I have a confession to make before we commence today’s interview. The story of Jephthah, one of the judges in ancient Israel is perplexing to me. I also consider it the saddest in the Bible, along with the abandonment of the LORD by the Israelites through the worship of idols. Perhaps, I am missing the point of his experience. We would know more after our time with him.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for honouring our invitation Sir.
Jephthah: I am glad to be here.
Shepherd Heart: Kindly tell our readers what they need to know about you.
Jephthah: My name is Jephthah, pronounced Yiftah. My father was Gilead from the city of Gilead and of the tribe of Manasseh. I led the Israelites in battle against the Ammonites.
Shepherd Heart: Before you judged Israel, Scripture reveals that your stepbrothers banished you from your home. Could you throw more light on this?
Jephthah: My father had me out of wedlock. In essence, they considered me a bastard. The point of contention was my father’s wealth. My stepbrothers did not want to share his great wealth me. I was a threat to them.
Shepherd Heart: How did the elders of Gilead get to know that you could help Israel against the Ammonites?
Jephthah: After I left Gilead, I became the head of a powerful band of brigands; more like Robin Hood, the British guy who stole from the wealthy to help the poor.
Shepherd Heart: Why did you agree to confront the Ammonites despite the shameful way you were treated by your own family?
Jephthah: Fighting against oppressors of Israel was a cause greater than my stepbrothers denying me a share of my father’s property. The Ammonites terrorised Israel for eighteen years. This particular time, they had encamped against my people close to Gilead, while the few fighting men in Israel assembled at Mizpah. When the people saw the massive troops of the invaders, they were terrified. The commanders of Gilead promptly reached out to me and I joined them with my men.
Shepherd Heart: Now, we come to the part of the story that is truly sad. Before you engaged the Ammonites in battle, you made a vow to the LORD that you would offer whatever comes out of your house to meet you as a sacrifice to Him if He helped you to defeat the invaders. You eventually routed them and returned home. To your horror, it was your daughter who came out to share in your victory. Walk us through your experience after you realised the enormity of the decision you had to take viz a viz your vow to the LORD.
Jephthah: To say that I was devastated was putting it mildly. In our culture, vows are not taken lightly. If you made a vow publicly, you do not renege on it no matter the cost. Herod faced the same situation when Herodias’ daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist, at her mother’s instance. I knew that I had to go through with it.
Shepherd Heart: What did you expect to come out of your house to meet you after your victory, a goat?
Jephthah: When you are faced with danger and need God’s help so badly, your emotions become so strong that they control other senses. Obviously, I did not have access to the Wisdom of Solomon! He said in Ecclesiastes 5 verse two, “Do not be quick with your mouth, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” Anyway, there was no way I could chicken out of where my hastiness had taken me. There was also the question of not breaking one of the statutes that the God gave us through Moses bordering on vows. In Numbers 30:2, God says, “If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeded out of his mouth.”
Shepherd Heart: I understand that you needed to honour God by not breaking your vow to Him. How does sacrificing your daughter align with God’s commandments? One of the Ten Commandments specifically forbids murder. Was the sacrifice of your daughter not an act of murder?
Jephthah: That is a very tough question. Indeed, human sacrifice was prevalent among the idolatrous Gentile nations. It was not a big issue for parents to kill their kids in their quest to seek favour from the gods of their lands. God had specifically forbidden Israel from engaging in such practices. What happened to me and my family was a special case that should not be used to judge the nation of Israel; except of course for the indiscretion of Hiel, the Bethlite who rebuilt the cursed Jericho with the lives of his two children, Abiram and Segub. Joshua had cursed that city under the instruction of God and said that anyone who attempted to rebuild it will lose his two children.
Shepherd Heart: Were you convinced that sacrificing your daughter was the right thing to do or that the action pleased Almighty God?
Jephthah: I had no way of knowing how the LORD felt about it. I did what I had to do.
Shepherd Heart: What was your relationship with God like then?
Jephthah: Under the Old Testament or dispensation, Israelites were not interested in having personal relationship with God. We had the laws and statutes of Moses. These were not based on having faith in God. According to Galatians 3 verse 12, “The man who does these things (obeying the laws) will live by them.” That is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is strange to most Jews. Under the Law of Moses, God was not presented to Israelites as a Father that is approachable. If you want to receive anything from God, just obey the Ten Commandments and the myriads of statutes that came through Moses and the Rabbis.
Shepherd Heart: I understand that we believers in Christ are under a different dispensation. God christened Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the three men described as the patriarchs of Israel. None of these men lived during the time of Moses and the law; yet, they had intimate relationship with God. Why were Israelites of your time and even many of them in our age content with just observance of the law and not knowing the Law Giver?
Jephthah: (Laughs) To have a relationship with God is hard work. It takes discipline and the sacrifice of time. The generation that came out of Egypt knew this. That was why they told Moses to be an intermediary between them and God. They preferred to know Him from a distance.
Shepherd Heart: Was that your stance as well?
Jephthah: With the benefit of hindsight, I could have sacrificed everything, including fame and the rest of my family to have an intimate relationship with the LORD. Of course, I lived in a time when most people were content to know Him from a distance. Even now, those inclined to legalism prefer a distant God that they only have to interact with through canonised laws.
Shepherd Heart: From your perspective as an inhabitant of heaven, do you think that modern Israel would ever accept a relationship with God that is not influenced by the Law of Moses?
Jephthah: If I understand you correctly, you want to know if it is possible for Israelites to accept God as their Father through the atoning work of Yeshua. Hmmm. I think that it would take a miracle for that to happen. Currently, they are satisfied with the status quo. Perhaps, the prophecy in Jeremiah 30: 6 about the time of Jacob’s trouble could trigger events that would change the tide in God’s favour.
Shepherd Heart: The time of Jacob’s trouble speaks of the great tribulation that would be unleashed on Israel by the anti-Christ. Is there anything the church of Jesus Christ can do to help more Jews accept His salvation without necessarily going through the great tribulation?
Jephthah: Of course! The church needs to stop propagating the false doctrine of replacement theology. God has not replaced Israel with any group. The church must stand with Israel in her trying moments. Most importantly, show them the love of Christ and pray for them.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you so much Sir for sharing your thoughts with us.
Jephthah: The pleasure is mine.