Well, we've been working our way through Hebrews chapter 11 for quite a while now. And we've even Slowed down considerably as we've come to verse 32, where we find six names. listed who are included in the Hall of Faith And yet, about whom nothing is said in Hebrews, which requires us. to go back into the Old Testament and to discern why it is that God has included them. among such a great company of believers.
And so I'm making reference to Hebrews 11, 32, which says, What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon. And Barak, And Samson. And Jephthah. Also of David.
And Samuel. and the profits. Jephthah. Continuing in the Hall of Fame, we come today to the name Jephthah. A long list of Hebrews, heroes, is winding down, but it's not quite yet complete.
And so Gideon, Bayrak, Samson. And beyond that, Samuel and David are all included in this verse. But Jephthah is also placed before us in this great company And Jephthah, probably of all the names that we have looked at so far, is the least well known. But he rose from what the world would consider to be a very dishonorable background. To be used of God to deliver Israel from the Ammonite oppressors.
Not because he was highly qualified. at least in a worldly sort of way. But because he exercised faith in God. His life and activities are subject to a great deal of controversy. Especially when it comes to the vow he made and what exactly that entails.
But what The Bible wants us to remember about him. And why he is included in Hebrews chapter 11 is that he was a man of faith. He believed God. He believed what God said to him, and he acted according to God's revelation. and he accomplished great things for God.
Here he is listed in that hall of faith as we make our way f around that big hall from portrait to portrait to portrait to portrait. We come today to the portrait. of Jephthah. We'll start with the Old Testament narrative, which probably will take the bulk of our time today. which is found in Judges chapter eleven and twelve.
And so again, the New Testament is driving us back to study the Old Testament. It's all one book. With one author, God Almighty.
So what do we learn about Japhta. Chapter 11 opens with a record of his rejection by men. It tells us that he was a mighty warrior. had already proved himself to be such. but also that his birth was considered quite dishonourable, because He was conceived by his father through A prostitute.
And as his half-brothers, other Sons that were born to the wife of Jephthah, grew up, They turned against Jephthah, turned him out of the house, turned him out of the community. insisted that he must not share In the inheritance of their father, because he was the son of a strange woman. and immoral Woman. And so he was banished by his half-brothers. and became, apparently, a nomadic brigand.
In the land we are told of Taab, And that is thought to be, these are one of these places that is not. located with absolute certainty. But it seems to be a territory on the east side of Jordan, beyond where the Israelites were, for they had territory on the east side of Jordan. uh the tribe of Gad and Manasseh and and uh Gad and um Let's see again, in the half-tribe of Manasseh. And one other tribe that escapes me at the moment, but they had territory on the east side of Jordan.
And then beyond them to the east were the Ammonites who figure into the story here. And Also the Moabites who are in that area beyond the territory of the Israelites. And beyond that, the territory, the land that is called Taab. And that's where Jephthah went and gathered to himself a group of Well, a group of misfits. It reminds us of David when he was running from Saul, and he gathered to himself a great company of men who were in debt and who had various problems that made them.
Unable to continue living in regular society, and David marshaled them into a small and effective army. and apparently Jephthah did exactly the same thing many years before David. And so he had a small army of misfits. And apparently they made their living by carrying out raids upon some of the people around them, no doubt. People to the east of them, on into Mesopotamia, maybe even some of the Ammonites and Moabites, we do not know.
But The time came when his people wanted him back home. They called for him. The Ammonites were oppressing them. And so they urgently requested the help of Jephthah to come. And to lead a military campaign against their oppressors.
Now, in this chapter 11, you are going to find reference to the Ammonites and the Amorites. I don't blame you if you have trouble distinguishing and getting them confused. I've had that difficulty myself. Let me try to sort them out for you. The Ammonites descended from Lot the nephew of Abraham.
That shameful episode with Lot's daughters, where one of them. Bore a son to Lot by the name of Moab, and the other one bore a son that was named Ben-Ami. And Ben-Ami is the father of the Ammonites. And so they are related to Israel through Lot, who was a nephew of Abraham. The Amorites Go back further, they are descendants from Ham, one of the three sons of Joseph, of Noah.
