Fri, Jan 31st - 10:32AM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah-FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH

Brothers and sisters, we understand Jephthah, that in love and devotion to the covenant, although it hurt him greatly to give up his daughter, he well accepted and understood that the real tragedy would have been for him not to keep his vow to his God. Jephthah, therefore, valued putting the will of God above his own will. Jephthah’s story is an amazing one, although he lived in the midst of a family given to corrupting, and cherry picking the word of God, and practicing abominations, some not even done by the gentile nations, Jephthah emerges as a shining example of faith and triumph in God even in the midst of the most corrupt of times and despite being abused and rejected by his family.

Dearly beloveds, knowing full well from God himself  that He absolutely forbade human sacrifice to be done in worship of Him, we fully understand that Jephthah would absolutely not have been permitted by God to offer up his daughter to Him by actually burning her up as a sacrifice. Let’s get the interpretation of these verses posted earlier in terms of what God meant by putting things to death in carrying out the vow of things devoted to God:  :  Lev 27: 28Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. 29None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.

The above verses, saints (G40 hagios), were given to a people well acquainted with the Law; they knew from the Law that God was absolutely not commanding them to kill the persons that they had devoted to God, in worship of Him. Would Israel have been able to put the fields they devoted to God to death? Of course not, there is no recorded instance of Israel worshipping God by destroying fields that they had devoted to Him.  Holy people, God regulated virtually every aspect of worship as well as the daily lives of His people by the Law. This means that the devoted fields that Israel devoted to God could no longer be taken back or redeemed by the giver and put back to use by the common people ever again, instead it was to be put to use for the priests only: Lev 27:21But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.

Regarding the devoted beasts, Israel understood and was taught that these beasts were no longer to be put to use for the common people anymore, but given over to the priests only:  Lev 27:9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot fail to understand that in the case of persons devoted to the Lord, they were taken from among the common people and put in service to the priests as handmaids or servants. We note in the new testament that the high priest had such handmaids and servants. Brethren, let us look at Jephthah’s vow again: Jdg 11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,  31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

Holy people, Jephthah is not some demented psycho at all. His intention was to obey the Law concerning things God allowed Israel to voluntarily vow to devote to God. Jephthah’s vow was a vow solely related to the devotion of a person, who was to be given to the priests for service, and taken out from among the common people. This vow was not of those kinds of vows that could be fulfilled by the offering up of a burnt offering, which absolutely excluded any human being.

Every and anything, recorded in the Law that could be offered to God by first killing it and then burning it up on the altar as a burnt offering in worship to God absolutely excludes human beings. We have to keep this out front, human sacrifice in worship to God was absolutely forbidden by God under pain of death.

Love

serola

Wed, Jan 29th - 2:26PM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah-FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH

Dearly beloveds, although Jephthah’s story is gritty, despite its harshness, and a measure of darkness of man’s capability for cruelty and sin against man, the Holy Spirit sheds a great deal of light to the broken in heart, and in this story to “those people” of the house of God, such hope and healing that cannot be found outside of His healing comfort, protection and care.

 In this age of assault on men and masculinity, some men fear to be seen as soft, to cry, to show emotion or tenderness. In the presence of God even in private, some may hold themselves back when they “talk” to God as though they were speaking to another man, not praying in deference to Almighty God who has no equal.

But, brothers and sisters, back in the Old testament godly men did not have such problems. We see how humbly, like a child to his Father, that Jephthah requested help and victory over the enemy from the true Helper and Deliverer of Israel. Godly men, in their troubles are found frankly pouring their hearts out and crying out in humility and high- octane prayers fueled by their love, trust, and faith in God in their times of need. They put no trust in the arm of flesh: Ps 126: 3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

God still heals the broken hearts of His people  Psa 147:3 - He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  Psa 147:6The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

Psa 113:7 - He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. Jephthah most certainly had to be among those who trusted in God and had experienced His healing hands.

