserves well-known popular memorials instead. They tell how the Amorites had earlier conquered Moab, how the Amorites took this territory, and where the border then stood. They uphold Israel's title to these lands. This fits the case exactly. In Jephthah's day the children of Ammon claimed this very territory. Jephthah goes back over all this ground to justify Israel in keeping the country.

God designed His people's inheritance to lie on the east of Jordan as well as on the west. This is a picture of the full inheritance of the heavenly saints, which takes in heaven and earth: what lies east of Jordan as well as what lies west, for Jordan is a symbol of death.

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite first took them from Ammon, as was no doubt the fact, that was a matter between Ammon and Sihon, not between Israel and Ammon. It was up to the Ammonites to defend their claim against the Amorites as best they could. If they could not hold it, if they had lost their land and could not win it back, what had Israel to do with their affairs? ... They had won the land in a fight the Amorite forced on them. They had sought peace, and Sihon wanted war. So Israel's title to that land could not be overturned.

God Himself had ordered things so. He knew very well that having the Amorites on their borders would be a constant snare and evil to Israel. He allowed the Amorites to put no trust in Israel's peaceful intentions, for the very purpose of giving Israel the land. So the king of Ammon had lost his old claim, and had no right now to question Israel's conquest. The king of Ammon might attack the Israelites and put the matter to the sword again, but he was unrighteous in demanding the land from Israel.

And what did Israel do? Resent it? No: they took the insult quietly. They went on through the wilderness, around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and camped on the far side of the Arnon. It was a long way round, and very inconvenient. Who doubted that Moab and Edom were unfriendly? Everyone knew it, and it was meant to be so. Yet for all that, as Jephthah showed, the children of Israel would not go against the word of God.

Jephthah tells them that they can keep whatever their idol Chemosh was able to give them, but Israel would not give up what the Lord God had given them.

Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them, and, as it were, reads to them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways: how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years Israel enjoyed it without dispute. All through that time Ammon had to acknowledge the right of the children of Israel to the inheritance God gave them.

We need that spirit of faith which takes up our Bibles and opens up the truth in the face of false doctrine. Its name does not matter... If the Spirit of God has opened your heart to His truth, you can meet a man who holds wicked doctrine, whatever he claims to be. You can overthrow him in the power of that Word.

Jephthah answers the king of Ammon with a question. The Lord God of Israel had dispossessed the Amorites before Israel, so was it right for Ammon to possess that land? (v. 23). In fact, Jephthah tells them that they can possess what their idol Chemosh was able to give them, but what the Lord God had given Israel would not be given up (v. 24).

Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. No doubt the Amorite had taken them from Ammon in the first place. If so, this was a matter not between Israel and Ammon, but between Ammon and Sihon. The Ammonites should have defended their claims against the Amorites as best they could. If they could not make those claims good, if they had lost their land and could not get it back, what did Israel have to do with their affairs? … The title of the children of Israel to that land could not be overturned.

He was not a mere national God, though He was indeed their God. He was the Lord of all the earth… A national god was a common enough thing, and so was crediting it with whatever was done. Jephthah says, "Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess?"

The close relation between the two peoples, shown in their origin, continued throughout their existence. … In Jephthah's answer to the king of Ammon the references point again and again to Moab (Judges 11:15, 18, 25). Chemosh, the particular deity of Moab (Num. 21:29), is called "your god" (v. 24). The land from Arnon to Jabbok, which the king of Ammon calls "my land" (v. 13), once belonged to a king of Moab, as Scripture elsewhere states plainly (Num. 21:26).

… You have none of the details and methods of conflict in connection with Ammon. Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites. He had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. In all that time Ammon had been forced to acknowledge the rights of the children of Israel, who had received the inheritance from God.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people. But when he addressed the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings (vv. 15-27). He was far from agreeing to this state of things by accepting the yoke which Ammon had placed on the people for eighteen years. He took his stand on Israel's original blessings. … We will proceed, he said, according to the principles God gave us at the beginning, which are ours for ever. … Our language should be that of Jephthah: "All that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess" (v. 24).

Jephthah takes the greatest pains to prove, when he comes forward, that he has clear right on his side. This is an important principle. It was not only that the Ammonites were oppressing the people unjustly. Jephthah does not dare to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the fight, until he is certain in his soul that the cause is a righteous one. That certainty rests on how God had dealt with the children of Israel and with Ammon.

Now he gives them a warning from the blows that God had inflicted on a mightier king than himself… So it was proved that Israel had a valid title, however you look at it. That title came not only from long possession, but from a right founded on their conquest of one of the enemies God Himself had marked out for destruction — an enemy who had attacked them without cause, when they would have left him unharmed, just as they would leave the Ammonite alone now. From every point of view the ground Israel took was solid, and no one could fairly dispute it. The king of Ammon had no just claim whatever.

