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Bible Teaching, Bible Study, Teaching, Verses, Sermons, online, mp3, classesA Bible Teaching Ministry of Galyn Wiemers


Daily Devotions, Evening and Morning Devotional

 

Sunrise on Temple Mount in Jerusalem; Back to Previous Devotion

March 18 - Morning

“Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah…And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said,

‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.’ 

So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand…So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said,

‘Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’ ”

- Judges 11:29-35

Sunset on the Sea of Galilee; Click to go to next devotion  
Jephthah Sacrifices His Daughter Like a Pagan Canaanite    

The account of Jephthah’s vow to the Lord before his battle with the Ammonites and the subsequent events that occur when Jephthah returns home as the victorious warrior are both heartbreaking and the typical absurdity in a culture deprived of the Truth of God’s Word. As we read this account of Jephthah from the time period of the Judges we need to keep in mind that although these are the people of God and the Spirit of God is anointing “judges” to deliver Israel, these Israelites are more influenced by the pagan worship practices and Canaanite theology than they are by the Law of the Covenant and the teaching of the priesthood of Israel.

With this understanding of the background of a biblically illiterate Israeli culture we can make sense of the stupidity that piles up in this story. Yet, we are still disturbed, disgusted and disappointed with this biblical account. We can try to explain away the obvious human sacrifice made in this story, but we do not need to do this in order to justify Jephthah’s actions because he is not one of the “Bible heroes.” Though he be a biblical personality (and, is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 along with Samson and Barak, but not in detail), he is far from a hero. Neither is he an example the Lord would ask us to follow. Instead, Jephthah, and his Israeli culture from around 1250 BC, is an example and a warning to us concerning the dangers of not knowing the Lord and not understanding his revealed Word.
(1 Corinthians 10:6-12) In the end, Jephtah has no excuse for his ignorant behavior, but we still feel sorry for him.

Jephthah’s vow expresses the willingness to sacrifice a family member. We have to assume that he was aware of the high probability that he would be making a human sacrifice of a family member if he returned home victorious. Indeed, domestic houses of this time were the typical four-room structure that included a room (or, rooms) for animals. But, was Jephthah really anticipating a goat or a sheep would run out of the house to meet him? (Dogs were not kept as pets or as domestic animals at this time.)

In Judges 10:6 we are told:

“The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.”

The god of the Moabites was Chemosh who is well known to accept child sacrifices. 2 Kings 3:27 even records the king of the Moabites sacrificing his son, the prince of Moab, to Chemosh in order to secure a victory against Israel. Likewise, the god of the Ammonites, Milkom, was also honored with human sacrifice. Monuments in Carthage in north Africa that were built by the Canaanites coming out of Phoenicia have funeral inscriptions on monuments that attest to the sacrifice of a son in fulfillment of a vow made to a Baal: “To Baal Hammon that which was vowed by PN son of PN, son of PN because god heard his voice and blessed him.” (Text here. Details here. Photos here and here.)

The Bible even records the sins of the Israelites during this time period in Psalm 106:34-39:

“They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.”

Proverbs 20:25, “It is a snare to say rashly, ‘It is holy,’ and to reflect only after making vows.”

But, also, it would have been advantageous for Jephtah, or his daughter, to know the Levitical provision stated in Leviticus 27:1-8 that could have redeemed the girl from any vow made concerning a person:

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.’ ” - Leviticus 27:1-8

  Christian Quote from Church History

“Sacred history may be described as an attempt to see the past in the
present tense.”

– A. J. Heschel

 

 

 

 

Something to Ponder??

One of Anselm’s other works in the Middle Ages around 1075 AD (besides his Satisfaction Theory of the Atonement from Cur Deus Homo, “Why Did God Become Man?) is Fides Quaerens Intellectum (or, “Faith Seeking Understanding”). The ontological argument for the existence of God is presented in this work which claims that since all of human reasoning is based on and demands the idea of a perfect Being, that Being must exist. So many facets of logic become unattainable without the idea of a perfect Being that establishes the standards, the order and organization. It was in this work that Anselm wrote his famous quote: “I believe in order to understand.” (More here, here, here and here. This is a link to the text of
Fides Quaerens Intellectum.

 
Hebrew and Greek Word Study   Facts and Information

Torah (Hb) – Law (Eng) – torah is the Hebrew word that means “law,” “direction,” “instruction.” It is used like this in Proverbs 13:14 and Job 22:22. Torah refers to the instruction or the laws of the wisemen and teachers in Proverbs 28:7; 3:1; 4:2 and 7:2. Torah is used to refer to the instruction God gave Moses. Torah identifies the Law of Moses in Malachi 4:4 and the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 4:44. God gives torah both in Moses’ Law and in wisdom principles so we can know it, obey it and live it in Deuteronomy 4:8.

  The fact that Laban gave his daughters Leah and Rachel a hand maid at the time of the wedding is typical of the culture in Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. This proactice of a father giving his daughter a maid as a wedding gift is abundantly documented in Mesopotamia and
can be seen in the
Nuzi Tablet HSS V 67.
     
Confession to Action   Facts and Information

Do I treat other people fairly?
Do consider right/wrong and justice/injustice before I consider the person,
the position and the privilege?
I will be wise, but I will also be just and fair.

  "It is not good to be partial
to the wicked

    and so deprive the
innocent of justice."
- Proverbs 18:5
     
Read the Bible in a Year; Bible Reading Program
Read one chapter each day to read through the narrative portion (or, the story line) of the whole Bible Genesis-Acts in one year. Read the General Text of the Bible Read the Complete Text of the Bible in a Year
Numbers 10 Judges 11 Deuteronomy 21-22
 
Prayer for Today
Personal Prayer Church Prayer Item National Prayer Concerns World Prayer Concerns

Success in what you do

Spirit of Grace

Freedom of Religion

Brazil
 
Photo of Jerusalem; Pictures of Israel Bible Map and Diagram

Robinson's Arch, Jerusalem

This is a photo of the cliff at Kursi on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee where the demon/pigs are claimed to have plunged into the water.
There is a monastery at the base of this cliff and
a chapel on the cliff above built around 500 AD.
(Details here and here.) (click on image for larger size)

Nehemiah's Wall in Jerusalem 445 BC
  Details on a map of the Arameans fleeing during the siege of Samaria from an unseen angelic army as recorded in
2 Kings 6:24-7:20. (click on image for larger size)
   
Details and Explanation of Sets & Reps Devotional System Here Make a donation to support Generation Word Bible Teaching Ministry
   
 
 
 
Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening.
 

 
 
 
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Generation Word - Bible Teaching Ministry   Generation Word - Bible Teaching Ministry