Saints (G40 hagios), again, this is the same God that we have today that can heal even a broken heart if we will just turn to Him for His help and comfort. Keep continually in mind that God is not presenting the human family as a model in any sense as some flawless Disneyesque faux presentation of the family. All human systems including the family are marred by sin. God wants to permeate the families of those whom He has saved with His absolute standard and cause them to live within the eternal framework of His boundaries so that families can be true godly safe families. This is a work in progress within our natural families and the church as a whole, through the power of God, although we know that family can be jerks sometime.

Sadly, brethren, worse things happened to children in their families back then and even worse things today. Some children do not, will not survive being members of their families, they will die. Old statistics say that one in eight children are murdered or killed in their families on a daily basis. These are old statistics, child protective agencies admit they do not have an accurate count and think it is higher, because some of these cases slip through the system and are not reported as such.

We have to keep digging into scripture to understand better Jephthah’s so called “tragic vow”, which has been allowed by some to overshadow his triumph over family rejection and the enemy of Israel. We will not find one word of God’s condemnation of Jephthah’s vow. Jephthah never goes “Oops Lord, I didn’t mean to include my kid in this vow”. Indeed, Jephthah counts his own intentions irrelevant. So much so, he accepts the pain of offering his kid rather than go back on His word to God. God in His omniscience knew what Jephthah would say and do before Jephthah did; therefore, God places Jephthah for this and so much more in the roll call of faith.

God set the standard and the boundaries for virtually everything in the life of Israel. God did not grant to Israel or anyone then, now or ever the authority or right to burn up a human being in sacrifice to worship Him. We have God’s own commands He left for us to know absolutely that He would never allow or receive such worship from people.

WHO-GOD, IN HIS OWN WORDS: Deu 18:10 - There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

Jer 32:35 - And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Eze 20:31 - For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

Some might say what about Abraham? We can dismiss that out of hand as God clearly stated it was a test of faith. We can see Jephthah’s vow too, as a test of faith. Keep in mind we are addressing anyone worshipping God by burning folks up as an offering. We must conclude, for it is impossible for God to lie, that He gave no one now or ever the authority to worship Him by murdering people by burning them up as a sacrifice. God expressly and abundantly warns and commands His people against this very thing. They were commanded not to imitate this abomination that was commonly practiced among the heathen. Later the record shows that Israel did start this practice, to the idols of the nations they had defeated, and God never gave any approval of it, indeed the punishment for it was death.  When people live without or reject God’s standard and boundaries, any abomination that men can do will be done.

Fri, Jan 24th - 3:09AM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah- FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMP

How an outcast overcame extreme rejection/deprivation

Brothers and sisters, as we continue to dig into the word of God by way of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ, we see the necessity of adding a title that more correctly fits or identifies the story of Jephthah’s life. Whenever Christians study the Bible or it is taught, God through the Holy Spirit opens it up and reveals its absolute eternal love and truths to us as well as corrects and deepens our understanding of the word of God.

Many of the studies on Jephthah, dearly beloveds, are dismissive of his triumph over  the egregious: (shocking · horrific · horrifying · horrible · terrible · awful · dreadful · ghastly), circumstances, merely focusing on him as the man who made a tragic vow. This dismissive focus, mars, hides the power of God in the life of His people, especially that Almighty God is concerned about each individual person and the whole as well. It clouds the truth that God still operates in the lives of all of His people on an individual basis as well as the whole. Through Jephthah, we learn how tender- hearted God is to us and that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit offers us tremendous comfort, hope, help, healing, and wisdom from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, regardless of our situations, circumstances or conditions. What ever me you or any of us are going through, let us be fully persuaded, convinced and convicted that our great, All- powerful God never forgets us and still helps us as He did Jephthah. The just shall live by faith.

Jephthah would not compromise, would not be discouraged or downcast, he would not give in to doubt, nor throw away his confidence in God due to his difficulties in life. Even so we, brethren, should not doubt but, remain steadfast in the faith, because God’s roll call of faith is an open book at this present time. All who believe and remain steadfast in faith and love towards Jesus Christ are written in God’s roll call of faith, just as Jephthah is. Therefore, holy people: Heb 10:35 - Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Don’t lose heart, don’t faint brethren, take the eternal view of this present age from God’s unchanging, uncompromising, true view point. God is not only concerned with just our physical bodies, but also the hearts, minds and the spirits of His people. The Bible is His designated place to come to know, understand, and find all of our needs to be met His way.

