"Then 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. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mind hands, 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. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. And 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. And 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. And 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." - Judges 11:29-35
Judges 11:29-40 is a set of very controversial scripture, it depicts a judge of Israel vowing a vow unto God and later, bitterly, fulfilling his vow by sacrificing his only daughter, his only child, to God as a burnt sacrifice. Ive, in recent times, discussed this piece of scripture with a close friend and fellow sister in Christ and the subject got to her because it was one piece of scripture she couldnt understand. Anyone could tell it got to her and got her upset. It is indeed one of those scriptures that bring up the question "Why?" When I first read this piece of scripture last week, the Lord revealed something to me that truly blessed my heart. Your probably wondering how could a dark depressing piece of scripture bless someones heart? Well if the Lord reveals something pertaining to Jesus Christ and the Gospel of course it will bless a Christians heart. Three things the Lord revealed to me about this whole incident that points to Calvary.
1. Jephthah had a vow and had to keep it, just like our God makes a promise and will surely keep it.
One of the first things God revealed to me is that Jephthah keeping his vow and his word was a living example of how God keeps his Word and his promise. No matter what occured, no matter what came through the door, Jephthah knew he had to keep his vow. Remember eversince the beginning of time a man is as good as his word. If he cant keep his word he cant be trusted. We know that God is a keeper of his Word and can be trusted. Every promise and prophecy given in the Word of God God does keep and will surely fulfill in his timing. When it came to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, God made a promise and surely kept it. An example of a promise and prophecy concerning Jesus Christ is found in Isaiah 53 (which is a few lines below) and it did come to pass, that Christ did suffer and died, like it was told centuries beforehand.
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not will that any should persih, but that all should come to repentance." - 2cd Peter 3:9
"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. he is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:1-5
2. Like Jephthah, God only had ONE child.
Judge 11:35 states that this daughter was the only child of Jephthah, he had no other child, no sons, no other daughters, just this one daughter. Scriptures say, whether your trinitarian or oneness, that God had one Son that being the Lord Jesus Christ. Jephthah offered up his only child as a burnt-offering and God offered up his only begotten Son an offering for sin. Jephthah's sacrifice was a foreshadowing of the things to come concerning crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary simply because he had to fulfill his vow and sacrifice his only child to the Lord. Just like Jephthah keeping his word, we know that God kept his Word and sent his Son to die for all mankind on an old rugged cross.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:16-18
3. Both children were faithful to their fathers and were faithful unto death.
Judges 11:36-40 shows something very interesting in this situation, that the daughter of Jephthah did not argue with her father concerning his vow. She wasnt rebellious to it, she didnt fight it, she didnt try to find an alternative, she simply obeyed. How does this points to Christ? Because like Jephthah's daughter, Jesus Christ was obedient every step of the way to the will of his Father. Yes he prayed fervently in the garden of Gethsemane. Yes he did sweat blood because of the stress at the thought of seperation from his Father by being an offering for the redemption of mankind. But he said wholeheartedly before God "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." (Luke 22:42)
"Let this mind be in your, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath hightly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
- Philippians 2:5-11
Yes, like I said previously, a very controversial piece of scripture, but even the most controversial piece of scripture can hold to the cross of Calvary and glorify God. Think about it, pray about it, hopefully this blesses your heart, like it did mine when the Lord pointed out these treasures to me.
Bro. Michael Grant
A Cry in the Wild Ministries
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