January 9, 2021
Judges 11:29-40
Jephthah's Tragic Vow
Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” So, Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So, the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her, he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” So, she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So, he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Before I began to write this passage I told my wife that is one of the saddest accounts in the Scriptures. Did Jephthah give any thought to who might come out of the door to meet him? In my job, I travel a lot, and most of the time the first one to run and meet me was my sweet baby girl. She also was an only child and I'm sure Jephthah longed to see that precious little person who was the apple of my eye.
Should we, you and I be very careful about what we vow, will the Lord hold us to account? If you believe God’s word, in the book of Deuteronomy 23:21-23, it states the following; “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
Anybody no matter what their title is pastor, teacher, or deacon that is pushing a fundraiser and tells people in the pew, make a pledge, and if down the road you cannot meet the requirement, or if you move, it is ok to not do what you vowed. I will leave that to you: which word are you going to value, God’s or some person?
We had a family living down the street from us when we were kids and the youngest son was not given much chance to live, our pastor went to pray with them they were not believers, and yet they promised the pastor that if God healed their son they would be at church each Sunday. The son got well, they never came, not one Sunday, and as a teenager, he got caught up in drugs and brought much heartache to that family. He died at a very young age.
“When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. “ (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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