JEPHTHAH - THE NEGOTIATOR - PART 2 (Judges 11:12-33)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we began to look at Jephthah the Gileadite, a valiant warrior who in the beginning was an outcast of his own people but rose to become commander of the forces of Gilead and head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Jephthah accomplished this through the art of negotiation with the elders of Gilead. We ended last week at Mizpah of Gilead, where what Jephthah had negotiated with the elders of Gilead was ratified before the LORD and the people of Gilead.
At the end of my message, I acknowledged that so far in this history of Jephthah the LORD had been a silent witness to all that had taken place and I asked: What will God do, because we had learned He could bear Israel’s misery no more, so what will He do? Will He choose Jephthah as the Gileadites had done? Is this valiant warrior who is a hard-headed, self-interested negotiator going to be the next judge of Israel? These questions will be answered today as we continue to look at the history of Jephthah the Gileadite. Let’s pray and then get into the first section of our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Like last Sunday, because this passage is so long, I will read each section of Scripture before we look at it in more detail. Last week we only got through the first section, let’s see if we can get a little farther this morning. To begin turn to Judges 11:12-28 and if you are able, please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Judges 11:11-28,
“Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, ‘What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?’ The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, ‘Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.’ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, and they said to him, ‘Thus says Jephthah, “Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. Then they went through the wilderness and around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our place.’ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. Since now the Lord, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it? Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.”’ But the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.” (Judges 11:12–28, NASB95)[1]
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE KING OF AMMON (Judges 11:12-28)
Jephthah wastes no time but immediately begins to rule in Gilead and he does so by dispatching messengers to the king of Ammon, they carry a message from Jephthah. By doing this he shows the king of Ammon that he bears the same authority over Gilead that the king of Ammon has over the sons of Ammon. It is not clear if Jephthah is actually trying to solve this conflict diplomatically since in verse 4 of this chapter, we are told that the conflict had already begun, the sons of Ammon were already fighting against Israel and Jephthah had been brought in to lead the forces against the Ammonites. It is more likely that Jephthah enters into this negotiation with the king of Ammon to establish the rightness of his cause thus taking the moral high ground and to buy himself some time to recruit a fighting force large enough to make it possible for him to succeed against the Ammonites. His first message to the king of Ammon is a demand that he justify his reason for invading Jephthah’s land, which Jephthah refers to as “my land” which undoubtably refers to Gilead, Jephthah’s homeland. The king of Ammon responds by claiming the land from the Arnon gorge to the Jabbok River and from the border of Israel to the Jordon River were taken from Ammon by Israel and he now wants them given back to his people peaceably.
When the messengers return with this response, a carefully worded response is sent back that includes several arguments to back Israel’s claim on the land, there is a historical argument in which Jephthah reminds the king of Ammon about what really happened when Israel took this land and who they took it from. Then Jephthah gives a theological argument based on accepting what your god has given you. Then Jephthah uses a personal argument questioning this king’s authority and right to claim this land. Finally, he ends with a chronological argument based on the time that Israel has lived in this land. Let’s look at each of these arguments.
Jephthah begins his response to the king of Ammon with a historical argument that the land belongs to Israel, and they did not take it from the Ammonites. Jephthah gives this nameless king a bit of a history lesson. He tells him that when Israel came up out of Egypt and they arrived at Kedesh, from there they sent messengers to Edom and then to Moab asking permission to pass through their land to reach their land on the other side of the Jordan river. Both these nations refused them passage so they went around them to the east through the wilderness until they came to the northern border of Moab on the Arnon gorge. On the other side of the gorge was the land of the Amorites, not the land of Ammon which was further east. Israel again sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites and requested passage through the land of the Amorites to the Jordan to the land that the LORD had promised them. Sihon refused them passage and called out forces and they camped at Jahaz to fight against Israel. The LORD, the God of Israel gave Sihon into the hands of the Israelites and they defeated the Amorites, so Israel possessed the land of the Amorites. Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites from the Arnon gorge as far as the Jabbok River and from the wilderness to the Jordan river.
This then leads Jephthah into his theological argument for Israel’s right to possess the land, since the LORD, the God of Israel drove out the Amorites from before them, then what right do the Ammonites have to the land. The God of Israel gave this land to Israel, then Jephthah asks, “Do you not possess the land that your god, Chemosh, has given you to possess?” Be satisfied with that and we will possess the land that our God gave us to possess, which was not your land, but that of the Amorites.
