Unwanted but Needed (Part A)

Always about the land though, is it not? To this day the Bible haters, always the Jews don't belong in that land. Islam hates the fact that the Jews are in that land.

God has no right to give them, well they don't believe in the God of the Jews, but to this day it's about the land. Satan is not going to let that go. For the Christian it is always a matter of can't you people just leave other people to believe what they want to believe, live and let live, let immorality reign, and of course even history mocks them for that.

But no, we have to let the light shine whenever we can. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Rick is currently teaching through the book of Judges.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in a brand new chapter in Judges chapter 11 and he'll begin a message called unwanted but needed. Judges chapter 11 unwanted but needed. That's the title for this evening's exposition and maybe you felt that way at some point in your life.

I get to feel it quite a few times. Where you needed but it really don't like you. And that's the case with our character Japheth. We remember from the previous chapter that the Ammonites were gathering for war so war drums were in the distance but Israel had no general and that's a big problem. It would have been a slaughter without a man to lead them, the right man to lead them. And this outcast, the character that is before us Jephthah, he is an outcast and an outlaw but he will lead the army. So we look at verse 1. Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor but he was the son of a harlot and Gilead begot Jephthah.

Well we are on the east side of the Jordan, the trans-Jordan neighborhood. This is Manasseh East, maybe a little bit of Gad's tribe mixed in. And it says that he is a mighty man of valor. Well certainly looking back at his life he was a man of valor though the people didn't want him around them at the time. Things changed as history developed with the relationship between the people but this man Jephthah, he was not to be bullied.

He was pushed out of town but he got hard after that. It says here in verse 1 also but he was the son of a harlot so he was born to an immoral mother who was herself an outcast. It's not forgotten.

It's recorded forever. It only made the life of the child harder. It appears that his father treated him well and it appears that that rubbed off on him because of his relationship with his own daughter that goes kind of of course off the rails towards the end of this chapter. But it wasn't until his step-brothers got power that he became the outcast. So here's this man who wasn't to blame for his birth and yet he had to pay nonetheless for his mother's mistakes, his father's mistakes. And here born to unfair circumstances that God would use.

God would use this harsh upbringing and the things that came out of it to hone this man's skills for the day when he was needed to deliver his people. And there was no one else. Again, he was not their first choice as far as personalities go. They would love to have had another person but there was no one else at this time there on the east side of the Jordan. We don't know what the other tribes are doing.

We're not told. We know what's happening in Gilead though and this man would become the needed outcast and he would be one not to provoke. In verse 2, Gilead's wife bore sons.

These would be his step-brothers. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, You shall have no inheritance in our father's house for you are the son of another woman. I have to tell you, since I've been standing here, Jephthah's name is competing with my tongue. Jephthah and Jephthah.

So if I get it wrong, you know what I mean. So here, again, verse 2, these vicious step-brothers, kind of a Cinderella story, right? Those stepsisters of Cinderella. But the Spirit of God has nothing good to say about these step-brothers who took it upon themselves to drive out this man, Jephthah. It says here in verse 2, You shall have no inheritance in our father's house for you are the son of another woman. Well, that's one less share of the inheritance to have to divvy up how convenient for that group. Well, again, he lacks pedigree, but that won't hinder God. Mean people, they have little to no reason to be mean except it makes them feel good in some twisted way.

The only requirement is lovelessness and a selfish heart. And that's his step-brothers. Well, we won't hear from them again. Verse 3, Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tov. And worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him. Now, the word raiding, if you're using the New King James, is inserted by the translators, and that is likely appropriate. They had become this band of guerrilla force, you might say, but they're doing this in Amnon's territory and surrounding regions. And there's no indication whatsoever that they're raiding any of their own people's goods or flocks, territory, anything like that, or even caravans on the trade routes. And so they're outside of Manasseh's territory and Gad's territory, but they're into Amnon's territory, and those are the ones coming against them for war. So it may have contributed. It may have stirred Amnon up to say, you know what, we're not going to take this. In fact, we're going to take that land back from the Jews that they've had for 300 years, and this was an opportunity for them. Well, his brothers, again, casting him out, this would determine his future, because it would shape his character into the type of man God needed for the day.

