Jephthah’s vow I – the price of fulfilling our desires (Judg 11:29–33)
Perhaps in response to Jephthah’s expression of faith (Judg 11:27), God’s Spirit comes on him – the Lord’s first explicit involvement since 10:11-16. Despite all we know of Jephthah, his mixed beliefs, his drive for recognition, God responds to his faith. He also cares for His wayward people, Israel, and will deliver them from their enemies. This should give us comfort: God is gracious in His gifts. We also should not write off Christians with confused beliefs and compromised lives or question the genuineness of their spiritual experiences with God. At the same time, Jephthah’s story is also a stark warning. God works with the kind of people we are, but the outcome will depend on what He has to work with, and, in Jephthah’s case, his deeply pagan instincts will lead to tragedy. It must sadden the Lord to see people’s potential and know what their life could be, if only they would follow Him faithfully.
Jephthah is a gifted leader now empowered by God’s Spirit for the task of commanding Israel’s army in battle, yet his actions that will shortly follow will become his undoing. From time to time one hears of powerful preachers and great Christian leaders who draw a following of thousands, but then are revealed to have had an affair, or got embroiled in embezzlement. As Christians in those situations we reel from the shock, especially if our lives had been touched deeply by the teaching and ministry of those leaders. How can such a thing happen, we ask? Was all that they said and did not from God despite sounding so inspired? We feel confused. The truth is though that neither giftedness nor spiritual empowerment is a guarantee of godly character.
God will give Jephthah victory, but in his desire to ensure the outcome, he makes a vow (vv.30–31). The vows we read of in the Bible are usually an expression of gratitude promised for what God was going to do. We see this in the psalms where thanksgiving and vows are set parallel (e.g. Pss 50:14; 56:12; see also Jonah’s psalm in Jon 2:9). Accordingly, vows are often connected to what is requested (e.g., Samuel’s mother asks for a child and vows to dedicate him to God – 1 Sam 1:11). Jephthah’s vow, however, promises or at least includes the possibility of human sacrifice (for my arguments, see this post). As the most valuable offering in the ancient world, it seems to indicate the vow-maker’s wish for guaranteeing success and trying to manipulate the deity into granting the request. In effect, Jephthah is saying, ‘I’ll give whatever it takes’ to ensure victory and be honoured. The tragedy is that God did not require any of this; it was Jephthah’s drive for certainty and success that claimed such a price. How many today are willing to sacrifice (in a different sense) their relationship with spouse or children in exchange for recognition at work, or for trying to fill deeply felt needs through an affair or addictive behaviours!