Psychiatry, psychology, and other mind sciences, holy people, are still grappling and not even close in understanding the human mind, how to cure ills of the mind and help people be happier, and to be better people. None of the mind sciences are integrated and each field uses different terminology for helping people, mainly for billing insurance companies for payment based on the ICD 9 and/ or 10. Even now, NASA, the space agency, with all of its fabulous technology understands it will always have a glitch in its systems-man himself. The nuclear nations tremble in fear of those whom it has put in charge of its lethal powers, sleeping with one eye open and the other only half closed in watchfulness for anything out of order with them-lest they do the unthinkable and destroy them all. Sin has corrupted all mankind with all of it systems in the world. The secular activists are right about one thing they have correctly identified the core source of what is killing people, the earth, the air, animals, even the sky-Mankind. They plead with mankind in hopes of changing mankind, stopping mankind from doing bad stuff all the time. However, there is only One permanent cure for mankind and its evils.

The Bible encourages, and warns that salvation through Jesus Christ is mankind’s last chance to be saved, for God the Father has set a time for this earth to be completely destroyed, and for the righteous to be rewarded and for the wicked to be punished. Brethren, we know that Mankind has now and always stellar ambitions to rule the earth forever, but God alone reigns over all now and forever, He is unbeatable, unconquerable, and none can ever defeat Him.

What has arisen among us today, saints (G40 hagios) is the so- called Christian counselors or therapists claiming that they have married, or integrated the Bible with secular mind sciences, so that they can better counsel the Christian. Some of these counselors have no direct knowledge of scripture, just second- hand faulty knowledge comingled with secular theories. This is an unbiblical and disastrous course to take for anyone claiming to be a Christian. Indeed, neither they nor anyone else have absolutely no such authority from God to add or take away from the word of God. The mind sciences have some truth, but easily bends with pressures of the times to accept what God never accepts forever.

 One psychologist, who is a Christian posits that the church can counsel the Christian with emotional issues among others, and it should never be a paid position. Furthermore, he posits that humble brothers and sisters well grounded in scripture can counsel. This is because the Bible encompasses the field of all the sciences without error, including the mind, and nature itself, from which the Christian can counsel and draw on/depend to help those in need under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.

I have in earlier posts posited that a Christian who counsels for a living should be paid, but I think this brother has it right. This doesn’t mean Christians cannot go into the mind sciences field, as it is addressed to the secular world. But counseling Christians should be the domain of the body of Christ within the church for the believer and is not dependent upon having a degree from the secular world.  

As mentioned earlier, brethren, in some ways this is quite an unsettling story. This is an ugly, sad, troubling, unsettling picture of the family presented by God in the Bible, but certainly not the only one. In it and many places in the Bible God unmasks the Disneyesque image of the family to expose not just its good but its failures through systemic sin. Again, all earthly systems are corrupted and damaged by sin on earth.

We must keep in mind, holy people, that during the time of Jephthah, but not the only time, Israel lapsed into idolatry in serving other gods and even sacrificing their children to them.  Jdg 17: 6In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Based on this, each person doing their own thing due to having no king, some wrongly say that Jephthah burned up his kid. However, this is absolutely not true. Despite, the apostasy of the times, and its evil influence upon many in Israel, Jephthah was not among them, but remained faithful to the Law of Moses out of love for God. It is true he made his vow rashly; however, it was only in the sense that he made it generally and did not designate a specific person to offer. Nevertheless, it was permissible in the Law of Moses to offer a person up for a burnt offering:  Lev 27: 28Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. 29None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.

