Judges 11:30–40

"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.