October 11th, 2015 by Samir Massouh

Good morning. You may be seated. This is time for our children to go to your Sunday school classes and learn about the Lord.

May God bless you as you go to Sunday school.

The last several weeks we have been looking at the question, can God use me?

Is there really a place for me? Can I be used?

And so we have looked at various people who are in some ways oddballs.

They don't exactly fit a typical group of people.

We saw that Ehud was a left-handed judge in a society dominated by right-handed people.

Deborah was a woman in a society dominated by men.

Again, Gideon is mostly a coward who needs constantly to be assured that he's okay, that God is going to be with him.

And he keeps requesting for signs that God would assure him.

And today we look at Jephthah in Judges chapter 11 and 12.

Judges 11 · chapter mention

Jephthah is a very interesting judge.

There are two judges that I think are extremely interesting.

Jephthah happens to be one of them.

The life of Jephthah is in chapters 11 and 12.

And it is looking at two incidents.

But the two incidents are connected with each other.

So they're not just two separate, unrelated incidents.

There is an overarching theme which we will see.

So let's begin first by looking at Jephthah.

And let's turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of Judges chapter 11.

Judges 11 · chapter mention

If you look at your bulletin, you will also see that on the back I try to help you follow what I'm trying to say.

So Jephthah, in verse 1, Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.

His father was Gilead.

His mother was a prostitute.

His mother was a prostitute.

Gilead's wife, Gilead's legitimate wife, also bore him sons.

And when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away.

You're not going to get any inheritance in our family, they said, because you are the son of another woman.

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tov,

where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him.

The problem with Jephthah is many.

First of all, his mother is a prostitute.

So he is clearly an outsider in Israel.

He would never be treated with honor or dignity or respect or anything like that.

Socially, he's an outcast.

So he has no family.

And his half-brothers, who have the same father but don't have the same mother, drove him away.

You're not going to get any inheritance in our family.

And so he left to the land of Tov.

Jephthah has no family, no country, and no future.

When we look at that incident, it echoes some things.

When we think about brothers getting rid of their brother, perhaps you might recall Genesis and the story of Joseph.

But in the case of Joseph, it's not because he was illegitimate.

In the case of Joseph, it was because his brothers were jealous of him.

They suspected he's going to be the leader in the family, and they didn't want him to be.

And so they got rid of him.

So Joseph is expelled by his family and sold as a slave to Egypt.

And unless God had intervened, that would have been the end of Joseph, a slave unknown somewhere in Egypt with no record and nothing.

But God intervened.

So Joseph reminds us of that situation.

But so does David.

What we have in David is something similar to this.

Saul is jealous of this young man who is becoming popular with the masses.

And so David marries Saul's daughter.

But as Saul's jealousy increases, David's life is in danger.

He becomes a fugitive.

And about 400 people join him in his fugitive.

So this is starting to echo the life of David.

But just as Joseph ended on a great note, and David ended on a great note, Jephthah does not.

And we'll have to figure out why.

When they seem to be on the same path, heading in the same direction, Jephthah is not.

In any case, Jephthah is expelled from his country.

And he is a vagabond.

He is like Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest.

And Israel is in danger.

They want a leader.

They want a leader to help them.

So they come to him, not because they love him, not because they care about him, but because they need him as a warrior.

And he doesn't trust them.

And so he makes them take an oath.

That is the first oath.

That is a preview of other things to happen.

And so, in any case, they said, you know, if you lead us, we'll make you the leader and the commander.

And Jephthah doesn't believe them, doesn't trust them, but he decides to do it.

Because Israel is at war, this brings us to the second issue.

But before we go to the second issue, I want you to think about that.

What happens to people who feel that their family doesn't love them, that they're not accepted?

I hope none of you has experienced that.

I really hope so.

I hope you all come from healthy families where your parents love you, where they cherish you, where they esteem you, where they would do anything for you.

I really hope that that is the case.

And, of course, rejection goes in various degrees.

Rejection is not just one event.

It's a spectrum.

I can speak from my own life.

We grew up in an average family in Lebanon.

We are not, by any stretch of the imagination, wealthy.

We are actually fairly poor.

And my father became convinced that the way to come out of poverty is through education.

And so he wanted to make sure that all of us went to good schools, got a good education, and were able to improve our state in life.