Brothers and sisters, raise your hand if the above verses didn’t horrify you upon reading them, (I raised mine). But let us keep calm, we can count on the Holy Spirit to reveal the who, what, when, where, and why related to this kind of vow to know exactly what Jephthah did or did not do.

love

serola

Mon, Jan 20th - 2:07AM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Jdg 11: 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.

“for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.”

Saints (G40 hagios) Jephthah admits he rashly made his vow, however, as shocked, shook up and upset to the very core of his mind, heart and spirit as he was, Jephthah understood the covenant in that it is absolute.  Jephthah’s vow had been made rashly, however, his love, trust and faith in God was never rash and never wavered. As emotionally distraught as he was, Jephthah made no attempts to bargain, or try to get out of fulfilling the vow he made to the Lord. He made no pleas for God to cut him some slack. Again, Jephthah understood the Law of God, as absolute, just as God intended for all Israel. The covenant was absolutely never based on a person’s feelings. The Law was not to be obeyed on the basis of whether one felt like it. We know how that worked for Israel, sometimes they felt like obeying the Law and sometimes they didn’t feel like it, and God showed up to teach them the harsh lesson that it didn’t work based on whether they felt like obeying it or not. Nevertheless, God wanted Israel to obey Him out of love, not fear of punishment, for even punishment was done to Israel in love.

The New Covenant of Jesus Christ is absolute, dearly beloveds, it teaches us too that it is not based on a person obeying it or not depending on how they feel in the moment, or on any particular day.

 Some might say that since God gave us feelings what are we supposed to do with them?  That’s a good question with an easy answer. God gave us our feelings as messengers about what is going on with us that is in or out of line with His word. Feelings are to be our servants; we stack them up against the word of God to determine their validity or usefulness in our lives. Anger, for example, brethren, is a powerful emotion that God has given us the right to have. However, God also lays out for us an anger that is righteous and how to appropriately address it vs an anger that is so dangerous that it will produce harm, even great harm.

Love too is an emotion; however, God helps us discern true godly love from lust, we know lust for what is forbidden by God is forbidden period. Our faith must rest on faith not feelings. We, dearly beloveds, have through faith in Jesus Christ received power to live above our feelings or emotions that we know violate the will of God. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, left us His example, His word, and His Spirit within us to live above our feelings or emotions, but by the absolute truth and love of His covenant. We are empowered, to be accountable, responsible and self- disciplined balanced in all areas including the area of our feelings or emotions. God didn’t make us robots and gifted us an abundance of godly emotions, and teaches us how to control them and use them for good not evil or malice.

It would be a terrible mistake to think that God is passive concerning disobedience. God rewards His sheep abundantly on many levels; however, God disciplines us His children when we disobey, not to destroy us, but to prevent us from tempting others and to keep us safe and on the paths of righteousness.

There are those among us, holy people, who have sinned repeatedly for a very long time in the area of caving in to and not controlling/handling their emotions in godly ways, and have not repented, but rather made excuses. Due to this some have lost, spouses, jobs, money, and personal integrity, even suffered and/or caused injury due to failing to understand that God allows consequences for disobedience. Yet, the wise in heart will move forward to overcome their own will and flesh in victory in repentance, in humble submission, and steadfast love and faith to Jesus Christ. His commands and will for all of us His people is absolute without plan b’s, alternatives, or options based on our feelings, personal opinions or the doctrines of religious pundits, pious gurus, or any other doctrines that contradict the eternal, inerrant word of God: 1 Jhn 5: 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Holy people our faith, let us say continually, is not to be rooted in our feelings, but faith in Jesus Christ, even as God our Father who first trusted in His Son our eternal Saviour Jesus Christ. God trusted in His Son, therefore those who refuse to trust in Jesus Christ are without excuse:  Eph 1:12 - That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Love 

serola

“for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.”

Sat, Jan 18th - 1:32AM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Praise be to our Almighty God, our Father, holy people, and to our Lord and Saviour, the Son of God Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit, wherein we shall continue this study. Thank God for leaving us His word and empowering us to dig into the scriptures to abundantly know the will of God and to live unto Him according to His will out of love for Him.