These are well known records, quoted to prove that the country in question was in the hands of the Amorites, and not of Moab, when Israel took possession. This mattered greatly, because God forbade Israel to touch Moab, while He gave them the country of the Amorites. Israel's own statements, whatever weight they carried for Israel, would have been no evidence against their enemies. So, to support Israel's title to these lands, well known popular memorials are quoted — memorials of the earlier conquest of Moab by the Amorites, and of how the Amorites took over this territory… This is so clearly the case that the children of Ammon claimed exactly this territory in the time of Jephthah (Judges 11), and Jephthah goes over all this same ground as what justified Israel in keeping the country. It was not Ammon's, and it was not Moab's either. Nor did Balak, king of Moab, lay claim to it then.

I think that may be why you get none of the details and methods of the fighting where Ammon is concerned. Instead of methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture: the history of God's ways, how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute.

We need an opener. We need that spirit of faith that takes our Bibles and opens up the truth in the face of any false doctrine, whatever it is called.

Jephthah did not deny how low the people had sunk. But when he spoke to the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings… He held to those blessings as the foundation the people were established on. We will go on, he said, by the principles God gave us at the beginning, and which are ours for ever. He saw the people, the family of God, as God had looked at them at the first, and said: "Our conflict is not with the children of Ammon, but with the Amorites."

He reminds Ammon of the hostility of Balak toward Israel when they came out of Egypt (Numbers 22-24), but points out that he did not fight against Israel. Were the Ammonites better than Balak, that they could hope to defeat Israel? (v. 25). Also, now that Israel had lived for 300 years in Heshbon and Aroer and their villages, why had Ammon not in all that time recovered that land, if it was really theirs? (v. 26).

God had certainly exempted the children of Moab, Ammon, and Edom from the sentence He passed on the nations of Canaan, if only for reasons of kinship. If some of those nations had taken away land that belonged to the Ammonites, Israel was free, and perfectly within its rights, to put the intruders out of the land and to take whatever was theirs as spoil. If Ammon could not, or would not, try to recover it earlier, they had no title to claim it now from Israel. On this principle Jephthah argues that Israel's cause is righteous — the cause the sword was now to settle between Ammon and Israel.

So Israel had a valid title, from whatever angle you look at it. It rested on long-continued possession. It also rested on a right founded on their conquest of one of the enemies God Himself had devoted to destruction. That enemy attacked them without cause, when they would have left him alone, just as they would leave the Ammonite alone now. From every point of view Israel's ground was solid, and no one could rightly dispute it. The king of Ammon had no just claim at all.

I think that may be why you get none of the details and methods of the fighting with Ammon. Instead, Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. All through that time Ammon had to acknowledge the rights of the children of Israel, who had received the inheritance from God.

That is what is needed in meeting false doctrine. We need an opener. We need that spirit of faith which takes up our Bibles and opens the truth in the face of any false doctrine, whatever its name. And here is a blessed fact. It makes no difference whether a man who holds wrong teaching has the Bible in his hand — all the better if he does. You can still use the word of God against him, if you are an opener.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people, but when he addressed the children of Ammon he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings (vv. 15-27). He would not agree to this state of things by accepting the yoke Ammon had placed on the people for eighteen years. Instead he took his stand on Israel's original blessings, from the day they came out of Egypt to enter Canaan. He held to the blessings as the ground the people had been established on. We will go on, he said, by the principles God gave us at the beginning, principles that are ours for ever.

Jephthah's reply to the Ammonites shows that at this point the children of Israel had held Heshbon and Aroer for only three centuries. They had won the whole country between the Arnon and the Jabbok from the Amorites, not from the Ammonites (Numbers 21:24-26).

When he comes forward, Jephthah takes the greatest pains to prove that he has clear right on his side. This is an important principle. It was not just that the Ammonites oppressed the people unfairly. There was more. Jephthah does not venture to go to war, and the Spirit of God does not clothe him with energy for the conflict, until he is certain in his soul that the cause is righteous. That certainty rests on God's dealings with the children of Israel and with Ammon.

Jephthah's title was plain and sure. Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all. They had taken them from the Amorite. If the Amorite got them from Ammon in the first place, as was no doubt the fact, that was a matter not between Israel and Ammon, but between Ammon and Sihon... Israel had sought peace, and Sihon wanted war. The result was that the Amorite lost his land. The title of the children of Israel to that land therefore could not be overturned.

That may be the reason why you have none of the details and methods of conflict in connection with Ammon. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. Through those three hundred years Ammon had to acknowledge the rights of the children of Israel, who had received the inheritance from God.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people, but when he addressed the children of Ammon he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings (vv. 15-27). He would not agree to this state of things by taking on the yoke Ammon had placed on the people for eighteen years. Instead, he took his stand on Israel's original blessings, from the day they came out of Egypt to enter Canaan... "We will go on," he said in effect, "according to the principles God gave us at the beginning, which are ours forever."