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. through his son Canaan, So they would qualify under the broader title of Canaanites. But they lived in the territory on the east side of the Dead Sea, the east side. Of the Jordan River. And the Ammonites and the Amorites often fought together and bickered over.
Plots of land, of geography.
So now the Ammonites have come against the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan. And they are claiming that the Israelites have Taken over territory that really belonged to the Ammonites. And so The battle needs to be fought if the Israelites are going to be able to defend their territory. And The Israelites can't think of anyone who's more qualified to do that than Jephthah, the man whom they have. banished.
They ask him if he'll come back and lead a campaign. against the Ammonites. And he asked them, Well, why are you calling me? You sent me away before. Why do you want me now?
It's a good question. It's not because he didn't understand what they had said, but I think he wanted to hear it from them. And they said, well. Things have gotten desperate now. You're the only man that can help us.
Please, please come and help us. And so they reiterated the explanation that they needed him because of this oppression from the Ammonites. And they Up the ante just a little bit. In the first appeal, they said, if you'll come, we'll make you captain over our army. And when When Jephthah questioned them, they said, Well, we'll make you ruler over our nation, which would not be the whole nation of Israel.
We're talking now about some of the northern tribes, because these kinds of regional conflicts were going on in different parts of Israel at this time. And so Before he agrees, Jephthah presses them one more time. He wants real clarification on this. Did I understand you to say That if I come Lead your army. God gives a victory.
That I will become ruler over you? Yes, yes, yes, that's what we said. We stand by it, God being our witness. And so Jephthah agrees to it, and we are encouraged to read in verse. 11 of chapter 11, that he seems to have a proper posture toward 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.
Jephthah apparently worshipped God in Mizpah and publicly. committed himself to God. Publicly appealed for God's help, publicly declared his dependence upon Yahweh. Almighty God. the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The next part of the chapter, and the part that I didn't read just for sake of time. is a rather extended section that describes for us the debate back and forth between Jephthah and the leaders of the Ammonites. And Japhta asked them, why have you invaded our territory. And their answer is: because it belongs to us, Israel took it away from us. But it's not Legitimately your territory is ours and we've come to take it back.
And there's a rather long section where Jephthah goes into a lot of the details of Israel's history that cover over 300 years. And the bottom line is You're not Correct. This was never your territory. We never, in any of our history, took it from you. And he relates the whole history.
and what he says is borne out. By the details of history we have in the Old Testament scriptures. But they didn't accept that. Jephthah even made a godly appeal again. He said, May God Himself decide this issue.
May he be witness between us. And they just answered in a callous way they were not to be dissuaded.
So In fact, they said that they were going to burn down Japha and his house that they said will destroy you.
So he really had no choice but to command an army and to Fight. to deliver himself and his nation. Here's Yeah. His nation that he was banished from, but he's still willing to help them. And he.
gathers an army to fight to defend his nation. And we find that God blesses him in this. We read about his spirit empowered. Preparation for battle in verse 29. When we read, then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.
And he passed through Gilead, Manasseh, and so forth. He's passing. Through these territories to the north and to the east Gathering an army. Picking up soldiers from these various tribes that are mentioned here in territories. that are mentioned here.
And he marshals an army and he launches an attack, and God gave him. The victory. He succeeds. Wonderfully. Verse 32, so Jephthah advanced.
toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them. And it goes on to tell the extent of the territory in which they were defeated. But Before All that took place. Jephthah Made what we can only consider to be a poorly conceived vowel.
That's in verses 30 and 31. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, If you will deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, Then it will be That whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon. Shall surely be Be the Lord's. and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. And that's the question that we'll be dealing with in a moment.
That's the question that Bible commentators. continue to deal with back and forth until this day. When this Situation developed, and when his daughter became the one who came first out of the house to greet him. And Jephthah affirmed that he could not turn his back on the vow that he had made. Did Jephthah?
Kill his daughter and offer her as a burnt sacrifice to God? That's the question. Hold on a few moments and I will give you my answer to that question.
