THE BOOK OF JUDGES

This time when the children of Israel could stand the oppression no longer, and they cried out to God, He reminded them of the many times He had already saved them and yet they continue to forsake Him. So He told them, I won't deliver you anymore. Go cry to the gods that you forsook me for, and let them help you with your troubles.

But Israel prayed all the more, saying, Do with us whatever you wish, but please save us today, and they reverently showed their repentance to God. His soul was grieved for the misery they were going through. Our God is so merciful (just as any parent that hates to see their children in distress) and He again forgave (just as parents from the beginning of time forgive their children over and over and over again), and He again sent a deliverer for His children Israel, so let's find out what happened.

There was a man named Gilead who begat a son born of an harlot. His name was Jephthah. Now Gilead's wife bear him sons, and when they grew up, they rejected Jephthah, saying, You will not inherit our father's estate with us because you're the son of a strange woman. So Jephthah left and lived in the land of Tob, where he kept company with worthless men, though he himself was truly a strong and brave man.

JEPHTHAH BIBLE SACRIFICE LESSON WITH JEPHTHAH BIBLE SACRIFICE EXPLANATION AND JEPHTHAH BIBLE SACRIFICE SUMMARY

Then the Ammonites made war against Israel and the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah in Tob and said, Come and be our leader and help us fight the children of Ammon.

Well, you can almost picture Jephthah, scratching his head with one finger as he replied, Aren't you the same people that hated me and kicked me out of my father's house? Why do you come to me now that you're in trouble? They begged him to accept the position and they swore they would appoint him leader over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

So Jephthah sent a message to the king of Ammon asking, Why do you want to fight with me in my land? The king sent a message in return saying, Israel took my land when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon to Jabbock, so give it back peaceably.

But Jephthah confidently reminded the king that God delivered the land into the hand of Israel.

Then Jephthah added, Would you not take what your god gives you to possess? And why have you not recaptured that land for the last 300 years since Israel has inhabited this land and all her towns and cities ... How have I done you wrong that you come to fight me ... No, you are the one who does ME wrong, let the Lord be the Judge this day between Israel and Ammon. But the king would not listen.

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Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he went over to the children of Ammon, and he vowed a vow:

And the Lord did deliver them into Jephthah's hands. He defeated twenty cities and it was a tremendous victory, and Israel was free from the slavery that they had endured for 18 years.

But as Jephthah went home, he met with sadness greater than the happiness he enjoyed from the victory, becasue his only daughter was the first to greet him upon his arrival, playing a timbrel and dancing and celebrating for the return of her father and the joy of his success.

Jephthah couldn't go back on his promise to the Lord and he was cut to the heart with grief, but his daughter was willing to accept her father's vow, because the Lord had freed Israel from their enemies.

She asked only that she could go with her companions and mourn her early death on the mountains for two months, and then she returned and Jephthah offered her, his only daughter as a burnt offering.

Quite a story, huh?