The Life of Jephthah

Jephthah was one of ancient Israel's eighteen Judges who sporadically governed God's
people from the time of Joshua (who became the first Judge in 1398 B.C.) to the
anointing of Saul as king (1050 B.C.). The Lord used him to free Israel from eighteen
years of Ammonite oppression.

The life of Jephthah began when he was born the illegitimate son of a man named
Gilead and a whore.

He grew up in a family who lived in the land of Gilead, which lies east of the Jordan
River. When he reached a certain age his half-brothers chased him away from home.
He fled to live in the land of Tobit which lies north of Gilead (Judges 11:2 - 3).

Vain men (Judges 11:3) begin gathered themselves to him soon after he arrived in
Tobit. Biblical references to the exploits of Jephthah are found in Judges 11 - 12,
1Samuel 12:11 and Hebrews 11:32.

Oppression

God allowed the Ammonites, because of Israel's sins, to oppress his people (Judges
10:7 - 8). When they finally declared war on Israel, the elders of Gilead personally
visited Jephthah to ask him to lead their army against the invaders (verses 5 - 6). His
initial response was, "Have you not hated me and thrown me out of my father's house?
Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?" (Judges 11:7, HBFV).

Although his initial response was harsh, it is likely that Jephthah was more than willing
to lead the people in war against the Ammonites. He first wanted to, however, make
them feel guilty for their heartless treatment of him. In return for leading the Gileadites
into battle they had to agree, if they were victorious, to make him their governor (Judges
11:8 - 11).

Reasons for being attacked

Messengers were sent to the king of Ammon asking why he was coming to fight against
God's people. Word was sent back that the Ammonites felt the need to go to war
because the Israelites had stolen their land after they came out of Egypt.

In their message, however, the Ammonites left out some vital information regarding why
their land was taken by Israel (Judges 11:12 - 22). Jephthah responded by stating the
true history behind how the land changed hands and that it did not make any sense for
the Ammonites to claim ownership to it after the Israelites had possessed it for roughly
three hundred years (verses 23 - 26).
When Jephthah made the vow to God, he was not expecting that his daughter would be the first person to come out
of the door. He was more likely thinking of a servant. When Jephthah saw her daughter, he tore his clothes as a sign
of deep remorse and regret. He states that the situation had brought him very low (verse 35).

The vow of Jephthah would mean that his daughter would be completely consecrated to the service of God. Since
she is the only child of Jephthah, he would not be able to have grandchildren.

Not having a child carries a heavy social stigma. The Israelites view barrenness as a punishment and curse from
God. To make it worse, this will be the end of Jephthah’s family line. At this point in time, we can clearly see why
Jephthah is very grieved at the turn of events.

The vow’s effect is not just on Jephthah but to the many people around him. His daughter mourned her virginity for
two months knowing that she will never have a child and become a mother in Israel. This also abolished the chance
for her to possibly be the mother of the promised Messiah. Her friends mourn with her because they recognize the
importance of having children in Israel. The whole of Israel also mourns because Jephthah, their hero, and deliverer,
will not have any descendant.

So now we can see the depth of Jephthah’s vow. It is a very difficult vow to keep and this is where we can find the
true demonstration of Jephthah’s faith.

While it is very obvious that Jephthah’s vow was hasty and unwise, he nevertheless kept his vow to God. Jephthah
knows about the importance of paying one’s vow to God (Deuteronomy 23:21-23). As what was mentioned earlier,
Jephthah kept his promise even it was to his own hurt (Psalm 15:4).

With this in mind, we can see that Jephthah’s keeping of his vow is an act of faith! He was willing to give up the
hope of having grandchildren and perpetuate his lineage and endure the social stigma of having no descendants. All
these for the sake of obeying God’s commandments.
We can see that Jephthah used his eyes of faith to capture the vision of a better hope of God’s promises which
is GREATER than all what he had hoped for during his physical life. This is the true testimony of Jephthah’s faith
and we can see here the reason why the Apostle Paul included him in the faith chapter.
Therefore, we can conclude that Jephthah lived a life of courage, faith, integrity, and vision.