Jephthah

Judges 11:1-11; 28-40; 12:1-7

Introduction

During the time of the judges, there was a constant cycle of behaviour among the children of Israel. They would fall away from God, into apostasy, forgetting the great exodus from Egypt, turning to the gods of their neighbours, and breaking their covenant with the Lord. So God chastised them by allowing them to be overrun by their enemies. Then they appealed to the Lord for mercy, and the Lord raised up a judge to bring deliverance. At the time of the story of Jephthah, Palestine was overrun by the Ammonites, Israel’s eastern neighbour.

Israel turned to Jephthah, the illegitimate son of Gilead, who had been turned out of his home by his stepbrothers. He had become the leader of a group of outcasts and social misfits, and made a living by plundering and raiding. He was the robber chieftain of an outlaw band. The elders of Israel had heard of his powers of leadership, and recalled him to lead an army against the Ammonites. They agreed he should remain leader after he had done the job of driving out the Ammonites. God was witness to the agreement between Jephthah and Israel.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah to equip him for the task of delivering Israel from the Ammonites. And he delivered a crushing blow, and brought deliverance. Before the battle, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord that if He delivered the Ammonites into his hand, he promised to offer up as a burnt offering whatever came through the doors of his house whenever he arrived home. And on his return, it was his daughter, his only child, who came out of the door to greet him. He felt he had to maintain his vow even though it broke his heart to do so. I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back (Judges 11:35). In obedience to his vow he sacrificed his daughter – influenced no doubt by the practices of heathen neighbours, though the practice was forbidden to Israel.

We can admire the quiet submission of the daughter to her father’s will and purpose. We can admire Jephthah’s determination to keep his word. But he made a rash vow, and such things are better broken than kept. If a man makes a vow to commit a crime, his vow to do so is sin. Carrying out that vow is doubly sinful. If a man has vowed a vow to sin, he should not keep it, but should repent and turn to God. To keep a sinful vow is to add sin to sin. It is sinful to break a vow, but more sinful to keep it if it binds us to further sin.

We are going to take the words of Jephthah, and apply them to other vows which God’s people have made. To keep those vows is not sinful, but rather it is sinful not to keep them. There are certain matters when it is absolutely right to open our mouths to the Lord, and absolutely vital that we keep our word and our promise.

We will apply this firstly to the people of God, but also to the unsaved – those who have not yet opened their mouths to the Lord and who imagine they are safe and therefore under no obligation.

What we have done

God’s people can say I have opened my mouth unto the Lord. Firstly, we have confessed our faith in Jesus Christ. If we are believers we must have said, “I believe in Jesus Christ; He is my personal Saviour and Lord”. Regardless of what others say, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” The believer has made His salvation his own, he has a personal interest in the Cross of Calvary. The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). He does not just believe in the fact of forgiveness of sins and eternal life as a theological dogma, but these things are personal possessions.

The believer has admitted Christ’s claim on his life; He has every right to his life, service, talents and possessions. He casts his lot in with God’s people, and is not ashamed to be counted among them.

The believer declares this first of all in private – it is a solemn thing, something he has thought over and counted the cost. He may not be able to remember the date or the time, but he knows “Tis done, the great transaction’s done.” Then he should have gone on to declare his faith to others, opening his mouth to the Lord in this matter in baptism.

Baptism has several meanings, and one of them is that in the act we are opening our mouths to the Lord – signifying the beginning of a new life through Christ’s resurrection. The believer also opens his mouth unto the Lord at the Lord’s Table, eating and drinking of the elements, participating in the blessings of His atoning work. He is declaring that he is one of the Lord’s covenant people, and His law is on his heart. Feeding at Christ’s Table shows that he is the Lord’s servant.

The believer opens his mouth unto the Lord when he sings hymns. He ought to be careful to be thoughtful about what he is singing. Also in prayer, whether in the home privately, in family worship or in public prayer. He is saying things to God, and making a great profession to Him. He does so in his public testimony, his witness at work, his life at home, when he teaches a Sunday School class or stands in the pulpit. Every time he speaks to others, he is placing himself under obligation.

