Jephthah

Good morning to you all. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this ongoing series on the book of Judges.

I'm grateful to be able to speak this morning. Last week, Zach spoke on Abimelech in Judges chapter 9.

Judges 9 · chapter mention

And this morning, our task is Jephthah in chapters 10 through 12.

So that's about two and a half chapters. We'll skip along and make our way through it somewhat quickly.

Would you turn there in your Bibles, Judges chapter 10 verse 6.

Judges 10:6

You can navigate there on your phone or if you're using the Pew Bible in front of you, it's on page 249.

We're going to start in Judges 10 chapter 6.

One of the things that we've seen in this series so far is something that Mike showed us right in the very first sermon about this cycle that keeps repeating in the book.

You can see that there's, at least on this diagram, seven steps to the cycle.

And it just keeps repeating as we go through each judge.

In number four, the people cry out.

In number five, God empowers a judge and he goes out and defeats the enemy.

And then that brings relief.

And in number six, there's peace in the land.

But the problem is this pattern isn't static in the book.

Each time the judge defeats the enemy and the land goes back to rest,

the people return to their sin in a worse way than they were before.

So the sin keeps getting worse and they keep becoming more and more like the Canaanites.

And their repentance becomes less serious each time they get back around to number four.

And there are more and more innocent victims caught up in the machinery of sin and chaos.

Last week, Zach talked about the people of Shechem who are slaughtered along with countless women who are just completely innocent.

So it's not really like a wheel that just keeps rolling down the road in a static way.

It's more like a drain that is emptying.

It's like a drain that's circling.

And it just keeps getting lower and lower.

Everything is degenerating in the nation.

As we're getting to see what it looks like when people reject God and when they draw away from him.

The people of Israel are getting worse and the judges are getting worse.

The judges are personifications of the sin of the nation.

So the first judge, Othniel, pretty good guy.

Very straightforward.

He just goes out and saves Israel.

The second judge, Ehud, he saves Israel.

But it's not quite as clean because he uses deception.

And remember, he plunges the dagger into the fat king.

Then you have Barak.

He saved Israel too.

But it's even messier because now he goes to Deborah.

And he says, I'm not going if you don't go.

And she says, okay.

But then, you know, the victory is going to be given into the hands of a woman.

So it's just a little bit more messy.

Then we get to Gideon.

He lacked faith.

And that story ended up in idol worship.

And then his son Abimelech comes up.

He's not even a judge.

But he becomes the king.

And he puts himself in power.

And then he's killing not Canaanites but Israelites.

And now we come to Jephthah.

And if this pattern holds in the book, we expect Jephthah to be the worst judge yet.

And he is.

This is a story that focuses on the consequences of bad leadership among the people of God.

And maybe you're saying, oh, good.

Well, I'm not a leader.

So this doesn't have anything to do with me.

I can just sort of check out.

But leaders are not just simply those that have titles.

But those who have some kind of influence over other people.

Some leaders do have official titles like pastor, elder, deacon.

Parents are the leaders of their children.

Some leaders don't have any kind of a title.

But even kids can be leaders, right?

Every elementary school teacher knows that it only takes one kid to wreck your year.

Right?

In some ways, all of us lead at different times.

And so this story does concern all of us.

Last year, Forbes Media Company, you know, they've got a magazine and a website.

Forbes Media Company published an article titled,

Courageous Leadership Style, Is It Harming or Nurturing Your Company?

Is Your Leadership Style Harming the Company?

Or is it making it stronger?

And this is what the article says.

The leader you are has a ripple effect that radiates through your business and your employees

into the market and to your customers, vendors, and stakeholders.

It can go even further than this.

It is highly contagious.

Whether you like it or not, you are either spreading rainbows

or spreading thunderstorms, and sometimes both.

Leaders are in a position of influence to either bring great good

to the people that look up to them or great harm.

And we're going to see that Jephthah causes great harm,

and that is going to serve as an important negative example for us.

So let's look at the story of Jephthah,

and we're going to draw some conclusions at the end

about leadership in the church and in our personal lives.

The story unfolds in five scenes.

The Lord withdraws.

