Having the Holy Spirit come and acting wickedly - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 11:29,

"Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah."

From my perspective Jephthah represents just how far Israel had
wandered from her God. As Jephthah faced his military challenge of the
Ammonites, he felt compelled to make a vow to God to perform a human
sacrifice of whomever walked out his door when he returned home if God
would provide him the victory. "I will sacrifice it as a burnt
offering." Judges 11:31b. How far this nation had sunk in depravity!
To think that God's chosen people had gotten to the point that they
felt twisting his arm through human sacrifice was the way to gain his
help is astonishing. God wanted their hearts, not a human burnt
offering.

It strikes me that God's judgment of Jephthah may have been
orchestrated by God himself in having his only child come out that
door on the fateful day. It wasn't a servant or anyone else, it was
his only child! I'm just speculating here...

Jephthah's gamble crushed him, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me
miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the Lord that I
cannot break." No, I don't buy that for a minute. She didn't make him
miserable and wretched, he made himself miserable and wretched for
attempting to barter with God through human sacrifice.

Astonishingly, all this took place after "the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jephthah"! What we learn from this is that God's Spirit can come
upon anyone to carry out what he desires, even when they act sinfully.
Further, at this time, even though the Holy Spirit enabled someone to
do what God had decided does not mean they had been transformed into
God's character and nature. Jephthah here is manifesting just how
sinful and removed he and the nation had become from God.

Yet, I read of Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32-40 where he in mentioned in a
list of those "commended for their faith", those of whom "the world
was not worthy". Jephthah was a man of faith. As noted in many places,
faith does not make a person perfect. David and Bathsheba, Abraham
lying, etc.

This is not the only example we see of someone being filled with God's
Spirit while doing evil. The fascinating account of King Saul having
the Spirit come upon him, resulting in him prophesying in the midst of
his insane attempt to murder David is another example of this, 1
Samuel 19. What I glean from this is that God is able to use anyone.
He is able to have his Spirit come upon people to accomplish things,
and, strikingly, it is not necessarily an indication of whether God is
pleased with them or things they may do. They may just be as sinful as
you and me!

I should mention that I certainly recognize the new ministry of the
Holy Spirit following Jesus' ascension to heaven. He told his
followers to stay put in Jerusalem till he sent them the Holy Spirit,
which happened on the following Pentecost. Today the Holy Spirit has a
wonderful part in the lives of believers by transforming us into the
image of Jesus Christ himself. Something we don't necessarily see in
some of the accounts in Israel's history.

Interesting, isn't it?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com