Therefore, Jephthah concludes, the sin was not on Israel's part but on the part of the Ammonites, and he appeals to the Lord, the Judge, to render fair judgment in this matter (v. 27).

Jephthah had proved the king of Ammon was in arms without any right. The king only grew fiercer — as usually happens when people meet proof of a wrong their will is set on.

Looked at from every angle, the ground Israel stood on was solid, and no one could rightly dispute it. The king of Ammon had no just claim at all.

So Jephthah concludes that the sin was not Israel's but the Ammonites', and he appeals to the Lord, the Judge, to give fair judgment in the matter (v. 27). The king of Ammon had no reply to this, but simply refused to consider Jephthah's words (v. 28). Let us remember that Ammon stands for the basic false teachings by which Satan seeks to destroy the people of God.

Jephthah had now proved that the king of Ammon was in arms without any right. That only made him fiercer. People usually react this way when they are convicted of a wrong their will clings to.

Instead of the methods of conflict, you have a chapter of the Bible read to them. Jephthah goes to them and, as it were, reads them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. He tells how God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into the inheritance that Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute. Through all that time Ammon had to acknowledge the rights of the children of Israel, who had received the inheritance from God. Jephthah opens up the Scripture to them, and as he does so, he takes clear issue against them.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people, but when he spoke to the children of Ammon he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings (vv. 15-27). He would not accept this state of things, and he would not accept the yoke Ammon had laid on the people for eighteen years. Instead he took his stand on Israel's original blessings, from the day they came out of Egypt to enter Canaan.

The victory over heresy comes with an open Bible, and an open heart and conscience. The first thing we have to do is to draw the line between ourselves and the false doctrine. We may bear with ignorance; we can bear with any failure to grasp the full scope of divine truth. A fellow Christian may not know the truths of prophecy; he may not know the full extent of redemption in all its blessed results. But I can go on patiently with someone who is only ignorant.

If a man denies the value of the atoning work of Christ, or anything else that touches the foundations of our most holy faith, then to go on with him even for an hour is disloyalty to Christ who has bought us. There is only one thing to do when you meet false teaching. Do what Jephthah did: face it with the word of God, and deny it and all its power outright. So he gains the victory for the people and for God, and the inheritance which had been theirs for so many years still remains in their power.

Jephthah, in his turn, tells the same tale. The son of a foreign woman, he had been disowned by his brothers in Israel and cast out among the Gentiles. But this is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system, when the man his brothers despised and cast out as a worthless thing is their only hope in their disaster? The Spirit of God, in sovereign grace to Israel, comes upon Jephthah. The battle was the Lord's. Israel had destroyed himself again, but in God was his help.

God at this time gave His Spirit to Jephthah, as He did at various times in the Old Testament for a specific occasion (v. 29). This is not the Spirit coming to live inside a believer, as happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. It was power lent for a time to a man God called to fight His battle. Sure that God would back him up, Jephthah marched with his army toward the Ammonites.

Since Christ finished His great sacrificial work and went up on high, the Holy Spirit is God's gift of love to every believer alike. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers do not have the Holy Spirit living in them any more than the lowliest child of God does. But that is different from what we sometimes read in the Old Testament records. There the Spirit of God came upon men for some special service. This is the sovereign act of God, regardless of conversion.

After Jephthah had spoken like this, God granted him a fresh blessing: "Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah" (v. 29). The power of God was found in the path he was walking. Here is the path of power: refuse to accept the ruin as though God could approve it, and act on the principles God gave us at the beginning. That path holds even when we are only two or three gathered in His name.

"And Jephthah made a vow to Jehovah." Here the rashness of the man enters the scene, and the result is something painful in the extreme. We have had the power of God acting in deliverance, but man on his own is incapable even of making a safe vow to Jehovah. Who could fail to foresee the bitter fruit of rashness here? Man is as weak and mistaken as God is mighty and good: these two things mark the book from beginning to end.

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah." Sadly, how often the flesh shows itself in us as it did in him. He was not content with divine grace and power. He did not know the true character of God. So he "made a vow to Jehovah" (v. 30). He set up an arrangement with God, a deal between two sides, and bound himself before Him in a legal way.

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah." Sadly, how often the flesh shows itself in us, as it did in him. He was not content with divine grace and power. Not knowing the true character of God, he "made a vow to the LORD" (v. 30). He made an arrangement with God, as a deal between two sides. Binding himself before Him in a legal way, he fell into Israel's error in the wilderness of Sinai.

It is of the very essence of a vow that it assumes the ability to fulfil it; and where is man's ability? A bankrupt might as well write a cheque on the bank as a helpless sinner make a vow. A man who makes a vow denies the truth about his nature and condition.

Here the rashness of the man enters the scene, and what follows is painful in the extreme. Man is as weak and erring as God is mighty and good... The same word means "whoever". There is no difference in form. I have no doubt he put it in the broadest way... Had he stopped to think, he could hardly expect an ox or a sheep to walk out of the house.