Number one, the Lord withdraws.

Number two, Israel recruits Jephthah.

Number three, Jephthah's war against the Ammonites.

Number four, Jephthah's evil vow.

And number five, Jephthah's war with Israelites.

Oops.

Yeah, so we're going to move pretty quickly through these

and just hit the high points.

And I'd like to ask you to just follow along with me in your Bible.

We're going to kind of announce the verses as we go.

And so here we go.

Scene number one, if you're taking notes, this is in 10, 6 to 16.

Chapter 10, verse 6 to 16.

Scene one, the Lord withdraws.

Now our passage begins in verse 6 with the most detailed description yet

of sin and idolatry among the people of Israel.

In the Othniel story, back at the very beginning,

they served the Baals and the Asherahs.

And that was bad.

But now, it says in verse 6 and 7,

they served the Baals and the Ashtaroth

and the gods of Syria and the gods of Sidon

and the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites,

the gods of the Philistines,

and they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.

So they are just covering their bases.

From the compass all the way around,

north, south, east, and west,

all the surrounding peoples are just gathering their gods in

and worshiping them and forsaking the Lord.

And now, because of their sin,

look at what it says in verses 7 and 8,

he sold them into the hand of the Philistines

and into the hand of the Ammonites,

and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel.

For 18 years, they oppressed all the people of Israel

so that Israel was severely distressed.

18 years of military and political oppression by these enemies.

So, verse 9,

the Israelites cry out to the Lord,

and it sounds pretty good.

We have sinned against you

because we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.

That seems like pretty straightforward confession.

But surprisingly, this time,

because now we're in Judges chapter 10,

Judges 10 · chapter mention

this time, the Lord does not take their repentance very seriously.

You know, as a rule in the Bible,

the Lord is so eager to show mercy and forgiveness.

He is just primed for grace.

He is a God gracious and compassionate.

It only takes a hint of repentance,

and God's like, okay, I won't punish you.

But here, he becomes angry and even sarcastic.

He says,

Did I not save you from the Egyptians

and from the Amorites,

from the Ammonites and the Philistines before?

Haven't we been here before?

We've done this before.

I am a God of mercy,

but I will not be taken advantage of.

There is a limit, right, to God's mercy.

And now that the cycle has repeated itself

one, two, three, four, five times,

he's done.

He's out.

God's going to sit this one out

and just watch

while the people continue to be afflicted.

And he says at the end of verse 13,

I will save you no more.

Go and cry out to the other gods

that you've chosen

and let them save you

in the time of your distress.

So the Israelites try to negotiate with God.

They say,

We have sinned.

Do to us whatever seems good to you.

Only deliver us this day.

Right?

That sounds good.

It sounds like they're finally submitting to him

and that this time they're really sorry.

But it's manipulative.

The problem exists

not because God isn't doing

what seems good to him,

but because he is.

This is judgment.

And then unbelievably,

in verse 16,

they remove their foreign gods.

Which means that they had not done so up until now,

even though previously they had confessed

and repented of their sin.

So in verse 10,

they confess their sin,

but they didn't actually get rid of anything

because they're doing that now.

And so it says at the end of verse 16,

and God became impatient

over the misery of Israel.

He's frustrated.

He's impatient with their half-hearted,

half-baked repentance.

He's out this time,

and they can deal with this problem on their own.

And now for the rest of the story,

with one exception,

God is absent.

So we're going to get to see

what it looks like

when people just kind of make things up as they go.

They're still being attacked by their enemies,

and so now it's time for Israel

to develop a strategic plan.

It's time to set some goals.

It's time to find the headhunter

and do some recruiting

and clarify their vision and purpose statements

and get some new leadership.

And that brings us to scene two,

which is chapter 10, verse 17 to 11.

Chapter two,

Israel recruits Jephthah.

Now the Ammonites are on the move against Israel,

so the Israelites scramble to find a leader.

In previous episodes in the book,

the Lord has raised up the deliverer, right?

He's the one that raised up Othniel

and raised up Jephthah,

but now he's checked out,

and so they're going to have to go on their own.