As mentioned before, most of us know whether or not Jephthah burned up his kid or not. So, this is for those who are unsure or do not know. Brethren, I suppose some would say make it quick- just say which it was-either he did or he did not. A simple yes or no in this case would be a mistake, because it would lack biblical validation directly from scripture, and would be useless. Thank God we can dig into the scriptures to find this easy answer, by the power of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit.

We have to keep saying this continually, through the indwelling Holy Spirit,  all Christians can learn scripture and teach others what they know. Although some specifically have the gift of teaching, there is no competition we are all working together in partnership with God for the same cause for building up and edifying of the body to protect it from false doctrines, and to perfecting the body in love. The scripture has One eternal unchanging standard, fully contained within the fortress of its everlasting, unchanging, unmovable boundaries on all sides including horizontal and vertical.

Jdg 11: 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.

Brothers and sisters, Jephthah did nothing wrong in making his vow, as it was permissible by God. The problem, we all understand is that he never meant to offer his daughter, God did not require him to do so. So, he put his own foot in his mouth. Note, that nowhere does God condemn him for making this vow. We know his family/tribe cherry picked the law with reckless abandon which landed them in hot water with God and subsequent punishments. Jephthah, however was not like them, he well understood the Law and would not try to avoid payment of the vow he had made, although what he had inadvertently done hurt him tremendously.

Interestingly, Christians are forbidden by God to make any vow:

Jas 4: Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 Jas 5:12 - But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Dearly beloveds, it our Lord who is Sovereign, therefore whatever our undertaking let it be done with deference to His help and will, for without Him we can do nothing.

Love

serola

Thu, Jan 16th - 11:35PM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Why didn’t Jephthah’s father, before his death, and knowing of the hostility of the tribe towards his son not give him lands or goods outright in case the family would disinherit him? Some ponder why on earth did Jephthah make such a rash vow? Some writers ponder why Jephthah didn’t tell his daughter or someone of this vow beforehand so she would be forewarned not to be the first one coming out to greet him upon his God- given victorious return?

Brothers and sisters, I think many of us may also desire to know why God left us His mind- blowing story of a man’s rejection by his whole family/tribe starting in infancy; especially because the family is not an invention of mankind, but of God Himself. God established the family pattern (AKA the norm in the secular world) in the very beginning of mankind through Adam and Eve. Even after the flood God continued this pattern which applied to the extended family as well as to all the gentiles over the whole earth: Gen 10:32 - These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

When God finished His work, holy people, we know that all He created was good and perfect, until our first human father in sin thought he knew better than God how things should be. The secular world displays the family in its mirror in an iconic, idyllic way, especially on holidays. Then the world shines forth its images of the family as warm, loving, protective, valuing, confirming the worth of all of its members.

Certainly, dearly beloveds, our prayer is that every child would have a family of loving parents or someone willing to be. However, God paints a picture showing us that is not always the case. God smashes the mirror of false iconic images of the family presented by the secular world. Since Adam and because of Adam, sin has entered and corrupted all the perfect systems that God has established on the earth. God shows the good, and also the bad and the ugly i.e. the dark side of the family that it is capable of: fratricide: Gen 4:8, 2Sa 13:32 ; incest/rape: Gen 19:36,  2Sa 13:12-15; mass filicide- 2Ki 11:1, 2Ki 17:17, Eze 16:21, Eze 20:31. The Bible does not hide the glaring parental misconduct of some favoring one child over another, or the chaos and misconduct due to parental failure to discipline or consistently correct a child. The imperfection of the family is still very much evident world- wide sometimes demonstrated in horrific ways. So then, brethren, God is saying love our families, care for our families, with the understanding we cannot and must not ignore the full story of the family. Those who would, in error, counsel perfection and value only through family have to understand that the family must and can only be built up within the eternal standard of the New Covenant and established within the fortress of its boundaries. This is true purpose of God for the whole family of God and each individual within them. We understand too that the family is the core agent of evangelism to its children. Yes, we should teach kindness, cleanliness, self- discipline etc. but to leave God out of the equation makes all the rest in vain and no different from the world.

