Friday - Judges 11 - The Faith of Jephthah

Hebrews 11:32 lists Jephthah as one of the great heroes of our faith. He had an ignominious beginning and an imperfect record, but he did believe God and was therefore blessed by Him.  He was considered a "mighty man of valor" in his day. That means that he was brave; courageous; fearless. Now, despite being ostracized by his own family, he nonetheless rose to prominence and when they got into some danger, he was invited to return as their leader.  Jephthah knew his national history well and used it in his attempts at diplomacy. He didn't succeed in avoiding war, but he did at least clarify the cause and defined perfectly what victory would look like. Our modern leaders would do well to follow his example.

Jephthah also had a good handle on the difference between his living and true God and the false god imagined by his enemies. He was nearly Elijah-like in his words of challenge against the heathen idol worshippers (Judges 11:24). When push came to shove, and Ammon wouldn't hear of peace, Jephthah's faith was rewarded by a special anointing of the Holy Spirit upon him. He arose with an oath to head out to war. His oath was that he would give God the first thing that came forth from his home when he returned from battle. This shows that he believed that God was going to give him the victory and that he would get to return to his home. With faith in God and fierce determination, he went out to battle. This chapter records for us that God gave him the victory over the Ammonites (Judges 11:32-33).

Finally, though Jephthah's vow to the Lord ended up costing him much more than he had imagined it would, his faith was strong enough to drive him forward to fulfill it.  His only child came out of his house to meet him when he got home.  And, his faith was also powerful enough to influence his only daughter to keep her responsibility in the vow even though she wasn't the one who had made it and it cost her much more than it cost her father. She remained a virgin all her life... never marrying and never having children.  It was a fate worse than death for a young lady in those days, but she complied.