Sunday, March 11, 2012

Dreading the Judges

I'm reading Judges right now in the Bible, and I'm basically learning everything I shouldn't do in life.  I honestly don't remember if I've made it through Judges before, so I'm reading some of these passages for the first time in my memory.  On Saturday, I read Judges 11 and learned about Jephthah's "tragic vow."  If you don't know this passage, I would recommend reading it, although it confuses the heck out of me.  I wonder what Jephthah was thinking, what God was feeling, if the daughter was terrified...

Here's a brief run down...

  • The Ammonites were at war with Israel.
  • Jephthah was born of Gilead and a son of a prostitute.
  • The elders asked Jephthah to fight against the Ammonites.
  • Jephthah agrees although he realizes this is a difficult role to say the least.
  • He makes a vow to God that if God gives him victory over the Ammonites, then whatever comes out from the doors of his house to meet him when he returns, he will offer it up for a burnt offering.
  • Jephthah has victory over the Ammonites.
  • He comes home to celebrate, and sees his daughter first come out of his home to greet him.
  • Remembering his vow to God, Jephthah mourns and weeps for his daughter.
  • He explains what he has done to his daughter, and his daughter requests to mourn for "her virginity" with her friends for two months in the mountains.
  • She returns after two months, and her father "did with her according to his vow."
  • It became a custom in Israel each year to mourn the loss of this girl, due to her father's foolish vow.
Whew...   What to do with that!!!   What was Jephthah thinking?   Did God want him to fulfill such a vile and foolish vow?  I have no answers.... just questions.   I'm in the process of looking up some commentary on this subject.  If anyone has any great resources, please share. :)

Some days, I have to take a break from Judges, and read Psalms or Thessalonians.   It was such a dark time in history, but I'm so glad we have a faithful God! 

 
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2 comments:

  1. TwilaMarch 13, 2012 at 4:42 AM

    My understanding of this passage has always been:
    - at that time, the people may have had their "stables" in the lower part of the house and he was possibly thinking an animal would come out and that was what he planned to sacrifice (if that is not the case, then maybe he was just a desperate fool!)
    - yes, he did sacrifice her, though that is debated, many saying she was just never allowed to marry, based on the statement about her mourning her virginity
    - no, God did not want the daughter murdered, He is a forgiving God, even though the Bible does say it is better not to vow a vow than to vow a vow and not keep it
    Of course, I have no proof that any of this is fact, but this has been what I have found in my studies of this story. I do enjoy reading Judges, though I don't really know why, because it is really dark and morbid! Some of these stories just blow my mind! The things people will do to make a point, like the cut-up concubine (or was that in Joshua?). But God is always faithful even when His people do not make the best decisions! :D

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  2. Amy LeeMarch 14, 2012 at 9:49 PM

    The problem comes when people read books like Judges and assumes that God demands or even approves of these things... Unfortunately, some don't understand when the Bible is simply saying "this happened and this was the consequence" as opposed to "God approves, so go and do likewise."

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