one of the Judges of Israel

Of ALL the Judges in the book of Judges... JEPHTHAH's story is the MOST TRAGIC  and, DUE to the fact that "Jephthah," simply had NO knowledge of his God!!  If he had - he MOST CERTAINLY  would have not made the vow to God that he DID!  IMO -  God did NOT refuse the vow - for that EXACT REASON!!  ***NOTE - IMO people!!  IMO = In my opinion!  MmBut I shall extrapolate on that more in the story being that.. If you're not familiar with JEPHTHAH. then you've NO IDEA what I am talking 'bout Willis!!  Onward to Jephthah's stowy...

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Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior!!  His father was Gilead, that the land was so named for.. (great-grandson of the patriarch, Joseph.. Which makes Jephthah , Joseph's great-GREAT grandson.. cool stuff, ON the dads side), & his mother was a harlot.  The Bible is clear as a bell on this.  For this reason, the sons of Gilead.. his brothers.. When he was of age.. Came against him and threw him out of Gilead's house saying, 'you HAVE NO inheritance with us, for you are a harlot's son!'  

 

And so, he fled to Tob!  

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Meanwhile.. The Ammonites came over making a noise of war with the children of Israel/Gilead.  Soo - the brother's who'd thrown him out previous, came to him in Tob (where he fled), now WANTING him to be their captain and to be the CENTER of their inheritance!  Moved, no doubt, by the tail betwixt their legs and their offer, Jephthah agrees and comes back home..  To Gilead...

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First on his agenda??  Figuring out "WHY," exactly, the Ammonites wanted to make war with them..  So he sends messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, "why are you tryin' to make this war with us - when we've done NO sin against you??"  The king of Ammon says, 'you took our land from us, & we want 'er back."  So, Jephthah tries messaging back saying... "we DID NOT take your land!  We were attacked by your people & our LORD delivered your land into our hands after YOU attacked us for simply wanting to cross thru your land!!  Would NOT you take land as an inheritance that YOUR god had given to you??'  But the king would ignore him this time.. AND, the Spirit of the LORD comes upon Jephthah and...

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; he crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 

 

What happens next is MIND BLOWING, & COMPLETELY shows how far the children of Israel have gotten from intimacy with God!!  By making the following vow.. Jephthah CLEARLY shows that he is COMPLETELY ignorant of knowing the God he serves..

 

< And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, = whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

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THIS would be a vow that the heathen would make to their gods..  AND ESPECIALLY SINCE in Deuteronomy, Moses says that 'the offering of that nations children to their gods, is detestable to God and they should NOT follow in that practice, with the LORD their God!'

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Judges 10:17-11:31    Jephthah, son of Gilead, leads the Gileadite warriors against the Ammonite army camped in Gilead in

He leads the Israelites across Gilead and pushes the invaders back to Ammon (Amman). 

 

The Ammon watchtowers surprisingly REmain today!  

You can gander at the remains of a watchtower that woulda seen Jephthah that day, here.. 

And -a closer look at the sign on the tower grounds!!

 

I think (IMO here peeps)... God allowed the vow because of Jephthah's ignorance of Him!!  For WHO ELSE should come out his door upon arriving home??  His DAUGHTER!!  It was a TRAGIC vow!!  What is even worse, Jewish women - follow the tradition of his daughter in going out to lament.. instead of correcting the wrong that was done here!

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Too?  ((IMO AGAIN!)).. I think that this was why Jesus abolished vows & said, 'let your yea mean YEA, and your nay mean NEY!   

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And from Judges 12:7...

H Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.  

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The locale of his tomb is unknown...  UNfortunately!!

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