AM Bible Study Group; July 22, 2015 from Judges 11:12-27
Theme: The mercy of God is shown in that He could not endure the misery of His unfaithful people.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Once, when Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of the devil, He said this: “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:27). The devil is that ‘strong man’; and he is helpless before the Son of God. But even after the Lord Jesus has plundered the devil’s kingdom and saved some of his former captives, the devil nevertheless argues and fusses and opposes. Think of all the ways he shoots his fiery darts at us, or seeks to discourage us, or roars against us, or lies to us, or accuses us! And yet, we’re told, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9); and are told that if we resist him, “he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
The story of the judge Jephthah’s stand against the oppressive Ammonites illustrates this to us. The people of Israel had been disobedient to God; and He had allowed the wicked people groups around them to oppress them. But they returned to the Lord; and He—in mercy—raised up Jephthah to be their defender. His rise to action illustrates to us how we need to take a bold stand against the devil’s lies and tactics, and to cling faithfully to what God has graciously given us through Christ our Savior.
I. THE CONFRONTATION OF THE ENEMY (vv. 12-13).
A. The story is taken up after Jephthah was called by his people to be their defender, and after he and they had made an agreement before God together (10:17-11:11). And now, having entered into this binding agreement before the Lord to be their leader, Jephthah boldly confronts their oppressor. We’re told, “Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ‘What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?’ And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, ‘Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably’” (vv. 12-13). And what’s so interesting about this is that what they said never actually happened! 300 years had passed since Israel came up from Egypt; and in that time, the people of Ammon had twisted the facts. As Numbers 21 shows us, the people of Israel went into the borders of Ammon; but it was the land of the Amorite people that they conquered and took possession of—not of the Ammonites!
B. It is wise for us not to try to even speak to the devil or to debate with him about his charges against us. But it is very important to know that when he speaks, “he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Whenever he stands in opposition to our rights in Christ, he does so through twisting the truth. Though we ought not to even engage him personally, we do have to deal with the people he deceives; and our method with them ought to be to confront the devil’s lies with the word of God’s truth.
II. THE SETTING FORTH OF THE DEFENSE (vv. 14-26).
Jephthah responded to the false declaration of the king of Ammon. And notice that he does so through four main lines of argument:
A. First, notice that he doe so through the line of historical facts:
So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh. And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land into our place.” But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan” (vv. 14-22).
All of this is recorded for us in the historical record from Numbers 21:21-32. Israel took nothing aggressively. What the people of Israel had gained, they gained because they were attacked—and because God gave it to them. And what they gained wasn’t even from the Ammonites. It was from the Amorites! Our faith in Jesus—and our rich inheritance in Him—is based on facts!
B. Note then that he argues from theology. Jephthah said, “‘And now the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess’” (vv. 23-24). The god Chemosh was the false god of the Moabite people; and it appears that the Amorite people lost their possessions because they had associated themselves with those who were hostile to God’s people. Jephthah is not here saying that Chemosh was a real god. He was simply arguing rhetorically that what the Amorites would think with respect to their false god, the people of Israel should believe with respect to what God gives them. We have a right to lay claim to whatever God gives us in Christ. As Paul wrote, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
C. Jephthah then argues from what we might call ‘precedent’. He says, “’And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?’” (v. 25). This points us back to the story of Numbers 23-24; where Balak—the king of Moab—hired the prophet Balaam against God’s people. He sought to curse them, and he did seek later to deceive them; but he did not attack them by warfare—as the Amorites did. Was Ammon now thinking itself better than the king of Moab?—daring to lay a hand on God’s chosen people? “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!” (Isaiah 45:9).
D. Finally, Jephthah argues from what seems like ‘a statute of limitations’. Although Ammon had no legitimate claim for which to argue; Jephthah asks the Ammonite king, “’While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?’” (vv. 26). The answer would be, of course, because they could not. God kept the people of Israel in His hand. But even if they could, three-hundred-years’ of inaction was more than sufficient to forfeit any claim they might have had. What God gives to His people, no amount of time can overturn. “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:33-34).
III. THE STAND THAT WAS TAKEN (v. 27).
Jephthah closes with these words; “’Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon’” (v. 27). What a great argument! It’s like the Lord’s own argument for His people in Zechariah 3:2; “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Truly, there can be no better argument than that! “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
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As we see next in the story, the people of Ammon did not heed the words of Jephthah (v. 28). They could have said, “You have made a convincing case, Jephthah. We will back off and let Israel alone.” But they didn’t. Instead, they remained aggressive—and ended up a defeated people.
Let’s learn the lesson from this: Our God stands to the defense of those who take their stand on His promises. Let’s never let the devil sway us from them.