A Man's Foolishness

"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

The Spirit of the Lord has come upon the valiant warrior and he is on his way to battle. He knows that he needs God's help to attain victory for Israel and free them from the oppression of the sons of Ammon, and so he makes a vow to God. He pledges that if God will give him victory then he will give God the first thing that comes out of his house when he returns home.

Reading this I'm wondering what he was thinking. Did his kid have a cat he hated? Was their a servant he was really annoyed with all the time? Was he hoping that either of these two things would walk out first and not only would he be victorious but also rid of something he couldn't stand? Or was it a vow without really thinking about what it could entail?

Jephthah, with the help of God, is victorious, and when he returns home his daughter comes out of the house singing in celebration of his victory to welcome him home. And this is what he must now offer to God. He could have told God he would offer the finest bull in Israel. He could have promised to sacrifice one hundred spotless lambs. But rather than that he promised God the first thing that walked out of his house. I can't imagine how his heart sank when he saw his daughter.

Here we learn another lesson from the life of Jephthah, don't make foolish promises.

Men, have you made a promise to God? Did you think before speaking or did you get caught up in the emotion of the moment? Take God out of it, have you made a foolish, or hasty, promise to someone else? Have you over committed your time and now are unable to follow through with everything? Have you committed resources you don't have, and never did? It costs you your reputation.

Jephthah lost his only child because of a foolish promise he made to God. May we never make the same mistake.

Let us be men who commit to things we can follow through on. Let us think before we speak. Let us guard our reputations and not fall into foolishness.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor