Dr Paul Allen

Jephthah was a judge in Israel who made a problematic vow that may have led him to offer his only daughter as a human sacrifice ( Judges 11). An examination of how the grace of God abounded to him in spite of the consequences of his vow provides us with some valuable lessons. Jephthah as a Spiritually Minded Judge in Israel During a dark period in Israel’s history, “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor” ( Judges 11:1 ). Because he was the son of a harlot, his brethren prevented him from inheriting a share of his father’s estate ( Judges 11:1-2 ). Fleeing from them, Jephthah lived in the land of Tob and became the leader over a band of “vain men” who joined up with him ( Judges 11:3 ). When the Ammonites warred against Israel, the elders of Gilead sought him out to lead Israel in fighting against them ( Judges 11:4-10 ). In spite of his being the son of a harlot and drawing to himself a group of worthless men, Jephthah manifested at this time both to the Isra...

Answer me one question about an obscure story in Judges chapter 11, and I’ll tell you what your view of the whole Old Testament is. First a summary of the story leading up to Judges 11: entering the Promised Land didn’t solve all of Israel’s problems. They brought those problems across the Jordan with them; escape from slavery in Egypt didn’t end their subjection to sin. After the death of Joshua, the successor to Moses, God’s people descended into a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance that lasted for several hundred years. God delivered his people through a series of leaders called “judges.” Eighty years after the famous judge, Gideon, delivers Israel from the Midianites the Israelites are back into the bad part of the cycle: they do “what [is] evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judg 10:6). So God sends the Ammonites and the Philistines against them. As often happens in the cyclical book of Judges, the people repent and cry out to the Lord for help. God’s reply is i...