It is natural that a soul who has been the subject of a great and wonderful deliverance... should want to do something, or bring something, to God in return. But the way we express that desire is always imperfect. It may even offend the One whose glory is supposed to be its object — as with Jephthah, where self-importance and self-advancement seem to be the real motive behind his vow.

God left Jephthah with the responsibility and the consequences of his vow. He showed neither approval nor disapproval of it. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of Israel's leader. Yet the Spirit of Jehovah granted him the victory.

As for Jephthah's vow, there seems to be haste and failure in it, but surely not the human sacrifice many have imagined. Most commentators agree, and believe his daughter was simply set apart to God, to live an unmarried life, as verses 37-39 seem plainly to show... Jephthah's words to the king of Ammon show that he knew the law, and by the law such an offering was forbidden as an abomination (Leviticus 18:21). No altar could have been found for it, and no priest would have performed it... The word does not mean "burnt offering" in Hebrew, but simply an "offering that ascends" — all ascends — to God.

What came out we know too well. It was his daughter, and I do not doubt that he, in his determined and unbending spirit, carried out his vow... Scripture does not in any way vouch for the spotlessness even of those who acted in faith. It does not throw a veil, as people love to do, over what is ugly and distressing in those who bear the Lord's name. Here the Spirit of God has one aim: to show the frightful results of a vow so little weighed before God, and not drawn from His guidance at all... The reserve of the Holy Spirit is as strikingly in keeping with God as the rashness of Jephthah is a solemn warning to man.

God did not put this vow into his mind. If we too form some idea of what we might do for God, let us first be sure that God is moving us to do it. We cannot trust our own natural thoughts.

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah." How often the flesh shows itself in us, as it did in him. He was not content with divine grace and power. He did not know the true character of God. So he "vowed a vow to Jehovah" and made an arrangement with God, on the footing of a mutual agreement. By binding himself before Him in a legal way, he fell into Israel's error in the wilderness of Sinai.

God left Jephthah with the responsibility and the consequences of his vow. He showed neither approval nor disapproval. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of the leader of Israel. Even so, the Spirit of Jehovah gave him the victory.

In this rash vow Jephthah says, "whatever comes out from the doors of my house." The same word means whoever. There is no difference in form. I have no doubt that he put it in the broadest way… If he had stopped to think, he could hardly have expected an ox or a sheep to walk out of the house. So it is quite clear that Jephthah was guilty of the greatest rashness in his vow.

It is natural that a soul who has been the subject of a great and wonderful deliverance, or who has come out of a long trial into light and liberty, should want to do or bring something to God in return. But the way it is expressed, always imperfect, may even be offensive to the One whose glory is supposedly the aim — as in the case of Jephthah (Judges 11:30-31), where the importance and advancement of self seem to be the real motive behind his vow.

I must confess that, with everything I have read on the subject, I have never been able to rid my mind of the fact that Jephthah did what every simple reader of the passage believes he did… A little later this same man took the fords of the Jordan. With a clear conscience he cut the throats of forty-two thousand of his fellow Israelites. A man of that makeup was not too tender-hearted to do to his daughter exactly what he said he would do.

There seems to be haste and failure in it, but surely not the human sacrifice many have imagined. Most commentators agree, and believe his daughter was simply set apart to God, to live an unmarried life, as verses 37-39 seem plainly to show. There is not a word about death in her case, except what people suppose is contained in verse 31: "I will offer it up for a burnt offering." But Jephthah's words to the king of Ammon show that he knew the law; and by the law such an offering was forbidden as an abomination. No altar could have been found for it; no priest would have performed it… And the Hebrew certainly allows the translation "or I will offer it up." Edersheim adds that the two clauses of verse 31 are not the same. An animal burnt offering is never said to be the LORD's — as a burnt offering it already is. That wording is used for human beings given to the LORD, as with the firstborn of Israel and with Levi, and no one suggests they were sacrificed.

Scripture in no way vouches for the spotlessness of even those who acted in faith. It does not throw a veil, as people love to do, over what is ugly and distressing in those who bear the Lord's name. Here the very aim of the Spirit of God is to show the frightful results of a vow so little weighed before God, and not drawn from His guidance at all.

When his daughter came out, he was shocked. He blamed her for bringing him very low (v. 35), instead of blaming his own foolishness… How vital, then, is the instruction of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:34: "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all." Someone may ask us to make a pledge or a promise. But how much better to do good than to promise to do it!

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people, but when he addressed the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings. He would not accept the situation by bowing to the yoke that Ammon had held over the people for eighteen years. He took his stand on Israel's original blessings, given in the day they came out of Egypt to enter Canaan. He held to those blessings as the ones the people were founded on.

