Jephthah

When you think about the heroes of the faith, Jephthah is not who usually comes to mind. But when the writer of Hebrews listed them in chapter 11, Jephthah came to his mind.  Jephthah, like Gideon and Samson was a very flawed hero, but he was a hero nonetheless. 

Jephthah was a complicated man who may not easily be classified as a hero or a villain.   He truly was in line with God's heart, but he did not always know what God wanted him to do.

Perhaps if we knew the whole story of Jephthah, we would understand him a little better. 

Jephthah was the son of a man named Gilead, who lived in the Jordan valley of Israel.  His mother was a prostitute and a Gentile.  His half brothers drove him out of the home.  He grew up without a father and without proper religious instruction. 

Jephthah turned to a life of crime. He gathered around him a group of people who were called "empty men" (think bandits) who preyed upon the surrounding countries.   That was where he was when he heard the call of God. 

 Judg 11:4-11  Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel,  the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."

 Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?"

 The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."

 Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me — will I really be your head?"

 The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say."  So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

Jephthah struck a deal with them that he would lead them in battle in exchange for being the leader of the country.  When he became king, a change came over him.  He became a true leader, trying to do what was right in God’s eyes. 

So far, so good.  Until then, he deserved his position as a hero of faith.  Then Jephthah made a rash vow. He said that if the Lord let him win, he would sacrifice the first thing through his gate when he came home.  When he came home, the first thing through his gate was his own little daughter.  Since he was the new leader of the country, he could not appear weak in the eyes of his subjects. He had to fulfill the vow he made.

We must be fair here.  Some commentators argue that Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter.  They argue that instead of sacrificing her, his daughter was consecrated to Him as a nazirite.  I sincerely hope they are right, but the majority of scholars believe she was actually sacrificed. 

The story of Jephthah does not get any better after that.  He then got into an argument with another Hebrew tribe—the Ephraimites. 

Judges 12:1-3 The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."

 Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands.  When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?"

Today, we are not sure what the issues were or what the truth was that brought Jephthah in conflict with a tribe of Israel.  Each side tells a conflicting story.   It escalated into full-scale war between Gilead and Ephraim.  It only ended when the Ephraimite army was defeated.

Was this war necessary?  Could Jephthah not have negotiated peace with his Hebrew brothers?  It appears that he did not even try.  War was the only form of negotiation he knew, just as killing was the only way he knew to honor God.

So why does the writer of Hebrews include him?

The greatest evil is not always done by evil men, but by good men making evil choices.  It comes from people trying to do the right thing in ignorance and arrogance.  Jephthah’s story is a cautionary tale of what happens when faith goes wrong. 

Paul talked about this in his early persecution of Christians in Galatians. He said his persecution of Christians was done out of Godly zeal. Luther called for the extermination of the Jews.  Sir Thomas Moore oversaw the burning of non Catholics in England.  Many of our ancestors tolerated the enslavement of an entire race in the south. These were  not bad  men but good ones. How can good men participate in such evil?

In Jephthah’s case, his bad choices came about for two reasons.   

The first reason is that we have a partial understanding of God, then become to lazy or arrogant to dig deeper. When faith leads us in the wrong direction, then it becomes wrong.  Jephthah was a rough, unlettered man who had done no serious study of God’s law. If he had, he would have known that human sacrifices were forbidden by God.  He could have consulted with the priests and scholars of Israel to determine what alternatives he might have for executing his daughter.  Jephthah did none of that.  Jephthah was convinced that he knew all there was to know about the Law of God.  To him, the only thing that was important was that he had taken a vow. 

God gave us Ten Commandments for this reason—we could not get along with five.  Even the Ten Commandments were not sufficient. God had to add an eleventh—to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  How can we say that fulfilling a vow is so important that it gives us the right needlessly to take another life?  

The Law of God did not require that he take his daughter’s life. The Law required that when a child is consecrated to God that the parents pay a tax on their heads.  It was done with every firstborn child of Israel.  But Jephthah did not know that, because he was not raised in Israel.  He just assumed he knew what was right.

This is what happens when we know only part of the Law, or enforce part of the law, not just a portion of it.

Once I asked a man if he would come to Sunday School. He gave me an honest answer.  He said that he went to Sunday School as a child, and therefore learned all he needed to learn about the Bible. But we really never get to the place where we can say that.  The Bible contains a fully nuanced, balanced approach to righteousness, based on proverbs and stories that give us specific examples for specific situations. We need to know it all if we are to use it properly, and we never learn enough.

For example, a man abuses his wife and children. He claims the right to do so because the Bible says he is the head of the household and they should submit to him.  He remains absolutely convinced that he can do as he pleases, based on a Biblical mandate. In fact, he is convinced it is his duty to maintain order.

He remembers the passage that says, “Wives submit to your husbands” in Ephesians 5.  But he has forgotten the passage that says “Husbands, love your wives.”

In another example, a man feels cheated by a store. He sues the store for damages and gets a big settlement, so big that it forces the owner into bankruptcy. H is convinced that he has done the right thing, since he has taken vengeance upon someone who had hurt him. But he has forgotten the command to “love your enemies.”

If we only look at part of the Bible and not at the whole, we can get a distorted picture of what we are to do. 

The second reason Jephthah missed it was because he kept a vow to God, but did not know God’s heart.  God demands more than just obedience to a few commandments.  We must believe in Him, and understand His nature. 

Jephthah’s faith did not extend beyond the battlefield.  He knew how to cling to principles, and not back down from a fight. But Jephthah did not understand God.  He did not know his heart and feelings.  God requires us to know His commandments. More than that, He requires us to know His heart and Spirit. 

For the Christian, the law of God is not our only guide. His Spirit is as important as the Law.  That is why the Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:6  “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 

You may know about God, but do you know Him?  You may pray properly, but do you know to whom you are praying?  

When Jephthah had a disagreement with this fellow Hebrews, he did not know how to make peace.  He only knew how to make war.  A thousand years later, Jesus would say “blessed are the peacemakers.”  If only Jephthah could have known and understood this, many lives would have been spared.

Jesus did not come to give us more law. He came to give us grace. He offered God’s hand of forgiveness and love o all people, so that any person might receive who is willing to believe. 

Don’t think that just because you think you are a good person that you know God.  If you know Law without God’s person, you are not better than Jephthah or anyone else who followed rules as religion. 

Isn’t it time you quit pretending that you know God, and actually meet Him?  Jesus is the way to salvation, and to finding the heart and soul of God.