Brothers and sisters, let the wise in heart again, understand that when Jephthah turned to God in faith and obedience all of his healing, his needs, his value, his worth, his identity, was clearly and firmly established in the love of his God. No Jephthah did not resort to reading a book on six or more ways to overcome family rejection, but turned his face to his God. Some want to be dismissive of Jephthah as just a guy who made a foolish vow and messed up his kid’s life. But God, differs for He says of Jephthah: Heb 11: 32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

God will do for all His people who turn to Him in faith and obedience the same thing He did for Jephthah. It doesn’t matter who we came from, what has been done to us or what we have done, when we turn to Jesus, Jesus changes everything and everyone who trust and obey Him.

Love

Tue, Jan 14th - 10:13PM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Brothers and sisters, we cannot deny Jephthah’s rejection by his family that started very early in his life. Raise your hand if you find it surprising that Jephthah did not arrive to adulthood, messed up, warped, a weakling or a psycho, (I raised mine). Yet through the word of God we understand that Jephthah did not by his own power or strength just suck up all the abuse and rejection from his family and go on with his life. Instead, Jephthah became a victor, not a victim by turning fully to His God, His true Father, and in faith became strong in the Lord, and rested in the unbreakable covenant of God for Israel.

A sister I know told how when she was pregnant with two small children her husband came suddenly and told her he had been called by the Lord to go out to the world and preach. He gave her one months rent, a few groceries, and a little cash and left, she knew not where. In no shape to work she had to go on welfare to survive. The husband showed up months later out of nowhere. This was his behavior during the course of the marriage, so she got some training to get off of welfare and landed a good paying job to support herself and the kids. She could never convince her husband that he was wrong to abandon the family, for she knew the Bible has no such teachings. We are commanded by God to support our families:  1Ti 5:8 - But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Marriage does not prevent married men from preaching the gospel: 1Co 9:5 - Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

Lke 14: 25And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

The aforementioned verses are not often mentioned today, holy people and might even seem shocking to some, although this theme runs through the whole of scripture. God wants us to love and care for our families, however, they are not to be worshipped in the sense of putting our families or anyone or anything above God who alone is to be worshipped and served. In the story of Jephthah, we uncover the deep everlasting love of God for all who turn to him in righteousness, regardless of whether they come from the best or the worst of families. Regardless of their pasts, God accepts them into His eternal family as true sons and daughters and heirs of all that He has promised. This is a foreshadowing of the Abrahamic Covenant for all nations not just the nation of Israel.

Dearly beloveds, we too rejoice in that God who sent His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between man and God has by grace brought us into the eternal family of God the Father: Gal 3: 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Men and women, all are equal in Christ, but God has ordained the role of pastor for men only, nevertheless there are many roles for women in the ministry of Jesus Christ),

Eph 2: 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Jdg 11: 29Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. 30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 32So 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.

It seems that so much of Jephthah’s story is overshadowed by the vow that he made. Yet, brothers and sisters, it is important to note that in the face of the enemy Jephthah was not wishy washy, warm and fuzzy or touchy feely, or worried about making the enemy feel bad. He did not call for a joint study group to look into the enemy’s false claims. He would not be tricked by the enemy of giving up what God had given Israel without a fight. Jephthah clearly knew the covenant of God and stood firmly within it to fight the enemy in the strength of God to maintain the integrity of God and the nation from the evil intrusion of the enemy. Jephthah never once bragged that by his own considerable skills or weaponry in battle that he would defeat the enemy.

If anything, brethren, among the things that Jephthah teaches, is for us, under the Head ship of Jesus Christ, to stand firmly in His everlasting New Covenant to steadfastly resist all attempts by the enemy whosoever they might be who come to take/steal from us the things that He has given us for all eternity.

For some reason, there is controversy over whether or not Jephthah to carry out his vow actually burned up his daughter or not. The Bible easily answers this question, dearly beloveds, although most of us know the answer. 

