Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - September 27, 2020

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on Judges 10:10-18; 11:1-6, 9.

Any black sheep in your family besides yourself?  Growing up at my Grand momma’s, I was surrounded by a herd of black sheep.  It seemed like most of my mother’s brothers were in some way involved in illegal activities.  Not like robbing banks or stock market scams.  They were, shall we say, illegal business men.  Gambling and bootlegging was where they really excelled.  

How do families usually treat black sheep?  Shun them.  Don’t claim them as family.  Act like they are complete strangers.  I can tell you that none of these things ever happened to my black sheep uncles.  They may have been black sheep, but they loved my Grand momma.  If the truth be told, the money they gave Grand momma allowed Jack and I to be raised in the comfort and luxury of Lamberts Point.   

In today’s study a black sheep becomes the leader of a nation and became a certified hero.  Of all the judges, this guy, Jephthah, was the most unusual.  Anybody know anything about Jephthah?  After today you will know him and see why he was the strangest of the judges.

First, we have set the scene. Last week we studied Gideon’s term as judge.  After Gideon there were two other judges who we don’t know much about.  Fifty two years have passed since Gideon and guess what?  The Israelites are in trouble with God again.  What do you think got them in trouble this time?  Worshiping idols.  They sure seem like slow learners, don’t they?  But, this time they had pushed the envelop a little further with God.  Every time before this, they had only worshiped Baal and his girl friend, Astartes.  Now they had expanded their idol choices and were worshiping a whole bunch of gods and goddesses.  With all of these gods on their plate, they had little time for worshiping the true God and abandoned him.  In other words they had left God at the altar.

How do you think God felt?  Pretty mad.  When Israel worshiped other gods before, what did God do?   He let them be defeated and dominated by other tribes and nations. God does the same thing again only this time the nations who were messing with the Israelites were the Philistines and Ammonites.  All of this started in the land east of the Jordan where the two and a half tribes had settled.  Scriptures identify the place as Gilead.  For eighteen years these two peoples harassed the Israelites there.  Finally, the Ammonites crossed the Jordan and started to attacking the other Israelite tribes in Canaan.  And that’s where we pick up the story.

Judges 10: 10 So the Israelites cried to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and have worshiped the Baals." 11 And the LORD said to the Israelites, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress." 

The Ammonites had been attacking the tribes on the east side of the Jordan for eighteen years.   Things looked bleak because of the slash and burn tactics of the Ammonites.  With their backs against the wall, what do they do?  Cried to God.  If you were God how many times is enough?  Imagine this.  You are sitting in your living room.  It is after 8:00 PM and the phone rings.  What is the first thing you do?  Look at the caller ID.  Based on what you see there, what do you do?  You choose to pick up the phone or let it shift over to your answering machine.  Does God look at the caller ID and take their call or just let his answering machine tell them that he’ll will get back to them as soon as he can?  No.  What does he do?  Gives them a history lesson telling them all the great things he has done for them.  What were they?  Delivered them from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalikites and the Maonites.  God has saved them from everything including dry scalp.  What does God tell them he will do about their crying?  Nothing.  Looks like the experiment with using judges has run it’s course.  

God doesn’t give them a judge, but he does give them what advice?  Go to the gods you have chosen and tell them your troubles.  You notice that God used the word “chosen?”  That’s a little dig at the Israelites for choosing gods who couldn’t do anything.  When God tells them to dump their troubles on their chosen gods, what is he really telling them to do?  God is telling them to test their gods.  If they are worth worshiping then they should be able and eager to help them out.  After all, look at what they did for all those other nations who worshiped them when the Israelites were plowing through Canaan.  Those little gods Israel has chosen made those other nations winners, right? 

Judges 10: 15 And the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you; but deliver us this day!" 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and worshiped the LORD; and he could no longer bear to see Israel suffer.  

Now the Israelites aren’t as stupid as they act sometimes.  Do you think that down deep in their hearts, they believed in the gods they went off to worship?  Then why did they do it?  Maybe they had made other requests to God like they needed rain and God didn’t send one of those summer afternoon showers right away.  Maybe they asked that God bless a deal they had made with a caravan owner who promised that it was the deal of a lifetime only to find out later that they had bought swamp land in Egypt. Maybe they asked God to let the Washington football team win all of their games this year and you know what has happened so far.  All of these personal wants and God didn’t come through. God had let them down.  God was no longer Santa Claus. Before, the Israelites had gone to other gods in addition to worshiping the Lord, but this time was different.  They had abandoned God to worship other gods and goddesses.  Their motto became “If a four leaf clover doesn’t work anymore, get a rabbit’s foot.  My neighbor asked his god for rain and it rained, therefore his god is the real McCoy.”

