Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
The above text is taken from the stories in Judges of each “judge” who came to lead Israel in the midst of their oppression. The nation would fall into sin, God would bring another nation to oppress them, they would cry out in repentance and then God would send “judge” to defeat the oppressing nation (originally brought into their lives to oppress them). Jephthah was one of those judges. The rash vow that Jephthah utters creates all kinds of difficulty for readers of God’s word. On the surface, with just the above words it just seems like one of those things people say in the heat of the moment. Jephthah is making a “deal” with God. He was saying, “God if you give me victory over this enemy of our people I will sacrifice to you whatever comes out of my house to greet me upon my return.” Seem harmless. There are several challenges, however.
1. Why did he even make the vow? God already promised victory over this enemy by his leadership. We have no real clue why he would utter such a thing, but perhaps, like us, he was nervous, scared and not sure he was ready. He made one more “deal” with God. It is important to know that God says this about him in the New Testament. When the writer of Hebrews was trying to tell the early church about great peoples of the faith here is what was written:
Hebrews 11:32 (ESV)
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
Whatever the reason he vowed, we still have to conclude that Jephthah was a man of faith.
2. What did he vow? He vowed that “whatever” came out of his house upon his return he would sacrifice (as in a burnt offering) to God. Later we read this:
Judges 11:34 (ESV)
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
So his vow was to sacrifice whatever came out of HIS house and HIS only daughter came out. What was he thinking? Who did he think would come out of his house? It should be noted that, in those days, your animals lived “in your house.” (Remember the story of Mary and Joseph and the manager and animals in the inn.). The reason his vow is identified as a “rash” vow is for this very reason. It should also, however, be noted that in those days, sacrificing a human to your god was a normal act of worship. Although Jephthah was a man of faith it doesn’t mean he wasn’t a sinful man (Note in that Hebrews 11 passage we have Rahab the harlot listed as a woman of faith. A person of faith can do great evil things. Also note that David is in that list with Jephthah, and he killed someone as well.).
3. What did he do with his vow when he saw his daughter come out from his house? The writer of this book answers the question for us ... sort of:
Judges 11:38-40 (ESV)
So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
So, did he sacrificed her as an offering to God as the heathen worshippers in his world did at that time? Most early commentators believe he did. But if he did sacrifice her to fulfill his vow, why does it read, “She had never know a man” after that? We already knew she was a virgin by the verses before that. It could be saying that when he sacrificed her, she was a virgin when she died. Or, it could be saying that his sacrifice of her was for her to give herself to God for the rest of her life and never know a man and have children (which in that day you were as good as dead).
We really don’t know. It would not be unusually, as we have noted, for a person of faith to do something stupid in sin after a great campaign of faith. There are so many lessons in this passage but more than likely the one God intended us to see the most obvious: Don’t make rash vows.
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