Judges 11 shares with us the story of a man that brings up good thoughts in some and evil thoughts in others. You can count me as believing he was a good man. His birth and childhood were hard. His father was Gilead, but his mother’s name is not known. She is referred to as “a harlot.” Gilead was married to another woman who also bore him sons. As they grew older, Jephthah was “thrust out” as they flatly said, “you’ll not inherit our father’s house.” These brothers excluded Jephthah. Can you imagine the hurt and pain that must have been in that little boy’s life? The ridicule and harassment must have been unbearable. Bacon said that “prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, but adversity is the blessing of the New.” If that be the case then Jephthah is a type of this Christian because adversity is a way of life for the child of God. But that adversity drives us to become better or bitter. This OT father was driven to become successful, overcoming the years of mockery and derision. The Bible tells us that he had a daughter. We are not told anything about her mother, but she must have been a wonderful woman too, along with Jephthah because they raised a child with such a kind, submissive heart. Her father must have been as determined to rear her with love and discipline as any loving father ever desired. This daughter was the apple of her father’s eye. He watched her as she played with her companions as a little girl and her beauty was only enhanced by the coming years when she would be married and begin her own family. Jephthah would have liked being a grandpa. The heartache he felt as a little boy was a heartache he wished on no one, especially his young daughter. He was determined to not let that happen to her.

While he had been excluded by his half-brothers he was exalted in his manhood. He fled to the land of Tob. This area is approximately thirteen miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee. He became a leader among men. Who were these men? They were men who had also fled into this wilderness area. The bible describes them as “vain.” Society placed zero value on them yet Jephthah was to rally them to himself and lead them in fighting for the king of Tob. His reputation, “a mighty man of valor,” was well-known in the land of Israel. He along with his “vain” men always were victorious. It is my belief that God can take a person that comes from a hard background and make for him a trophy of grace. Jephthah was that trophy. God takes underdogs and elevates them. His men were debtors, broken men, illegitimate, prodigals and orphans yet Jephthah drew them to himself allowing God to make them trophies as well.

Emotions were running hot and Israel needed someone to fight off the Ammonites. A delegation was sent to ask Jephthah to lead the nation of Israel against this tribe from the land of Canaan. After some negotiations Jephthah accepted. Not only were the leaders of Israel experiencing emotional upheaval, so too was Jephthah. Was he to finally be accepted? Would he have honor in Israel? Would his brothers apologize for their sinfulness? It is one thing to have a bundle of feelings inside but it is quite another to be able to make sound decisions during such a time. Jephthah made a good choice followed by a bad vow. The good, he sought the Lord and vowed unto the Lord. The bad, the vow he made was rash. C.I. Scofield calls it his “awful vow.” We should seek the Lord in all decisions in our lives. I do not think it is even a bad thing to make promises to the Lord but if you make one God expects you to keep it. Jephthah told the Lord, “Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace (victory) from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:31). I am positive he was expecting a lamb or a goat to be the first thing he would see but that is not what he saw. He saw his beautiful daughter, the apple of his eye, the one that was to be married, have children, making him Papa Jephthah. All those dreams were shattered in an instant. The judge of Israel with tears proclaimed, “I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot go back.” He would fulfill his vow because making promises to a son or daughter is important to keep but making a promise to God is even more important. His daughter, his only child, showed her heart. She did not run or rebel. She humbly accepted what her father planned, only asking for a time (two months) to go to the mountains with her girlfriends. Once the time had passed, she returned to proceed with the payment. Do I think that Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter? I do not. Let me share at least four reasons why.

  1. The calmness of the daughter (v.37). We are hardwired for living. It is in all of us to want to live yet this young woman is calm.
  2. Human sacrifice was forbidden in Israel (Lev. 18 & Deut. 12).
  3. The daughter wished to go to the mountains to “bewail” her virginity, not her life.
  4. She knew no man (v.39). The reality of the situation is, she died never experiencing intimacy in marriage and never giving birth to children of her own.

Of these reasons, number two is the strongest, in my mind, because Jephthah loved and sought-after God. “The name of the Lord occurs more often in Jephthah history than it does in the history of any other Old Testament saint…” (Whyte). Jephthah and his daughter most likely spent years together, smiling and enjoying each other’s company but the arrow that pierced their hearts would never be removed. She never had a child and Jephthah’s line died with them both. My last thought for this today is to take joy when and where you can because we do not know when it is our last.