And so they say in verse 18,

who is the man

who will begin to fight against the Ammonites?

He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 11,

we're introduced to Jephthah.

Number one,

we learn that he's a warrior,

so it makes sense

that he would be the one to go out

and lead the troops.

Number two,

we learn that he's the son of a prostitute,

and therefore he's not a rightful heir of the family,

and he's not really even a full member of the family.

And so his brothers drive him out of the home,

and they say in chapter 11, verse 2,

you shall not have an inheritance in our father's house,

for you are the son of another woman.

And so he runs away,

and he joins a gang of worthless fellows.

It says in verse 3,

this term worthless fellows

is the same word that describes Abimelech's hoodlums

back in chapter 9

that helped him kill his 70 brothers.

They're scoundrels.

These are worthless guys that are up to no good.

So it's probably a reflection on Jephthah

because that's who he's hanging out with.

So, so far,

nothing about Jephthah

gives us any confidence

that he is going to be the right kind of leader.

But hey,

he's a good warrior,

so he's going to get the job done,

and that's what they need.

So when the Ammonites attack,

they go to recruit him,

and this is why the background

in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 11

is important.

It tells us

that the people of Gilead

have already kicked him out

because he's a,

he's kind of a reject,

and he doesn't belong to the family,

and,

but now they come groveling to him.

Not because he's suddenly of good character,

but because they need someone

to lead them into battle.

And so he agrees,

and they make it official.

And that's scene 2.

The Lord has checked out.

They're on their own.

But instead of doing what it takes

to make things right with God,

instead of properly submitting themselves

to God and really repenting this time

to fix that relationship,

they just raise up their own deliverer

to fight for them.

And he may be a scoundrel,

and he may be surrounded by scoundrels.

He may not really be leadership material.

He's opportunistic,

and he's self-serving.

He agrees to work for them

so that he can be their boss at the end.

There's no indication

that he has any of the right motivations.

But the Ammonites are attacking,

so what do you do?

Scene 3.

Okay, here's scene 3,

chapter 11, verses 12 to 28.

Jephthah's war with the Ammonites.

In chapter 11, verse 12, it says,

Then Jephthah sent messengers

to the king of the Ammonites and said,

What do you have against me

that you have come to me

to fight against my land?

Well, this is a curious way to start

for a couple of reasons.

First of all, notice here

how he is elevating himself.

Why have you come against me?

You've come to me

to fight against my land.

That's interesting self-centeredness.

It's also strange

that he's trying to negotiate

with the enemy

instead of destroying them.

That's not typically

how things happen

in the book of Judges.

And he doesn't show any awareness

that the Ammonites have come

to attack as judgment from God

that God has sent them.

It's like he's just kind of

starting from scratch here

with these negotiations.

But he'll give peace a chance.

He'll see if he can

talk himself out of this one.

And what follows

in verses 13 to 27

is a prolonged negotiation

with multiple sets of messengers

back and forth

between the Ammonites and Jephthah.

And in verse 13,

the Ammonites say,

Well, it's a land dispute.

And then in verse 15,

Jephthah says,

We haven't taken your land.

And then in verses 16 to 22,

Jephthah recounts Israel's history

and he says in verse 26,

Look, you've had 300 years

to come and take back this land.

Don't bother me with it now.

And finally,

finally the Ammonites send word

that the negotiations are over.

They're just not going to deal.

And it says in verse 28,

But the king of the Ammonites

did not listen to the words of Jephthah

that he had sent to him.

This is all crazy.

This is not what happens

in the book of Jephthah.

The deliverer goes out

in the power of the Spirit of God

and slaughters the enemy.

And Jephthah's just sort of like

having these long negotiations

about land disputes.

And in fact,

if you count the words

in the original Hebrew,

Jephthah's negotiations

with the Ammonites

are 390 words long.

But the entire story

to this point

has only been 278 words.

So he's just talking

and talking and talking

and the messengers

go back and forth.

Jephthah is really trying

diplomacy here.

But it doesn't work.

They're coming anyway.

You know,

this is what

the headhunter

found Jephthah for.

This was his

big employment contract

to run the show.

He's a leader.

He's a big man.

