STEER by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: Bison truly are massive creatures. People try to get close to them, but they have a mind of their own. So also, God’s people, the people of Israel, had a mind of their own. Repeatedly, they wandered away from God. As a result, God gave them over into the hands of their enemies. When they cried out to God, he sent a deliverer/judge who would steer them back to God. Unfortunately, once the judge died, they went back to their own ways. Today’s message is titled “STEER.” We are going to see how God used the judge named Jephthah to steer his people back towards him. Main Point: Sometimes God uses the good and bad part of our lives to steer others to Christ. We become instruments of his grace and judgment to a lost and dying world.
Judges 11 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 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 the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands…34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.”
Context: The passage we just read has been one of the most controversial and problematic passages in the Bible. It is often brought by those who are anti-Christianity. Richard Dawkins, atheist and one-time college professor at Oxford, in his book The God Delusion gave the following assessment of this account: God was obviously looking forward to the promised burnt offering, and in the circumstances the daughter very decently agreed to be sacrificed. She asked only that she should be allowed to go into the mountains for two months to bewail her virginity. At the end of this time she meekly returned, and Jephthah cooked her. God did not see fit to intervene on this occasion. Again, the same question comes up, as last time: “Dr. Shah/Pastor Shah, you told us that the judges were the good guys. You told us that according to the book of Hebrews, they ‘obtained a good testimony through faith.’ How can Jephthah be a good guy if he sacrificed his own daughter to God? How did he obtain a good testimony through faith if did something that God had expressly commanded his people not to do?” Again, don’t forget to apply the 2 filters of Christ and the Christian life to this story. Once we place these two filters on this passage, what first appeared embarrassing becomes enlightening, what first appeared cringing becomes comforting, and what first appeared primitive becomes pertinent for our daily lives. With that said, let’s begin. There are 3 instances where Jephthah steered the people back to God:
1. He steered them back through his own Rejection.
To better understand Jephthah, we need to back up to his origin – Judges 11 1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore sons; 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.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men (req = can also mean displaced) banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him. 4 It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. 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. 6 Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.” 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 are in distress?” This pattern of being rejected by one’s own brothers is found a couple of times in the Bible – Joseph was rejected by his brothers, David was rejected by his brothers, and even Jesus was rejected by his brothers – John 1:11 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Jephthah is a type of Christ.
Listen to the response by Jephthah’s brothers – Judges 11 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have 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.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them to me, shall I be your head?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” 11 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.
On the surface, it seems that Jephthah’s story is just about how the underdog became the top dog, but that’s not true. Jephthah is trying to steer the people back to God. To understand this, back up to Judges 10 6 Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. Can you read the hypocrisy? They were judging Jephthah for his prostitute roots while they were prostituting themselves against God! 7 So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon. 8 From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. 9 Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. 10 And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!” 11 So the LORD said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? 12 Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” Why is God talking like this? Has God given up on Israel? Is the covenant about to broken? Don’t misunderstand: God is a patient and merciful God. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Having said that, listen to Revelation 2:5“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” Even though he is merciful and patient, his “spirit shall not strive with man forever.” Judges 10 15 And the children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. Jephthah’s story is God’s story. Jephthah was using his rejection by his brothers to teach his people how they were rejecting God. He was exposing them to their hypocrisy.
Application: Are you rejecting God? Is there hypocrisy in your own heart? Are you testing his patience?
2. He steered them back through his unusual Vow.
Judges 11:12 Now Jephthah sent messengers 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?” I don’t have time to read the exchange between Jephthah and the King of Ammon. Read Judges 11:13-28, and you’ll know why Jephthah was included in the hall of faith inHebrews 11. He was pleading with the King of Ammon the way God pleads with every lost person to be saved through Jesus Christ. Just remember that even the King of Ammon was given a chance to repent. Unfortunately, he was too stubborn and hardhearted to repent. People are lost because they choose to reject God.
Now comes the strange vow that he makes with God in Judges 11 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 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 the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” What was Jephthah expecting would come running out of his house? A dog, a cat, a lamb. The text can be “whatever,” but it is actually “whoever” comes out to meet me. He is expecting a person to come out to meet him. Something else – in those days, when kings and warriors returned from a battle, guess who would come out to greet the men? The women, the wives, the mothers, the sisters, and the daughters. Remember, when Sisera does not return home, his mother and her maids are looking for him. When David went out to battle for Saul, listen to 1 Samuel 18 6 Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” Somebody last night suggested maybe he was hoping his mother-in-law would come out! I want to propose to you that the vow was not only public, but Jephthah intended it for his daughter and his daughter joyfully accepted it. There are several things I want to point out here:
- Child Sacrifice was prevalent among the pagan religions and the people of Israel copied it – Judges 11:6 “Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.” The one thing common in all of them was child-sacrifice. They were very advanced people but they practiced something God had expressly denounced – Deuteronomy 18 9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire…” Jeremiah 7:31 “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.”
- God expected the sacrifice of the firstborn, but it was a dedication – Exodus 13:2“Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” Numbers 3 12 “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.”
- The offering that Jephthah intended was a “hola”, which was the word for “burnt offering” (Holocaust), but it simply means “tribute rising.” As Paul says in Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”Listen to Jephthah’s daughter’s response – Judges 11 36 So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.” In other words, she will never get married. She will serve at the Tabernacle, as some women would do. Listen to her response when she returns –Judges 11:39 “And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man.” In a sense, she righted Jephthah’s origin. His mother was a prostitute, but his daughter remained a virgin.
- Someone might think, this is not a big deal, but this was a painful sacrifice for Jephthah because he had no other son or daughter. In other words, he would have no descendants. The judge prior to him, Jair, a Gildeadite, had 30 sons. The judge after him, Ibzan of Bethlehem, also had 30 sons and 30 daughters. Jephthah was representing God’s sacrifice of his only Son someday in the future.
Application: Do you realize the prize that God paid in giving his only Son to die on the cross for us? The Enemy has tried to set up counterfeits, but Jesus is the only one.
One final point here: This was a subtle lesson in knowing the nature of God. Why not put our minds at ease by saying or “and he sacrificed a lamb or a bull” or “she worked at the Tabernacle of the Lord” or “she remained a virgin the rest of her life” or “Jephthah had no descendants”? No mention of how it ends, but if they knew the nature of God, then they did not need any explanation. Don’t ask for another Abraham. You should know better.
Application: Does God have to explain himself to you?
3. He steered them back to God through a harsh and necessary Test
Judges 12 1 Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!” This is nothing but pure envy. Satan loves to use envy to destroy families, friendships, and churches. 2 And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. 3 So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” 5 The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. (This is very similar to how the Americans had to test the German soldiers who were pretending to be American. They would ask them to say, “Which way went the winged whippoorwill?” It they confused their w’s with their v’s, then they were taken prisoners.) Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites.
Colossians 1 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Application: Do you think that you’ll make it into heaven through some trickery? Do you think that God will let you slip in by your good works? Are you trusting in Christ’s name or your own?
Final point – Have you considered changing your question in the midst of your trials from “Why is this happening to me, Lord?” to “Who is this meant for, Lord?” Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 8 “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.”