God at this time gave His Spirit to Jephthah (verse 29), as He did at various times in the Old Testament for one specific occasion. This is not the Spirit living inside a believer, as happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. It was power poured out for a time on a man called to fight God's battle. Sure that God would back him up, Jephthah marched with his army through Gilead, Manasseh and Mizpah, straight at the Ammonites.

The power of God was in the path he was walking. Do not go along with the ruin as though God could accept it. Act on the principles God gave us at the beginning. That is the path of power, even when we are down to two or three gathered together in His name.

He was the son of a foreign woman. His brothers in Israel disowned him and cast him out to live among foreigners. Yet this is the one the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? Where is the glory and worth of their own system? The one his brothers despised and threw out as worthless is their only hope in their trouble. The honour was not theirs, and their own system was not their help and defence now. The Spirit of God, in sovereign grace to Israel, comes upon Jephthah. The battle was the Lord's. Israel had destroyed himself again, but his help was in God.

God left Jephthah with the responsibility and the consequences of his vow. He showed neither approval nor disapproval of it. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of Israel's leader. Even so, the Spirit of the LORD gave him the victory.

Yet even with the confidence of God's favour, Jephthah sadly failed by making a foolish vow: if God would deliver Ammon into his hands, then on his return he would offer to God as a burnt offering whatever came out of his house first to meet him. What was he thinking? Did he suppose that a sheep or an ox would come out of his door? God did not put this vow into his mind. If we too get an idea of something we might do for God, let us first be sure that God is moving us to do it. We cannot trust our own natural thoughts.

In his defence he pushed himself forward. "I and MY PEOPLE had a great dispute with the Ammonites... and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" Jephthah talked about himself. He dwelt on his disputed worth, fell into the snare Satan had set for him, and formed a party. Just before this he had identified himself with the people and declared their unity in front of the children of Ammon. But now, "my people" meant Gilead as opposed to Ephraim.

Jephthah and his army went forward to fight the Ammonites. The Lord delivered the Ammonites into his hands. The victory was decisive and complete, with a very great slaughter of the armies of the enemy.

He was the son of a foreign woman. His brothers in Israel had disowned him and cast him out among the Gentiles. But this is the one whom the Lord chooses to be Israel's saviour in the day of their trouble. But where is Israel's honour now? ... The Spirit of God, in sovereign grace to Israel, comes upon Jephthah. The battle was the Lord's. Israel had destroyed himself again, but his help was in God.

I think that may be why you get none of the details and methods of the conflict with Ammon. Jephthah goes to them, and, as it were, reads to them a chapter of Scripture. He gives them the history of God's ways. God had overthrown Sihon, king of the Amorites, and had brought His people into that inheritance which Ammon now claimed from them. For three hundred years they had enjoyed it without dispute.

There is only one thing to do when you meet false doctrine. Do as Jephthah did; face it with the word of God, and absolutely deny it and all its power. So he gains the victory for the people and for God. The inheritance which had been theirs for so many years stays in their power.

Jephthah did not deny the low condition of the people. But when he spoke to the children of Ammon, he went back to the beginning of Israel's blessings... He would not agree to this state of things by accepting the yoke which Ammon had laid on the people for eighteen years. Instead he took his stand on Israel's original blessings.

After Jephthah spoke like this, God gave him a fresh blessing: the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him. He found the power of God in the path he was walking. Refuse to conform to the ruin as though God could accept it. Act on the principles which God gave us at the beginning. That is the path of power, even when we are down to two or three gathered together in His name.

God left Jephthah to the responsibility and consequences of his vow. He showed neither approval nor disapproval of it. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of the leader of Israel. Still the Spirit of Jehovah granted him the victory.

Here the rashness of the man enters the scene, and the result was a display of what was painful in the extreme. We have had the power of God acting in deliverance, but man alone is incapable even of a safe vow to Jehovah... Man is as weak and erring as God is mighty and good: these two things characterise the book from beginning to end.

This general list of names and of those unnamed, together with the long list of conflicts and conquests of faith, is not intended to awaken our admiration of the people involved, but of the God who sustained and enabled them.

To sum up, the words YACHID in the Old Testament, and MONOGENES in the New, both seem to join the meanings of "only," "solitary," and "dear." Of the eternal Son, He stands out in affection, as an only child would with a loving human parent.

Here the man's rashness enters the scene, and the result is painful in the extreme. We have seen the power of God at work in deliverance. But man on his own cannot even make a safe vow to the Lord... If he had stopped to think, he could hardly have expected an ox or a sheep to walk out of the house.

He was not content with God's grace and power. He did not know what God is really like, so he made a vow to the Lord. He struck a deal with God, as if the two of them were making a mutual agreement. By binding himself before Him in this legal way, he fell into the same error Israel made in the wilderness of Sinai.

I have never been able to shake the conviction that Jephthah did what every simple reader of the passage believes he did... I could never think that a man of Jephthah's makeup was too tender-hearted to do just what he said he would do. Soon afterwards this same man took the fords of the Jordan and, with a clear conscience, cut the throats of forty-two thousand of his fellow Israelites.