The resources were in this man, and they were being developed. You know, what do you do with people who just don't like you and are not justified? I mean, they have no reason. You know, come across them in life. You come across people who just do not like you. Well, what I've done over the years, what's worked for me, trying to be biblical, is first be blameless. They have no reason to dislike me. Biblical, other than they just might not like my faith. No, that's not possible.

That could not be. Well, other than being blameless, I'm not going to appease them. I don't care who they are.

I don't care what they have. I am not going to appease them. I'll give them space.

They give me space, and this way, we have a chance of living happily ever after, apart. And the third thing is, I don't care. I don't mean it in a selfish and mean way, but I've got other things to do. And I can't go around, you know, please light me. I bought you, you know, here's a little cactus.

Would you please take this as a token of my appreciation and go sit on it? So you can't. Jephthah's not making any attempt. He's gone. He pushed him out, he's gone. Fine.

And he does his own thing there. And so you remain diligent in what you're called to do. You enjoy the people who you get along with and those, again, who don't like you for whatever reason. That's their problem. It doesn't mean if I saw the broken down on the side of the road, it doesn't mean I would still drive by and wave.

I would do what I could to help them, but not for the purpose of them liking me. Anyway, worthless men banded together with Jephthah. The good-for-nothings. The good-for-nothings came along and joined this good-for-nothing, according to the opinion of some. The dropouts of society, or from society. They make their way to this outlaw.

This is not the last time we'll read of this. Of course, this happens with King David, too. And so they form this band of raiders, these guerrillas. From the Ammonites' perspective, they were guerrillas. From Israel's side, they were raiders on the peoples who were pagan in their beliefs. And so he draws them to himself, the outcasts of the world, and as David would do later, he evidently shapes these men into noblemen. Not in the sense of being landowners, but of men who were able to come under authority and be useful. Otherwise, the leaders of Gilead would never have sent for him.

They would say, well, we like Jephthah, but can you leave your men behind? That doesn't come up in the story. So he appears to be a natural leader and a survivor. Again, these qualities evidently made him legendary in Gilead.

It became well known that you did not trifle with him, and that if you were in trouble, this is the man you would go for. He says, and went out raiding with him. As I mentioned, the outcasts that he drew to himself, well, they had to live. They're not in Israel's territory, and so they are likely raiding other villages or unbelievers on their caravan routes, but not the Jews. David, of course, in 1 Samuel 27, we read of him doing the same thing. Soon, the very people that booted him out will look for him to save them, and that's, you know, if you're looking for fair in life, of course, everybody here is old enough to know you. It happens sometimes.

It's just not very reliable. Verse 4, it came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. Well, we got that in chapter 10, and the historian is bringing it back up. The Ammonites were descendants of Lot and his raised in Sodom, or out of Sodom, daughters. Certainly, things that should have not been done, they did, and that's the Moabites and the Ammonites are the result as a people from Lot and his daughters. Verse 5, and so it was when the people of Ammon made war against Israel that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. So it was when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders went to get, you know, Superman. Who are you going to call? Jephthah. And it reads as though there was no debate. There was not a, you know, well, if he just says no, then we'll just go, you know, to the guy in the second position. The elders of Gilead, they searched their memories.

We need a tough guy. If you're familiar with the Seven Samurai, the movie, or the Magnificent Seven, which is an off take from the Seven Samurai, it's that story. These farmers are helpless.

The raiders are coming down and stealing their crops and doing other things to them. And so they go looking for, in the Magnificent Seven, they look for seven gunslingers that can defend their little village. And if it's Seven Samurai, then of course they look for Seven Samurai. I would recommend Seven Samurai if you don't mind reading subtitles. It's a classic, and that's the story that's somewhat happening here.

