Jephthah: Forcing the Hand of Deliverance
Judges 11-12
8/23/09
INTRODUCTION
Hidden Agendas -- An idiomatic phrase used to refer to the subtext which discreetly drives a conversation, meeting or other activity.
„X Marketing and advertising uses them all the time.
„X We assume Politians use them.
„X Ordinary people often have.
„X Business menand businesses are assumed to have them.
„X Christians are not exempt form them.
T.S. Today’s story from the book of judges is not just about Israel being delivered form the threat posed by the ammonites. The story of Jephthah is the story of a man committed to his agenda.
Today we will be reminded that. . .
AS FOLLOWERS OF THE FORGIVER WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR ROLE IN GOD’S DELIVERANCE STORY IS NOT ABOUT ADVANCING OUR OWN AGENDA.
I. The Story
A. A Rejected Scorned Leader 11:1-3
B.
11:1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman." 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him.
„X Jephthah has faced an upbringing of Rejection and Ridicule. It is highly likely that he is plagued with questions of self doubt and self worth. Like others plagues that way he seeks significance and meaning. He gathers a set fo Adventures around him, but scripture calls them no adventures. He gathers others of low status (empty vain men) in Hebrew.
„X When we feel saddled with poor self-esteem we often will latch onto relationships that give us a sense of worth even if they are no wise relationships.
„X He fled to Tob.
B. Desperation Leads to Selection 11:4ff
4 Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."
„X Jephthah escaped from his brethren after his father’s death (Judges 11:3), and perfected himself in the art of war, making forays with "the vain fellows" who joined him. Here the elders of Gilead found him, when, reduced to dire straits by the children of Ammon, they desired him to take command of their army (Jsg 11:5;).
C. Serving for the wrong reason
„X Jephthah will serve only after the question is answered "What’s in it for Me?"
„X God’s deliverance story is about our joining him in the story he is wrting. It is not about our chance to get more. Serving in the kingdom isn’t about what we get out of it.
7 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?"
„X Jephthah appears to enjoy his moment of redemption and seeks to ensure his destiny.
8 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."
9 Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me-will I really be your head?"
10 The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say." 11 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.
„X Jephthah wants to ensure that he rules as judge so he goes to a place of significance in Israel’s history and repeats the covenant before God there.
„X Mizpah was the place where Jacob and Laban pledged truth and faithfulness to each other. They erected a cairn of stones and sealed their covenant with these words. "The Lord be a witness between you and me.
„X Jephthah sought to ensure he would get what he wanted out of his service.
Ill: John Maxwell tells the story of a wealthy man who came into his office to let him know that he would be withholding his tithe until the music changed. John listened to him and thanked him for being so upfront. Before he left John asked if he could pray, Not refusing the man bowed his head as Pastor Maxwell prayed, Lord forgive my brother for his willingness to steal form you to get his own way.
D. Meeting the Challenge
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: "What do you have against us that you have attacked our country?"
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, "When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably."
1. Reason First
14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 saying:
"This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the desert to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ’Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 18 "Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border. 19 "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ’Let us pass through your country to our own place.’ 20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his men and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 "Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his men into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan. 23 "Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess. 25 Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites." 28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
2. Decisive Action
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
E. Getting what you want through manipulation
1. Rash vow
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
„X Jephthah wants to win at all costs. If he wins he gets to be somebody. He gets to rule a Judges. So he makes a rash vow.
2. Success
32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
3. Dilemma
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."
„X Can’t break it because he likely believes that if he breaks it he will not get to rule as judge. A man who has always been nobody is on the verge of getting want he wants, but now he has to fulfill a rash vow.
„X The seriousness of the vows and the pledge at Mizpah likely add to his dilemma.
F. Content to get ahead at the expense of others.
To throw under the bus: to sacrifice some other person, usually one who is undeserving or at least vulnerable, to make personal gain.
36 "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."
38 "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
From this comes the Israelite custom 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
„X I cannot even fathom this. But Jephthah goes ahead and fulfills his vow. Why? If it was about God’s deliverance story the Ammonties had already be defeated. The only reason to sacrifice his daughter was to attempt to ensure that he would get to rule.
G. Questions of Integrity
Judges 12
12:1 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."
„X Ephariam is upset they were not included in the conquest. They have been denied their share of the spoils
2 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. 3 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?"
„X With his integrity challenged Jephthah response with indignation. He is to lead the tribes as a judge, settle disputes.
„X Perhaps still stung by the past mistreatment he responds as a threatened leader.
H. Acts of Corruption
4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh." 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," 6 they said, "All right, say ’Shibboleth.’" If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.
7 Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.
II. Lessons
A. God raises up whom he chooses, our past and our heritage is not held against us.
B. God’s deliverance story is about kingdom advancement not self advancement.
C. We have to be careful that our acts of service are not done simply because we are advancing out own agenda.
D. Rash decisions often lead to severe consequences.
E. When we make our agenda paramount, we will sacrifice anything to achieve it.
F. Leadership compromises on integrity will do anything to stay in control.