So his daughter came out and welcomed him. And then she heard his agonizing revelation. that he had vowed to give the first being who met him coming out of his house as a sacrifice to the Lord. It's been thought by some that Jephthah had In mind that some animal was going to be the first to meet him. Maybe he had a dog that he expected to come running out to meet him.
Maybe a. A loved dog, and he was willing to sacrifice that. It probably had not occurred to him that his daughter would be the first one. to greet him when he returned, but she was. And so he told his daughter what his vow had been, and her response is remarkable.
It is commendable. It is humble. It shows amazing faith in God and in Her father. And submission to God and to her Father. And she basically says, if you made that vow, God honored the vow, God gave you the victory, if you made that vow, then carry it out by all means.
I certainly shall not stand in the way. I will not object. But I will ask for this consideration. Give me two months. To go into the mountains, into a secluded place with my girlfriends.
And to bewail my virginity for those two months, and then I shall come back, and you. May do to me what you have vowed to the Lord. And that's what she did. And she returned, and we're told that Jephthah carried out his vow. We're not.
We say, now tell us exactly how he carried it out, but we're not told. It just tells us that he carried out his vow, and we're left to speculate. Do you mean he offered her as a burnt offering, or is there some other explanation? He carried out his vow. And in parts of Israel for many years, that became a new Annual commemoration where the young women of those tribes would go into the mountains every year for four days.
to remember Jephthah's daughter. and to bewail her virginity.
Now, chapter 12, I'm just going to make quick reference to. I didn't know whether I would at all, but there's such an interesting and A well-known incident here, well well known, at least known in part. that I think we need to attach it to Jephthah to know where it came from. And that is When Jap the Was resting in this victory, the tribe of Ephraim started a quarrel with him.
Now, they've done the same thing with Gideon when he won a great victory, if you remember. Gideon mollified them. But in the case of Jephthah, he didn't. They said, why didn't you call us to the battle? undoubtedly because they wanted to share in the victory and share in the spoils, Why didn't you call us?
And he said, I did and you didn't come. Ding bats. He didn't say that of course, but... And so the quarrel was so strong between them that a civil war broke out. Between Jephthah and the tribe of Ephraim.
And again, God gave victory to Jephthah, and he was winning the battle. And the Ephraimites were. were retreating. And as they were crossing, The Jordan River a place where they were very vulnerable. And the forces of Jephthah were guarding the ford.
And because they couldn't by By uh Visual representation tells who belonged to which tribe. They all looked alike and they all dressed basically alike, but there was a way to tell. They'd asked them, What tribe are you from? And if they said, well, tribe of Manasseh, we're we're from from Gilead. The soldiers would say Say Shibboleth, Shibboleth is just a Hebrew word.
It has no. Profound meaning, it means an ear of corn. But say Shibboleth, in every case, if they were Ephraimites, they tried their best, but all they could muster was. Sibylth. They couldn't make the SH sound.
Their speech patterns growing up didn't Have that particular sound in them, and so they gave themselves away. And that, of course, has become a well-known thing. You hear that. referred to from time to time. That people don't say their shibboleth correctly.
And so they're categorized in a certain way. That comes down to us in modern days in literature, but we usually don't know where it came from. Here's where it came from.
So Jephthah won a second. victory now in a civil war. And then reigned for I think seven years over The people of northern Israel, he didn't live long enough to reign for a long time. And the chapter, chapter 12, ends by giving his successors, just by name, not much about them, after Jephthah was Ibzon. After Ibsen was Elon, E-L-O-N, that's a familiar name to those of us in Alamance County.
We have Elon University. After Elon was Abdon, And then after Abdon, you get into chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16, and the. Judgeship of Sampson.
Now The question of human sacrifice. Japhtha Burn His daughter, on an altar of sacrifice to the Lord. And I will tell you, first of all, that by far the majority of commentators say. He did.
However, it is my opinion. Yeah. No. He didn't. And I'll give you several reasons.
I could give more. But I'll give you several. The first is pretty obvious. God several times in His Scriptures declares how greatly he abominates human sacrifice. You can read about it in Leviticus 20.
