{"id":27557,"date":"2023-08-16T22:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-11_12-27-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-08-01T22:56:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T05:56:59","slug":"judges-11_28-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-11_28-40\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Bit of Spirituality Without Wisdom Can Be a Dangerous Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judges 11:28-40\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 11:28-40.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 11:28-31 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the Spirit of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Jephthah made a vow to the\u00a0LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the\u00a0LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 28-31:\u00a0 The king of Ammon ignores Jephthah\u2019s attempt to resolve their dispute peacefully.\u00a0 Verse 29 says that, empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, Jephthah advances against the Ammonites.\u00a0 But whereas Jephthah was thoughtful and measured in the way he first corresponded with the king of the Ammonites (v12-27), Jephthah is not so careful when he makes a vow in verses 30-31.\u00a0 \u00a0He vows to the LORD that if the LORD gives the Ammonites into Jephthah\u2019s hands, Jephthah will sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever comes out of the door of his house to meet him when he returns.\u00a0 Notice that the LORD never required Jephthah to make such a vow.\u00a0 Rather this was Jephthah trying to strike a bargain with God.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s the thing with trying to strike a bargain with God: you can never win.\u00a0 God can\u2019t be bought.<\/strong>\u00a0 And what was God\u2019s response to Jephthah\u2019s offer?\u00a0 Apparent silence.<\/p>\n

Judges 11:32-40 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave them into his hands.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0that I cannot break.”
\n36\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the\u00a0LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.
\n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”
\n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.
\n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 32-40:\u00a0 The LORD gives the Ammonites into Jephthah\u2019s hands \u2013 not necessarily because of Jephthah\u2019s vow in verses 30-31, but because of God\u2019s sovereign will.\u00a0 When Jephthah returns home, his only child, a young unnamed daughter, meets him.\u00a0 Jephthah then realizes the foolishness of the vow he had made.\u00a0 Committed to letting her father honour his vow, the daughter tells her father to do as he had promised, and only asks that she be given two months to be with her friends.\u00a0 Jephthah grants her daughter\u2019s request.\u00a0 Her daughter returns after two months and Jephthah sacrifices her as a burnt offering.<\/p>\n

Notice that through all of this \u2013 in fact, throughout the entire story of Jephthah in the book of Judges \u2013 the LORD\u2019s voice is not heard.\u00a0 That\u2019s not necessarily because God was not speaking, but more because there is no indication that Jephthah was trying to hear from God.\u00a0 The fact is that so much of what Jephthah did was misguided.<\/p>\n

First, it was foolish of Jephthah to make such a vow to the LORD.\u00a0 As Proverbs 20:25 says, \u201cIt is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.\u201d\u00a0 Deuteronomy 23:21-23 speaks of the importance of keeping one\u2019s vows.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reminder that\u00a0before we make a promise we need to think through its practical implications for our lives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Second, how could Jephthah think that him sacrificing his child as a burnt offering was pleasing to God?\u00a0 Rather than requiring or condoning child sacrifice, God detests it.\u00a0 With the exception of Abraham in Genesis 22, where God tested Abraham\u2019s faith with the result being that no child was sacrificed, nowhere in the Bible does God ever require His people to sacrifice their children.\u00a0 In fact, the Bible specifically, repeatedly and vehemently condemns child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; 2 Chronicles 33:6; 2 Kings 17:30-41).\u00a0 Had Jephthah sought the heart of God, he may have realized that what he was doing was not pleasing to God.<\/p>\n

Third, and this could just be the lawyer in me speaking, but did Jephthah really have to sacrifice his daughter?\u00a0 For example, Leviticus 27 seems to provide a potential avenue by which people or animals dedicated to God could be redeemed by paying a price.\u00a0 Had Jephthah paid attention to the law of the LORD and the Scriptures, Jephthah may have been able to redeem his daughter so that she did not have to die.\u00a0 Yet it seems that Jephthah did not consider any other alternative ways by which he could fulfill his vow without sacrificing his own daughter.\u00a0 Jephthath\u2019s daughter was more creative in delaying her own death than her father was.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad that we, on the other hand, have a heavenly Father who creatively found a way to rescue us from destruction, redeeming us through His own Son Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Jephthah\u2019s story in Judges 11 teaches us that\u00a0a little bit of spirituality, combined with a lack of wisdom and a lack of knowing God\u2019s Word, can be a very dangerous thing<\/strong>.\u00a0 As a result of not thinking it through and not knowing the Scriptures or God\u2019s heart, Jephthah, in the name of God, created a system that didn\u2019t have God in it.<\/p>\n

Likewise, when we don\u2019t think through our decisions, when we don\u2019t know God\u2019s heart, and when we don\u2019t consult God for wisdom, we too can end up doing foolish, abominable things.\u00a0 So let\u2019s count the cost before we make promises, let\u2019s know God\u2019s heart and God\u2019s word well, and let\u2019s look to God not to negotiate for our desired outcomes but for wisdom on\u00a0how\u00a0<\/em>to get to where He wants us to go.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father for the lessons we could learn from this passage.\u00a0 Please give us wisdom to count the cost before we make a promise.\u00a0\u00a0 In our zeal may we not make important decisions rashly without knowing Your word and knowing Your heart.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 11:28-40.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 11:28-31 (NIV)
\n28\u00a0\u00a0The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
\n29\u00a0\u00a0Then the Spirit of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
\n30\u00a0\u00a0And Jephthah made a vow to the\u00a0LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,
\n31\u00a0\u00a0whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the\u00a0LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”<\/p>\n

On verses 28-31:\u00a0 The king of Ammon ignores Jephthah\u2019s attempt to resolve their dispute peacefully.\u00a0 Verse 29 says that, empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, Jephthah advances against the Ammonites.\u00a0 But whereas Jephthah was thoughtful and measured in the way he first corresponded with the king of the Ammonites (v12-27), Jephthah is not so careful when he makes a vow in verses 30-31.\u00a0 \u00a0He vows to the LORD that if the LORD gives the Ammonites into Jephthah\u2019s hands, Jephthah will sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever comes out of the door of his house to meet him when he returns.\u00a0 Notice that the LORD never required Jephthah to make such a vow.\u00a0 Rather this was Jephthah trying to strike a bargain with God.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s the thing with trying to strike a bargain with God: you can never win.\u00a0 God can\u2019t be bought.\u00a0 And what was God\u2019s response to Jephthah\u2019s offer?\u00a0 Apparent silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27560,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions\/27560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}