He's going to get it done.

But compared to the early judges

like Othniel and Ehid,

this is pretty lame.

What is he negotiating here?

But he's going to have

to go to war.

All right, scene 4.

This is chapter 11,

verses 29 to 40.

Scene 4.

This is Jephthah's evil vow.

Here we come to kind of

the climax of the story.

In verse 29,

there's a surprise

that as Jephthah goes out

to fight against the Ammonites,

the Holy Spirit

comes to empower him.

That's a little bit

of a surprise

because it turns out

God is not entirely checked out.

This sounds a little bit more

like the pattern

in the book of Judges.

At this crucial moment,

God steps in

and he is willing

to empower Jephthah

to have victory here.

And yet,

Jephthah

can't

stop

negotiating.

He just can't

stop negotiating.

And so he makes

a vow to the Lord.

Look at verse 30.

Jephthah made a vow

to the Lord and said,

If you will give

the Ammonites

into my hand,

then whatever comes

out from the doors

of my house

to meet me

when I return

in peace from the Ammonites

shall be the Lord's

and I will offer it up

as a burnt offering.

I mean,

first of all,

he does not need

to make this vow.

We've already been told

that the Holy Spirit

is upon him

to empower him

to victory.

So this is completely

extraneous.

But he's still

trying to do things

his way.

He's still trying

to manipulate God

further

to force the issue

to try to find

a way to get God

onto his side

even more.

And so he vows

that when he gets home

from the battle,

whatever comes out

of his house,

he will kill

that thing,

that person,

that animal

and offer it up

as a burnt offering.

That does raise

the question,

what is he expecting here?

What does he think

will come out

of his house?

Well,

this is an artist's

reconstruction

from archaeology

of an ancient

Israelite home.

And you can see here

that it was very often

that the animals

did live inside the house,

you know,

cows and chickens

and goats

and things like that.

And the people

slept upstairs

and so on cool nights

the warmth

from the animal,

and probably their smells too,

would waft up

and keep the people

warm up

on the second floor.

So I suppose

it is possible

that Jephthah

is just being

completely foolish here

and he's thinking

to himself,

well,

maybe an animal

will come out

and I will,

there's a young goat

and I will sacrifice

it to the Lord.

But I actually think

that he has in mind

a person,

a member of his family

and I've got three reasons

for thinking that.

Number one,

in the structure

of the book,

we expect him

to be worse

than Abimelech

and worse

than Gideon

and those are bad guys.

Number two,

this gift to God

would have to be

extravagant

because he is trying

to force God

to help him

even though God

already said he would.

And number three,

there are other

biblical texts

and there are actually

other extra-biblical texts

that describe

exactly this,

extraordinary,

painful,

human sacrifice

as a statement

of serious devotion

to a God

to try and get that God

to do what you want him

to do.

Well, maybe you object

and you say,

well, surely not.

Surely,

Jephthah doesn't intend

human sacrifice.

Certainly,

human sacrifice

isn't in view here.

How could Jephthah

mean that?

But I think

that is exactly

the point.

Jephthah either

doesn't know

or doesn't care

what God has said

about human sacrifice

in his word.

He is being

completely reckless here.

It's a reckless vow.

He's intending here

to make God

an offer

that he can't refuse.

And this is what happens

when a leader

is not submitting

to God

and just makes things up

as he goes along.

Now,

Jephthah goes out

to war

against the Ammonites

and the narrator

doesn't care too much

about this battle.

It's not that important

to him

and so he sums

the whole thing up

in verse 33.

He struck them

from Aror

to the neighborhood

of Minith,

20 cities

and as far as

Ebo-Kerimim

with a great blow.

Okay,

all you need to know

is that Jephthah

won that battle.

All the details

are not important.

The focus here

is on what happens

when Jephthah

gets home.

It says

in verse 34,

then after the battle

Jephthah came

to his home

at Mizpah

and behold

his daughter

came out

to meet him

with tambourines

and with dances.

She was his only child.

Besides her

he had neither son

nor daughter.

And now

the great negotiator

has found himself

in a trap

of his own making.

It wasn't his second cousin

that came out

of the house.

