Moment of Meditation: Jephthah's Fateful Vow (Judges 11:30-31)

Original Broadcast: July 2009

Monthly Theme: The Judges of Israel

Jephthah made a vow to the LORD:
"If You give the Ammonites into my hands,
whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me
when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's,
and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
(Judges 11:30-31)

Jephthah's Fateful Vow

Jephthah's vow. What can you say about it? Maybe he should have been a little more specific. When he returns from devastating the Ammonites, he wishes he had been a bit more specific in his vow. The first thing to come out and meet him on his return--his only daughter. She comes out dancing with tambourines. He rips his clothes.

What would normally be a wonderful family reunion after a successful military campaign turns into heart-rending turmoil. Jephthah wrestled with whether he should fulfill his vow to God or not. He wanted to spare his daughter because she was his only child. But he knew that God would punish him for not fulfilling the vow.

It was the daughter's voice that broke through the internal struggle: "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised" (v36). So he did. He offered his only child as a burnt offering to God. A symbol of what God Himself would do later for Jephthah, his daughter and all people when Jesus died on the Cross as a burnt offering for the sins of the human race. What Jephthah rashly vowed and struggled to keep, God vowed from the very beginning of the world and saw it through to the very end. His Son dead on a Cross as an offering for you. Amen.