Jephthah's Vow

Read Judges 11-12
 
Judges 11:29-31 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. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 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 burnt offering.”
 
WHO is Jephthah? As with Samson, his name is in Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. Jephthah is described as one who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (Hebrews 11:34e) But how is it possible to correlate the evil sacrifice of his daughter in Judges 11:39 with any aspect of faith? Jephthah’s story includes an illicit birth, brothers’ rejection, active faith, fatal foolishness and misguided devotion.
    To begin, the elders of Gilead granted him leadership to defeat the Ammonites. It is apparent this was God’s doing. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah (Judges 11:29) as he began his campaign. Then comes his foolish vow. Why do we think God needs a big promise from us  to achieve the LORD’s purpose? Judges 11:30-31 “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 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 burnt offering.”  We’re good at that, aren’t we? “if you do this, Lord, then I’ll do that.” Really? Do you think God’s grace and power requires you to promise him something? He only wants our devotion. 
    Jephthah won the war. He lost his daughter. But what does sacrifice as a burnt offering actually mean? There is equal evidence in the original language to understand one of two things happened. Jephthah killed his daughter on an altar. Or Jephthah dedicated his daughter with a vow of celibacy to a lifetime of service to the tabernacle for her lifetime. In some ways, for a Hebrew woman to remain childless was as a death sentence. Two phrases give us hope it was the latter sacrifice. Judges 11:38-39
wept because she would never marry. Judges 11:39 And she was a virgin. But vow could have come from the influence from Jephthah’s pagan mother. We cannot mix the false gods with the true God. How careful we must be with our words and with our children!
    What is our faith lesson? When we come to faith in Jesus, the Spirit has come upon us in power. He makes us a new creation in Christ. He equips us to battle for the gospel. God has called. God has empowered. God has appointed your life to his purpose. His call requires no negotiating, only, “Yes, LORD, here I am.” You listen, see and go.
    Jephthah was a mighty warrior. A few foolish words and a pagan sacrifice mars his reputation. But do we look at his sin or do we look at his strength? What do you prefer people to see in you?
 
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.