I. Introduction: Israel is in bad shape again (story)
This is the story of Billy Sunday, pro-baseball player and then evangelist. Until Billy Graham, no American evangelist preached to so many millions, or saw as many conversions—an estimated 300,000.
In Billy Sunday’s autobiography he said “I never saw my father” You see his father had died of pneumonia in the Civil War five weeks after Sunday's birth. In fact, his early childhood in an Iowa log cabin was enveloped by death—ten deaths before he reached the age of 10. His mother was so impoverished, she sent her children away to the Soldier's Orphans Home. Sunday survived only with the support of his brother and his love of sports, especially baseball.
His professional baseball career began with the Chicago White Stockings in 1883, he moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and in 1890, to the Philadelphia Athletics, where he was batting .261 and had stolen 84 bases when he quit.
Ever since his conversion to Christianity at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago in 1886, he had felt an increasingly strong call to preach. The YMCA finally convinced him to leave baseball to preach at their services (which meant a two-thirds cut in pay). He moved on to work with two other traveling evangelists, then was invited to conduct a revival in Garner, Iowa. From then on he was never without an invitation to preach, at first holding campaigns in Midwestern towns and then, after World War I, preaching in Boston, New York, and other major cities.
Because of Sunday’s rough past his preaching style was as unorthodox as the day allowed. His vocabulary was so rough especially when dealing with evolutionist: Christian leaders cringed, and they often publicly criticized him. But Sunday didn't care: "I want to preach the gospel so plainly," he said, "that men can come from the factories and not have to bring a dictionary.”
Sunday was master of the one-liner, which he would use to clinch his practical, illustration-filled sermons. One of his most famous: "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile." And “If ever there was a jubilee in hell it was when lager beer was invented."
This final quote of Sunday’s would have been good for last Sunday’s sermon on sin: "I'm against sin," he once said. "I'll kick it as long as I have a foot. I'll fight it as long as I have a fist. I'll butt it as long as I have a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition." (Christian History.net)
II. Who is Jephthah? Why was he not a normal choice
a. Who
Well today’s Judge, like Billy Sunday, came from a rough past. Our text this morning is Judges 11, but the story really starts to take shape in chapter 10 and once again here goes the broken record. Israel had sinned again in God’s eyes and God had allowed them to be oppressed by the Ammorites. After years of being oppressed they realized they needed to turn back to God. Judges 10:15 states: But the Israelites said to the Lord” we have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now. The next verse goes onto say they got rid of their gods and served the Lord. The end of the chapter ends with the Israelite people assembling their army to fight the Ammorites, but they were asking who was going to lead them. The Israelites needed a leader to help them defeat the Ammonites, but didn‘t seem to have a candidate for the job.
To back track a bit we find our Judge for today his name is Jephthah. We read in Chapter 11:1 that Jephthah was a mighty warrior. The Message said he was one tough warrior. Then it goes on to say that he was the son of a {zona} – Hebrew for a prostitute or an adulteress. Most translations translate it as a prostitute or harlot, but in verse two we see his mother described as the “other woman”, not his father’s wife. Theologians are not all in agreement with calling Jephthah’s mom a prostitute
Well because he was the child of the “other woman” the Scriptures say that he was treated less that equally. Verse 2 says: You are not going to get any inheritance in our family”. Jephthah even had to flee the household and the region for the land of Tob.
I want to read into the story here a little bit. Kids cannot help under which circumstances they are born, but here we have Jephthah born into this family and is treated poorly because of his father’s poor choice. I can imagine life was tough for him growing up and he may have had to fight his way through many situations. Maybe because of his situation growing up or because he was sent to a foreign land he had to learn how to fight. The Bible says he was a mighty warrior and that may be due to his situation.
Verse 3 says that in the land of Tob where a group of adventurers as the NIV puts it (The Message translates as rift raft and the NASB as worthless fellows) joined together with him and he became their leader. In a way Jephthah had now found acceptance even though it may not have been the kind of acceptance that was most healthy for him.
Well let’s go back to where the people of Israel were being oppressed by the Ammorites. They have lined up for battle against the Ammorites and they realize they need a leader. The Gilead elders (They were apart of the tribe of Manasseh) Jephthah’s own family members came and found him and in verse 6 they said: “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.” They had kicked him out of the family and region and then went begging him to return and help them. Kind of like Joseph’s brothers coming to the brother they had sold into slavery to beg for food, except they did not know it was Joseph.
Well here Jephthah speaks out either out of hurt or anger in the way he was treated. Verse 7 and following tells us what was said:
“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?” 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.
In verses 14-28 it tells of how Jephthah and his new army tried to make negotiations with the Ammorites to no avail and it would be good for you to read that sometime this week. It talks of the negotiations and the history between the people of Israel and the Ammorites. But after some lengthy talks verse 29 to 32 tells the story of what happened. I want to read this from The Message:
29-31 GOD's Spirit came upon Jephthah. He went across Gilead and Manasseh, went through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there approached the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow before GOD: "If you give me a clear victory over the Ammonites, then I'll give to GOD whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in one piece from among the Ammonites—I'll offer it up in a sacrificial burnt offering."