You can read about it in Deuteronomy 12. In fact, a number of times when God is scolding his people for not just idolatry, but the most shameful idolatry. The idolatry of worshiping Moloch, the thing that is attached to that is people worship Moloch by making human sacrifice. And when Israel fell to such a shameful place, That they not only engaged in idolatry, but in human sacrifice, God was greatly enraged against them. God is a strong opponent.
Of any such activity. That's number one. God abominates human sacrifice. But that still doesn't explain what happened here until you keep in mind this. Underlying Um revelation that we find throughout the scriptures.
And that is that God designs substitutions And you'll see what I mean when I tell you a few of them. God it was who told Abraham to sacrifice his son. And Abraham had to be willing to make his son Isaac a human sacrifice, but at the last minute, God. saved him from doing that and substituted the ram. God was not going to allow Abraham to make a human sacrifice, even though it seemed like God was requiring it.
But that isn't really what God was doing. He was requiring Abraham's total, absolute commitment and surrender to God, holding nothing back. And Abraham passed the test. And God offered a substitute. in the place of his son so that no human sacrifice would take place.
Now, there are a number of things we could look to in this category of substitution. One of the ones that I think is most important is how God explains why he chose the Levites to be his priests in the temple. Tabernacle and then Temple. And he says, because every firstborn male belongs to me.
Well, of course, God can lay claim on whoever He wants, but why do the firstborn males belong to Him? Because. I, in righteous judgment, killed all the firstborn males in Egypt, but I spared all of your firstborn sons. I could have killed them too. But I didn't.
I let them live. And therefore, I could rightly lay claim on each of them and say they all belong to me, but in belonging to God, God certainly wasn't going to require that they be sacrificed as a human sacrifice. But he could claim them as his own. And what did he do? He said, I'm going to substitute the tribe of Levi in the place of all of your firstborn sons, and they shall belong to me in a special way.
They're going to dedicate their lives to my service. Um The sacrifices and all of the work of the priests In the temple. and in the tabernacle. And so exact was God in this, if you read the scriptures carefully, you'll realize that when they tallied up the number of firstborn males and the number of male Levites, the Levites fell short by, I think, about 270 men. And God said, it's got to be a one-to-one exchange.
And so God said, I'll I'll take I'll accept a monetary A gift in the place of the males when you don't have enough Levites to cover all the males that belong to me. But there'll be a substitution of either a Levite male or this monetary gift. to substitute for all the men who belong to me. No. That's a little interesting Old Testament fact that many people don't seem to be aware of either.
And I could go on and and mention several others, but Just consider that the whole Story of the Old Testament and its types and symbols and shadows. And the portrayal of the gospel in the Old Testament all speaks of substitution. All of us deserve to die. But God gave animal sacrifices to substitute for humans who deserve to die. And then the animal sacrifices really couldn't take away sin, so God gave His Son to substitute for all of the animal sacrifices, indeed, to substitute.
For the punishment due unto all people and will lift that punishment or place it upon his son to To all who trust in him.
So, this principle of substitution runs through the Bible, and I can't help but think that substitution does take place here, even though it's not spelled out. The third reason that I offer is because the text Laments Jepp says Daughters Lifelong virginity not her death. There's no lament anywhere for her death. She doesn't go to the mountains and mourn two months for her death, and so forth. But she laments her her virginity, not her death.
Mikhail and Dalich. who are one of the commentators that Do agree with me. I didn't. get to them to the end because I was having a hard time finding anybody. who wanted to support my concept here.
Some We're rather ambivalent. It could be this, it could be that. But Kyle and Dalich, when I finally got around to that That commentary. Considered by many to be the definitive commentary on the Old Testament scriptures. But I found out they strongly asserted That There was no human sacrifice here.
They devote several pages to discussing that, but this quotation. And I didn't narrow down who was writing the comment for judges, whether it was Kyle or Dalich. collaborated on the on the on the set. But this is the quotation. To mourn one's virginity.
does not mean to mourn because one has to die a virgin. but because one has to live and remain a virgin. Yes, I said when I read that, exactly the point. that it seems to me the passage is making. And we do know From several passages in the Old Testament.