So the Christian has opened his mouth unto the Lord before many people and on many occasions and in many different circumstances. He has done it voluntarily, without having to have his arm twisted or a gun held to his head. He has done it deliberately, and having counted the cost. When he handed his life over to God, he knew it was lifetime’s engagement, with no holidays or days off. He knew it would not be a primrose path. He would gain his crown via a cross. There is no victory without a battle. He has done it publicly with many onlookers. A great cloud of witnesses have seen and heard, Christians and nonChristians, angels and devils know he belongs to Christ. He has declared it by his word and actions.

Above he has declared unto the Lord. What is important is not what he has promised to the church, the officers or the members, but rather what he has promised to the Lord. He may trifle with men, but he dare not trifle with God. He is King of Kings, and Judge of the quick and the dead.

What we cannot do

I cannot go back. We cannot apostasize from faith once we have become Christians. “I will lie there till moss grows on my eyelids but I cannot do other than God bids me” (John Bunyan). God’s people have faced losses and crosses, torture and death. We cannot go back even by temporary turnings aside.

Unfortunately, in practice, we do – God have mercy. But it is a solemn declaration that we cannot and do not want or purpose to go back on even temporarily. What a challenge about being a believer – we must not be silent, and we cannot go back. We may be tempted to walk out of God’s will, but once we have opened our mouths, we are committed to holiness, and cannot go back.

A straightforward confession of Christ in the past is a useful anchor in temptation’s hour. We cannot go back, because that would be a base and mean thing. We were bought by Christ’s blood, brought up from a horrible pit and out of miry clay. He gave all He had. We cannot forsake Him and prefer the praises of a sinful world which crucified Him.

It would be very unreasonable to go back. Why should we? What pleasures are equal to those He gives? What gain would there be in losing Christ? Where would we go? Christ asked this of His disciples, and they replied, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life (John 6:68).

The child of God cannot go back to the world. He has a changed nature and therefore could not exist happily in the environment of the world. Divine grace impels us forward. We have a secret power more mighty than all other forces, and it has captured and holds us fast. Grace will not let us return to old bondage. We are held by another who holds us fast. “Tis grace that kept me to this day and it will not let me go” (Philip Doddridge).

The testimony of a backslider read recently in a magazine told of how the man became a drunk and a gambler. His new friends were non-Christians, he went into debt. But during those years he never completely forgot the Lord. He never could take His name in vain, and longed inwardly to be back in a right relationship with God. He longed for peace and joy flowing from obedience. He was conscious of his sins and had a deep desire to call on God fro mercy. The words he read pierced his conscience, and eventually he sought the Lord.

Something which we must do

We must realize the truth of these words. We must “burn our boats behind us”. When a Roman commander meant victory, he landed his troops on the coast, where he knew there would be thousands of enemies, and he burnt their transporting boats, therefore cutting off all chance of retreat. The army had to fight as earnestly as possible without any thought of retreat. So we must burn our boats – make no provision for the flesh. Let separation between the world and ourselves be irreversible.

We will need more grace day by day.

“High heaven that heard that solemn vow,

That vow renewed shall daily hear.”

If there are difficulties on the road, we must not turn back, but go through them with the Lord. If the Lord requires us to go through a brick wall, He will make a hole in it. He will ensure a soft landing. He will make us equal to the occasion. If there is something you must do, do it at once. Do not argue or hesitate. If you have opened your mouth unto the Lord, you must not go back, and that is the end of the matter. Is it too costly? Think of how costly your salvation was to the Lord.

To the unbeliever, do not dare to say, “I have not opened my mouth unto the Lord, therefore I am safe, it does not apply to me.” Safe? You certainly are not! If you do not profess Christ, you stand condemned by your own mouth. You have rejected Him, you are living in open rebellion against God. You are without grace in your soul and without glory in the future.