It wasn't his uncle.

It wasn't his wife.

It was his only daughter.

And in her innocence

she comes out

of the house

singing and dancing

to celebrate

her father's victory

in battle.

And it says

in verse 35,

as soon as he saw her

he tore his clothes

and said,

Alas,

my daughter,

you have brought me

very low

and you have become

the cause of great trouble

to me

for I have opened

my mouth to the Lord

and I cannot take back

my vow.

Well,

it sounds a little bit

like he's blaming her.

You have brought me

very low.

You have become

the cause of my sorrow.

But in verse 39

it says,

At the end of two months

she returned to her father

who did with her

according to his vow

that he had made.

She had never known

a man.

So he did kill her

and he did offer her up

as a burnt offering

to the Lord

and it's important

that she had never

known a man

because that means

he did not have

a grandchild

and that means

his family line

is dead.

So it's a tragedy

but it's not just

a tragedy.

It's a tragedy

filled with irony.

She is coming out

to celebrate

her father's victory

but it only causes

her own death.

She is making music

and dancing

to celebrate

but it brings

her father grief.

Jephthah,

because he was

the son of a prostitute,

had been thrown

out of his own

family home

and now a child

has come out

of his home.

He had no share

in his father's

inheritance

and now his own

family line

has come to an end.

His daughter

will die

a virgin

and she does.

Jephthah had meant

to secure victory

in the present

but it cost him

his future.

This is what it

looks like

when leaders

wing it,

when they are

so detached

from the character

and the word

and the will

and the wisdom

of God

that they just

wing it

and they just

make it up

as they go,

it ends in

disaster,

even personal

disaster

for Jephthah.

Jephthah has

damaged himself

and his innocent

daughter has been

swept up in the mess

that he created

and has become

a victim

and unfortunately

this is not

the last one,

it's not the first,

or the last

innocent woman

in this book

that is going

to be sacrificed

as victims

by ignorant,

evil,

Israelite men

who are becoming

more and more

like the Canaanites

around them.

Scene 5,

this is the last scene,

this is in chapter 12,

1 to 7.

Jephthah's war,

not with the Ammonites,

but with the Israelites.

This story just keeps

getting crazier

and crazier.

Jephthah has just

killed his only daughter

and now he's going

to have more trouble

on his hands

because soldiers

from the neighboring

Israelite tribe

of Ephraim

are angry.

Now these are Israelites.

Look at chapter 12,

verse 1.

The men of Ephraim

said to Jephthah,

why did you cross over

to fight against

the Ammonites

and did not call us

to go with you?

We will burn your house

over you

with fire.

Interestingly,

this is another occurrence

of the word house,

right?

He had been kicked

out of his house

and his daughter

came out of his house

and now the Ephraimites

are going to burn down

his house

because they're so mad.

And look what Jephthah says

in verses 2 and 3

of chapter 12.

And as I read this,

listen to all the references

to I and me

and how self-centered he is.

Jephthah said to them

in verse 2,

I and my people

had a great dispute

with the Ammonites

and when I called you,

you did not save me

from their hand

and when I saw

that you would not save me,

I took my life

in my hand

and crossed over

against the Ammonites

and the Lord gave them

into my hand.

Why then have you

come up to me

this day

to fight against me?

Boy,

talk about a narcissist.

Everything revolves

around this guy,

right?

13 references

to himself

in two verses.

He is completely

self-centered.

It's all about

his own power.

But he's not going

to take this insult

from these neighboring

Israelites

and so he gathers

his men

and he goes to war

against the Israelites

in the Civil War

and he strategically,

he's good at this,

he strategically

cuts off their escape

and then he identifies

them by their Hebrew

accent

and kills them

and actually

the word in the

original Hebrew

is slaughter.

He slaughters them.

This is not

typical warfare.

This is not

taking a strategic

position on a hill.

This is hunting

down the Ephraimite

tribe and slaughtering

them and wiping

them out.

And in chapter 12

verse 6

it says that he

killed 42,000

of these Israelites

from Ephraim.

Now think about

the comparison

between that

and what he had

done with the

Ammonites.

