PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( Judges 11:35, 38-39 ): Jephthah made a promise to You that he didn’t truly know what the end result would be. His promise was simply that whatever/whoever walks through the door when he returns after the war would be given to You as a burnt offering. This happened to be his daughter in this situation, which he grieved heavily of course. He was faithful to his promise to You, however, even though he gave his daughter 2 months to wander and mourn before proceeding with the offering. He was faithful to You through such a difficult promise and I’m honestly not sure I could say I would have been as I have not even been faithful to some of the simpler promises I have made to You. Please forgive me for my lack of disobedience and faithfulness to You, Father. I know I must do better than I have been, so I ask that You help me by reminding me of the promises I’ve made but also reminding me of the blessings bestowed upon my family and I as a result of those promises. Help me to keep my side of the “agreement” because You have never failed me yet I have often failed You and I do not want to be that kind of man in this life anymore.
PROMISE ( Judges 11:31 ): Jephthah made a rather bold and open ended promise to You in return for a victory against the Ammonites. The end state of this promise was that he had to offer his daughter as a sacrifice to You, unfortunately. It was a massive test of faith, but he passed. I guess I can see two kind of morals to this testimony. The first is the obviously be more specific and less generalized about my promises to You. The second would be that no matter the promise made to You, I must be faithful and obedient in my side of the promise regardless of the outcome if it is a promise You agreed to as well. Once I gain Your agreement on a promise I’ve made to You, I must remember to be faithful and obedient in the fulfillment of my side of the promise as You will always be faithful to Your side.
ATTITUDE ( Judges 11:28 ): I think the king of the Ammonites in today’s scripture serves as a great example of an attitude adjustment that I need to make personally, but also that the rest of the world needs to make. The attitude he’s lacking is one of a listener. I also lack this attitude quite often, unfortunately. I lack the true attitude of being a quality listener and instead decide to pick-and-choose what I want to listen to or simply throw out every bit of it if it goes against the way I think or believe. I do have moments where I’ve truly embraced and reflected this attitude, but I’ve likely had more times in my life where I have not. Help me to do better at listening, Father, so that I may listen to understand instead of listening to respond or reject.
COMMAND ( Judges 11:36, 39 ): In these two verses, not only does Jephthah show his faithfulness and obedience to You, but his daughter does as well. Jephthah made a promise to give a burnt offering based on what/who comes through his home’s door upon his return. This was his daughter, who could see on his face and from his reaction that a promise was made to God concerning her. The command I see through their example is that You want us to be faithful and obedient to You no matter the situation. You want me to be faithful and obedient to You regardless of what You are asking of me. I know this has been a deep struggle of mine and I am sorry for that, Father. Help me to be and do better in this life, so that I may show You the honor and glory You deserve before I join You in Heaven.
EXAMPLE ( Judges 11:15-28 ): This is a lot of verses, but I find this as a great example of the world today. The king of the Ammonites is being told by Jephthah’s messengers the true story of the Israelites and Ammonites history of war as the one that he understood was quite tainted. Unfortunately, the king of the Ammonites “would not listen to Jephthah’s message” which led to the defeat of the Ammonite’s vast army. This reminds me of the world, but also of myself at times. How often is the story I understand the wrong one and I’m not willing to accept the correct one? How often have I dug deep into an argument over something that I’m not even sure is accurate from my side of things, but could be accurate from the other side of the argument? How often does this exact same thing take place in the world today? I see it frequently on recorded video as well as just while out and about on people’s faces. We become overcome with anger in those moments and if I look closely, I can actually see a demon smiling in their expressions. This is what the enemy wants. He wants us bickering against each other and digging into our negative emotions towards each other instead of embracing Your truth, Your love, Your grace, and Your wisdom. Help me to be and do better in this life, Father. Help me to fully let go of the identity I am in the flesh and the world, so that I am properly and fully embrace my born-again identity in Christ.
*DAILY NOTE: Jephthah’s testimony is a very interesting one; so much so that I wish I knew more about him, but maybe that will come with the next chapters in Judges. He was the son of a prostitute woman as well as the great Gilead. Gilead was a great leader for Your people, but he too gave into sin by having a child outside of his marriage and with a prostitute. You do not waste any of our mistakes, however, as You can do great things in this world no matter how bad the mistakes are we make. In this case a child was born who was banished from his own hometown and village due to the circumstances behind his birth. This isn’t where his story ended, though, because You had great plans for him to return to the people who banished him to lead them to a great victory and into peaceful times. You used him to help out the people who banished him. You claimed victory over the Israelites enemy through this man who was removed by the Israelites from the nation. You then put him in-charge of them to reign supreme over them with Your guidance and wisdom at the forefront of it all. How amazing is Jephthah’s testimony! Thank You so much for sharing this with me today, Father. If there is more to his story in the coming chapters, then I look forward to expanding my knowledge of Jephthah. If there is not more to his story in the coming chapters, then I am grateful for the lesson his testimony has already provided to me. Thank You for a wonderful quiet time today, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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