There is not a word about death in her case... But Jephthah's words to the king of Ammon show that he knew the law, and the law forbade such an offering as something detestable. No altar was available for it. No priest would have performed it. And the two months of mourning in the mountains gave plenty of time for news of the planned sacrifice to spread far in Israel. The Hebrew also allows "or I will offer it up" in place of "and I will offer it up."

God said to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love." But Abraham offered up his son "by faith," at God's command. Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, and that was simply a lack of faith. The words "only," "only begotten," remind us again of a greater than Isaac... When faith was lacking in the father, it shone out brightly in his poor child. She suffered in another way too, one that was deeply painful for every woman of faith in Israel, whose desire was to be the mother of descendants who might become the family line of the Messiah. But this only daughter agreed to be cut off from the scene with no children.

Is it not true that Jephthah first offers up the daughter of his heart, and then slaughters his own countrymen?... So you will find that this sternness and harshness carried the man past simple faithfulness to God, on into the destruction of his own people.

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah." How often the flesh shows itself in us, as it did in him. He was not content with divine grace and power. Not knowing the true character of God, he "vowed a vow to Jehovah," made an arrangement with God on the footing of a mutual agreement. By binding himself before Him in a legal way, he fell into Israel's error in the wilderness of Sinai.

Jephthah fell into the trap of making a vow. He did not think through what the result might be… This was certainly a rash vow. Did he expect his wife or daughter to meet him? No. But why not? When his daughter came out, he was shocked and blamed her for bringing him very low, instead of blaming his own foolishness… We may be asked to make a pledge or a promise, but how much better to do good than to promise to do so!

He said that since he had given his word to the Lord, he could not go back on it. It is true that when a promise is made it should be kept. But since the promise involved wrongdoing, it would only be right for Jephthah to confess before the Lord the foolishness of his vow, and so not keep it. This is similar to the vow of Herod, who promised the daughter of Herodias whatever she wanted. When she asked for the head of John the Baptist, he was sorry, but for his oath's sake — supposing this would preserve his integrity! — he ordered the murder of the prophet.

Jephthah was rash in the vow he made, but he stood to it and bore the consequence… We must weigh carefully what we say before God, and not take back what we said for selfish reasons.

If she was really offered as a sacrifice, that would have been contrary to the law, since only certain clean animals and birds were eligible. One of these may have been offered for her… and she may have been devoted to perpetual virginity. To an Israelite this would have been calamity enough to account for Jephthah's grief.

Scripture nowhere guarantees that even those who acted in faith were spotless. It does not throw a veil, as people love to do, over what is ugly and distressing in those who bear the Lord's name. The very thing the Spirit of God has in view here is to show the frightful results of a vow so little weighed before God… The restraint of the Holy Spirit is as strikingly in keeping with God as the rashness of Jephthah is a solemn warning to us.

Abraham offered up his son "by faith" at God's command. Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, and this was simply a lack of faith… When faith was missing in the father, it shone out brightly in his poor child. This only daughter… submits herself instead of rebelling or blaming her father… She counted her life as nothing in view of the victory.

Abraham offered up his son "by faith" at God's command. Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, and that was simply a lack of faith… Faith was lacking in the father, but it shone out brightly in his poor child. This only daughter was marked out for sacrifice beforehand by a rash vow. Yet she submits herself instead of rebelling or blaming her father.

She submitted because of the LORD. Her submission was a faint reflection, no doubt, of Him who said, "I have come to do your will, O God." She counted her life as nothing beside the victory… She suffered in another way too, one deeply painful for every woman of faith in Israel, whose desire was to be the mother of descendants who might become the family line of the Messiah. But this only daughter agreed to be cut off from the scene as a childless woman.

It is true that a promise should be kept. But this promise involved wrongdoing. So the right thing for Jephthah was to confess his foolish vow before the Lord and not keep it. This is like the vow of Herod, who promised the daughter of Herodias whatever she wanted (Matt. 14:7). She asked for the head of John the Baptist. He was sorry, but he kept his oath — as if that would preserve his integrity! — and ordered the murder of the prophet.

Luther already remarked, "Some maintain that she was not sacrificed, but the text is too clear to allow that interpretation." The plain words of the vow are strong evidence. Stronger still are the distress of the father, the noble resignation of the daughter, and the yearly remembrance and mourning of the daughters of Israel. The law forbade human sacrifice as the worst of all pagan horrors (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31). But the age of the judges had sunk far below the high ground of the law.

There is not a word about death in her case… But Jephthah's words to the king of Ammon show that he knew the law, and by the law such an offering was forbidden as something detestable (Lev. 18:21). No altar could have been found for it, and no priest would have performed it. The two months of mourning in the mountains would also have given plenty of time for news of the planned sacrifice to spread far in Israel.

