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 11:30-31,
"Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: 'If you give the Ammonites into my
hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I
return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will
sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
We read in the following verse that the Lord gave the Ammonites into
Jephthah's hands. Later we read that Jephthah followed through on his
vow to God. It was his only child that came out the door of his house
on that fateful day that he sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord
to fulfill his vow.
In regard to human sacrifice, the Lord later condemned Israel for
following the heathen nations of their day in the practice of it as he
called it "a detestable thing". He said, "They built high places for
Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters
to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that
they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin."
Jeremiah 32:35.
Jephthah sacrificed his daughter in his wheeling and dealing with God.
God has said he never commanded human sacrifice, it had never entered
his mind and he found it a "detestable" thing. The Merriam-Webster
on-line dictionary defines "detestable" as "arousing or meriting
intense dislike - abominable". Synonyms include, "base, contemptible,
despicable, ignoble, dishonorable, execrable, ignominious, sordid,
vile, wretched."
Given this, it is apparent that God was going to give Jephthah victory
as he fought against the Ammonites without any human sacrifice. In
fact, God provided him the victory in spite of it and found that act
on Jephthah's part to be detestable, base, contemptible, despicable,
ignoble, dishonorable, execrable, ignominious, sordid, vile, wretched,
as he would any human sacrifice. I have a strong suspicion God caused
Jephthah's only child to come out that door on that day as a judgment
against him for such a wicked and vile oath.
In verse 29 of the chapter we are told the Spirit of the Lord had come
upon Jephthah, and yet, that didn't appear to dissuade him from his
bartering with God. We also read in Hebrews 11:32-40 he was a man of
faith, such that the world was not worthy of him. Yet, that didn't
appear to dissuade his bartering with God using human sacrifice!
It causes me to wonder: if someone filled with the Holy Spirit, a
person of faith like Jephthah, can have so little an understanding of
the things of God, what God finds detestable and is attempting to
barter with God, can we be guilty of such a thing? I'm not suggesting
human sacrifice as something we might consider, just that we might
think we need to buy off God with something we might find dear, to
persuade him to our agenda, to get him on our side?
It seems to me such activity must break the Lord's heart. If we need
to barter with God, if we tell him we will give up drinking and
smoking, stop chewing tobacco and refusing to date girls who do, might
he get us that job, that promotion, that spouse, that child, that
education, that whatever, it just may indicate we have lost sight of
the things of God as well.
Unconditional love on God's part means something.
Possibly I need to be thinking more in terms of God's unearned love
toward me, what a gracious and compassionate God he is, that what he
has in mind for me, desires for me, must be far superior to that which
I think I need to twist his arm for.
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
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