The Israelites know that this time they have stepped over the line with God.  What are the three things they tell God?  (1) “We have sinned. We admit it right up front.  There is no doubt about it.”  They don’t make any excuses like the Devil made me do it.  (2) “Because we recognize that we have sinned, we know that there will be a comeuppance.  So, do what you want.  We deserve it and we understand.” In spite of abandoning God, they are willing to put their fate into God’s hands.  They trust God to make the right decision even after what they had abandoned God.  (3) “Just give us one more chance.  We’ll get it right this time.”  Is this a new deal that they are offering God?  Same old thing.

God is watching and waiting to see if they really are in a repenting mood.  What does God see them do?  They get rid of their idols.  The people back up what they say with action.  Not only that, but, what else do they do?  They return to worshiping God.  It’s really easy to say you are going to change.  God has heard them say that over and over again.  The actual changing is where the rubber meets the road.  And this looked like a rubber on the road moment.

Repenting requires change, but sometimes it takes time for the changes to take effect.  Suppose you decide to go on a diet and line up a freezer full of Lean Cuisines.  But there in the freezer is a gallon of butter pecan ice cream and a Sarah Lee coffee cake and in the refrigerator are four containers of Jello chocolate pudding and a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup to be poured liberally over the butter pecan ice cream.  If you are serious about reforming your eating habits, wouldn’t you prove it if you got rid of the goodies in the freezer and refrigerator first?  Now, my way of getting rid of the goodies is to go on an eating frenzy and try to devour all of the goodies as fast as I can so I can get on with losing the weight.  Now, here’s my problem.  After polishing off the coffee cake and pudding, I finally eat the last of the butter pecan ice cream with chocolate syrup poured over it.  It is only then that I discover that I still have chocolate syrup left in the bottle which means I have to buy more ice cream so that everything comes out even and ALL the goodies are consumed.  This process may delay my diet for three weeks, tops.  By then my weight has gone up another ten pounds.

God looks at the changes that the Israelites have made and he likes what he sees.  They are sincere about repenting.  The heart of true repentance is confessing that you were wrong and actually then doing something to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  Almost as an exclamation mark, the people immediately worship God.  This isn’t trying to strike a deal with God that they will worship him if he promises to bail them out again.  They worship God and await their punishment.  How does God respond to this demonstration of repentance?  He sees a real change of heart and now he is sad that they are suffering.

Ever had your child disobey you and it gets you real mad?  Then after you punish them and after their tears have dried, they come up to you, hug you and tell you that they love you?  How do you feel?  A complete melt down time.  Now, you are almost sorry you punished them.  I’ll bet even a tear escapes from your eye.  That is the picture we have of God at this moment.  He is so moved by their love and desire to obey that he feels he is compelled to help them out.

Judges 10: 17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead; and the Israelites came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18 The commanders of the people of Gilead said to one another, "Who will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

The people are reconciled with God, but, the world keeps spinning.  The Ammonites are on the move.  And where are they moving?  To Gilead.  What do the people in Gilead do?  They mass an army and camp in a town a few miles away.  The Ammonites have a plan.  They know exactly what they intend to do.  How to attack.  What the objectives are.  What about the army of  Gilead?  Do they have a plan?  Do they even have a General McAuthor lined up?  In fact their biggest concern is who will lead the army against the Ammonites.  Somebody must have organized this group, so there were leaders there.  But, these guys were political type leaders.   All talk and no action. Not a match for the war experienced leaders of the Ammonites.  Gilead needed a leader capable of coming up with war plans and there isn’t anybody there that fits that bill.

All right.  Let’s recap where we are.  So far, the Israelites have confessed their sin, threw away their idols, worshiped God and repented.  And God has softened his stance and has decided to help them.  The Ammonites have camped in Gilead and the Gileadites have raised an army to face the Ammonites.  So, we know that there is not only a balm in Gilead, but, a lot of men itching for a fight.  So what does our lesson scripture tells us happens next?  A new character is introduced. 

Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead's wife also bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, "You shall not inherit anything in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."   3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him.

Who is this new character?  Jephthah.  Was his birth a black sheep birth or a white sheep birth?  Jephthah had been born on the wrong side of the blanket in Gilead.  His mother was a prostitute.  His dad had other sons by his legal wife.  Was Jephthah on good terms with his half brothers?  His brothers didn’t like him because of who his mother was.  When the brothers were growing up, they picked on Jephthah all of the time forcing Jephthah to fight back.  In fact Jephthah built a reputation in Gilead as being a pretty good street fighter. What did his brothers finally force him to do?  Leave home. The reason was purely financial.  They didn’t want to share their inheritance with him.  

When his brothers chased him out of town, where did he go?  To a place called Tob and assembled a gang of outlaws.   He might have been the Jesse James of Gilead.  Evidently, he and his gang were successful crooks.  Then something changed in Gilead.  The Ammonite threat popped up and, all of the sudden, Jephthah began to look less than a black sheep.  

Judges 11: 4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites." 

9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head." 

