Let’s make a deal!
There is a game show, “Let’s make a deal” first aired on December 30th, 1963, and still airs today. In this show there are times that you make a choice and get a really great deal. But there are times that you can make a choice and get a “Zonk”. It’s all about the choices you make in the show.
I come from a long line of “horse traders”. In other words, the Meadows family are known to trade and make deals. I can remember my grandfather turning on the radio every day and writing down everything that was for sale or trade on a show called “Swapshop”. I think that is where the saying “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, comes from.
When I was 19, I had 18 cars. I was always buying, selling, and trading to make a better deal. Have you ever made any deals in your life before? Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? I have shared with you about the time where my High School sweetheart broke up with me and I told God if He would just bring her back to me I would serve Him the rest of my life. As Garth Brooks sang, “Thank God for unanswered prayers”.
Today I want to share with you a story that I found in my personal Bible study. I have read the Bible from cover to cover many times in many different translations, but I never really caught this story until recently. It is one of the sadist stories in the Bible in my opinion that deals with someone one making a deal with God. Let me give you a little back ground first.
Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute.
Did you notice that Jephthah’s dad and the region shared the same name? But the region was not named after him, because you can read about the region of Gilead all the way back in Genesis. It tells us that Jephthah was a great warrior. It may be because of what it also states. His mommy was a whore. I can only imagine the fights that he probably got into while he was growing up taking up for his mom. But we read on that he had some half-brothers as well.
Judges 11:2-3 Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half-brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.
He was kicked out of the castle you could say. My granddaughter, Aspen, is always pretending all the time that she is a princes, (and in my eyes she is) and so if I burp or pass gas or something to that nature, then she will scold me and tell me that I am going to get kicked out of the castle for not being proper.
Have you ever been to a place where they make you feel like you don’t belong? The sad part is that exists in some of our churches. If you don’t dress a certain way, or act a certain way, then you don’t belong. And that is NOT how it should be. We should be the open arms to welcome all into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It amazes me of how many professed Christians condemn others who are not living up to their standards. Why should we be surprised when sinners sin? Lead those to Jesus, then let Jesus do the cleaning up.
If you have not watched the movie. “Jesus Revaluation”, then I recommend you do. It is based on a true story about how in the 60’s, ‘Hippies”, were coming to Jesus. It was a revival that spread though out the United States. We need a Jesus Revaluation today, because He is the one that can take care of this mess the world is in today.
But we notice when he got kicked out of the castle, the company he kept. It says a band of worthless rebels followed him. People who feel worthless, gravitate with others who feel worthless. I work in an area where there are many homeless people. But very seldom do I see one by themselves. I think about the woman at the well. She went there in the middle of the day, not when the others did in the cool of the morning. She did so probably because of the way that others made her feel. She had a pretty bad reputation. But when Jesus came to her, she shared with this woman the water that she would never be thirsty again by having a relationship with him. He went to her when no one else would and afterwards she went and told others so that they could come to Christ as well.
But let’s look at the deal.
Judges 11:4-10 4 At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel. 5 When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. 6 The elders said, “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!” 7 But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?” 8 “Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?”10 “The LORD is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”
We see here the same people who kicked him out of the Castle, now needed him and was trying to make a deal with him. Come fight for us and we will make you our ruler. Something I’ve always tried to practice and instill in the life of others is to never burn any bridges. What does the Bible tell us to do? If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn and give him the other. I know that is hard to do. And there are times we need to separate ourselves from people who are doing ungodly things, but the point that I am trying to get across is that when we are done wrong and someone comes and asks for our forgiveness then we should forgive them.
So Jephthah accepts the deal and he sends a message to the king of the Ammonites and ask the King why he is waging war against Israel. The Kings says because you stole our land. Then Jephthah goes on and give him a long reply in verses 13-28 about this was something that happened over 300 years ago and it was his ancestors who refused to let the Children of Israel pass through to the promise land so God gave them the victory and the Land. But in verse 28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.
So now, like in the game show. Jephthah goes for the big deal. He tried to do it peacefully but the king would not listen to him, so now he knows that they will have to go to war.
Judges 11:29-33 At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”32 So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory. 33 He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.
The deal was that if God would give him victory over the Ammonites, upon his return, he would give the Lord whatever comes out of his house as a sacrifice. Notice it says “whatever”, not “whoever”. Maybe Jephthah had some stray cats, or a dog or something like that. But we read that God was with him before he every made a deal with God. “The Spirt of the Lord came upon Jephthah”.
It was Jephthah that initiated the deal. God never said, you do this and I will do that. I think a lot of times we do the same. God does not want our deals. He wants our obedience. That is what his desire is.
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
God does not need our deals. He does not want them. He wants our obedience. What in the world do you have to offer Him after all He has done for you? I am against prosperity giving. You have some people who in God’s name say your give me $1,000.00 and God will give you $ 10,000.00 in return. It’s wrong. It’s not in the Bible. How many of you would give this church a thousand dollars if you were guaranteed ten thousand back. We all would. Here is what the Bible says.
Malachi 3:8-118 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.
Now this is one of the main scriptures that people use in the Bible about giving 10% of your income. The definition of the word tithe means to give one tenth of annual produce or earnings, for the support of the church and clergy.
Does God need our money? No. Anyone who can pull money out of a fish’s mouth and walks around on streets of gold does not need money. Do you know why God does not make us all who give obediently millionaires? Because most of us could not handle the prosperity. We would be more dependent on our money and less dependent on God.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Money is not the problem. It’s the love of it.
So back Malachi 3: 10-11 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. This means the tithes should go to the church, not the charity of your choice. Then when we do that we have the promise.
If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
It does not say that if you give your tithe that you will get back ten times more than you gave. I says that you will get his blessings. That is more important than any amount of money you could get. That car with 300,000 will still run fine. The 20 year old dryer is working fine. And sometimes you may get money show up that you didn’t expect. You cannot out give God.
Back to Jephthah. He makes the deal, (on his own), and he has a decisive victory, it states that he crushed them. But now we get to the devastation. Judges 11:34-35 When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.”
Remember his deal. Verse 31 I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” He said whatever, not whoever. I bet the thought never crossed his mind that it would be his only child. I would be sick at my stomach as well. A self-inflicted Zonk. I believe God would have gave him the victory without any deal. But let’s look at …
The Faith
Judges 11:36-39 And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the LORD, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.”38 “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. 39 When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin.
Wow the faith of this young girl. I would be running for the door, but she accepted her fate. Reminds me of Jesus accepting his fate. And you had the faith of Jephthah as well. I’m sure that he knew he had made a huge mistake, but he kept his word because he know that he had to be obedient.
Hebrews Chapter 11 is known as the Faith chapter. Giving this long list of people who exemplified faith, like this is the best of the best. It starts our talking about Abel’s faith by bringing the more acceptable sacrifice that ends up costing him his life. Enoch taken up to heaven without dying. Noah building the ark. Abraham obeyed God to leave home to go to the Promised Land, and so did Isaac and Jacob. It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. The list goes on and on. But then we read in Hebrews 11:32-34 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.
Jephthah made the Hall of Fame. He didn’t blame his past or his circumstances. He Obeyed God. That is what God wants. He does not want our deals, He wants our obedience.
