Would you be willing to sacrifice your daughter to save the nation? Great news for the nation turned into a sorrowful, catastrophic event for Jephthah because of his failure to understand the essential character of God.

Summary

Jephthah was a valiant warrior. In the severe leadership vacuum in Israel, Jepthah, although the son of a harlot and was previously expelled, was asked by the elders of Gilead to become a political and military head to lead the charge against the Ammonites (Judges 11:6-11). 

Jephthah’s first attempt to repel the Ammorites was through a diplomacy. He sent a letter to the king of the Ammonites to lay out Israel’s legitimate claim on the land of Gilead based on a very accurate recounting of history pertaining to the Israelites, the Ammonites and other nations that took place about 300 years ago. However, the king of the Ammonites dismissed Jephtah’s diplomatic maneuver and mobilized his army to invade the Gilead.

The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He made a vow to the LORD that if he could achieve victory against the Ammonites, he would offer whatever would come out of his door to greet him for a burnt offering. Jephthah was victorious against the Ammonites, but it was his daughter who came out to greet him first. Since then, it has become a custom in Israel to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah for four days in a year.

Ballooning List of False Gods and Leadership Vacuum

As time went on, the number of gods that the Israetlites served increased exponentially – Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines (Judges 10:6). Just a few chapters prior, when Gideon led the Israelites against the Midianites, God mentioned only two false gods, Baal and Ashtaroth. The increasing number of false gods among the Israelites indicated a serious, precipitous fall of the condition of the heart of Israel as a nation – rendering them practically no different from other surrounding nations that do not fear God. 

In addition to their turning away from the LORD their God, Israel suffered from a leadership vacuum. Israel had no one to lead the fight against the upcoming invasion from the Ammonites (Judges 10:18). 

Their nationhood was in a state of a total failure. God tested the Israelites in two ways, internally and externally in the beginning of its nationhood after Joshua passed away (Judges 3). Internally, however, the Israelites forsook the LORD and served numerous foreign gods. Externally, the leadership vacuum rendered them unable to properly defend themselves from foreign invasion. 

Battle for Legitmacy

Against this background, Jephthah was recruited to lead Israel to fight against the Ammonites. We quickly notice that Jephthah was a valiant warrior, not only for his battle ability, but also for his acute awareness of the history of Israel. 

He first sought to deter the king of the Ammonites through a diplomacy based on legitimacy of the land by the Israelites. His understanding of the history matched very closely with the words by Moses in Deuteronomy (1-3) and events in Numbers (21-23). He clearly laid out in the letter that the land was given to Israel by God and urged the king to be content with their land that their god Chemos gave. This letter logically stated that making war against Israel was wrong (Judges 11:27).

Although the letter was dismissed by the king of Ammon, the diplomatic letter still served two very important purposes. First, it was to teach and instill a strong sense of legitimacy for the Israelite army to defend their land. Having this kind of a firm purpose – such as defending its land – is crucial in establishing a strong morale for the army. Second, the letter was also to influence the psychic of the Ammonites. What Jephthah laid out was very clear and correct – the Ammonites had no legitimate reason to invade the Israelites. An army devoid of a clear purpose is very unlikely to exert its full potential in the actual battles. If this letter had any influence on the Ammonite armies, it could have diminished their morale. 

Hasty Vow

Following the letter, the Spirit of the LORD came upon him (Judges 11:29), and it was all good until this point. Then, for an unknown reason, Jephthah made a hasty vow – to offer anything that would come out of his house to greet him as a burnt offering (Judges 11:30-31). 

Why did Jephthah make such a hasty, extreme vow? 

As the entire nation had been under a continual detrimental influence of false gods, so was the case for Jephthah. Note the ballooning list of false gods in Judges 10. With serving these gods came unwholesome worship practices, including human sacrifices, which the LORD detested. Jephthah, though a valiant warrior, was not immune from this strong, bad influence from the ubiquitous presence of foreign gods. Unfortunately, under this pressing situation right before a big battle, he made a hasty vow that reflected the values of false gods (which require sacrifices, often detestable ones) instead of the LORD true God (who delights in obedience and relation over sacrifices). In other words, Jephthah’s image of the LORD God had been molded into the image of false gods of his time.

Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit

Some may wonder how Jephthah made such an ungodly vow even when the Spirit of the LORD came upon him. Apparently, we can still grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) and quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19). The Holy Spirit treats the recipients of it personally, respecting their free will. The Spirit did not “force” Jephthah to obey God perfectly in an impeccable way. Sadly, Jephthah, although empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, still grieved and quenched the Spirit by making a hasty vow. 

What good is it to save the nation, but to lose a daughter?

With the help of the Spirit of the LORD, Jephthah was able to achieve a swift, decisive victory over the Ammonites (Judges 11:32-33). Tragically, however, it was his daughter who came out to greet him first, and this made Jepthah extremely troubled (Judges 11:34-35). Although there are still some debates over whether Jephthah really sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering or not, I believe he did based on his sorrowful reaction and his daughter’s mourning of two months.

If Jephthah had known the word of God more thoroughly, he could still have averted this disaster even after the vow. Leviticus 5:4-6 states people may confess and bring guilt and sin offering to atone for their sins of making oath thoughtlessly. According to the book of Leviticus, Jephthah could have confessed his sin of making a presumptuous vow and rectify his mistake.

This was a sorrowful incident. If the Israelite society and Jephthah had a better understanding of the word of God and more importantly His gracious character, this tragic vow would have been avoided. 

Thus, I named this chapter, “What good is it to save the nation, but to lose a daughter?”