For that reason, and because in education I was extremely competitive and could compete very hard and do very, very well in college and in school,

I was sent to America to get a Western education, which is a lot better than Middle Eastern education,

and hopefully that would open doors.

My father wanted me to be a medical doctor.

There are 14 cousins of us.

Eight are medical doctors.

And my father thought that I was the smartest of them all, but that's, of course, only his opinion.

My uncle wouldn't agree with him.

So he wanted me to worship, to study medicine.

His daily urging was, become a doctor, make a lot of money.

Become a doctor, make a lot of money.

In many ways, money was my father's God.

In many ways, that was.

And so he thought, if I come to America, I'd become a doctor, I'd make a lot of money.

And I'm sure I would have.

I have two cousins who are doctors, and both of them, either one of them, makes four times more than I make as a professor.

Four times.

Sometimes I think to myself, why didn't I listen to my father?

You know, I wouldn't be driving Toyotas, I'd be driving Rose Voices.

I wouldn't be living in Kenosha, I'd be living in Beverly Hills.

So when my father found out that I'm interested in questions about truth and reality and wanted to major in philosophy, he was really, really disappointed in me.

He thought I was wasting my time and wasting my life and wasting my talents, asking questions, what's ultimate reality?

How do we know what we know?

And all these fascinating questions in epistemology.

After I became a Christian and decided that God was calling me to be a professor, he was even more disappointed in me.

His advice to me was, become a doctor, make as much money as you can, and then tithe to the church.

And that's all your relationship with God.

My relationship with God would have been reduced to tithing.

You know, I write God a check and our account is fulfilled.

He couldn't understand that I would desire God in a more deeper way than that.

But God has his own sense of humor.

When my father was 70 years old, he became very sick.

For the first time in his life he had ever been sick.

The nurse that took care of him was a Christian.

And what I had failed for about 20 years to do, she succeeded.

She led him to the Lord at the age of 70.

I remember when he was on his deathbed, he said to me,

Samir, I'm sorry, I never told you I loved you.

And that was true.

I don't remember ever once being told that he loved me.

So, I am not sold into slavery into Egypt, but I think I know a little bit about rejection.

And I think for that reason I esteem my heavenly father a lot more than if I had wonderful uncles and aunts.

And then that maybe God's love wouldn't mean that much to me.

But it means a lot to me.

Because God loves me at a time that I didn't think anybody else in our family did.

So, Jephthah is in a similar but far worse situation.

He has no position of honor.

His mother is a prostitute.

He's in exile from his country.

And he has no future.

But he does have a daughter.

He does have one daughter.

No sons.

Just one daughter.

So, he wants to go to battle.

And he takes a vow.

And the vow is rather stupid.

So, look at chapter 11, verse 29.

Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.

He crossed Gilead and Manasseh.

Passed through Mizpah of Gilead.

And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

Ammonites would be modern day Jordan.

And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord.

If you give the Ammonites into my hands.

If I have victory.

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 burn offering.

Whoever first comes out.

Do dogs know how to come out.

And greet you when you've had victory.

Do dogs know that.

I wonder.

Whether he was thinking about a human being.

Or whether he was just saying.

You know, whoever comes out, comes out.

But he makes this foolish vow.

Whoever comes out first.

Will be offered as a sacrifice.

He does have the victory.

And his daughter comes out.

So, he has no family.

He has no country.

He has no future.

He does have a daughter.

And guess what he has just finished doing?

Putting himself in a situation to lose his daughter.

The problem here is that this is a vow.

And it is a foolish vow.

Nobody should make these kinds of vows.

But there are vows in the scriptures.

And maybe we should look at a couple of those vows.

Just to figure out whether we as Christians should make vows.

Or whether we should avoid it like a plague.

Take a look at Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

This is an interesting passage.

I'll keep you up thinking about it.

Genesis 28.

Look at Genesis 28 verses 20 through 22.

Genesis 28:20–22

So, chapter 28 verses 20 through 22.

Then Jacob made a vow saying,

If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey.

And I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear.

So that I may return safely to my father's house.

Then the Lord will be my God.

If God does these things for me, he will be my God.

I want you to just to think for a minute.

And I'm not going to give you the answer.

Is he pledging or is he bargaining?

Think about it.

Is he making a deal with God?

Or is he pledging?

It depends on, I suppose, how you choose to interpret it.

A much more nobler vow is in 1 Samuel chapter 9.