I have to go for years waiting to somehow get Seven Samurai into a sermon. And Jephthah gives me the shot. So they said to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

Now you catch that, get Jephthah. That's the thrust of the whole thing, his reputation. Unwanted, but needed. He's not allowed to be home. They booted him out of his hometown. It comes up in his conversation with them.

Can I go home? Verse 6, then they said to Jephthah, come and be our commander that we may fight against the people of Ammon. We would love to know what gave him this reputation. But it's left out of the story. Verse 7, so Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, did you not hate me and expel me from my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you're in distress? Well, that's an obvious question that you should ask. Oh, now you need me. After all this, I've been going through and things are happening. You get word that Jephthah's doing okay.

So here you come. It's a real good question, boys. How are you going to answer this one? With any guilt, what did their faces look like? I was hoping he wasn't going to ask that question.

I was hoping he'd just say okay. Well, apparently the leaders of Gilead were cooperating with Jephthah's stepbrothers when they got rid of him. It might have taken the whole village to get rid of a man like this. And he's not a petty man.

He doesn't lash out at them or overdo it. He just wants to know, why are you coming for me now that you needed me? Now that you need me.

I know why, but I didn't want to hear you say it. And instead of pushing it too far, he answers the call to duty. But he lays out some terms. He doesn't just say okay. He says, okay, but. And it's fair.

It's very fair. Verse 8, and the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, that is why we've turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Yes, but you didn't answer the question. But he's not going to push it. They dodged the question.

They've already admitted their guilt. You can't say it's flattery. Well, it's honest flattery if there's such a thing. It's honest.

We need you. Verse 9, and Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, if you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head? So again, there's the evidence he wanted to go back home. These are his terms.

If you take me back home to fight against the people, to him it's home. He doesn't name the city or the town. I think that's significant. I don't think that's a mistake.

I don't think that's just an alternate way of expressing it. I think it tells us that he was hurt, that he was pushed out, and he never wanted to leave. And he is recorded as being the first one to bring up the covenant name of Yahweh. So now we get another look into his character. He is a man of Yahweh.

They did not bring up the name. He did. And he is now saying, if you make the son of a harlot your leader after I deliver the people in war, then I'll fight the war for you. Those are his terms. He would not let them treat him as an outcast ever again.

Well, if they tried at this point, they might not wake up the next day or even get a chance to. In other words, he'd kill them. Verse 10, and the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Yahweh will be a witness between us if we do not do according to your words. 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 Yahweh in Mizpah. Well, we could spend a lot of time discussing where Mizpah was, but we'll just miss Mizpah for now.

We have so much to talk about. It's not that important. We know it's on the east side of Jordan, this particular Mizpah. There are several others.

So from castaway to commander, you know, rags to riches kind of a thing. But still, there's war ahead of them. But it's official now, and it says here in verse 11, and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh. So he takes Yahweh seriously, but he's making this a public announcement.

All the who's who of the Gilead area region are involved with this, and it is now official. Verse 12, now Jephthah sent messages 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? Remember, they're coming into Israel's territory. And here he is being diplomatic. His diplomacy is spiritual.

There's a little difference here. He is not in the Promised Land negotiating with Canaanites. That was forbidden. If it was in the Promised Land, they were to attack them and push them out. It was a judgment of God. But for war with people outside of the Promised Land, they were to offer terms of peace if they could do it. Deuteronomy 20, verse 10, when you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. Again, not inside the Promised Land. The Canaanites, all the peoples of Canaan, they were to either flee or be slaughtered.

And those were how it was arranged. But Ammon is outside of that being a descendant of Lot. The Jews were to leave their territory alone. However, Ammon now provoked Israel by coming into their east side territories. And this 12th verse tells us that Jephthah knows his scripture, enough of it. Now maybe he had to freshen up on it. What else do you do out there in the desert all day after you've raided a few caravans and you've eaten?

What to do next? How about reading some scripture? And that comes out as he negotiates, he knows what he's talking about. He cannot dismiss that because when the pressure comes on as to the character of the man, what is going to decide it?

