An Impulsive Vow

In Judges 11, we find the only example of human sacrifice done by an Israelite that wasn’t condemned by God. This is not to say other Israelites did not do human sacrifice; quite the contrary, as God repeatedly punished and chastised them for not only worshiping other gods but for offering their children to those gods.

The story of Jephthah and his daughter is one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the Old Testament to me.

Jephthah doesn’t start off well in life, through no fault of his own… he is a bastard. Not only that, but his mother was a prostitute. Not a well-favored social position in his time. After he married and time had passed, his own sons, when they had grown, turned on him and basically ran him out of town and out of inheriting.

Later after he had left Gilead, a problem arose between the Gileadites and the Ammonites. Solution: Jephthah was a mighty man of valor and they needed help, so the elders of Gilead went out to obtain Jephthah’s assistance.

His answer was predictably, “No way! You kicked me out and now that things are bad, you’re all nice to me?!” Jephthah’s condition for helping subdue the Ammonites was to be given headship over Gilead… but only if he won. The elders of Gilead agreed.

In the heat of the moment, right before he went into battle with the Ammonites, Jephthah cried out to the Lord with an impulsive vow. I can imagine his thought process. He needed so desperately to win this battle in order to regain his position and earn lordship over those who had so despised him that he was willing to promise God anything in order to have his honor restored.

He promised he would sacrifice, as a burnt offering, whatever first came out of the doors of his house upon his peaceful return, having beaten the Ammonites.

God listened and the Ammonites were thoroughly beaten that day. Triumphant, Jephthah returned to his house, only to have his only daughter, his only child, come out to greet him with excitement.

A promise was a promise and his daughter agreed that he needed to perform his oath to the Lord, especially since the Lord has fulfilled His end of the agreement. What strength of character! She knew the fulfillment of her father’s oath would involve a horrible death for her, but her focus was on keeping a promise to God.

After two months of bewailing her virginity with her friends, she returned to her father and he sacrificed her to the Lord in fulfillment of the impulsive vow he had made.

Pride and impulsiveness do not go well together. It was only because of his shattered honor and reputation and the possibility of not only regaining this, but in being able to lord it over those who had turned him out, that Jephthah accepted his mission in the first place.

His moment of revenge meant so much to him and so clouded his judgment that he rashly promised God the life of whatever came out of his house to meet him. What a terrible thing! What was he thinking would come out the door first? A cat? A goat? His servant? The horror is unimaginable!

Jephthah’s impulsiveness is highlighted by the strength of character his daughter had. I have to wonder if Jephthah would have gone through with the sacrifice if his daughter had not been so strong of character and honor. Her first response to him was not of selfishness, but one of firm honor and commitment to God. Her father must do what he had promised, especially since the Lord had delivered Jephthah’s enemies into his hands. Her personal requests were second.

Not only did Jephthah’s daughter yield to her father’s oath, but after the two months of lamenting she had requested, she returned to her father. She didn’t run away, but with honor, dignity and strong character she came back to what awaited her.

As horrible as it was, Jephthah’s honor and character were strong too… he fulfilled the oath he had made to the Lord and sacrificed his daughter to Him.

The only example of human sacrifice to God in the entire Bible… a direct result of pride.

Feminism and the Bible

One issue in today’s society is the rampant feminism staring at young women everywhere they go. In godly homes, the girls are raised with the expectation that one day they will become godly wives and mothers; keepers of the home and educators of the children. This mindset comes as direct contradiction to how girls are being raised outside of a godly home. Their training involves choosing a career and obtaining the education necessary to make that career a reality; they are prepared to enter the workforce – a world for men, not women.

Do I believe that women should not be educated? Absolutely not! Women are the ones who will be raising the next generation of humans… it would behoove their progeny to be well-educated.

Am I saying women should never work? Absolutely not! I believe very firmly in industrious women, but I also believe that they should focus on working from the home, in families, or near the home as opposed to being a career woman working away from home with other women’s husbands all day, five days a week.

A frequently raised topic is that of women in authority over men; a situation which occurs often in the workforce. Some contend it is not a biblical way to do things while others argue there is nothing wrong with it. One of the most quoted sections of the Bible in support of woman leadership is that of Deborah… and it is here I have to smile.

In reading the story of Deborah carefully, some interesting things come to light which do not at all argue for the position of women in authority, but work against it. Deborah was a judge, that is true, a position held (as far as we know) by men up to that point. Some like to pull out that Deborah was not only a judge, but led Barak and his army to victory against Sisera. Or did she?

By reading, we discover that Deborah told Barak that he was to go up against Sisera and God would deliver not only Sisera, but his entire army into his hand; Barak’s victory would be complete. Notice there is no mention of her going with him.

I’m not sure what Barak’s issue was, but he said the only way he would go is if Deborah went with him. Why, I’m not sure. Maybe he thought God’s presence would be assured if His judge was with him in battle… don’t know. Deborah agreed to go, but notice what she said to Barak.

The battle against Sisera would still be won, but Barak would now receive none of the glory for this. God would go before him and all the armies would be routed and destroyed, but Barak’s mission would have been for naught as he would get no credit for his military prowess. Not only that, but the life of Sisera would not be taken by him, but by a woman.

The story of Deborah is not one of females taking authority and surging to the forefront of battles and major events. Her story is one of Barak’s shame and to his discredit. Because Barak could not be a man and do what God had told him to do, God sent the consequences of no credit to him and Sisera’s life taken by a woman… not at all a triumph for the feminist camp.

So next time someone pulls out the example of Deborah leading the men, remind them of the full story and how God used some strong women to fill in gaps where men failed to be manly… an act that was considered shameful and lacking in valor.

Something else I noticed from today’s reading has nothing to do with feminism and the Bible, but rather with something Jesus told his disciples as they headed to the Mount of Olives, just hours before he was to be crucified. He asked his disciples to buy swords… and apparently they had at least two in the Garden of Gethsemane.

I have always been puzzled by the fact that Peter “just happened” to have a sword on him, especially since Jesus’ ministry wasn’t directed at taking over things by violence. But here in Luke, I found the answer – Jesus told them to buy swords just before going to Gathsemane… don’t know why, but now I know how Peter got the sword he cut off the High Priest’s servant’s ear. J