I got a little annoyed with the Bible tonight.
I’m doing one of those read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plans {which I’m way far behind in doing}, and I’m reading through Judges. I came to chapter 11, and it threw me for all kinds of loops.
The chapter starts out in verse one by describing a man named Jephthah as a valiant warrior. Then, it says …he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father… That alone kind of ticked me off. Why wasn’t the harlot named? It’s not as if his father should win the prize of being named. After all, he partook of the harlot’s services. Fair is fair, and I wanted some equality in that verse: name them both or not at all.
Verse two didn’t get any better. When his half-brothers were grown, they kicked Jephthah out, and told him he’d have none of his father’s inheritance. Poor guy. He fled to “the land of Tob” and lived with a bunch of “worthless fellows.”
Eventually, Israel was facing war {again}, and his half-brothers went to find him and asked him to fight with them as their chief. Jephthah gave them a little bit of a hard time {can’t say I blame him}: Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble? He went further and asked them if God were to give the enemy to him, would they make him head of the people?
They agreed.
Jephthah tried the diplomatic approach with the enemy (the Ammonites}, but to no avail.
Then verses 30 through 40 happen. In all my years of being in church and reading the Bible, I can’t say I ever remember hearing or reading this story. And, oh my word, it made me angry!
We’re told that the Spirit of the Lord descended on Jephthah as he prepared to fight the sons of Ammon. But then he made a vow to the Lord:
If Thou wilt indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. (NASB) / {emphasis in bold is mine}
In case you missed it, the text appears to read that Jephthah vowed to offer up as a sacrificial burnt offering whatever {or whoever} came out of the door when he returned home. As in, death by fire.
Of course, he won the war. Then, he returned home, and the first person out the front door was his only child, his daughter. She came out dancing to meet him. I can imagine her delight as her father, the victor, returned home.
Only, he remembered his vow when he saw her, and tore his clothes. He told her the vow he’d made.
What shocked me even more was that she agreed to it, with one condition: that she and her friends may go to the mountains and lament her virginity. He allowed her to do so, and after two months, she returned home in order for him to keep his vow, which he did.
Do you feel my anger here? I read the chapter thinking the vow meant human sacrifice as a way to honor the Lord. I was none too happy that God would allow this to happen in his name. I mean, Jesus is God, and Jesus got angry about money changers in the temple. Why, oh why, would he not be angry over the human sacrifice of man’s child? I thought of Abraham and Isaac, and questioned why he wouldn’t have intervened in this situation as he had then. I thought, Surely it didn’t please him.
{Yes, I’m neglecting the obvious: the sacrifice of His own son. Just stick with me, keeping in mind that Jephthah’s vow was his alone, unprompted by God.}
I texted my friend for clarification, but the discussion only led to more questions about Old Testament behavior, laws, sacrifices, and the God who instituted them.
My thought was, If God never changes, and the God of the Old Testament delighted in or was pleased with human sacrifices, I don’t like Him too much.
I had more questions than answers, and wasn’t the least bit satisfied with the idea that there might not be a good answer to or logical explanation for this text. There are a lot of Scriptures that leave me with questions, and I’m usually content to know that I may never understand them. But human-child sacrifice was not one of those. I needed to know that God did not condone this activity! I needed to know that the good, loving God I know would never have approved of or appreciated such a sacrifice.
Upon doing a little commentary research, I found that Jephthah maybe didn’t intend his vow as one of human sacrifice. It seems as though most scholars agree that Jephthah’s vow was, indeed, a rash decision. However, the breakdown occurs over whether Jephthah intended and carried out a human sacrificial burnt offering. Apparently, the original Hebrew text left room for interpretation. There’s some discrepancy over the conjuction and, as well as over the pronoun it. Some believe that he handed over his daughter to service in the temple, remaining celibate throughout her life.
I have to tell you that this eased my mind. After all, Jephthah is mentioned among the faithful in Hebrews 11. I couldn’t imagine him being counted among the faithful after carrying out such a horrific act in the name of God.
Yet…
Isn’t that what grace does for us? It allows us to be counted among the faithful even when make hasty, horrible decisions, sometimes even as a way of attempting to please God.
I can’t say for sure what Jephthah intended by his vow or how it was carried out. I know what I want to believe. Either way, God took an illegitimate child who was eventually rejected by his own people, and raised him up to be a mighty warrior who governed Israel for six years, then counted him among the faithful even after making and carrying out an unnecessary, hasty vow.
Yes, that is grace as its finest.
