Jephthah knew the History of Israel

 

January 8, 2021

 

Judges 11:12-28

 

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”   And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”  Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,  but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.   Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So, Israel remained at Kadesh.

 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.   Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’  but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.   And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So, Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.   And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.  So, then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?  Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.   Now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?   While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?   I, therefore, have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”   But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

 

Are you a little amazed that Jephthah knew the true history of Israel as it came out of Egypt after being slaves for 400 years?  Can you see the value of not only knowing the history of a nation but being able to articulate it to others who have no understanding of it?  I recall one of Jan and my visit to an area in Canada and at the sight, they were very proud to share how they kick our butts out of Canada when we on December 31, 1775, sent a force into Quebec City, and it was a failed American attempt to invade Canada and rally French-Canadian support for the Patriot movement against the British.  I recall both Jan and I were shocked that we ever picked a fight with the Canadians.  As a citizen of the USA, it is important that we understand our real history and not some of the revisionary stuff that is being crammed into the minds of our children in public school.  

 

When you understand history as Jephthah did of Israel history, it gives you an understanding of how to give an accurate account to someone like the king of the Ammonites.

 

As a follower of Christ, we need to be able to give an accurate account of what God has done for us, to those we live with and around.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice