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Jephthah – Judges (4)

Sermon by  Thomas Thornhill Jr

Passage: Judges 9-12

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JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE (43)

Period of the Judges (4)

 

Tonight, we continue our “Journey through the Bible”, a study of the 17 time periods of Bible history.  Currently we are addressing the 8^th period – the judges.  Thus far we have addressed early judges with our last lesson dealing with Gideon.  Today, we pick up where that left off.

1. The Accounts
   1. Abimelech – Our text begins with Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon). His account is an example of the brokenness that prevailed in the land of Canaan.
      1. Recall that Gideon had 70 sons from his many wives (likely many alliances). He also had Abimelech through a concubine.    NOTE: Abimelech is never called a judge and acted wickedly.  In fact, it seems he desires to be a king – which God had NOT authorized at that time.
      2. 9:1-6 – He goes to the city of his mother, Shechem, and turns the people toward him. He suggests, “Would you rather have 70 rule over you, or just 1?”  Because he was their kinsmen, they agree with him and give him 70 shekels of silver “from the temple of Baal-Berith” which Abimelech uses to hire worthless rogues.  He goes to Gideon’s home and proceeds to have all 70 sons executed, but the youngest, Jotham, escapes.  The men of Shechem make Abimelech king.
      3. 9:7-15 – Jotham, then goes to the top of Mount Gerizim and cries out a parable. It is about the men of Shechem wanting a king, so they (he called them trees) approach various types of plants  – an olive tree, a fig tree, and a grape vine – asking if they would be king and reign over them.  Each one replied they were busy producing good things and were not willing to stop.  Vs. 14, so they turn to a bramble bush (a thorny hedge) and  it accepts, even threatening them.
      4. 9:16-21 – Jotham then applies the parable – challenging the men and declaring they had NOT acted honorably toward Gideon, who had saved them, and his descendants. Therefore, Abimelech would be a harsh ruler toward them and they would turn against him – anarchy in their midst and they would be consumed.   Jotham them flees
      5. 9:22-24 – Abimelech reigns over Israel for 3 years. But God sent a spirit of ill-will between him and the men of Shechem, for his crimes against his 70 brothers and the men of Shechem (NOTE: Both sides were complicit and to be judged by YHWH).
      6. 9:25-57 – records the downfall of Abimelech and Shechem. The men of Shechem began robbing the people of Abimelech.  Gaal, after worshipping their god and cursing Abimelech becomes a leader in Shechem and divides the city.  Zebul, ruler of the city (and ally of Shechem) contacts and warns him about the uprising.  Abimelech with four companies attacks.  Gaal confronts him outside the city and is defeated. Abimelech then attacks the city and defeats it.  He burns down a tower in the city and 1000 men & women die.  Next, Abimelech goes to the town of Thebes and begins to attack the tower there.  But a woman, drops  an upper millstone on Abimelech and crushes his skull.  Abimelech has his armor bearer finish him off, lest it be said he was killed by a woman.  With Abimelech dead, the battle ended and everyone went home.  Vs. 56-57, Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
   2. Other judges – Tola and Jair – 9:1-5 – two judges we know little about. Tola was of Issachar, dwelling in Ephraim judged Israel for 23 years.  Jair judged Israel for 22 years.  He had 30 sons in the land of Gilead.  NOTE: Gilead is a region EAST of the Jordan in the territory of Manasseh (North).  The next few chapters deal with oppression in this region.
   3. Jephthah – we now come to a controversial judge.
      1. Judges 10:6-18 – Vs. 6 – Israel again did evil and were serving idols from various people (they had failed to totally drive out of the land)
      2. For 18 years the LORD sold them into the hands of the Philistines, Ammonites. The territory East of the Jordan is mentioned (Gilead).   Also Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim were harassed west of the Joran.
      3. 10:10-14 – Israel again cries out to the LORD but He replied that He had delivered them sever times, “I will deliver you no more” * “Go cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
      4. 10:15-16 – they again cry to YHWH, “We have sinned! Do whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.”  THEN they put away their foreign gods and served YHWH.  “His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.”
      5. 10:17-18 – they look for a deliverer (judge).
      6. 11:1-3 – We are introduced to Jephthah – of Gilead. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot.  So his brothers from Gilead’s wife, when they grew up drove out Jephthah.  He dwells in the land of Tob with a band of “worthless men”
      7. 11:4-6 – When Israel was oppressed by Ammon, the elders of Gilead come to Jephthah and ask him to deliver them and be their commander.
      8. 11:7-10 – He does so if they agree to make him leader after the victory. They vow to do so.
      9. 11:11-28 – Jephthah and elders go to the king of Ammon asking why they were at war. Ammon mentions that they want their land back (300 years later).   Jephthah retells Israel’s victories in that region under Moses and how the reason they lost the land was because they attacked Israel.  NOTE vs. 23-24, ‘And now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God takes possession of before us, we will possess.  He also reminds them of 300 years and asks, “Why now?”   27, Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ”
