Jephthah: Mighty Warrior and Mighty Fool

20th in a series on how men and women in the Bible

deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

Jephthah: Mighty Warrior and Mighty Fool

There are those that believe that if you are born under a particular sign of the Zodiac then you will have such and such a personality.  I think most of the descriptions are so general that you could make any one of them apply depending upon the day you are having.  A Pisces will tend to be otherworldly and mysterious, constantly feeling the pull of the dreamworld.  My particular sign, Leo,  is very independent but they need something to control and someone to admire and appreciate them. 

We can find validation in the fact that when we are born into particular circumstances then our personality will be affected.  The circumstances of our birth, the country, our parents, our birth order, our health and the socio-economic factors will in some way determine aspects of who we will become.  Jephthah, in the book of Judges in the Old Testament is said to be the son of Gilead and a woman who was a prostitute.  Not a great beginning for anyone even then.  His brothers later drove him away because they said “he was the son of another woman.”  That was nothing that he could help but he had a choice just like you and I have a choice.  Will he let how he entered the world affect who he will become as a man?

Jephthah became a leader in his own right and when the Ammonites began to be a threat to Israel the same people that rejected him called him back to rescue them.  Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”  The testimony here is that rejection doesn’t have to be permanent. Jesus was the “stone the builders rejected”, Moses, Joseph and King David all experienced profound rejection but through God’s wisdom , their obedience and timing, they became renown leaders.  

Throughout the Old Testament Israel is pictured as a prostitute who has thrown herself at neighboring countries and rejected the God who had saved her from slavery. God says to the prophet Hosea “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”  God is faithful even when his people are not.

God’s sense of humor and irony are not missed as He chooses to save an idolatrous nation by one who was born to a prostitute and rejected by his people.  Jephthah steps up and overcomes a victim mentality and the label of his youth and becomes the mighty warrior that Israel needs.  Do we know our worth despite past failures?  Where do we learn of our value if we have suffered loss and rejection?  What foundation can we rest upon when worldly success seems to elude us?

God gave Jephthah and Israel success.  Jephthah experienced the Spirit of God coming upon him and giving him wisdom and strength that were probably supernatural.  Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end well.  In his exuberance he said, “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Sure enough, his daughter greets him when he comes home.  This is one of those instances where the words of Scripture are there to show us what not to do rather than an example of righteous behavior.  His daughter seems to understand her father’s vow and asks to spend time with her friends before he fulfills his commitment.  I would contend that when a vow is made that is rash, unwise and otherwise foolish, it would be more honorable to repent and remember the nature of our Creator and who He calls us to be.

Can Jephthah, the redeemed son of a prostitute, mighty warrior and foolish father teach us anything?

1. Take responsibility for your life no matter your circumstances.  
2. Remember that if you have been rejected you are in good company.
3. God is sovereign and good.  There are times when we need to act, but other times when we just need to wait.  How do we know the difference?
4. Have you made a foolish promise to someone?  Be wise and discerning in determining whether you should fulfill it or not.
5. Where do you find your identity?  Job, friends, health, socio-economic standing?  What difference could it make if you find it in knowing that God created you on purpose for a purpose.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise  you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:13,14