Love 

serola

Wed, Jan 8th - 2:01AM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Blessed be the name of God our Father, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and thanks be to Him for the communion of the Holy Spirit, who reveals and teaches us all truth so that we can freely know our God of eternal truth and obey Him out of love.

Jdg 11: 12And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? 13And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

The enemy of God’s people wanted Israel to give back land to them without a fight on the false claim that it had been wrongfully taken. Now some writers pose that Jephthah was willing to negotiate with the enemy. That is a mistake. Jephthah wanted to know what the enemy wanted to determine what course he should take regarding it. When he discovered what they demanded he knew there could be no terms of negotiation whatsoever.

14And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: 15And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: 16But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; 17Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. 18Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. 19And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. 20But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. 23So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? 24Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. 25And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, 26While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? 27Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, bnewut thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

There is no negotiation with the enemy. Jephthah well understood the enemy was not interested in being reasonable or negotiations, they wanted a take - over plain and simple.  Holy people, the enemy is coming to our house also to wrongfully claim that we stole their rights to live in God’s kingdom according to their abominations, and they want us to give up our God-given kingdom and yield to their abominations peacefully without a fight. 

Jephthah speaks as the head over all Gilead. Jephthah does not offer any terms of compromise nor negotiations of any sort. Jephthah stands firmly on the absolute authority of the word of God and firmly sets forth its eternal truth as the sole authority under which God had given Israel the victory and eternal right to possess their lands. He frankly and boldly tells the enemy that there is none who can stand before their God Almighty.

It was God that had fought for Israel, it was God that delivered the lands into their hand. Jephthah informed the enemy that just as Balak had failed to curse and defeat Israel they would not be successful either: no one can curse whom God has blessed: Jos 24:9 - Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:

Jos 24:10 - But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

It is of the utmost importance, dearly beloveds, for us to pay attention to the fact that Jephthah had a thorough knowledge of the writings handed down by God through Moses, hence also the Law of Moses. The words of Jephthah stirs our hearts too, in that they ring with utter love, confidence, deep intimacy, trust in God, and in God’s supreme invincible and unconquerable power. 

love

serola

Thu, Jan 2nd - 5:43PM

THOSE PEOPLE

The Life of Jephthah

Blessed be the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Anointed One, Prophet, Shepherd, High Priest and King. Lord you are our eternal Saviour, our ever-living God, to you we pour out to you with all of our hearts the sweet sacrifice of praises, love offerings, thanks and peace offerings, because you have reconciled us to God and given us our resting place in your love, and you keep us by your great power, from whose hands no creature, no thing, no man or women, shall ever have the power to remove us.

There were the faithful in Israel, brothers and sisters, but not all. Jephthah well understood the Law of Moses, believed it and lived it unlike many in his tribe or family. We have no control, dearly beloveds, over what family we are naturally born into. Jephthah’s family was a wild bunch of greedy, cruel, rebellious jerks. Jephthah knew the Law and he well understood how His tribe seriously cherry picked it more often than not. They had major problems with a long history of idolatry, of which the tribe conveniently overlooked the punishment for that God commanded in the Law of Moses for idolatry:

Deut:  6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

Holy people, the death penalty also applied to any prophet or city of the nation found to be practicing idolatry. One wonders if Jephthah felt a sense of irony in being judged by such as  his tribe: Deu 13:1-5; Deu 13:12-18. The tribe could have asked the Lord directly for help, but instead they seek out Jephthah clearly because they knew of his reputation as a man of valor a fierce fighter. They put more confidence in the arm of flesh than the arm of the Lord who had delivered them from their enemies’ time after time. Jephthah was not foolish he knew it is the Lord Almighty who gives His people strength and victory over their enemies; therefore he spoke “ If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?”.

Jephthah looked past the ill way his family had treated him. He went with them because he understood that God is stronger than men, God owned Israel not men, and it was God that had set him in his place within the nation and it was God who would surely give the victory and seat him as appointed in his God-given inheritance.

Brothers we too, so much more on the risen side of the cross have the victory certain: 1Co 15:57 - But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Jo 5:4 - For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Love

serola