Jephthah Series

Series: Here comes the Judge!

Sermon: Jephthah

Thesis: Jephthah overcame his mother and father’s sinful heritage by becoming dedicated to the Lord and the Lord rewarded him for his faithfulness. Many rejected him but God accepted him and then in the time of need his own people received him back with honor and then he made a big mistake with his daughter. But still remained faithful to the Lord and he brought peace to Israel and he led them for 6 more years.

Scripture Verse: Judges 10:6-12:7

Introduction:

In verse 6 we hear the phrase again, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord (they served several other gods)…and because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him.”

We once again see the cycle of sin, the people worship other gods, reject God causing the Israelite’s to be let go by God. God became angry and sold them off into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites. It seems Israel’s view of God is one of convenience rather than commitment. They only want God when they need His delivering power, a miracle or a favor from God. Notice the response of God toward their attitudes in verse 14 “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble.”

Notice how the Israelites genuinely repented of their sins and turned away from their other Gods before God intervened in their national life from their oppressors see verses 15-16: But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”

Let’s recall our main Bible verses in Judges once again:

• Judges 2:16: “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”

• Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

• I am adding a 3rd key verse we see repeated over and over in Judges:

• “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord!”

T.S. – The people steeped in idolatry and evil practices decided that Jephthah was unworthy of being a part of his family and his community and they declared he was unworthy and so they rejected him only to discover that God had rejected them and embraced the heart of Jephthah because his heart was connected to God’s heart.

1. The rejection “Get out you have no part of this family!”

a. He was rejected for the sins of his mother and father.

i. He was driven out by his 30 family members most likely upon the death of his father Gilead

ii. He was mocked and rejected by the elders of Gilead

b. Quotes by Timothy Cooley sermoncentral.com

i. Rabbi Telushkin suggests, “there might have been a certain ironic sensibility in so naming the father, comparable to saying, ‘And the father’s name was New York’; in other words any male in Gilead might have been Jephthah’s father. Many of Gilead’s citizens therefore might have mocked him, not just members of one family.” (Telushkin, Biblical Literacy )

But Jephthah’s father’s name must have also been Gilead because the text describes his brothers, sons of the same man by his lawful wife driving Jephthah from home and from sharing in their inheritance. (Keil and Delitzsch)

Jephthah was “a child of shame. His father had chosen to sacrifice upon the wayside altar. His father had had his fling. He had sown his wild oats and of necessity there was a harvest.” Jephthah’s mother was no better. She was “a professional outcast.” “The first eyes into which he looked were the eyes of an unclean woman.” “Ugly names were flung at him before he was old enough to know their dark and sinister meaning. He was forbidden to go to the big house of his father before he knew why he was not allowed to go. He was excluded from the games of those more fortunately born than he….” (Clovis Chappell, Sermons on Biblical Characters)

c. I can only wonder what it must have felt like to be rejected by 30 of his family. Mocked, spit one, told you are worthless you son of a whore, to be cast out most likley after his father passed away, driven from your home, thrown into unworthiness, told that you will never be worthy of any inheritance or family connection.

i. I find it amazing how a godless society kept reminding Jephthah of his mother and Father’s sin! Reject the one who really had no choice in the sin of his parents! Sad! But this is all too common even in today’s society.