His view of God's Word. Verse 13, 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 Arnon, as far as Jabbok, those are rivers, to the Jordan, now therefore restore those lands peaceably. So the king of Ammon responds, I'm coming up against you because you're in my land. This is 300 years old. We've been here for 300 years. Now you come up. I'm sorry. I think we've just built McDonald's up and we're just not going to tear these things down to accommodate you after all this time. Yeah, I know it was kind of corny. I got to agree.

If I were sitting out there, I would have said please continue on with the exposition. So, always about the land though, is it not? To this day, the Bible haters, always the Jews don't belong in that land. Islam hates the fact that the Jews are in that land. God has no right to give them, well they don't believe in the God of the Jews, but to this day it's about the land. Satan is not going to let that go. For the Christian, it is always a matter of can't you people just leave other peoples to believe what they want to believe, live and let live, let immorality reign, and of course even history mocks them for that.

But no, we have to let the light shine whenever we can. And so he's going to stand up to this king. He has initiated, you know, in terms of, you know, an inquiry.

He begins the statesmanship and he gets the answer back. You're in my land since you've come out of Egypt, but there's more to the story and he's going to bring that out. They are in this land because they captured it. Those are the terms of war. As a matter of fact, Israel has the Golan Heights. You know, they took that back from the invading forces of Syria and they didn't give it up. They only gave back Egypt's territory because the United States pressuring them. But this is still a policy of war. If you win it in war, you can keep it, if you can keep it.

And this is what this is about. So he's going to set the straight, he's trying to set the record straight to avert war. He says from Arnan as far as Jabak, those are the boundaries. Now it's the boundaries of the Jordan, Jabak, and Arnan rivers, which forms the letter U. And to the east of that is desert until you get, of course, to the Gulf, you know, of Arabia.

It's all the way down. So they don't have to mention that boundary. The desert is no man's land. But Gilead was not an Ammonite territory when Israel conquered it. And this, of course, is being left out by the king of Ammon. The Amorites took it from the Ammonites, who took it from the Moabites, who took it from the, now let's see, the Emon, who were giants.

So this territory had changed hands a few times. By the time Moses comes through, the Ammonites don't have it. The Amorites have it, who took it from the Moabites, who took it from the Emon. And that is what Jephthah is saying, well, we didn't take it from you.

The Amorites were here. And it's captured territory, and that should end the conversation. Verse 14, so Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, and said to him, thus says Japheth, Israel did not take away the land of Moab, the land of the people of Ammon. For when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness, as far as Yom Suph, but Red Sea most translations, and came to Kadesh. I like to say Yom Suph because if you look at the Red Sea, it looks, you know, it branches off into rabbit ears to, you know, one to the east, one to the west, northwest, northeast. The one to the right, as you're looking at it on your map, that's Yom Suph, the Sea of Reeds, where I believe Israel crossed over and the Lord parted the sea. There are natural land bridges on that side for the people to walk. There's a lot of archaeology involved in making that distinction.

They both belong to the Red Sea, but that right ear of the rabbit is the Sea of Reeds, known also as, so I just wanted to point that out because that's what I do. As a statesman, you know, he's trying to keep the peace. His father must have been a man of means. He's an educated man, Jephthah is. He says Israel did not take away the land, verse 16, of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon. So he knows Deuteronomy 2 covers this. And he denies the opponent's version of what is going on. He stands up to him, he knows his scripture, and because he knows his scripture, to him, his history is his scripture and it emboldens him.

He doesn't have to say, well let me go check, I'm sure we're right. Imagine if Eve said to Satan, it's a lie, I'm not listening, and walked away. She didn't stand up to him, she dialogued with him. Jephthah is dialoguing, but he's standing up, and that's the difference. And we should learn a lesson from that, to stand up against the lies.

I mean, you know, I don't have to take that. Unless the Lord says, just wait, I'll give you a better shot later. Verse 17, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, and is still rehashing history. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Judges. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston, of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you'd like more information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there, and we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app, or just follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. That's all the time we have for today. Join us next time to continue learning more from the book of Judges, right here on Cross Reference Radio.