AM Bible Study Group; July 15, 2015 from Judges 10:17-11:11
Theme: Jephthah’s return to his people is a picture of God’s grace to the people who rejected Him.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The story of Jephthah—the judge of Israel during its time of oppression under the combined enemies Philistia and Ammon—is a strange one. Many of the stories of the judges are strange; and Jephthah’s story is no exception. But one of the things that is remarkable about his story is that the beginning of his story bears a great similarity to the story of God’s strained relationship with Israel.
In the passage that immediately precedes the introduction to Jephthah—in 10:6-16—we’re given a detailed description of the repeating cycle that so dominates the book of Judges. God’s people proved unfaithful, and they rejected Him. He allowed them to fall into the hands of their enemies. They cry out to Him for mercy. He has compassion on them and gives them a deliverer. But in the story of the most latest episode of this cycle, we find that God speaks very personally to the people (vv. 11-14). He tells them that they didn’t want Him; so why should He hear them now? Why don’t they go to the gods that they wanted instead of Him? But they cried out to Him for mercy; and we’re told that God “could no longer endure the misery of Israel” (v. 16). That sounds very much like the story of the rejection that Jephthah felt from his own people—and of their turning back to him for his help.
This story illustrates to us—in perhaps a faint way—what Jesus spoke of in John 15:20; “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Notice . . .
I. THE DESPERATE NEED OF THE PEOPLE (10:17-18).
A. The hostility of the enemies of God’s people seem to have come to a head. After the cry of Israel to God—and after God’s gracious inclination of heart toward them—we’re told, “Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah” (v. 17). The nation of Ammon was on the eastern side of the Jordan River—just north of the Arnon River. They had been violently hostile toward the people of Israel from the time of the Exodus (see Numbers 21:21-32). Gilead was a land directly east of the Jordan that belonged to the people of Israel—named after the son of the patriarch of the tribe of Manasseh (see Numbers 26:28-34). It would appear that they had driven the people of Israel out of their land; and they were assembled together in Mizpah—just northeast of Jerusalem. If this was the case, then the people of the region of Gilead were refugees; and their land was occupied.
B. They had already cried out to God; and the heart of God was mercifully inclined to them. But they needed a leader. “And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, ‘Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead’” (v. 18). It was into just such a time that God brought forth His chosen leader. But what a remarkable choice it was! It was a choice that illustrated to the people how He had been treated by them.
II. THE TRAGIC BACKSTORY OF JEPHTHAH (11:1-3).
A. The writer of the book of Judges now takes us back in time to give us the story of this arising leader. “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah” (v. 1). We should take “Gilead” here to be a man named after the patriarch of his people. Apparently, this “Gilead” had an affair with a prostitute; and Jephthah—a remarkable man of courage and strength; but the product of illicit relationship—was the result.
B. It’s not a surprise, then, that the other “legitimate” sons of Gilead rejected Jephthah. “Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman” (v. 2). It was a tragic and cruel rejection. But note something of God’s providence in it. We’re told, “Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him” (v. 3; the NIV translates “a group of adventurers”). He—like David would later do—became the captain of a band of social rejects (1 Samuel 22:1-2) who went out on raiding expeditions; perhaps often against the enemies of God’s people as an Old Testament combination of Robin Hood and Rebel without A Cause. But it was through such rough and rowdy times that Jephthah learned the skills that God would put to use for the good of His people. Our sovereign God can use anyone; and He wastes nothing of the experiences they go through prior to His call.
III. THE REPENTANT APPEAL OF THE ELDERS (11:4-8).
A. That brings us back to the story: “It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel” (v. 4). And there was no other leader for the people of Gilead like Jephthah—the very man that the sons of Gilead had scorned and sent away as unworthy. And now, just as they had done to God, they must now come to make their appeal to the man they had rejected. We’re told, “And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. Then they said to Jephthah, ‘Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon’” (vv. 5-6). They knew they had rejected him; but now they needed him.
B. And just like God had done, Jephthah reminds them of their rejection of him; and considers how just he would be in turning his back on them. “So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?’ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead’” (vv. 7-8). Their words to Jephthah do not sound like repentance. It seems like nothing more than an admission that they were in a time of distress; and that that’s why they called him. The only reason Jephthah would have been inclined to help them is because he could no longer endure their suffering—just like God Himself! How like Jesus’ words: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45).
IV. THE PROMISE MADE BEFORE THE LORD (11:9-11).
A. Perhaps Jephthah wanted to make sure this wouldn’t lead to another rejection once the battle was over. “So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?’” (v. 9). Note how, in this, Jephthah acknowledges that the help is of the Lord. Could it be that he himself was coming to a place of repentance too?
B. The leaders of the people knew the situation they were in—and perhaps also the cruel and unjust way they had treated their brother. “And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words’” (v. 10). That settled it! The only thing left was to make it a true commitment together before God. “Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah” (v. 11). They were now committed to him; and he was now committed to them; and they were all now recommitted to the Lord that they had rejected.
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From the standpoint of the people of Israel, this reminds us of what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:21-26).
Truly, God is able to use the most unexpected and unlikely of people to do His work. But from the standpoint of Jephthah, we might consider that not only was he an illustration of God’s mercy; but that also God was an illustration to Jephthah. As Jesus said, we are to be “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:13).