With the Ammonites

he negotiates,

there's long

negotiations,

you know,

390 words.

The battle's very

simple and straightforward.

It was probably

a strategic victory.

But here,

against the Ephraimites,

short negotiations,

tempers flaring.

Jephthah wins the battle

but that's not good

enough because he

hunts them down

and slaughters them.

And the narrative,

the story concludes

in chapter 12

verse 7.

Jephthah led Israel

six years,

then Jephthah the

Gileadite died

and was buried

in a town

in Gilead.

And what's

interesting here

is it does not

say,

as it has said

earlier in the book,

that the land

had rest.

What a mess.

What an absolute

disaster

this has been.

Okay,

let's put all

this together.

We've got a lot

of moving pieces

here but let's

put this together

with six observations

and then three

aspects of application.

Okay,

we've got nine

parts to go here,

six observations

and three aspects

of application.

These are going

to go pretty quick.

First of all,

six observations

of key details

in this story.

I just want to

summarize where

we've been.

Observation number

one,

the proper application

of the book of

Judges is not

the sin and

leadership problems

in the United

States or in

your business.

Okay,

I know some of us

are thinking like,

oh,

I know politicians

like that.

No,

the proper

application of

the book of

Judges is the

church because

this is about

the people of

God and in

the Old Testament

the people of

God were in

Israel in the

covenant relationship

with the Lord and

now the people of

God are located

in the church.

So we need to be

thinking about the

church and our

own personal

spiritual lives.

Observation

number two,

the narrator is

very clear at the

beginning of the

story that God

checks out.

He wants us to

see all the

chaos and all

the selfishness

and all the

cruelty that

comes when people

just do whatever

they want without

submitting to God.

Observation

number three,

Jephthah is a

skilled leader.

He is pretty good

at what he does.

He's a warrior

and he does know

how to negotiate

and he does win

his battles.

And that blinds

the people to

his character

flaws.

See, that's the

temptation, right?

That is the central

temptation in this

story.

That the skill of

the leader and

his ability to get

things done is

what blinds people

to his character.

Observation

number four,

Jephthah is

motivated by

power.

He agrees to

lead because

they promise him

more authority.

Observation

number five,

Jephthah attempts

to solve

leadership problems

with purely

human strategies.

The fact that

God had empowered

him with his

Holy Spirit is

kind of beside the

point, isn't it?

I don't even know,

does that even

factor in?

I don't know.

purely human

strategies of

negotiating,

manipulating,

and harsh

vengeance.

Observation

number six,

the story ends

in disaster.

Jephthah has

killed his own

daughter,

his family line

is ended,

he has started

a civil war,

and he has

slaughtered 49,000

other Israelites.

You know,

when we consider

all the details

of this complex

story,

and we think

about its

relationship to

the rest of

the book of

Judges,

here is how I

would articulate

its point in

one sentence.

It's not rocket

science.

A leader of

God's people

who is not

led by God

causes great

harm.

But that's not

what leaders are

supposed to do.

Leaders are

supposed to do

the opposite

of that.

They're not

supposed to

bring great

harm,

they're supposed

to create an

environment for

flourishing and

health and

growth.

But unless the

leaders of God's

people are

themselves led

by God,

they bring

disaster and

pain and

trouble.

Now let's talk

about the

application of

this in three

aspects,

three groups,

in the church,

in the family,

in our personal

lives, three

groups, and

I'm going to

try and be

specific here

as I kind of

brainstorm this.

What does this

look like in

our lives?

Group number

one.

These are the

leaders that we

think of first

in the church.

These are the

leaders that have

official titles

like pastor,

elder, and

deacon.

God has placed

these leaders

over us for

our good.

They commit

themselves to

leading us in

our relationship

with the

Lord.

They sacrifice

their time.

They carry

our burdens.

They worry

about us.

They hear our

confession of

sin.

They visit us

when we are

sick.

They preach

and teach God's

word faithfully.

They create

opportunities for

us to grow in

our faith.

They have

incredible

potential to

strengthen our

faith and

redirect us,

and confront

us over sin

and teach us

what is right.

And I have

good news.