Having made his points historically and theologically, Jephthah now turns to a personal argument and his opening question if literally translated says, “Are you indeed superior to Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab?” This was the king during the days of Moses when Israel took the land that is being contested. In essence, Jephthah is asking this king, “Who do you think you are?” The fact that Jephthah precisely identifies the king of Moab, by name and lineage contrasts sharply with the namelessness of the king of Ammon, showing us Jephthah’s contempt for this king who is trying to usurp Israel’s land. Jephthah then precedes to present this king with two more rhetorical questions: Did Balak ever contest Israel’s possession of this part of the land, or did he ever go to war with them over it? Assuming a negative response to both questions, Jephthah is informing this nameless king that he had no business doing so either. Balak had sought to resist Israel by cursing them through Balaam, but it was not over the land in question, and when Israel defeated Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, the Moabites simply feared the power and presence of this newly arrived people.
Finally, Jephthah offered one final argument, this one based on the time that Israel had lived in the land. Again, his argument is in the form of a rhetorical question, asking why in the 300 years that Israel has lived in Heshbon and its villages and in Aroer and its villages and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why during all that time did you, king, not recover the land that you claim belongs to Ammon? With these arguments Jephthah has clearly and conclusively shown that the land in question does not belong to Ammon and was not in Ammon’s possession when Israel overthrew the Amorites who were living in it when Israel arrived in the land.
Jephthah makes clear through these negotiations that he has not sinned against Ammon, but that Ammon is in the wrong, and if they desire to continue to contest the land then the LORD, the God of Israel, the Judge, will judge between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon and He will determine to whom the land belongs. This is effectively a declaration of war if Ammon does not immediately return to her land. But more than that it is an appeal to the LORD, who has been silent, to rule in Israel’s favor and rescue them. Here for the first time Jephthah’s belief in the LORD’s unrivaled supremacy and absolute sovereignty shines through as he willing stakes everything on the LORD. This is Jephthah’s finest moment, and it is this moment that most justifies his name being included among Israel’s heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 where we read in verses 32-34, “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” (Hebrews 11:32–34, NASB95)[2] We may have doubted what this man could do, what he was about, but those doubts seem unfounded now. Jephthah has the makings of a great judge and leader. But we are in for a shock. This section closes by saying that this nameless king of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him. Negotiation had failed, war it was to be and the LORD, the Judge, would judge between the two.
SCRIPTURE:
Let’s read our next passage of Scripture, turn in your Bibles to Judges 11:29-33, listen, and follow along as I read this next passage.
Judges 11:29-33,
“Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.’ So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.” (Judges 11:29–33, NASB95)[3]
NEGOTIATION WITH THE LORD (Judges 11:29-33)
Since the LORD’s rebuke of the people of Israel in the end of chapter 10, He has remained silent. Not only has He been silent, neither has He done anything, as far as we know. The LORD has been named by Jephthah and the elders of Gilead. Jephthah has spoken about Him; he has spoken before Him when he was ratified as commander and head of the people of Gilead. And in the end of the last passage Jephthah appealed to Him. The LORD has not appeared to Jephthah as He did to Gideon. He has not spoken to Jephthah through a prophet like He did to Barak. Nor has the author of Judges given us any indication of whether God approves or disapproves of Jephthah. All of this changes in verse 29, when the author states, “Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah…” (Judges 11:29a, NASB95)[4] This was God’s response to Jephthah’s appeal in the previous verses and this is how God makes it clear to us that He has chosen Jephthah to save Israel. How this was communicated to Jephthah we are not told, but suddenly he had an urgency and an overwhelming zeal to gather more men to go into battle with him against the Ammonites. The forces of Gilead had already taken up a forward position at Mizpah, but more forces were needed and in the end of verse 29 we see Jephthah going on a recruitment drive throughout all of Gilead and then through the tribe of Manasseh calling out men to fight. The way this is written indicates that Jephthah did this with great haste knowing that they needed to engage the enemy quickly. Having gathered more troops, he returned to Mizpah of Gilead, but he did not linger there, but rallied the men to march on to meet the sons of Ammon in battle.
Energized by the Spirit of the LORD, Jephthah’s natural ability to lead and direct men is enhanced by the Spirit’s power and all that ability is now directed to a single purpose. The history is gathering speed, the event is coming to a climax, and now with God no longer silent but working through Jephthah all is set for the kind of God-given victory that we have come to expect from the previous histories of judges that we have already covered in this book. Victory is almost upon us, when suddenly something totally unexpected happens, Jephthah makes a vow. Listen as I read what the author wrote in verses 30-31, “Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.’” (Judges 11:30–31, NASB95)[5] Why does Jephthah do this, it is totally unnecessary. God has chosen to use Jephthah; the Spirit of the LORD has come upon him. Victory is assured. But what we understand was apparently not clear to Jephthah, or if it was, he was not completely convinced of it as we are. His very bold declaration that the LORD, the Judge, would judge between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon, was public and at least partly intended to unsettle his enemy. This vow gives us insight into who Jephthah truly is and shows us that he is a man that is still haunted by his past. Out in public he boldly argued that Israel was the innocent party and expressed a confidence in God, that He would rule in Israel’s favor. Privately, he remembers his origins and that he was an innocent party in a dispute and found his rights ignored by those who should have protected him, instead he was driven out and became an outcast.
