Friday, January 18, 2008
By Faith... the Judges, Part 60 of 62
TEXT: "What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets" (Hebrews 11:32).
IDEA: Vows we make to God out of zeal or ignorance may cost us dearly.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that they don’t need to make promises to God to get his favor. They need to trust him.
Have you ever made a promise to God? Why?
Why does anyone make a promise to God?
I. Vows made to God out of zeal and ignorance may cost us dearly.
We have been looking at a judge named Jephthah who made a vow to God before he went into battle. What was the vow? Do you think he should have made it?
The vow cost him dearly. After he has won the battle, he returned home. As he strode up toward his house, his triumph turned to dismay. Who is it that came through the door and greeted him? (Judges 11:34-36)
Both Jephthah and his daughter were people of honor. They both were part of fulfilling the vow. Jephthah kept his word and his daughter insisted that he keep it.
II. The keeping of the vow was honorable but it was a tragedy.
What did it cost Jephthah? He lost his only daughter (Judges 11:34). It would be the end of the family line.
What did it cost Jephthah’s daughter?
She lost her life.
She lost her life before she could bear children. For the Hebrews a woman not having a child is almost equal to death.
An even great tragedy: the sacrifice did not have to happen.
According to Leviticus 27, when a person is committed to the Lord, that person’s life can be redeemed with the payment of money.
One of the Jewish commentaries on Judges, called the Targum of Jonathan, tells us that the reason they held an annual mourning for Jephthah’s daughter (Judges 11:40) was “none should make his son or daughter a burnt offering as Jephthah did, and did not consult Phineas the priest.” Had he done so, he would have redeemed her with money.
Why didn’t Jephthah pay the money and save his daughter?
Conclusion:
What can we learn from this tragic incident in the Bible?