I have good

news.

Now that I've

stepped off the

elder team,

I can say this

without any

conflict of

interest.

We have

wonderful

pastors and

elders and

deacons at

this church.

They are the

real deal.

And I can tell

you that as

someone who's

been on the

inside.

They are

godly men

and women with

hearts that

seek after God

and we are

really, really

blessed here to

have these

people in

leadership over

us.

But if

pastors and

elders and

deacons are

not led by

God, it

is possible

to continue

in unrepentant

sin, to

lose confidence

in God's

word, to

seek after

power, to

mistreat

people, and

then to just

keep right on

going with

ministry.

You know

that's true.

You can be

the worst

person with

the worst

character, the

most godless

individual with

all of that

hidden sin, and

you can just

keep right on

rolling through

ministry.

It's very easy

to do.

There's a form

of ministry,

there's a form

of leadership,

it looks

Christian, it

sounds Christian,

but it's

lifeless and

godless.

There's no

spiritual power

in it because

no one is

actually listening

to God and

his word.

These leaders

talk about

him, they

refer to God,

all the usual

language is in

place.

On the surface

it looks like

spirit-empowered

ministry, but

they're really

just doing their

own thing.

They are leading

God's people, but

they themselves are

not being led by

God.

And here's the

catch, here's the

trick, and I think

this comes up in the

story of Jephthah,

that ministry

might thrive.

the church

might grow,

the budget

might get

bigger, they

might have to

go out and

build a new

building because

it's getting

so big.

But all of

those gifts

of leadership

and networking

and communicating

clearly are

probably leading

the people of

God toward the

wrong thing.

and the gifting

and the skills

that they have

are only making

that leader

more

more

effective

at doing

damage.

Like Jephthah,

he was a skilled

leader, but he

brought disaster.

Let me ask you

this question.

Let's think

hypothetically

here.

Would Jephthah's

daughter have

been better

off under the

rule of the

Ammonites or in

her father's

house?

That's an easy

answer.

Here's another

question.

If you were an

Ephraimite,

who is the

bigger threat?

The foreign

pagan Ammonites

pastor or

Jephthah?

A pastor or

someone who has

an official

position of

authority at a

church who is

not led by God

has the potential

to do incredible

damage.

God is absent.

There is no

submission to his

word, but the

leaders just keep

on leading and

the ministry just

keeps on growing

until eventually it

crashes and burns.

And we've all

heard stories like

this.

It's tragic.

All right,

number two, let's

talk about a

second group, and

that is parents.

Parents, God has

placed us in

authority over our

children for their

good.

No one has the

ability to

influence our

children like we

do.

We are ingrained

in our children's

hearts and minds in

a way that can

never be replaced

by someone else.

We have incredible

power to help them

grow and develop

and thrive.

We can teach our

kids to be good

conversationalists and

to have a variety of

interests and to do

well in school and to

eat healthy and to

play sports and to

set them up for a

successful life.

We can give them a

sense of safety and

security and a

knowledge that they're

loved, and that is

just going to give

them a great

foundation for

launching off into

life.

And we, more than

anyone else, are in

an influential

position to point

them toward Jesus.

There's a reason that

God calls himself our

father.

Because dads, we are a

daily picture of God to

our kids, and we can

help them love him.

But listen, if we are

not ourselves led by

God, we can be skilled

parents in many ways.

But then we can use the

great influence that we

have over our children to

destroy their faith.

The problem with Jephthah

was not that he was

unskilled, it's that he

was skilled, and that

was why Israel chose

him.

The problem with Jephthah

was that he was

self-centered, interested

only in power, he was

proud, and he was

harsh.

And I'm just going to

speak to myself here.

If we are not being led

by God, parents, we can

do incredible damage to

our kids.

We can teach our

children that church is

not that important by

prioritizing other things

on a regular basis.

We can teach our kids

that sins should be

hidden and ignored

rather than be models of

confession, apology, and

repentance.

We can teach our children

to be cruel toward other

people when we ourselves

laugh at what is wrong.

we can give our kids

entertainment that is dark

and violent and impure

and that will harden their

hearts to the things of God.

