Judges 11:29-33 // Give Dad What He Really Wants

Judges 11:29-33

The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and inspired him to attack Ammon quickly before they invaded. The thing that God inspired Jephthah to do was successful. It was not necessary for Jephthah to make a deal with God, he was already doing God's will. But Jephthah, like all of us, had some ideas of his own.
I don't know what he was thinking, promising to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house. It can hardly have been a sheep, goat, ox or dove. These are the things that God permitted the Israelites to sacrifice. Jephthah made an absurd promise, it was almost impossible for him to righteously follow through with it.
Sometimes in the heat of the moment, we make foolish decisions. What we do with the consequences says a lot about our character. But so does the kind of decision we make without thinking. In the case of Jephthah, he had a kind of religious devotion, but it was a bit egotistical. He was willing to make big promises, and be the big man of the moment. But he was not inclined to promise God the things that He had asked for. (See for example Leviticus 7)
Many times we Christians are like that today. We sing songs full of great promises to God and hold meetings that are supposedly to worship God. But unless we are actually giving God the service that He has asked for in His Word, we may as well stay home.

Judges 11:12-28 // Records

Judges 11:12-28

Knowing history can be useful. The king of Ammon was justifying his invasion by claiming that Gilead rightly belonged to his kingdom. Jephthah made a counter claim, defending Israel's right to posses the land. The king of Ammon would not relent, and Jephthah had to fight instead for his land and his people.
This reminds of another pair of warring monarchs. Satan claims this world as his rightful kingdom, and humanity as his slaves. Jesus had to fight to take us back. Jesus had to shed blood. Not the blood of others, His own blood. Jesus has kept careful records so that when He reclaims this land, there will be no need to doubt if it is rightfully his.
We should be careful to keep records. Tax records, life records, records of our spiritual journeys. This will help us when Satan or his servants try to claim us as their own. We will have records that we can use to be sure they are wrong.

Judges 11:12 // Diplomatic

Judges 11:12

Jephthah, in his wisdom knew not to go straight into battle. But to try a diplomatic solution first. It is a pity that we do not use this wisdom more often in our lives.

Judges 11:1-11 // Close to the Top

Judges 11:1-11

Jephthah had an unfortunate birth. The odds were stacked against him from birth. Jephthah was cruelly thrown out of home for the circumstances of his birth. Although he was bitter Jephthah made the best of his situation and became a leader of a group of bandits.
When the region came under attack, the bandits seemed like the best people to fight against them. The leader of the bandits, Jephthah was made chief of the clan.

Sometimes we are put in bad situations for no fault of ours. Make the best of it. Adapt to your situation and learn as much from it as you can. You never know how close you are to the top.

Judges 10:6-18 // Persisting In Prayer

Judges 10:6-18

Here the Bible articulates more specifically before the reason for Israel's problems. By worshipping idols, Israel was putting God in a position where He could not save them. Saving the Israelites would only make the idol worship stronger, since the idols would get the credit for God's salvation. To break their idol addiction God allowed the Philistines and Ammonites to raid the Israelites. This is the beginning of a long series of extensive Philistine raids. At this stage however, the Ammonites were the greater threat, overrunning Gilead and even crossing the Jordan to raid Ephraim, Benjamin and Judah.
The Israelites wake up to the fact that their idols are not saving them and ask God to do it. God refuses at first, until the Israelites persist and get rid of their idols, though they may have simply put them in the attic so to speak. Sometimes we need to persist in prayer for our own sakes. So we know we are truly repentant.

Judges 10 // Contentment

After Tola came another judge who seemed to create little drama. Jair judged for 22 years, had 30 sons and each one established a settlement in Gilead their home. In the ancient world, this was a success-story at its best. But we are not told anything else about Jair except the city he was buried in.

I suppose God's servants sometimes get the rewards for their right choices, even in this life. We do not know whether God will entrust us with earthly riches. But one thing must be certain: we must entrust God with everything we love or possess. Gideon's sons had been murdered a few decades earlier, and perhaps Jair feared his sons would meet the same fate. But if he put his trust in God then his days would have been full of happiness.

There is nothing better than being able to enjoy what you have.

Judges 10:1-2 // Faithful

Judges 10:1-2

Tola son of Puah doesn't seem to warrant much of a story. He was based in Ephraim, a central location, and judged for 23 years up to his death. When the Bible briefly mentions people like this I wonder if it is for a positive or negative reason. Is little said about him because he did little wrong or because he did little good?

Something in me, and I think it is in many of us, fears a life of obscurity. I don't want to come and go without having made a difference in the world. The desire for fame is a snare to many, because they make a difference for evil. Tola rates a mention in the Bible. Tola did his work faithfully for a long time. There wasn't much special to say about it but its impact could have been enormous.

Aspire to that, to be faithful in your work to death.