Dr Paul Allen

Judges 11:30–31 Jephthah was God’s chosen instrument to deliver Israel from the control which Ammon had exercised over the nation. Previously he had been rejected by Israel because of his mixed parentage, but in their hour of need, they turned to him as a man of strength and leadership capability. In addition ‘the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah’, 11:29. Thus he was empowered by God for the task of delivering Israel. As he moved out with his forces to attack the army of Ammon he made a vow before the Lord. Many have felt that this was an unnecessary vow, for God would have delivered the enemy into his hand without such statements. Nevertheless, he vowed and solemnly promised that if God gave him victory, then on his return he would offer as a burnt offering whatsoever came out of his house to meet him on his return from battle. Jephthah led his forces to complete victory over Ammon. The tide of invasion was turned and once again the nation was free. However, the effects of the vo...

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5b). The events recorded in the book of Joshua mark a new period in Israelite and redemptive history, and the book itself inaugurates a new section of Scripture. The transition is clearly set forth when God declares “ ‘Moses My servant is dead’ ” at the outset of the book.  The man who led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, who mediated as God formed them as a nation and established His covenant with them, who guided them through 40 years of wanderings in the desert as a consequence of their sin, who wrote the first five books of the Bible—this man has passed from the scene and a new leader has been appointed by God.  Joshua will lead the Israelites as they enter and take the land promised to them by God. The book opens the section of Scripture known in the Hebrew canon as the “Former Prophets,” the historical books covering the period from the death of Moses to th...