Judges 11:29-40 - Be Careful What You Promise God!

Judges 11:29-40

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 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. 33 And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jephthah’s Daughter

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.”

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.”

38 So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 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.

And it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah, son of Gilead, the son of a prostitute, was also the deliverer of Israel from the Ammonites because God chose him for the task to demonstrate the deliverance was from the divine and perfect Judge and not the imperfect man chosen as His instrument.  As he made his way to defeat them, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah and he made a rash vow instead of merely accepting the call and trusting God for the victory apart from his own zeal seemingly necessary to prove to God in this way as he saw it.  He vowed to offer up a  runt offering sacrifice of whatever he encountered out of his house when he returned from victory over Ammon, as if he needed to prove to God that he could defeat them instead of giving all the glory to God for their defeat at his hand.  We read that this rash vow needed to be paid (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5) if it was made but found out it would have been “better not to vow than to vow and not pay” the hard way.  It was his daughter who emerged from the tent to greet her father when he arrived.  It would have been better to stop before vowing in such haste and think of what could possibly come out of his house to greet him.  Was it a pet or sheep or even a stranger?  The danger of thoughtless vows that needed to be paid should teach us all to carefully consider what we promise to the Lord if He does such and such then we will do so and so.  It is far better to heed the Lord’s advice in Matthew 5:37 and James’s advice in James 5:12 and simply say we will or will not do as the Lord says to avoid judgment of unintended consequences.  The LORD delivered Ammon into his hands in a sweeping victory, but the cost was higher than Jephthah anticipated due to his rash promise to earn favor for the victory which God had already in hand.  We likewise should trust God to use us to fight for the soul of the lost and count the cost of the prideful need to guarantee the outcome with promises of I will do this if God does that.  Faith simply trusts and obeys instead, apart from needing to prove ourselves to gain the outcome as we imagine is necessary.  Remember the daughter of Jephthah now and be careful what you vow!