Thought for the Week

This will be the last in the Judges’ series. We have looked at Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Barak and Gideon. I have skipped Abimelech, (although I am not sure he really qualified as a judge), Tolah and Jair. I won’t get to Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, or Samuel. This has been a difficult series for me, frustrating when I look at Israel and even frustrating to look at the judges themselves. I guess I see so much of me (us) in them. The one great factor is to see God. He has shown marvelous grace and mercy. Certainly neither is deserved. But, it they were deserved they would neither be grace nor mercy. In closing, I will have us look at Jephthah. Judges chapter ten tells us that under the leadership of Tola and Jair, Israel has experienced forty-five years of relative peace and freedom from oppression. But once they were dead, “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They worshipped the gods of the nations they had defeated and dominated. Does that make any sense at all? God now delivers Israel to the domination of the Ammonites and the Philistines. Eighteen years this domination continues. Israel cries out to God for help. Look at the dialogue found in 10:11ff: God says, “I delivered you, saved you and you deserted me, now go cry for help from the gods you serve.” Israel, “We have sinned. Punish us as You will but save us now.” They actually stopped serving idols, began to do what God had earlier commanded. God cannot stand their misery. There was a man named Gilead. He had a wife and sons. He also had an adulterous relationship producing a son named Jephthah. The woman was not an Israelite. The legitimate sons drove away the illegitimate. This was legal. But, it was not the son’s fault he was conceived and brought into this world. So, what was legal does not seem right to me. Nonetheless, Jephthah fled. He was a capable military leader and gathered quite a following. Ammonites made war against the people of Gilead. They communed and decided to ask Jephthah to come to their aid. He suspected treachery and confronted them about it. They assured him the offer to lead them was legitimate. Jephthah attempted to have a peaceful settlement with Ammonites. They rejected it. Judges 11:29 tells us The Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. This was good. Jephthah accepted it but also unnecessarily made a vow that he would sacrifice the first thing that greeted him on a successful return. He was successful and on his return he was greeted by his daughter, an only child. Here is a dilemma: People are told to keep their vows. God had forbidden human sacrifice. Jephthah lamented his vow and shared it with his daughter. She is sympathetic (a good daughter). At this point we are not sure what happened. She asks for some time to lament with her girlfriends. So does she remain a virgin not fulfilling her own dreams? This seems possible because for many years, people remembered the sacrifice she made. They do not seem to mourn her death. At any rate Jephthah seems to have been a good judge, using common sense and utilizing negotiations rather than conflict. Unfortunately, he left no family, whereas two of his successors had huge families. Israel enjoyed peace. We are left with knowing we must be careful of the vows we make.

Scriptures to Read

Judges 10:6-18

Judges 11:1-8

Judge 11:9-17

Judges 11:18-27

Judges 11:28-35

Judges 11:36-40

Judges 12:1-7