Our Lord now plainly forbids such vowing: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all." God's will does not need man's will to add to it, only to obey it. Taking on obedience God never asked for only puts you in bondage to your own weakness.

Jephthah's daughter showed a remarkable submission to her father. She did not protest against this deliberate case of human sacrifice (v. 36). God never gave instructions for such a thing, but Jephthah meant to keep his vow. The girl asked him to put the offering off for two months. In that time she would wander on the mountains with her friends, mourning her virginity — mourning that she would die without ever marrying (v. 37).

She suffered in another way that was deeply painful for every woman of faith in Israel. Their desire was to be the mother of children who might become the family line of the Messiah. But this only daughter agreed to pass from the scene as a childless woman.

In a way, being single — perhaps for life — can be a form of suffering, loss and deprivation. So it is natural to feel this and to mourn about it. It is not a sign of being 'unspiritual'… She wanted time to mourn her situation, and then she would surrender to God's ways. There is a time for everything — also for mourning. But sooner or later the time must come when we surrender to God's ways.

I must confess that, with all I have read on the subject, I have never been able to shake off the fact that Jephthah did what every simple soul who reads the passage believes he did. I would be glad to think otherwise, but I cannot. He was a stern, self-righteous, self-opinionated man, and there is no tyranny like the tyranny of a self-righteous conscience. A little later he could take the fords of Jordan and with a good conscience cut the throats of forty-two thousand of his fellow Israelites. A man of that makeup was not too tender-hearted to do to his daughter just what he said he would do — offer her up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

An animal burnt offering is never called something that "should be to the LORD", for the simple reason that as a burnt offering it already is. But that wording does appear where people are offered to the LORD, as with the firstborn of Israel and with Levi (Num. 3:12-13). Yet no one has ever claimed there was real human sacrifice in those cases. If the loving daughter had given herself up to death, it is next to incredible that she would have wished to spend her last two months in the mountains with her companions, and not with her broken-hearted father.

In any case the history remains a witness to and against the terrible legality of the human heart, which could shadow the joy of such a deliverance at the very moment God granted it… God's will does not need man's will to add to it, only to obey it. To take on obedience that was never asked for is only to put yourself in bondage to your own weakness.

Abraham offered up his son "by faith" at God's command; Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, which was simply a lack of faith. The words "only", "only begotten", remind us again of One greater than Isaac… When faith was lacking in the father, it shone out brightly in his poor child. A rash vow had marked out this only daughter for sacrifice beforehand. Christ, on the contrary, was marked out by the settled purpose and foreknowledge of God. Instead of rebelling or blaming her father, she submitted… She submitted because of the LORD, a faint reflection, no doubt, of Him who said, "I have come to do your will, O God."

Jephthah was rash in the vow he made, but he stood to it and bore the consequence... We are bound to weigh seriously what we say before God, and not to retract for selfish reasons.

God, leaving Jephthah to the responsibility and consequences of his vow, did not show either approval or disapproval of it. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of the leader of Israel. Still, the Spirit of Jehovah granted him the victory.

The girl asked him to delay the offering for two months. During that time she would wander on the mountains with her friends, weeping for her virginity — that is, grieving that she would die without ever being married.

She suffered in another way too, one deeply painful for every woman of faith in Israel, whose desire was to be the mother of a line that might become the ancestry of the Messiah. But this only daughter agreed to be cut off from the scene as a childless woman.

In a certain way the condition of singleness (maybe for life) can be a form of suffering, loss and deprivation. Therefore, it is natural and not a sign of being 'unspiritual' to feel this and to mourn about it... She wanted time to mourn her situation and then she would surrender to God's ways. There is a time for everything — also for mourning. But sooner or later the time must come when we surrender to God's ways.

The plain words of the vow point to a real sacrifice. Stronger still is the grief of the father, the noble surrender of the daughter, and the yearly remembrance and mourning of the daughters of Israel. Strongest of all is the account itself: the writer cannot clearly describe the terrible scene he looks at with both admiration and horror. The Law certainly forbade human sacrifice as the worst of all pagan practices.

Suppose the loving daughter had given herself up to death. It would then be almost unbelievable that she wanted to spend her last two months in the mountains with her companions, and not with her heartbroken father.

When faith was lacking in the father, it shone out brightly in his poor child. This only daughter, promised beforehand to the sacrifice by a rash vow, submitted herself instead of rebelling or blaming her father... She submitted for Jehovah's sake — a faint reflection, no doubt, of Him who said: "I have come to do Your will, O God." She counted her life as nothing, in view of the victory.

Jephthah fell into the snare of making a vow without proper thought about what the result might be... When his daughter came out, he was shocked and blamed her for bringing him very low, instead of blaming his own foolishness... We may be asked to make a pledge or a promise, but how much better to do good than to promise to do so!

