Starting with verse 29 Jephthah crossed Gilead and Manasseh, through Mizpah of Gilead and then advanced against the Ammonites. Now verse 30 is crucial to Jephthah's victory and tragedy both.
Verse 30/31 "And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: 'If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'"
He fought and was victorious over the Ammonites, devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith as far as Abel Keramim. Israel was victorious!!
Now comes the tragedy----as Jephthah returned home in Mizpah, the first one to come out and greet him was his DAUGHTER! His only child; he tore his clothes and cried, "OH! MY DAUGHTER!" Then he told his daughter of the vow he made to the LORD.
Now, here is a girl who must have been very in tune with God as she replied to her father: "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request. Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."
After two months of weeping with her friends she returned; her father did to her as he vowed and she was a virgin. This started an Israelite custom that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Such a victory for Israel, yet ended in tragedy and sadness for Jephthah. He made a vow to God and kept that vow. How often do we, modern day Christians, make a vow to God, then all goes well and we forget the vow.
How true are you to God in obedience, study, and in vows? Thank you for reading. Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny
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