1 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

That is the vow of Hannah.

So, in 1 Samuel chapter 9.

1 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 9.

1 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 9.

1 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

1, 9.

Once they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh,

Hannah stood up.

Now Eli the priest was sitting on the chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple.

In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.

And she made a vow saying,

O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me

and not forget your servant but give her a son,

then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life.

And no razor will ever be used on his head.

It's obvious that Jacob is asking God for things for himself.

Here she is asking for things for herself.

But she's not going to keep the child and benefit and enjoy him, etc.

She's going to give him back to God.

But it is a vow.

We have another stupid vow.

King Saul.

1 Samuel 14.

He is having victory.

They are in a battle.

And in 1 Samuel 14, 24.

1 Samuel 14, 24.

Now the men of Israel were in distress that day

because Saul had bound the people under an oath,

saying,

Cursed be any man who eats food

before evening comes,

before I have avenged myself on my enemies.

So none of the troops tasted food.

So they are fighting hard

and they're not eating

because Saul made a vow

that they wouldn't eat until the victory came.

And so here they were,

tired, exhausted,

fatigued,

fighting hard,

but they can't eat.

His own son had not heard about that.

He wasn't aware that such a vow had been made

and so he finds honey and he eats it.

And his father wants to kill him.

Even though he didn't know about the vow,

but Saul was going to kill Jonathan.

And then of course,

another vow is in Mark chapter 6,

Mark 6:22

verse 22.

It is the vow of Herod Antipas.

When Salome danced in front before him,

he gave her that foolish vow,

I'll give you anything you want to

up to half of my kingdom.

And she said,

give me the head of John the Baptist.

And he didn't want to,

but he had made a vow

in front of his officers

and didn't want to embarrass himself.

So there are vows,

and some of them good

and some of them awful.

Some result in the better

and some result in the worse.

How are we to think of Japheth's vow?

Let me suggest a couple options.

Turn to Micah chapter 6, verse 6.

Micah 6:6

Micah 6, 6 is a very important passage.

It really is extremely important.

In many, many Jewish circles,

it is considered the summary

of the ethical statements

of the Old Testament.

Jesus quotes it

and calls two of the commandments

the most important.

You can see that in Matthew 23, 23.

But in Micah chapter 6, verse 8,

Micah 6:8

Micah knows that he has sinned against God

and he's asking himself,

what does God want me to do?

How do I know

that I have done enough?

Let's say in an outburst of anger

you insulted your wife

and then you want to be reconciled

with her.

What's enough?

Chocolate?

Flowers?

Chocolate and flowers?

Chocolate, flowers, and eating out?

How do you know

that you've done enough?

So Micah is thinking about

something similar

in Micah 6, 6.

With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him

with burnt offerings?

With a calf one year old?

A calf one year old

would be more expensive

than burnt offerings.

Will the Lord be pleased

with thousands of rams?

Ten thousand rivers of oil?

And then he's thinking,

what's the most expensive thing

I've got?

My child.

Shall I offer my firstborn

for my transgression,

the fruit of my body

for the sin of my soul?

He is contemplating,

maybe I should sacrifice

my own child.

Of course,

had he done that,

he would have compounded

the situation with murder

on top of whatever else

he had done.

And then he receives the answer,

he has showed you,

O man,

what is good.

And what does the Lord

require of you?

To act justly,

to love mercy,

and to walk with your God.

So,

maybe,

maybe Jephthah

is the kind of person

who is

so sensitive

that he is willing

to admit

to anything

you accuse him of.

That whether he did it

or not,

he's willing to admit it.

Part of the plot

of Brother Skarmazov.

Or,

maybe,

he is thinking,

my sin

is so big,

little sin,

little punishment,

medium-sized sin,

medium-sized punishment,

big sin,

big punishment,

humongous sin,

humongous punishment,

therefore,

the life of my son.

I don't know.

We're not told

what was going on

in Jephthah's mind.

And I don't know

whether he was bargaining

with God or not.

But in any case,

he makes the vow.

You need to realize,

first of all,

that if he wanted

to keep his vow,

no priest in Israel

would allow him.

human sacrifices

would not have been

permitted in Israel.

Maybe he would have

to take her alone

to his own altar

and kill her there.

But to take her

to a priest

and ask the priest

to offer her

as a sacrifice

would be completely

forbidden.