I must confess that, with everything I have read on the subject, I still cannot shake the conviction that Jephthah did what every simple soul who reads the passage believes he did. I would be glad to think otherwise. But this man was stern, self-righteous and set in his own opinions. I cannot believe he was too tender-hearted to do just what he said he would do with his daughter, and offer her up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The great Jewish commentators of the Middle Ages have pointed out that these two last clauses are not identical. No one says of an animal burnt offering that it "should be to Jehovah." As a burnt offering, it already is. But Scripture does use that expression when human beings are given to Jehovah, as with the firstborn in Israel and with Levi. In those cases no one has ever suggested actual human sacrifice. And if the loving daughter had been giving herself up to death, it is next to incredible that she would spend her last two months in the mountains with her companions rather than with her broken-hearted father.

God left Jephthah with the responsibility and the consequences of his vow, and showed neither approval nor disapproval of it. Heaven seemed closed to the voice of Israel's leader. Yet the Spirit of Jehovah granted him the victory.

Abraham offered up his son "by faith," at God's command. Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, which was simply a lack of faith… The father lacked faith, but it shone out brightly in his poor child. A rash vow had marked out this only daughter for sacrifice, and she submits instead of rebelling or blaming her father… She submitted for Jehovah's sake — a faint reflection, no doubt, of Him who said, "I have come to do Your will, O God."

Is it not true that Jephthah first offered up the daughter he loved, and then slaughtered his own countrymen? The man, it seems, reduced everything to one dead level. He had his sword drawn. He had killed the Ammonites, so he would kill his daughter, if he had promised God to do it. And having killed his daughter, he would take the fords of the Jordan and kill the Ephraimites… Have we not seen too much of that — treating the people of God exactly as we would treat the enemies of God?

In any case, the history stands as a witness to and against the terrible legal spirit of the human heart. That spirit could darken the joy of such a deliverance at the very moment God gave it. Our Lord now forbids such vowing outright: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all." God's will does not need man's will added to it, only obeyed. To take on obedience that was never asked for is only to put yourself in bondage to your own weakness.

After Jephthah's daughter was gone, the daughters of Israel took up a custom of going to the mountains four days each year to lament for her. Is there not a lesson in this for us today? One may be the victim of an unfair action, and we can do nothing about it. At least we can remember that injustice in self-judgment before the Lord. This is different from raising an indignant outcry against injustice — a common practice today — but learning to judge ourselves will bear much more good fruit than judging others.

The daughters of Israel took up a custom of going four days each year to the mountains to lament for her. One may be the victim of an unfair action, and we can do nothing about it. At least we can remember this injustice in self-judgment before the Lord. This is different from raising an indignant outcry against injustice, which is common today. Learning to judge ourselves will bear much more good fruit than judging others.

Some maintain that she was not sacrificed, but the text is too clear to admit of this interpretation. But there is stronger evidence of her sacrifice than even the plain words of the vow. It lies in the distress of the father, in the noble resignation of the daughter, and in the yearly commemoration and lamentation of the daughters of Israel. Above all, it lies in the account of the historian himself. He cannot describe clearly the terrible scene he looks at with both admiration and horror. The Law certainly forbade human sacrifice as the worst of all heathen abominations. But the age of the judges had sunk far below the high position of the Law.

Most recent commentators agree, and believe that his daughter was simply consecrated to God, to live an unmarried life. Verses 37-39 seem plainly to show it. But Jephthah's words to the king of Ammon show that he knew the law; and by the law such an offering was forbidden as an abomination. No altar could have been found for it. No priest would have performed it. And the two months of mourning on the mountains would have given plenty of time for news of the intended sacrifice to spread far in Israel.

After all, in Hebrew the word does not mean "burnt offering." It means simply an "offering that ascends" — all ascends — to God. And this makes a great difference. Jephthah did not pledge that the offering would be burnt, though that was how an animal sacrifice would "ascend."

Scripture does not throw a veil, as man loves to do, over what is ugly and distressing in those who bear the Lord's name. That is because the very thing the Spirit of God has in view here is to show the frightful results of a vow so little weighed before God, and not drawn from His guidance at all... As the vow was made without God, so an outcome was allowed that was deeply offensive to the Holy Spirit.

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah." How often the flesh shows itself in us, as it did in him. He was not content with divine grace and power. He did not know the true character of God. He "vowed a vow to Jehovah" and made an arrangement with God on the basis of a mutual agreement. Binding himself before Him in a legal way, he fell into Israel's error in the wilderness of Sinai.

Our Lord now forbids such vowing outright. He said: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all." God's will does not need man's will to add to it, only to obey it. To undertake obedience that was never asked for is only to put oneself in bondage to one's own weakness.

Abraham offered up his son "by faith" at God's command. Jephthah offered his daughter by an act of his own will, which was simply a lack of faith... When faith was lacking in the father, it shone out brightly in his poor child. This only daughter... is seen submitting herself, instead of rebelling or blaming her father.