Meditations: A Rash Promise

The Importance of Prayer and Knowing the Word

In life, sometimes it’s easy to make a promise without really thinking about the consequences. One time I said that I would help someone translate a document from English to Romanian. However, it proved to be a challenge as there were nine pages and it was legal language, much of which I didn’t even really understand in English let alone know how to say in Romanian. It took many hours and caused something of a headache. Not only that, but after doing the translation, I didn’t even receive a chocolate or other recompense.
In this situation, my decision to help resulted in some hard work and slightly regretted getting involved. However, I said I would do it, so I did. Ultimately, this wasn’t such a big problem and other than brief discomfort, it soon passed. Indeed, maybe I did something good as hopefully someone was helped by it.
In the Bible we read about someone called Jephthah. Not a very well known character and I have never heard anyone mention him as one of their Bible heroes, although if we read Hebrews 11:32 he is mentioned among the heroes of faith. So, who was he and what did he do so great as to be listed as one of the Biblical heroes in such illustrious company as Moses, Abraham and the like in Hebrews?
 His story is found in Judges 11 and 12. Here, he is described as a mighty warrior, who was exiled from his homeland of Gilead by his brothers, who didn’t want him to share in their inheritance as his mother was a prostitute. When a problem appears, the elders of Gilead nevertheless turn to Jephthah for help. He agrees as they promise him that he will become their leader.
The said problem was that the king of the Ammonites is trying to tack back land from the Israelites. Jephthah attempts negotiation , but when it doesn’t work, he goes out to battle. Before the battle, he makes a vow to God that if He gives him success, whatever comes out of his house to meet him first, when he returns home, will be given up as a burnt offering.
Indeed, Jephthah defeats the Ammonite king and returns home. Probably he was expecting one of his animals to come out to him, maybe a dog or a favourite lamb. This wouldn’t have been too much of a problem to offer as a sacrifice, but tragically it’s actually his daughter, his one and only child, who comes out to meet him first. 
Jephthah, although heartbroken, feels that he needs to carry out his vow in spite of the devastating fact that it is his daughter, who has to be sacrificed. He gives her two months to mourn with her friends, before sacrificing her as he vowed.
To us this might seem a shocking and tragic story, and it most certainly is. However, there are some things that we can learn from it.
The first thing that stands out is that Jephthah doesn’t seem to have known his Bible very well. In Leviticus chapter one, the conditions for a burnt offering are very clearly outlined. If Jephthah had been familiar with this passage, he would have known that only male animals without defects were supposed to be given up as burnt offerings. If the person offering the sacrifice wasn’t well off enough to offer cattle from the herd or a sheep or goat from the flock, there was also provision for offering a bird (dove or young pigeon – not a British slang meaning for this word). This sacrifice was meant to be performed in a certain way at the entrance to the tent of meeting. In others words, it was rash and showing a lack of scriptural knowledge on Jephthah’s part to say, like he does in Judges 11:31, that he would offer up whatever comes out of his door first as a burnt offering. Not any animal could be offered as a burnt offering, indeed in Levticus 22 there’s a list of animals that couldn’t be offered, and there’s certainly no suggestion that people should be sacrificed.
If Jepthah had been aware of this, maybe he would have thought twice about making the vow that he made. Furthermore, Leviticus 18:21 even forbids child sacrifice, so Jephthah, by his rash vow, is now in a position of having to do something that is otherwise forbidden in the Bible. Leviticus 27 suggests that in certain circumstances people, animals, or things that have been devoted to the Lord could nevertheless be bought back for set price. Maybe then, Jephthah could have appealed to this passage for help in saving his daughter.
Whatever Jephthah’s predicament and possible solutions, this is a challenge to us to think about how well we know the Bible. Many a time a Bible verse has come to mind in a particular situation and given me guidance as to what to do or helped me understand my situation. One such example, is Matthew 6:33 about seeking God’s kingdom first. On a number of occasions when I was thinking about what to do, this verse came to mind and I understand that God wanted me to do the thing that was best for serving Him and His kingdom. A specific example would be when I was debating about whether to come to Moldova or not. According to my logic it might have seemed better to stay where I was, but it just seemed that it was God’s plan to come here and in hindsight that seems to have been the right thing to do, both for personal growth as well as developing ministry opportunities. It’s good then to get as much of the Bible as possible into us because who knows when a certain verse will come in handy!
Another way of looking at Jephthah’s story is to compare it with a similar event in the book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 22, we read the story of when God tells Abraham to take his one and only son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on a mountain. Jephthah’s tale obvious conjures up a connection to this one as Jephthah himself is put in the position of offering up his only child, although this time a daughter, to God. There is however a very significant difference between the two stories. In the case of Abraham, he is very clearly told by God in Gensis 22:2 to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice, whereas in Jephthah’s case there doesn’t appear to be any such command from God.
Indeed, meditating on both the stories of Abraham and Jepthah, we see many occasions of communication between God and Abraham and much of what Abraham does is as a response of faith to what God has told him. Jephthah’s story is admittedly much shorter, taking up only just over a chapter of the Bible, as opposed to Abraham, who is mentioned over the course of 13 chapters. Nevertheless, we are still told plenty about Jephthah, but don’t see any moments of clear communication between him and God, the only aspect somewhat in this direction is when he makes his vow to God, and again this seems to be more out of his own initiative, maybe because he was afraid and wanted to try and assure himself of victory, than as a response of faith to a command of God.
So, the lesson here is about how important it is to be in regular communication with God through prayer. Otherwise, we won’t be aware of His commands and plans for our lives and so could easily end up going astray and getting into all sorts of difficult situations.