The second thing

I want you to know

that the worst king

in Israel

is Ahaz.

And Ahaz's sin

is that he embraced

the worship

of Assyrian gods.

And Assyrian gods

is idolatry.

I mean,

it is bad enough

because it's idolatry.

But what is worse

about Assyrian gods

is that you offered

humans.

So the darkest moment

in Israel's history

was Ahaz sacrificing

his own sons,

as 2 Chronicles records,

sacrificing his own sons

to the Assyrian gods.

So I don't think

he would have been able

to sacrifice her

legitimately.

Maybe illegitimately,

yes,

but not legitimately.

And the third thing

is that there is something

very interesting

going on.

She realizes

that he took an oath

and that he had taken

an oath before God

and so she says,

in fact,

give me some time

so I can go

to the mountains.

And he does give her

some time,

but the interesting thing

that that passage says

is that she was

mourning her virginity.

She was sad

because she wasn't

going to have children.

I would have thought

she would have been sad

for the loss of her life.

I would have thought

that she would be mourning

that she is going to die

in a month from now

rather than

to say sad,

I'll never have children

in my life.

I suspect,

although we do not have

any evidence,

the text is very ambiguous,

I suspect

what happened

is that,

like Hannah,

he had to dedicate her

to the service of God

in the tabernacle

and what's so bad

about that

is that you could

never marry

and since he is

the son of a prostitute

and he doesn't have

any sons,

what has happened

to his family line?

That's the end.

But in any case,

what we have here

is a man

who makes

a very foolish vow

who should know better

than to make vows

like that.

But there is

another problem

and the problem

is in

Judges chapter 12,

Judges 12 · chapter mention

his other problem.

Look at chapter 12.

Perhaps the first

three verses.

The men of Ephraim

called out

their forces,

crossed over to Zaphon

and said to Jephthah,

why did you go

to fight the Ammonites

without calling us

to go with you?

We're going to burn

down your house

over your head.

What is happening

is that he went to war

without asking them

to come with him?

The dictum of war

is what?

To the victor

belongs the spoils.

Those who fight

in battle

get to take

the spoils of war.

So if you didn't

fight in the battle,

guess what you don't

get to get?

The spoils of war.

So they're asking him,

they're upset with him,

why didn't you

take us with you?

This way we would

get something as well.

You deprived us

of an opportunity

to make some wealth

here.

and he answers

them by saying,

well,

you didn't help me,

et cetera, et cetera.

And then take a look

at the end

of verse 6,

toward the end

of the 6.

42,000 Ephraimites

were killed

at that time.

Because of his

harsh answer,

Israel went

into a civil war.

and in that

civil war,

between him

and his allies

and them,

because of that

civil war,

42,000 people

were killed.

That many

were hurt

because

of the way

he handled

that situation.

the irony

of it

is chapter 8.

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

So take a look

at chapter 8.

The same

situation,

the same

exact situation,

but with a

different judge.

Now,

the Ephraimites

asked Gideon,

why have you

treated us

like this?

Why didn't you

call us

when you went

to fight Midian?

You know,

you didn't take us

with you to war,

we didn't make

any profit.

So,

just as they

were challenging

Jephthah

later on,

they're challenging

Gideon

right now.

Why didn't

you call us

when we went

to fight Midian?

And they

criticized him

sharply.

But he

answered them,

what have I

accomplished

compared to you?

Aren't the

gleanings

of Ephraim's

grapes

better than

the full

grape harvest

of Abiezar?

I'd have

to explain

that.

God

gave

Ghorab

and Ziv,

the Midianite

leaders,

into your

hands?

What was

I able

to do

compared

to you?

At this,

their resentment

against him

subsided.

to put it

in simple

English,

they said,

why didn't

you take

us to

war?

Don't

you realize

that we

lost

benefits,

et cetera,

et cetera?

And he

says,

what did

I

accomplish?

So,

I defeated

them.

But look

at my

accomplishments.

My

accomplishments

compared to

you

is like

nothing.

You could

accomplish

more

in coma

than I

could

accomplish

in 10

years.

I can't

even begin

to compare

to you.

I can't

even start

to look

at myself

and yours.

You are

that much

better.

You're

that much

skilled.

You're

that much

everything.

And so,

they

relented.

And the

resentment

was gone.

So,

one

answer

resulted

in resentment

but it

was averted.

Another

answer

resulted

in a

civil war

that took

42,000

voices.

