Jephthah Series

• …. Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. 35 And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. I made an oath to Yahweh, and I cannot take it back.”

What do we do with this story?

Well, obviously we have a problem. Some have suggested that Jephthah had something other than actual sacrifice in mind when he made his vow. Well, that’s not what the text says and considering his reaction to seeing his daughter, actual sacrifice is exactly what he had in mind.

I believe that his vow was one made in haste, without thought, because of anxiety over the coming battle.

Jephthah would not have been the first in history nor the last to make a promise in the hope of getting out of a bad situation.

Have you ever heard of a foxhole promise ---- a promise made to God when we are caught in a difficult situation or when our back is against the wall, “Lord just save me and I promise to become a priest.”

On one hand, God takes vow making very seriously:

• Deuteronomy 23:21 - If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.

On the other hand, He hates human sacrifice – He destroyed entire nations because they did that very thing:

• Deuteronomy 12:29–31 - When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, 30 take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’ 31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

But, according to 11:39 – Jephthah kept his vow.

At issue is not the vow itself, but the fulfillment of the vow that continues to be debated amongst biblical scholars – did he or didn’t he?

For better or for worse, here’s what I think……

I don’t think Jephthah sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering before the Lord.

1st - Jephthah is not condemned for what he did.

Judges repeatedly provides details of the sins of Israel and the consequences they experienced. Even the Judges were not immune to such critique:

• Gideon made a golden ephod and “all Israel played the harlot and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.” – 8:24-27

• Because of Samson’s pride and arrogance, God eventually left him to reap the consequences of his choices – 16:20.

You would think that child sacrifice would call for the strongest condemnation, especially since Jephthah made the vow as a promise to God if He gave Jephthah victory over the Ammonites. But no, not a word of condemnation for Jephthah’s actions.