The opening statement of his vow, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,” (Judges 11:30b, NASB95)[6] expresses for us Jephthah’s deep anguish and fear. A fear that the LORD might reject him as his people had earlier. Jephthah has everything to lose if this battle goes against him, including his life, but also his position in his clan and tribe, and that clearly means a lot to him. He was an outcast, but now he was the head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. But if he loses this battle, the whole cycle of rejection will begin again. If the LORD does not come through for Jephthah now, he fears that he will be an outcast again. Because of this fear, Jephthah reverts to that which is most natural for him – negotiation. He is good at it; it has worked well for him in the recent past with the elders of Gilead. It had bought him the time he needed with the king of Ammon. The difference is that now he tries it with the LORD rather than with men.
Jephthah’s vow is essentially a bribe. Just as the elders had offered Jephthah something that he wanted, now Jephthah offers something that he believes the LORD would want. Jephthah now is the one asking for something and offering something in return, but even though he has taken on the role that the elders had with him, his ability to speak to his advantage is clearly exhibited. The vow clearly pledges a burnt offering to the LORD, but what that offering will be is not given. If fact, it does not specify any particular sacrifice at all, only the means by which it will be identified. Whatever (or whoever) comes out from the doors of my house to meet me.
This in itself generates a great deal of tension in this event. Who or what will the sacrifice be? The language is unclear, but more applicable to a human than to an animal, especially seen in the phrase “to meet me.” This vow puts all the inhabitants of Jephthah’s house at risk, but he will offer only what is forced of him. This vow shows how much the religion of the other peoples around them had merged even with their worship of the LORD, such a vow would never have been made if they had remained true to the LORD and kept His covenant with them. Understanding this the vow is not impulsive but is entirely in keeping with Jephthah’s character as we have come to know it, it is shrewd and calculating just like all his negotiations.
Having made his vow, Jephthah commits himself and the men under his command to the battle and they have a tremendous victory. Notice that the opening words of verse 32 (“So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon…”) these words take up again the closing words of verse 29 (“…and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.”) From this we understand that the making of the vow in the two intervening verses was not necessary, without making the vow Jephthah would have been victorious anyway. The LORD gave the sons of Ammon into the hand of Jephthah just as He had already determined to do. The outcome was assured from the moment the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and the history of Jephthah could have ended with the final statement of verse 33, “So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.” (Judges 11:33b, NASB95)[7] But the history of Jephthah cannot end here because this history has been radically complicated by Jephthah’s vow. Now this history cannot end until Jephthah returns home and faces the consequences of the vow that he has taken. Those consequences and the end of the history of Jephthah is for next week.
CONCLUSION:
From our passages today we have learned because the LORD could no longer bear Israel’s misery, He broke the silence by intervening into the history of Jephthah. He came upon Jephthah by His Spirit thus commissioning him as the next judge of Israel. The moment God’s Spirit came upon Jephthah victory over the sons of Ammon was assured. We knew this because we have seen it happen over and over beginning with Othniel, then Ehud, then Shamgar, then Barak and then Gideon. When the LORD commissioned them to be His judge, then the nation of Israel was saved, was delivered from her oppressors. All Jephthah had to do was to look back in the history of his people to see God’s deliverance. The fear of failure and rejection blinded his eyes to what the LORD had done over and over for his people. That fear and the pagan religion that so permeated the nation caused Jephthah to believe he had to offer something to God in return for salvation.
Last week I said, “What place does negotiation have in our relationship with God? Can we negotiate with Him? Is it a good idea?” As we have seen this morning and how that will be vividly played out in the life of Jephthah, I can say that negotiation has absolutely no place in our relationship with God, we cannot negotiate with Him and to try to do so is a bad idea. What did Jephthah have to do for the Spirit of the LORD to come upon him? He did not have to do anything; it was a pure act of God’s grace to once again save His people. There was absolutely nothing that the Israelites or Jephthah could have offered to God to bring about the victory that they had over the sons of Ammon. Jephthah’s vow was irrelevant to the outcome of the battle with the sons of Ammon. Salvation for the people of Israel was a gift of God’s grace. In the same way, we cannot negotiate our salvation with God, it too is a gift of God’s grace paid in full by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have nothing that we can offer to God, all we can do is by faith accept the gift of His grace and salvation is ours. All of this is due to God’s love for us and the fact that He could bear our misery no more. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NASB95)[8]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.