udges 11 is full of wisdom. They and we can be judgmental and decide who should be able to do what.
We are no different than Gilead’s sons, we do not ask God but go by our man made standards. We as them can toss God and people away unless we need them. Unless we are part of a certain group you are not in, so to speak, our churches are guilty of this as well. When Ammon made war against Israel the people did not go to God first they ran to the man they had just kicked out and excluded from the the chosen group.

Verse 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

“The Lord delivers them,” is our first clue there is someone that still gets it, Who delivers who.


I like Jephthah , he first does this in verse 12 Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, “What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

Jephthah knew his history and we get a history lesson. Verse 29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord , and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's , and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he makes a vow. We have just left Judges 10 where God is so upset He says “13Therefore I will deliver you no more. 14“Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”

Jephthah knows his history , remember and we know story after story people forget Who God is but Jephthah had not. Vows start with Jacob in Genesis.
Leviticus 27:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation.

Not sure what was on Jephthah heart or mind but the Spirit was on him. We know he is one of the few that still had faith in God and knew Who delivers.
Jephthah's only child came out of those doors. I would have loved story time in this mans house as a child. We can see his only child , a daughter knows and loves God as well. She tells her father to do as he vowed.
Verse 37 And 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.

Jephthah would see no grandchildren , his daughter was given back to God. I can not wait to meet these two...Since God knows all things and Jephthah's mother was a strange women and there are no coincidences in God's plans , then God ended this line and His will was done. Great Story , Praise God...