That There was a practice of women Being Lifelong Workers in the temple devoting themselves to the work of the temple. In a way that appears to be something similar to Roman Catholic nuns in our day. A vowel? of celibacy. In most cases, lifelong virginity.
And Giving themselves to the service of God as a sacrifice to the Lord. I think something like that is going on here. And my fourth reason is because the text includes no charge against Jephthah for doing wrong.
Nowhere is he scolded in any way.
Nowhere does the text say you shouldn't have made such a stupid vow. He shouldn't. It really was an ill-conceived vow, even if the substitution took place. And it was serious. He has one child.
He'll have no grandchildren now. And his one child, a daughter, is going to be devoted. to the tabernacle to serve the Lord. You remember in the days of Moses, We're told that One of the brass implements, I forget which one. Was made out of the brass mirrors that the women at the door of the tabernacle donated for that purpose, and so forth.
You find these references throughout the Old Testament. And there's nothing in this text that indicates that God was displeased. With Jephthah. And I cannot help but think that if he had carried out the abomination, God makes it clear it's an abomination. If he carried out the abomination of human sacrifice, that there would have been at least some indication that God was not pleased.
Quickly now, I move on. To a rapid scan of the New Testament text that led us to the book of Judges. And I read it again. It's Hebrews 11.32. And what more shall I say?
For the time would fail to tell me of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah. also of David and Samuel and the prophets. Here is an honorable company, six names, added to the long list of other names that we've already seen.
Some are fairly well known, others are fairly obscure, jephtha falling into the second category. But all are included in the hall of faith. And what is the essential commonality that includes them? They're as different as they can be. Jephthah is very different from Gideon and so forth.
But what is the one commonality that includes all of these in the hall of faith? It's faith. Who by Faith or who through faith, verse 33. subdued kingdoms and so forth through the list of eleven things. All of these had one thing in common.
No matter how different their lives may have been, they had one thing in common. They believed the word of God and they acted in accordance with his word. That's faith, and that's what the writer of Hebrews is trying to drive home again and again and again. This is what biblical faith looks like. Be sure that you have this kind of faith.
For this is the faith that pleases God.
Now I have time, I think, to conclude with Three points. to ponder. Number one. The freeness. of God's grace.
We know by definition that grace means. Unmerited favor. God doesn't give it because we deserve it. There's nothing that we do to deserve it. It is unmerited favor.
And even though we know that, and even though we say that, Sometimes in our Adamic corrupted minds that are not fully Sanctified, we still tend to think, yeah, but there's some merit involved in this. God bestows His grace upon those who deserve it in some way, and this whole chapter is to tell us: no, no, no, no. Grace is really unmerited favor. There's nothing that we do or can do in order to deserve God's grace. The freeness of God's grace.
without regard to personal achievements or position. Japha. What was his position? He was an outcast of society, The son of a prostitute. considered worthless by society.
What did he do? He commanded a band of brigands who lived by plunder. Nothing meritorious in that. actually something shameful. in that.
But what did he experience? God's grace. God poured out his grace upon him. God called him to a higher task. God called him out of societal shame into societal glory and and recognition.
God gave him the power to do what God wanted them to do. God wanted to use him in this way. It's God's free grace. This outcast became highly regarded after God's grace. came to him.
Because there is no hindrance, no condition. to God's grace. No one is excluded from They Potential Outpouring of God's grace upon their lives, except those who reject it and exclude themselves. And some of you may be in that category. You may be resisting God's grace.
It is possible to do that. We talk about irresistible grace and salvation, and I believe that with all my heart. But There are those who Do not come to faith in Christ, who have had some measure of God's grace come to them, and they have stoutly resisted it. Who will they blame for their eternal condemnation at the judgment bar of God someday? They'll have no one to blame but themselves.
They resisted the grace of God. Don't do that, dear friend. Don't you be in that category. The freeness of God's grace. Number two.
The selection of God's servants. This is interesting. I found in this chapter something that we don't find in most of the other accounts. And that is, he had both a call from men as well as a call from God. The leaders of Gilead decided to call him to be their Commander and Ruler.
The call of man. But God Approved the app. God anointed him. God placed him in that position. He was appointed, divinely appointed, when he was anointed, when the Spirit of God.