Maybe

the point

is Proverbs

Proverbs 15:1

15,

verse 1.

Please

take a

look at

Proverbs

Proverbs 15:1

15,

verse 1.

A gentle

answer

turns away

wrath

but a

harsh word

stirs up

anger.

Verse 18,

a hot

tempered

man

stirs up

dissension

but a

patient

man

calms

a

quarrel.

Jephthah

never

became a

second

David

or a

first

David

because

of the

ways he

used

words.

In

one

case,

he

takes a

foolish

vow.

in

another

case,

he

stirs

up

wrath

and

anger

and

civil

war.

We

all,

all of

us,

should

listen

seriously

to

Proverbs

15,

1.

A

gentle

answer

turns

away

wrath

but a

harsh

word

stirs

up

anger.

I

am

sure

that

in

this

church

some

will

agree

with

the

elders,

some

will

disagree

with

elders,

et cetera,

et cetera.

It

doesn't

matter

what

you

think.

I

mean,

it

does

matter,

of

course

it

matters,

but

what

I

mean,

it

doesn't

matter

in

relationship

to

this.

We

need

to

be

gentle

and

kind

with

each

other.

We

need

to

use

gentle

words

and

kindness

rather

than

harsh

words.

James

talks

about

the

power

of

the

tongue.

He

compares

it

to

the

rudder

of

a

ship.

The

ship

is

huge

and

it

takes

the

winds

to

move

it,

but

it's

the

rudder

that

directs

its

direction.

You

push

it

this

way,

the

ship

turns

like

this,

you

push

it

that

way,

the

ship

takes

like

that.

It's

a

simple

rudder

that

directs

the

whole

ship.

The

tongue

is

also

compared

to

matches.

They

start

fire and

they

can

burn

down

whole

forests.

Those

of us

who

lived

in

California

or

are

keeping

up

with

the

news

in

California

know

of

the

fires

taking

place

in

California.

Tongues

can

change

direction

of

things.

Tongues

can

burn

whole

forests.

So

I

would

encourage

all

of

us

to

opt

for

a

gentle

answer

rather

than

a

harsh

word.

Let's

try not

to

start

a

fire.

Let's

try

to be

kind

and

gracious.

Not

to

end

up

with

a

civil

war

but

to

deal

in

a

kind

way

that

you

can

move

resentment.

One

last

thing

you

should

look

at

you

should

notice

in

Jephthah's

narrative

is this

with

every

judge

it

says

the

land

had

rest

after

his

victory.

No

rest

is

mentioned

here.

No

rest.

A

civil

war

it's

one

thing

if you

attack

Egyptians

it's

one

thing

if you

attack

the

Greeks

or

the

Phoenicians

or

the

Amorites

but

when

you

attack

your

own

family

and

you

cause

a

civil

war

that's

another

story.

Let's have a word of

prayer.

Thank you

father that you

use people

who are

not

accepted

in society

people

who are

seen as

illegitimate

as

inferior

as

having no

position

or no

right to

anything

thank you

that that's

not how

you deal

with us.

none

of us

was saved

because

we're

good.

None

of us

was saved

because

we're

noble.

None

of us

was saved

because

we deserved

it.

We

were all

saved

because

your

grace

extended

to us

and reached

us.

We

have no

business

boasting

about

anything

we have

accomplished.

We

have

accomplished

nothing.

It

is

your

grace

and

your

Holy

Spirit

that

works

in our

lives.

And so

we are

grateful

for that.

We

thank you

that it

is not

on the

basis

of

merits

but

it

is

on the

basis

of

your

enormous

generosity

and

love.

So

we

are

filled

with

gratitude

for

your

salvation.

I

pray

Father

for

this

congregation

that

even

as

we

learn

to

love

you

and

to

continue

to

grow

in

loving

you

we

would

also

be

able

to

continue

to

grow

and

loving

and

caring

about

each

other

whether

we

agree

or

don't

agree

whether

we

see

things

the

same

way

or

not

whether

we

are

Republicans

or

Democrats

whether

we

are

Europeans

or

Asians

or

Arabs

I

pray

I

pray

rather

than

the

example

of

Jephthah

we

would

follow

the

example

of

Gideon

and

so

we

commit

ourselves

to

you

Lord

Father

in

Jesus

name

Amen

Amen

Amen

Thank you.