The Foolhardy Faith Of Jephthah Series

Topic: Sunday Sermon Series; Living By Faith

Text: Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. – NIV

Title: Foolhardy Faith of Jephthah (Part 1)

Proposition: God honor’s faith, even though at times it is exercised in a somewhat short-sighted, impulsive, rash, and venturesome way. But if we do so, it is never without consequences! The story of Jephthah reminds us of that.

Intro: Each person mentioned in the “Hall of Faith” outside of Abel and Enoch, because so little is really said about them in the bible, is displayed as people flaws! Although they displayed an obedient faith, it did have “holes’ in it!

Noah became drunk, and due to his drunkenness allowed himself to be uncovered, and because his youngest son saw his nakedness – he uttered over his life a curse:

Genesis 9:25b“Cursed be Canaan, the lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”

Abraham and Sarah had a lapse in faith and produced an Ishmael

Genesis 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.

Isaac wanted to give his blessing to Esau verses Jacob, Jacob deceived his father to obtain it, Joseph arrogantly shared his dream with his brothers, Moses killed an Egyptian, lost his temper struck the rock, and was excluded from the promised land…

The point is that the bible paints a picture of these characters, warts and all!

And perhaps there is no one that we’ve looked at thus far that this statement is more indicative of. A man named Jephthah, the ninth judge recorded in the book of Judges, whose name is placed in the hall of faith, but not because it was a perfect one, but in fact was one that had holes within it.

And that is why I’ve entitled today’s message…

The Foolhardy Faith of Jephthah!

By fool-hardy I mean, one that is a bit rash, reckless, impulsive, thoughtless and venturesome.

It accomplish things for God, what verse 33 states, it conquered kingdoms, and what verse 34 states was powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. – And yet it was not without cost! A painful price, an unnecessary cost!

And so - My proposition to you from the scripture passages that record Jephthah’s life is that unfortunately he wil not always be remembered for the faith he had shown, but rather for the fool-hardy, rash, vow had had made that had attached to it dire consequences!

So let’s begin by looking at first of all…

I. A Profile of Jephthah from Judges 11.

It is very short but poignant…he is introduced to us in scripture with these words…

A) His Personality.

Judges 11:1a Jephthah – ???????? - Yiphtach – “he opens"

Keith Krell - Jephthah’s name means “he opens,” and he is quite good at opening his mouth and speaking. Unfortunately, his mouth ends up getting him in a lot of trouble.

B) His People?

1. Tribe?

Judges 11:1b the Gileadite – an inhabitant of Gilead

a) Gilead - a branch of the tribe of Manasseh, of which Gilead is a descendant of.

C) His Profession?

Judges 11:1c was a mighty warrior.

ISRV- A valiant soldier

KJV- A mighty man of valor,

1. Mighty -?????? (?a·yil) a) strong, powerful, able

2. Warrior -????????? (gib·bo·wr) a) brave, efficient in battle, a mighty kind of man

The third thing that is introduced to us about this man, that make not mistake about it is meant to be a…

D) His Parents?

Judges 11:1d His father was Gilead;

a) His father Gilead was the offspring of Manasseh through an unnamed Aramean concubine.

1 Chronicles 7:14 The descendants of Manasseh through his Aramean concubine included Asriel. She also bore Makir, the father of Gilead. – NLT

Judges 11:1e his (Jephthah’s) mother was a prostitute.

1. Prostitute -??????? - zo·w·nah

a) Someone who commits adultery, and idolatry.

b) The Targum (ancient Aramaic paraphrase or interpretation of the Hebrew Bible) says, she may have been a concubine, which was considered no better than an harlot.

c) She was very probably a Canaanite, because she is called in,

Judges 11:2, a strange woman -KJV

E) Point?

1. Jephthah was not born with a “silver spoon” within his mouth.

a) He was born into less than ideal conditions!

Matthew Henry- Men ought not to be blamed for their parentage, so long as they by their personal merits roll away any reproach.