What happened?  The Ammonites camped in Gilead and declared war on Israel.  The people had to find a leader who was both a fighter and someone who could organize an army.  Jephthah’s name popped up immediately.  They knew he led this notorious outlaw gang which was good at what they did.  He might have even had a reputation for looking out for the little guy.  For the town leaders this was a win win deal.  They get an experienced guerrilla fighter to lead their army and get rid of an outlaw gang.  They travel to Tob and offer him the job as the five star general in the Gileadite army.  When approached to lead the Gileadite army, he turned them down flat.  Why did he do that?  He didn’t have a dog in the fight.  He told them that none of them stood up for hin and took his side when his half brothers kicked him out of Gilead.  Why are they coming to him now that they are in trouble?  The Ammonites weren’t threatening him, so why should he get involved?  If we look at the situation, isn’t this the same argument that God gave them after they flirted with other gods?

Finally, Jephthah caved in and told them he would lead them against the Ammonites on one condition.  What was the condition?  If God lets Jephthah beat the Ammonites.  There was one other stipulation.  That he be in complete charge - the commander in chief. And this appointment would continue after the Ammonites are defeated.  The elders agree.  In fact, they make the deal a sacred covenant with God.  Can’t you imagine the fun Jephthah would have in making his half brothers come in and bow down to him?  What other Biblical leader had the same thing happen to him?  Joseph.  So, Jephthah became the ruler of Gilead.  Now, there is nothing in scripture stating that God was behind calling Jephthah, but, Jephthah did acknowledged that if he defeated the Ammonites it would be because God was with him.  Had God made him a judge?  You might say that Jephthah became a de-facto judge.

The first thing Jephthah did was to try to negotiate with the Ammonites.  The Ammonite’s problem - the reason for waging war - was that the Israelites were occupying land that the Ammonites claimed belonged to them.  Jephthah told them that they really didn’t have a historical claim to the land.  The Israelites had received the land from God three hundred years before the Ammorites were even in the picture.  If the truth be known, the Ammonites never owned the land.  The point he made was that God had signed the deed to this land over to the Israelites and he had that signed deed.  “We’ve got our deed.  Where is the deed that your god gave you showing that this was your land?”  Pretty nifty argument, huh?  Do you think the Ammonite general bought this?  Nope.  There was going to be a battle between the Gileadites and the Ammonites.

Jephthah knew that he needed to have God on his side if he was going to win.  The Ammonite army was large and experienced and the Gileadites were no match for them.  So Jephthah made a vow to God.  If God makes sure that he wins, he will sacrifice the first person to step out of his house to greet him after the battle was over.  Now, this was Jephthah’s vow and not a condition that God imposed.  What is wrong with this vow?  Anybody coming out of his house would be somebody who was special to him even if it is a slave or servant.  Jephthah could have vowed anything.  It really didn’t make any difference because God had already decided that Jephthah was going to win. There is nothing in scripture that says that God even agreed with such a vow.  Why make such a dopey open ended vow?  He wanted to impress God with his sincerity.  Jephthah thought this vow would be the icing on the cake guaranteeing God’s support.

When the Ammonites were defeated and Jephthah was walking down the path to his front door, who do you think was the first person to come out and greet him?   His daughter, who was his only child, came bounding out the house with bells attached to her clothing tinkling as she danced down the path to greet her father.  If you were Jephthah, seeing your only child as the first person to greet you, how would you have felt?   He was shocked and terrified.  He started tearing his clothes which was a symbol of sorrow and mourning.  When she stood in front of him, her arms extended up to him ready to give him a loving kiss, Jephthah looked down at her and said that her joy at seeing him come home safely had broken his heart, because he had made a vow to God and that vow could not be taken back.  Next week we will say more about vows.  It was all because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and let God do his thing.  The daughter looked up into his tearing eyes and told him he had to do whatever he had vowed to God.

Can you think of another time where another father in the Bible faced sacrificing his child to God?  Abraham and Isaac.  But, the circumstances were different.  In Abraham’s case, God had told him to sacrifice Isaac as a test.  God never permitted the sacrifice or would he have.  With Jephthah it was his big mouth that got him into trouble.  God never told him to sacrifice his daughter or anyone else.  It was a one sided vow that just popped out of Jephthah’s mouth.

Jephthah with a broken heart, completed his vow.  She was buried and scriptures tell us that it became a custom that young Israelite girls would come to that spot each year and weep for the daughter of Jephthah.

Black sheep.  When the Israelites needed a hard nosed fighter to save them from the Ammonites they turned to a guy who they had labeled as a black sheep.  God had him lead them in a victory over their enemy.  But, there was a cost.  Like so many other costs we fall heir to, Jephthah himself named the price without thinking.  To his dying day, I know that he was always haunted by the memory of his daughter dancing down the path to greet him.  I think that is when he really felt like a black sheep.

Next week we will study the Rocky Balboa of Israel - Samson.  

Prayer: Give us the wisdom to listen before we speak.  To speak and then act on that speech. And to make sure that all of those acts glorify your name.  Amen.