We can teach our kids that

God is untrustworthy and

unsafe when we are

unreliable and unfaithful

faithful and harsh and when we

mistreat them.

As parents, we are in

leadership over our kids.

That has been given to us

by God and they depend on us

and they learn from us day

after day in close quarters

and it's impossible to fake

it.

So we have to be dependent on

the Lord and to be people of

character who do things God's

way.

Finally, let's talk about a

third group of leaders and

here I'm going to cheat and

just include everyone.

Everyone has influence in

certain situations.

It doesn't matter who you

are.

There is someone who looks up

to you.

There is someone who hopes

that you will step up and

take the lead in doing what is

right.

God has given us to each

other to lead in various

capacities and at different

times and in different ways

for our good.

And in the church and in our

daily lives, we have the

opportunity, all of us, to

use that influence to benefit

other people and to point

them toward the Lord.

We have a responsibility to

use whatever influence and

resources we have to make it

easier for the people around

us and in the household of

faith to love and obey God

and to make it harder for

them to become discouraged

and to fall into sin.

We can be leaders in

protecting the vulnerable and

standing up for those who are

weak and need extra support.

Jephthah came from a difficult

background.

His mother was a

prostitute and that meant that

he was probably very poor.

He had been rejected, probably

socially, but certainly by his

family.

But he had leadership ability

and the problem was that

instead of caring for the

vulnerable and the poor, he

exploited them.

He used his influence to secure

his own power to increase his

own power no matter what it

cost the people around him.

teenagers.

There are other kids your age who

look up to you.

You have some kind of influence.

There is a popularity system.

I know about it.

We know.

There are other kids who look up

to you.

What are you doing with that

influence?

What are you doing with that

influence?

Are you leading the way to

stand up for the kid that

everyone picks on and makes

fun of?

Are you encouraging others in

your school or in your youth

group to do what is right?

Or are you using your

influence, like Jephthah, to

gain even more popularity no

matter how much the people

around you get hurt?

Actually, those are pretty good

questions for adults too.

Because every time we walk

into a room, we look around

and we say, who here is

greater than I am?

And who here is less than I

am?

And how can I angle in order

to influence, in order to

increase my influence and

power?

It's a constant temptation for

all of us.

When people look up to us, that

is a kind of power.

And we should say to the Lord,

Lord, this is a resource.

What do you want me to, who do

you want me to encourage?

Who do you want me to

protect?

Who do you want me to

confront?

Who do you want me to

organize so that we can all

serve you more effectively?

How can I use the influence

that I have, as small as it

may be, in this family of

faith and in my personal

life in order to honor you?

Or am I just using my own

influence to just gain more

power?

No matter who gets trampled in

the process.

Now, let's just finish with

this, some good news.

The Jephthah story is pretty

dark.

But God is still there.

He is there.

And as we watch the book of

Judges just disintegrate and

degenerate into moral disaster,

God is still there.

He's still there in the

background, no matter how much

Israel sins and rejects God.

In fact, it's about to get

worse.

Samson is worse than Jephthah,

and then after that, it really

gets dark.

And yet, God is always there.

And in fact, the worse things

get in the book of Judges, the

better God looks by comparison.

He is loving.

He is patient.

He is gentle.

He's forgiving.

He leads us like a kind

shepherd.

He lifts us up when we're weak

and gives us strength instead

of exploiting us.

And that is a model for us as

we discern how we can use our

influence in the lives of other

people.

God is worthy of our trust, and

it is important that we be led

by him.

And then that we lead other

people in a way that honors him

as well.

Let's pray.

Father, thinking about all these

things just reminds us again that

we need you.

We need your Holy Spirit to empower

us to do what is right, to point

out our blind spots, to help us to

see things in a new way.

We know that the story of Jephthah

is a negative example, but Lord, we

thank you that we serve a God who

leads us so well, so kindly and

gently, and has provided grace in

Jesus Christ for those times when we

have not measured up.

We know that in our church, in our

families, in our parenting, in our

ministries, we have a lot of

responsibility, and it's hard to

always get it right.

And so we pray for your help.

In Jesus' name, amen.