[Pim Pendergast]

Hebrews 11:32 lists Jephthah among the heroes of the faith, along with the likes of Noah, Abraham and Moses. Many people question why the Holy Spirit guided the author of Hebrews to include Jephthah in the ranks of such godly men. Surely someone who sacrificed his own child should not be held up as an example for all Christians. But Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac because God told him to (Gen 22), and that was one of the very things that qualified him as a hero of the faith (Heb 11:17-19). God wants us to learn from Jephthah just as much as He wants us to learn from Abraham or any other hero of the faith. So let’s look at Jephthah’s story.

Judges 11:1-3 tells us Jephthah was a bastard child whose family wanted nothing to do with him. But when the Ammonites invaded Israel, the elders of Gilead invited him to lead the army against them (Jdg 11:4-6) because he was such a mighty man of valor (Jdg 11:1). But Jephthah had the elders over a barrel. He refused to lead the army until he was made ruler of Gilead (Jdg 11:7-11).

He tried to negotiate peace with the Ammonites (Jdg 11:12-28), but he refused the King of Ammon’s request to give back the land that Israel had taken 300 years ago. God had given that land to Israel (Jdg 11:23, 24b); who was Jephthah to give it away? After all, wouldn’t the Ammonite King himself do the same thing? Wouldn’t he take – and keep – whatever his god Chemosh gave him (Jdg 11:24a)? But “the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him” (Jdg 11:28). So God had no choice. He sent His Spirit upon Jephthah, who by faith had the courage to fight the Ammonites after making a deal with God.

Jdg 11:29-31 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

God promises to grant whatever His children ask for in faith (Mat 21:21-22), and He only gives good things to His children (Mat 7:9-11). Jephthah prayed for victory over the Ammonites, and God granted it.

Jdg 11:32-33 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Can you see now why Jephthah was a hero of the faith?

But when he returned home from battle, his daughter was the first to come out of his house to meet him.

Jdg 11:34-36And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

Jephthah took it hard when he realized he would have to give up his daughter, his only child. But he had made a vow to God, and as a righteous man, he could not go back on it, no matter what.

Ps 15:1, 4a Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

His daughter understood, but she was sad she would die a virgin. As we all know, women are saved in childbearing (1 Tim 2:15).

Jdg 11:37-38 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

Jephthah should not have waited two months to fulfill his vow. Anything could have happened to his daughter while she was in mountains; she could have fallen and broken her neck.

Eccl 5:4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

But Ecclesiastes hadn’t been written yet. Nonetheless his daughter returned safely to be sacrificed.

Jdg 11:39aAnd it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man.

The requirements for burnt offerings are set out in Leviticus 1, which describes the sacrifice of bulls, sheep and goats, and birds. The procedure is different for each kind of animal. For birds the procedure is greatly simplified. Jephthah’s daughter was bigger than a bird, so let’s look at the procedure for cattle and sheep.

Lev 1:3-13
3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.
4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.
7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:
8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.
11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.
12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

There are slight variations in the procedures between the two kinds of livestock, but they share certain things in common. The person making the offering kills the animal himself, slitting its throat, while the priests collect the blood and sprinkle it on the altar. The person making the offering then skins, eviscerates and dismembers the body. The priests make the fire ready and lay the head and other body parts on the altar. The person making the offering washes the entrails and legs with water himself so that the priests can burn these also on the altar.

Not everyone was happy about Jephthah’s victory over the Ammonites, however. The Ephraimites felt slighted that they had not been invited to join the Gileadites in battle. Again, Jephthah tries to broker peace.

Jdg 2:1-3 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

But the Gileadites were angry that the Ephraimites had insulted them, so Jephthah led the Gileadites into battle.

Jdg 12:4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

After defeating the Ephraimites, the Gileadites cut off their escape route and killed any who tried to return home.

Jdg 12:5-6 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Killing 42,000 Ephraimites seems to have been the last of Jephthah’s noteworthy accomplishments. The next verse records his death. Apart from a passing reference in 1 Samuel 12:11, he is not mentioned in the Bible again until we get to Hebrews 11. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). But Jephthah was among those who were commended for their faith (Heb 11:2, 39). The heroes of the faith are a cloud of witnesses who should inspire us to run the race set before us and look to Jesus, the Son whom God sacrificed on the cross (Heb 12:1-2).

[Mary Etheldreda]

Brother Pendergast, you have revealed one of my favorite Bible stories of all time. The daughter's obedience illustrates the kind of faithfulness I try to reproduce in my own life, and work very hard at training up my daughters to do the same. Today's society would tell me I'm being a "doormat" and that I should raise my daughters to be independent, but this is not the way of the LORD.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise; )
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Ephesians 6:1-3

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God
Colossians 3:22

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Hebrews 13:17

Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:16-17

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:22

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:14

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Galatians 5:13-14

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
2 John 1:6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5

I will never apologize for being faithful unto the LORD. I shall always speak up about it. I shall always promote it. I shall make sure my children learn these same things, no matter the cost.

[Levi Jones]

This is some godly preaching, Brother Pim. To have faith like Jephthah. We can only hope to become as faithful as he was willing to sacrifice our own children should God require!