32-33 Then Jephthah was off to fight the Ammonites. And GOD gave them to him. He beat them soundly, all the way from Aroer to the area around Minnith as far as Abel Keramim—twenty cities! A massacre! Ammonites brought to their knees by the People of Israel.
One thing I want to note here is that Jephthah was not God’s choice. In the rest of the series on the book of Judges we see that God ordained Othniel, Gideon and the others, but not Jephthah. He was the people’s choice they cried out to God, but it does not say that God raised Jephthah up. However, Robert Branson my theologian on the self states: “God did not annul the covenant” with his people. As I read in verse 29: God’s Spirit came upon Jephthah. And we know what happens when that happens. Ka-boom!
In consideration of Jephthah story today, we may be able to think of people that come from difficult family situations. Some you may know may come from broken homes or have had parents that did not treat them very well or even hurt them physically. I do not have to look too far to see the hurts around us. Even working with some of the youth that attend the weekly youth group I see kids that have hurts and some are in foster care and may have been jostled around. We need to pray for them and for those we know that are hurting. Maybe you are here today and you have come from a broken family and the pain is ever so evident.
I love it when I hear of organizations that reach out to hurting kids and people and there are many groups in this city doing that. Groups like Big Brothers and Sisters and others where they don’t charge money to these kids, but they reach out to them. I am excited that we do that as a church here too. On Tuesdays and Fridays we open our doors to the kids in our community where they can come to a safe place and be themselves. They have some activities, learn Bible truths and have discussion groups.
In the story of Jephthah we see someone that was rejected by his family, but was raised up and God used him. We need to never give up on others because of their past situation, but rather we need to be willing to raise people up. God is not finished with anyone of us yet. We need to remember that God has a way of taking people that are least in our society and making them great. In God’s eye each one of us has purpose and worth and God has a plan. Time and time again God took the least and made them great. There is Joseph, Gideon and many other examples in the Bible.
With God’s help we can overcome hurts in our lives and come along others that are hurting or have come out of difficult situations and help them to do the same.
III. What mistake did Jephthah make
a. The vow
I wish that was the end of the story, but it is not. In verses 30 and 31 we read it already but I will read it again “If you give me a clear victory over the Ammonites, then I'll give to GOD whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in one piece from among the Ammonites” Jephthah makes a vow to God that whatever comes out of his house went he returns, he will sacrifice it to God.
Well this is where the story becomes a tragedy. You have to wonder what Jephthah was thinking. Did he think a sheep or a servant would walk out the door when he made this oath to God? To Jephthah dismay his one and only daughter was the first to come out of the house playing her tambourine and dancing.
Verse 34-40 gives us the account: 34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! 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 no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.”
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 her friends 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 tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
There is debate by many as whether or not Jephthah followed through with his vow. The Mosaic Law forbid such sacrifices and said that is what the heathens do. But in verse 39 it said the father did as he had vowed. We don’t like to think that’s what happened, but the text would indicate that he kept his word. This does not make sense to us, but it does speak to how a vow to the Living God is so sacred and should not be taken lightly. We all have heard of people that in a tough time have said “Lord if you get me out of this situation I will be a missionary in Africa or never do something again. We need to be careful with our words and choose them carefully. This also should be with our fellow man. We need to let our yes be yes and our no be no! We are all scared of those that volunteer to do something but never follow through.
One of the most devastating vows I can think of is the vow that the Haitian people made on August 14, 1791. They made a pack with the devil and Voodoo in order to get rid of the French occupation in their country. According to Reverend Doug Anderson who served as a missionary in Haiti until 1990, "Haiti is the only country in the entire world that has dedicated its government to Satan. Demonic spirits have been consulted for political decisions, and have shaped the country's history." Haitian leaders make no attempt to hide their allegiance to Satan.
Haiti, formerly known as the Pearl of the Antilles, was once a prosperous French colony where the Catholic Faith predominated. But since August, 1791, Haiti been plagued with hurricanes, floods, and civil unrest, with Haiti today being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. The countries like Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and the West Indies are all in the same demographic area, but none are even close to being as poor and devastated as Haiti. Is there a connection, some argue there is. Be careful what we vow!
IV. Conclusion
This morning we read part of Hebrews 11 . Hebrews 11 is known as the “Faith Chapter” or the “Hall of Faith”. There are many verses that talk about the different faith heroes from the Old Testament and surprisingly Jephthah is mentioned in Hebrews 11 along with many others that we see as spiritual giants. We may ask ourselves why in light of the conclusion of Jephthah’s story?
Despite whom he was and the mistakes he made, God inspired the writer of Hebrews to include him in the Hall of faith. And like I said we can learn from this story not to give up if we are down, don’t give up on others that we think are hopeless. Also, before we act or make a promise or a vow we need to think and ask ourselves, “Can I follow through”? And remember God is not finished with us yet.
