Judges 11:32-13:532So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. 36And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. 38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, 40That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. 1And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. 2And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. 3And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? 4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. 5And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; 6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. 7And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. 8And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem. 11And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. 13And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 15And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites. 1And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. 3And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. 4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 5For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (Judges 11:32‑13:5)
The Lord delivered the Ammonites into the hand of Jephthah, and they were utterly defeated. When Jephthah returned to his house, his only child, his daughter, came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances, and he was very sad. He had made a promise to the Lord, and he would not go back, nor alter what he had vowed. After she had bewailed her virginity two months, then Jephthah fulfilled his vow, and great mourning followed among the daughters of Israel from year to year.
All this, teaches us a very important lesson, especially in the days in which we live. God may, and does, use whomsoever He will in His service, but He does not approve of all they do. As the days grow darker, God may pick up those whom we least expect He would use, but it is not ours to say, “What doest Thou?” Daniel 4:3535And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:35). He will accomplish His purposes in His own way, and our part is simple, unquestioning obedience to His Word, leaving God to do according to His will. Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached “whether in pretense, or in truth,” Philippians 1:1818What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:18)—let us do the same!
The men of Ephraim, who had been jealous of Gideon in his day, were now jealous of Jephthah. They even gathered an army and came out to fight against him, but Jephthah did not show the same grace that Gideon did. He fought against them. Jealousy is a terrible thing among the people of God, and it causes untold sorrow. It is very liable to run in families too, as with the Ephraimites, but the grace of God can help us to overcome our “family weaknesses” if we look to Him. Let us not excuse ourselves for these weaknesses (which we all have), but rather seek grace from above to overcome them. A terrible judgment of God fell upon these Ephraimites because of their jealousy, and forty-two thousand of them were slain in this battle. Just think of a terrible slaughter like this over nothing else but jealousy!—surely “jealousy is cruel as the grave.” Song of Sol. 8:66Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. (Song of Solomon 8:6).
After the death of Jephthah there were three other judges who arose, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, but the people again departed from the Lord.
Then the Lord delivered Israel into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. Up to this time their enemies, as recorded in the book of Judges, had been from outside, but the Philistines were enemies from within. They were those left in the land whom the children of Israel had not conquered. The record that follows, therefore, about Samson, is given in great detail, for it is full of important instruction for us in our day, when we feel the enemy’s power from within the professing church. The only way to overcome in such a state of things as this, is complete separation to God, called Nazariteship, as with Samson. The Lord Jesus was the true Nazarite, the truly separated One, and now He is gone up on high. We are now associated with Him up there, and should walk as separated ones here. This applies to our walk as individuals, as well as to the position of the assembly during our Lord’s absence.
When, therefore, the birth of Samson was announced to Manoah’s wife, she was told that God would give her a son who was to be a Nazarite, or a separated one, to God from the day of his birth. She herself was to be very careful as to her own conduct, too, as every parent should be.
ML 11/08/1953