People often describe the period of the judges as a circle or cycle of rebellion (sin), repentance, rescue, and relapse (into sin). However, the truth is that a circle or cycle is coming back to the same place/condition, no better and no worse; in Israel’s case, their situation should more accurately be described as a (downward) spiral because each time they come full circle after being rescued, they get worse! And the judges are no exception! If you have been reading the Book of Judges faithfully with us so far, it should be clear that the quality and character of the judges declines from one generation to the next (with the exception of Deborah).

In chapter 11, we are introduced to Israel’s ninth judge, Jephthah, and, for most of us, he really is not the kind of person that would naturally come to mind as the type of person God would choose to deliver Israel because he stands out among all the judges of Israel for the tragic end that befalls his daughter, yet this is a man that is credited as a hero of faith in Hebrews 11:32 – why? To understand, we must appreciate who Jephthah was as a person.

From v.1-3, we can conclude that Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, meaning that (1) Gilead, Jephthah’s father, violated the Law (breaking his marriage covenant by sleeping with a prostitute), (2) if the mother was an Israelite woman, she was in violation or her father was in violation of God’s Law by selling her into prostitution, (3) if the mother was a Canaanite woman, Gilead, was in further violation of the Law by sleeping with a Canaanite, worse still if she was a temple/cult prostitute. We can also conclude that Jephthah’s half-brothers illegally kicked him out of the family because they did not wish to share their father’s inheritance with him, and we see that Jephthah ended up becoming a leader of an outlaw gang. This was a man whom Israelites would have considered an outcast.

We can also see that Jephthah was not just a “mighty warrior” (v.1) but he was also a mighty talker (v.4-28)! He was a shrewd negotiator who bargained his way with the Gileadite elders to become a judge on his terms, then tried to bargain with the King of the Ammonites before resorting to war. Then, before leaving for war, Jephthah made his infamous bargain with God that would have tragic consequences for his daughter (v.30-31).

Jephthah defeated the Ammonites and upon his return home, sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering to the LORD to fulfil the afore-mentioned bargain he struck with God before going to war (v.30-31), then would go on to judge Israel for another six years.

In all of these events, do you notice something strange in chapter 11?

Among the EC youths, we are exploring a new Bible study method that begins with reading the chapter and after reading, the very first question we ask is, “What do we learn about God and/or His plan from the text?” It is a very good question to ask in this chapter of Judges. In particular, where do we see God actually speak or act in this chapter?

Did you catch it?

Yes, the only time God acted was in v.29a (“Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah” ESV) and even then, it was limited to anointing Jephthah for war. Nowhere else in the chapter did God act. And at no time in the chapter did God speak. Yet God’s Name was invoked on multiple occasions by Jephthah! The first time was during the negotiation between the Gileadite elders and Jephthah, which was an echo of “negotiation” between Israel and God in chapter 10 :

1. Ammonite oppression (10:7-9) vs Ammonite oppression (11:4) 2. Israel appeals to God (10:10) vs Gilead appeals to Jephthah (11:5-6) 3. God retorts sarcastically (10:11-14) vs Jephthah retorts sarcastically (11:7) 4. Israel repeats appeal (10:15-16a) vs Gilead repeats appeal (11:8) 5. God refuses to be used (10:16b) vs Jephthah seizes opportunity (11:9-11) The Gileadite elders did not turn to God in their time of trouble and they did not involve God in their negotiations with Jephthah. Jephthah invoked God’s Name as a witness to seal the bargain he struck with the elders to become a judge. He did not consult God before meeting with the elders, nor after the meeting with the elders. Nor did he seek God first before trying to deal with the Ammonite king. Instead, for the second time, Jephthah invoked God’s Name as the Judge between Israel and Ammon (v.27).

Considering that God had outright refused to be used – manipulated – by the Israelites in Judges 10:16b, one might wonder how God would respond or even IF He would respond to Jephthah’s blatant attempts to manipulate God to side with him. We do not have to wait long to find out because in v.29, God acts!

The Spirit of God came upon Jephthah and this should have been all the assurance he could need but, alas, no. After he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jephthah invoked God’s Name for a third time. In the only time in which he actually addressed God directly, he sought to haggle for concessions in the same way he did with the Gileadite elders and the Ammonite king, but Jephthah missed the ominous overtones of these three bargains: in the first, he received everything he wanted from the elders; in the second, he received a verbal but negative response from the Ammonite king; and in the third, he received nothing but silence from the LORD.

When his daughter – his only child – greeted him upon his homecoming, Jephthah knew then that he had made a rash but irretractable vow to God (v.34-35) but looking at his words, we can also see that Jephthah seemingly blamed his daughter, not himself! “Alas, my daughter! YOU have brought me very low, and YOU have become the cause of great trouble to me.” Even at such a moment, Jephthah was thinking about himself more than his daughter!

So, we come back to our original question: Why is this man considered a hero of faith?

You see, Jephthah would have known, as an Israelite, that God forbade human sacrifices and he would have had three options: (a) He could have sacrificed his own well-being and left the bargain he made with God unfulfilled. This would have meant letting his daughter live and being cursed by God; (b) He could have followed Mosaic Law and paid twenty shekels to a priest to redeem the life of his daughter (Leviticus 27:1-8); (c) He could go through with the bargain he made with God and fulfilled it to the letter.

We cannot know for certain why he chose the last option. God certainly did not command him to go through with the sacrifice. But perhaps his own daughter’s invocation of God’s Name to remind him of the sacristy of a vow made with God (v.36) drove him to keep faith with his word given to the LORD.

What we can say with certainty is that WHAT he did (sacrificing his daughter) was a thing condemned by God but WHY he did it (keeping his word to God) was a thing commended by God. Although Jephthah is most remembered for the horrific and tragic death of his daughter, we must also remember his zeal in keeping faith in his word to God, however misguided that zeal may have been.

Reflection & Prayer : 1. Are we too quick to speak, to complain, and to make promises to God? Do we bargain with the LORD and think nothing of it? Nothing is trivial when it comes to covenants with our God.

2. Are we too eager to walk away from, to break, or find it too easy to forget our promises to God? We make commitments to God as easily as we make New Year resolutions but many of us just as easily renege on these commitments.