Came upon him mightily, as it came upon Samson. That's the very language we read in Samson's case: that when Samson performed one of those amazing feats of strength. It was when the Spirit of God came upon him. And likewise, the Spirit of God came upon Jephthah. and as it were, ratified the human choice.
And so Jephthah was judge, Jephthah was commander, Jephthah was victorious because he had been. Anointed, I guess you might say, by man. We don't have any record of a formal anointing. But also as he was anointed by God.
Now, how do I apply this?
Well, let's take this. Question of How do we recognize the Call to preach. There's a lot of different opinions about this. In some churches, if a person announces he's been called to preach, that's all it takes. God bless you, brother.
How about preaching for us tonight? Here's someone who. says he's been called by God. But all, he doesn't really need any selection by men. It's just assumed that if he says he's called by God.
He has been called by God. Is that correct? Correct? Is that safe? I would say no.
The scripture is clear. There's a human side, there's a divine side. God's people need to examine and recognize. evidence of God's calling in a person's life. Does he meet the scriptural qualifications?
Does he give evidence? of having been called and gifted by God. If Others recognize that. And the man also is quite convinced that God has Called him. Then the two merged together.
And we have a situation where a man appears to be Recognized by the people of God, called by men, as well as called by God. Jephthah. Fits that pattern. the selection of God's servants. And finally, Fitness for God's service.
Similar, but not exactly the same. And that is to point out That every name that we read in the Hall of Faith, starting from Abel at the beginning, all the way through now to Jephthah. Every name in the Hall of Faith represents someone who was flawed in some way or another.
Now, not all of them have their flaws pointed out. In fact, most of them do not have their flaws pointed out in the book of Hebrews, only their faith. But they all were flawed. And most of them, you can find a record of their sins and failures in the Old Testament. Put your finger down anywhere in the chapter, and you'll find a name that you can find failures.
Mm-hmm. For in the Old Testament. Abraham, that great, great, great man of faith, the father of the nation of Israel, the father, the spiritual father of all who trust in Christ. Twice. Lied.
About the true identity of his wife Called Her, his sister. Why? Because he'd rather see her. And this is so shameful, I'm almost hesitant to express it, but you need to understand what really is taking place here. He'd rather see her.
taken into the bed of another man than the possibility that he might lose his life because of her beauty. You don't get much more shameful than that. And yet Abraham's faith is what is extolled. And on through, you can find something about everyone, and you certainly can find.
Some things about Jephthah. that are not all they ought to be. But we're talking about fitness for God's service. All in the Hall of Faith were flawed in some ways, some significantly, think of Samson. Yet God used them all Greatly.
Matthew Henry says, The grace of God. often finds the most Undeserving and ill-deserving persons to do great things for them and by them. Thank you. Reverend Henry. And so the one necessary quality qualification.
to be graced by God and to be used by God. His faith.
Sometimes you hear people say something like this, and this is a is a bad understanding. Oh, forty years ago. I think God called me to preach, and I said no. And I've been miserable and unable to do anything for God for the last 40 years.
Well, why? Yeah. You've had forty years to. To Deal with that. Since And get it behind you, but God doesn't require that His servants have a perfect record.
Don't you understand? Have faith in God. Believe God's word, and God will bless you, and God will use you according to His sovereign design. and purposes. God does not require a particular position.
God does not require particular gifts. Any gifts that we have or do not have come from him. God does not require a particular performance in days gone by. We may have failed miserably. God does not require perfection, nothing even close to it.
What does he require? Faith.
Now Believe him now. And act according to his word now. and see what he will do with your life. for the rest of your days. And I say to some of you, What are you waiting for?
Oh, it's too late. It's passed me by. No. No. No.
No. No. Fitness for God's service is like God's mercies, new every morning. Remember that? His mercies are new every morning.
We were saying about that, I think, this morning. Claim them. Believe the Word of God. and go forth. and God's power.
Shall we pray? Father, how we thank you for your word and how it instructs us, how it encourages us, how it directs and guides us. how it corrects us. how it points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. May you do all of these things this morning, we pray.
In Christ's name, amen. In your
