Why is jephthah in hebrews 11

But when things went bad for the Gileadite, where did they turn to? They turn to the same person whom they rejected. However, when the going got tough, they are so quick in calling the man who can deliver them from the hand of the Ammonites.

We read their conversation in Judges Why have you come to me now when you are in distress? Sadly, the same attitude is very prevalent today. We see people who can easily forget God when they lack nothing. They are too proud to call on the Lord, bend their knees, and pray to God because of the many blessings they enjoy. But when things get too difficult and all else fail, they turn to God as the last resort. God is not a spare tire that we only notice when we have a flat tire.

We must have a close relationship with God to the point that He is the center of our lives. It is better to live a life constantly close to God rather than just remembering Him when tragedies strike. Remember, time will come when you will seek God and He will no longer be found Isaiah Jephthah was a rejected son of a prostitute woman. He stepped up to the challenge and became the judge of Israel. Though his life is not perfect and we can certainly list some of his faults, God still used him to fulfill His purpose.

There are a lot of messages on Jephthah that we can learn from his story. We can be faithful like Jephthah and we can certainly be sure that God will be there in every step of the way!

It has obtained 4. The 1 bestselling inspirational classic from the nationally known spiritual leader; a source of solace and hope for over 4 million readers. Years later, Rabbi Kushner wrote this straightforward, elegant contemplation of the doubts and fears that arise when tragedy strikes. In these pages, Kushner shares his wisdom as a rabbi, a parent, a reader, and a human being.

Often imitated but never superseded, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a classic that offers clear thinking and consolation in times of sorrow. Now my questions answered.

Thanks a lot. God bless you more! Like Like. Actually, I was also thinking of naming my firstborn son, Jephthah. To God be the glory! Wow great message it has really change me nw.

When returned home, I decided to do a research on Jephthah and I came across the five lessons. I will learn from them. Be my guide in Christ.

Thank you. Am really blessed, thanks a lot for sharing the knowledge and wisdom on this topic. Thoroughly blessed. God the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of His own Word. The passage is a very clear statement. Why try to muddle it to keep atheist from attacking its truth? Would a daughter who would be destined to be a virgin for the rest of her life only bewail her virginity for two months?

What sense would that make? Romans Like Liked by 1 person. Thanks for taking the time to comment. By the way, thanks for pointing the grammar error. I already corrected it. Regarding your comment, I hope you read the whole article. I believe I have explained clearly my point why Jephthah could have not possibly offered her daughter as a burned offering. Jephthah perfect knew that, then why would he do it? Salvation is a gift from God. That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

Judges So what does Lament mean? I thought it meant sorrow from the Death of someone… Forgot to justify that part. Basically this entire story is a coverup so we can view God how we want to. A person can lament because of problems, trials, and challenges in life. Further the verses only narrate that Jephthah kept his vow to the Lord.

They are not crystal clear in what manner he kept his vow- whether by burnt offering or by some other way of dedication whereby virginity becomes the major issue, rather than human blood sacrifice. God had greater plans about that though Jesus. So your exposition does seem to have credence, which in any case is very insightful.

I appreciate sharing your thoughts as well. Truly, the daughter of Jephthah is more worried about her virginity rather than her death. First, notice that it is a conditional vow if…then. The Hebrew of verse 31 is the source of the difficulty—or rather, the translation of the Hebrew text is the source of the difficulty.

This explanation, however, has left out the possibility of an unclean animal, such as a dog, coming out. Presumably, a clean animal in this scenario would be sacrificed while an unclean animal would be dedicated like a person. But there is a possibility that this translation is not entirely correct either, as it leaves out the possibility of nothing or no one coming out to meet Jephthah.

This brings us to the next apparent problem in translation. What emerges from a clear understanding of the Hebrew is significant. If God would give Jephthah the victory and bring him safely home, then Jephthah would either dedicate a person of his household to God or he would offer a burnt-offering to God if no one came out. Once God performed His part of the vow, Jephthah was bound to fulfill his part. The vow contained a choice to be made by God: either accept a consecrated person or a burnt offering.

Therefore, Jephthah was perhaps, to a degree, acting on faith, allowing God to choose how Jephthah would fulfill his part of the covenant. I fully agree — Jephtah did sacrifice his daughter.

Samson continued to sin even after the Holy Spirit had come upon him mightily. God may not have approved of what Jephtah did with his daughter as He did not the fact that Moses disobeyed Him by striking the rock rather than speaking to it. But both are the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child.

Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! When he saw her, he tore his clothes : Jephthah made his foolish vow sincerely, fully intending to keep it. Yet he had not seriously considered the consequences of the vow. Therefore, he was grieved when his daughter was first to greet him out of his house. He had no right to punish or afflict his daughter in any way because of the vow he made to God.

I will repent before God for my foolish vow. If a man makes a vow to commit a crime his vow to do so is in itself a sin, and the carrying out of his vow will be doubly sinful. Ecclesiastes and speak of the danger of making foolish vows. This passage makes it clear that it is better to not make vows at all than to make foolish vows. This does not mean that vows are bad — they can be good. It means we must take them seriously. And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed.

She knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. He carried out his vow with her which he had vowed : Some think that Jephthah did really offer his daughter as a burnt offering.

If he did, this was clearly an example of misguided zeal for God because God never asked him to make such a foolish vow or to fulfill it so foolishly.

Later in their history, Israel began to serve a terrible pagan god named Molech, who was appeased with child sacrifice in the most terrible way imaginable. We know that there were women who were set apart for the tabernacle service; they were called the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting Exodus ; 1 Samuel His daughter and her friends were rightly grieved that she was given to the tabernacle service before she was ever married.

Probably most of the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle were older widows. By sending his unmarried, only daughter to the service of the tabernacle for the rest of her life, it shows how seriously both Jephthah and his daughter took his promise to God.

Many commentators object and see no other option than to say that Jephthah horribly fulfilled his vow by the human sacrifice of his own daughter. Yet her committal to be one the women who assembled at the tabernacle still seems like the best explanation because Jephthah is listed as a hero of the faith Hebrews Our website uses cookies to store user preferences.

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Accessed Learn more about Mikey at Nappaland. Share this. Who Was Jephthah? What's the Story of Jephthah's Daughter? Jephthah was a leader in Israel during the time of the Judges. Mike Nappa Crosswalk. Jephthah Was an Outlaw King. His Story and Significance Today. Certainly, some better candidates must have been available! Furthermore, Jephthah appears to vow to offer a human sacrifice and to follow through with it. In light of these facts, one might be tempted to wonder if the author of Hebrews was in his right mind to list Jephthah as a hero of faith.

I shall not here survey the divided scholarship on the topic, for I believe most scholars have missed the point of Hebrews This similarity of usage would not be surprising to anyone who accepts Paul as the author of Hebrews. Paul waxes quite idyllic when he argues that Abraham never wavered in faith because of his old age and that he was fully convinced God would do what He promised Rom.

I suggest that for Paul, the central concern was that Abraham never wavered over if God would give him the son and descendants. In this story, Jephthah first sent messengers to the Ammonite king, inquiring why they were attacking the Israelites Judges The Ammonite king answered to the effect that Israel stole land from Ammon during their exodus from Egypt and asks Jephthah to restore that land peaceably vs.

Jephthah gives a lengthy response, rehearsing that exodus history and an unprovoked attack by the Amorites. Israel thus has this land by divine grant and thus has a legal right to possess it.