      10. 11:29-33- Jephthah makes a rash vow. He made a vow to YHWH that if he was given victory of Ammon, that the first thing to come out of the doors of his house, he would offer it to the LORD as a burnt offering.   Jephthah wins and YHWH delivers Ammon into his hands.
      11. 11:34-40 – He returns home to Mizpah and his daughter (his only child) is the first to come out and meet him. When he sees her, he tears his clothes and mourns.  He has made a vow to God and cannot go back on it.   His daughter understands and is willing to submit to the vow.  After 2 months wandering in the mountains and bewailing her virginity.  She returns and Jephthah carries out his vow.  “She knew no man”.
      12. Because of her vow, “the daughters of Israel” for 4 days each year lamented her.
      13. 12:1-7 – records the men of Ephraim waging war against Gideon because he did not included them in his fighting. Jephthah explains the reason – they did not respond when did call them.  Therefore, he trusted in YHWH to deliver and He did.  Then the men of Gilead (Manasseh) fought against Ephraim, (by seizing their escape route over the Jordan.  They had a test of dialects – Shibboleth vs. Sibboleth.  We are told 42, 000 Ephraimites fell.  (Was this more punishment from God?)
   4. 12:8-15 – 3 more judges briefly mentioned.
      1. Ibzen of Bethlehem had 30 sons – judged Israel for 7 years.
      2. Elon of Zebulun judged Israel 10 years.
   5. Abdon – in the land of Ephraim judged Israel for 8 years.
2. Lessons to Consider
   1. Your sins will find you out. Sooner or later, God will deal with your sins.  For a while it seems like Abimelech got away with his sins.  But God dealt with him.  We need to remember this when we sin. We cannot hide it from God, so we BETTER take care of it.
   2. ALSO, when another sins against you and gets away with it, do not let that defeat you. In His time, perhaps in judgment, it will be dealt with.  Recall Romans 12:19 – give place to wrath…
   3. God’s patience, while long-lasting, has its limits.
   4. BEFORE you go to God asking for forgiveness you need to put away your idols and sins.
   5. Be careful before you make a vow, whether to man or God. But especially God!  Ecclesiastes 5:1-6, Psalm 15:1-5.  Note vs. 4 – He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.
   6. QUESTION: Did Jephthah sacrifice his daughter? The debate is unsettled with good arguments on both sides.  I will briefly mention a few, but not a detailed discussion because of time restraints.
      1. Those who advocate that he literally sacrificed his daughter on an altar, burning her say:
         1. It is the most literal translation of the wording.
         2. 11:31 – Some say the word for “whatever” (most translations) comes out should be, “whoever” comes out. IOW, he understood it might be a person.
         3. Leviticus 27:28-29 decares that something devoted to the LORD shall not be redeemed, including a person devoted among men, “but shall surely be put to death”.
         4. Jephthah lived in a land where human sacrifice was not uncommon among idolatrous worship. So it might not have been a shock to him.
      2. Those who advocate that being a person, he gave her to the LORD for life, not sacrificing her as a burnt offering say:
         1. Human sacrifices were an abomination to the LORD – Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5, Deut. 12:31, 18:9-13, etc. There is no account of human sacrifice DURING the period of the judges in Israel.  Though it was around them, it is NOT mentioned elsewhere in this book.  While later kings offered their sons – it was ALWAYS STRONGLY condemned – 2 Kings 16:3 (Ahaz), 21:6 (Manasseh) and brought the wrath of God.
         2. Being a man of God – our text shows him as one who believed in and trusted God. As such, he would NOT have participated in the idolatrous rituals of foreign nations.
         3. The law made provisions for dedicating people to the Lord – meaning they would totally belong to Him. This is plausible with the text and would be a sacrifice.
         4. Note that the text emphasizes: 1) She was an only child (11:34) and she was a virgin and knew no man (11:37-39).  This could point to the sacrifice.
         5. As to Leviticus 27: 29 – the one devoted in that text seems to be describing one condemned to death (a criminal) and could not be redeemed. Many versions, including the NKJV bear this out, No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.
         6. Also, the LOM made provisions for rash vows – Leviticus 5:4-6. He confessed his rash vow and offered a trespass offering to the LORD, a female from the flock.
         7. The fact that daughters of Israel lamented her (Judges 11:40) implies that what he did was not abominable (which a human sacrifice would have been).
         8. Personally, I lean toward this view.
      3. The faith of Jephthah – He is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 for his faith. NOTE: As you study the various examples of faith, you recall their flaws and failures.  They are NOT commended because they were perfect, but their faith was strong and directed toward YHWH without compromise.  That’s the point.  Their mention in NT scripture does NOT imply approval of everything they did in their lives.

And thus, we continue to notice the period of the judges.  It was a dark time, but God was always on hand WHEN they returned to Him.  As we live our lives, we can learn from the past.  In fact, that is the wise way to live.  Are you living faithfully FOR God?  Think about it!