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OK, you can turn in your Bibles 
to Judges chapter 11. Judges chapter 11. Judges chapter 11. I'll read the entire chapter 
and then our focus this evening will be verses 29 to 40, Jephthah's 
vow. Judges chapter 11 beginning in 
verse 1. The Gileadite was a mighty man 
of valor, but he was the son of a harlot, and Gilead begot 
Jephthah. Gilead's wife bore sons, and 
when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said 
to him, you shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you 
are the son of another woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brothers 
and dwelt in the land of Tob. And worthless men banded together 
with Jephthah and went out raiding with him. It came to pass after 
a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. And 
so it was when the people of Ammon made war against Israel 
that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land 
of Tov. And they said to Jephthah, come and be our commander that 
we may fight against the people of Ammon. So Jephthah said to 
the elders of Gilead, did you not hate me and expel me from 
my father's house? Why have you come to me now when 
you are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said 
to Jephthah, that is why we have turned again to you now, that 
you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon and 
be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. So Jephthah said to 
the elders of Gilead, if you take me back home to fight against 
the people of Ammon and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I 
be your head. And the elders of Gilead said 
to Jephthah, the Lord will be a witness between us if we do 
not do according to your words. Then Jephthah went with the elders 
of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. 
And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. Now 
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, 
saying, what do you have against me that you have come to fight 
against me and my land? And the king of the people of 
Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, because Israel took 
away my land when they came up out of Egypt from the Arnon as 
far as the Jabbok and to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore 
those lands peaceably. So Jephthah again sent messengers 
to the king of the people of Ammon. and said to him, thus 
says Jephthah, Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor 
the land of the people of Ammon. For when Israel came up from 
Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red 
Sea and came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to 
the king of Edom saying, please let me pass through your land. 
But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they 
sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel 
remained in Kadesh. And they went along through the 
wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, 
came to the east side of the land of Moab and encamped on 
the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border 
of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. Then Israel sent 
messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. 
And Israel said to him, please let us pass through your land 
into our place. But Sihon did not trust Israel 
to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people 
together and camped in Jahaz and fought against Israel. And 
the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into 
the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. Thus Israel gained 
possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that 
country. They took possession of all the 
territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from 
the wilderness to the Jordan. And now the Lord God of Israel 
has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel. 
Should you then possess it? Will you not possess whatever 
Chemosh, your God, gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord 
our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. And now, 
are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? 
Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? 
While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and 
its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the 
Arnon for 300 years, why did you not recover them within that 
time? Therefore, I have not sinned against you, but you wronged 
me by fighting against me. May the Lord, the Judge, render 
judgment this day before the children of Israel and the people 
of Ammon. However, the king of the people 
of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him. Then 
the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through 
Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and 
from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. And 
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed 
deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, Then it will be that 
whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when 
I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the 
Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. So Jephthah 
advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, 
and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them 
from Aroer as far as Mineth, 20 cities, and to Abel-Karamim, 
with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were 
subdued before the children of Israel. When Jephthah came to 
his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet 
him with timbrels and dancing, and she was his only child. Besides 
her, he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass when he saw 
her that he tore his clothes and said, alas, my daughter, 
you have brought me very low. You are among those who trouble 
me. For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go 
back on it. So she said to him, my father, 
if you have given your word to the Lord, do to me according 
to what has gone out of your mouth, because the Lord has avenged 
you of your enemies, the people of Ammon. And she said to her 
father, let this thing be done for me. Let me alone for two 
months that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my 
virginity, my friends and I. So he said go. And he sent her 
away for two months. And she went with her friends 
and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. And it was so 
at the end of the two months that she returned to her father. 
And he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And it became 
a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days each 
year to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite. Amen. Well, a very powerful passage 
of scripture. Certainly what is going on in 
this chapter is quite serious. There are two views, two ways 
to take Jephthah's vow. There is the literal way that 
suggests that what Jephthah swore in terms of offering up his daughter 
as a burnt offering is precisely what he did. That is the position 
I will argue for this evening. And then the second position 
indicates that rather than her being offered up as a burnt offering, 
she was consecrated to perpetual virginity in order to fulfill 
this particular vow. Again, men on either side have 
grappled with this passage over the years. We need to go with 
what the text of scripture dictates, what it mandates, and what it 
specifies. And God helping us, we can learn 
some lessons along the way this evening. So the chapter or the 
section that I read, there are two broad concerns. the victory 
over the Ammonites in chapter 11 verses 29 to 33 and then the 
payment of Jephthah's vow in verses 34 to 40. So first, the victory over the 
Ammonites. Remember the particular setting. 
Jephthah, when he assumes the position or when he assumes the 
role as judge, as deliverer, when he has made the head over 
all the inhabitants of Gilead, and he has made the commander 
of the armies of Israel, the first thing that he does is he 
sends out this delegation to contact the king of the people 
of Ammon. They tried diplomacy. He tries 
to reason with the king of the Ammonites. We see or we saw his 
particular presentation of the historical background in verses 
14 to 22. And based on that, he then draws 
out several arguments. The argument from history, the 
argument from theology, the argument from precedence, and then the 
argument from chronology. So he presents his case very 
admirably, very well. He knows his stuff. Jephthah, 
though he was sent off to live in this land of Tob, though he 
was excluded from his particular family, nevertheless was a mighty 
man of valor, and he was a man that was skilled, a man that 
was full of wisdom, and a man that had lots of resources at 
his disposal. So he presents his case to the 
king of Ammon, and of course the king of Ammon says no. Verse 
28, however, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed 
the words which Jephthah sent him. So that's the setting. Now 
that brings us to battle with the Ammonites. Remember, they 
are oppressing the children of Israel. Jephthah's been raised 
up as the head, as the commander, to crush this opposition, to 
crush the adversaries of the Lord God Most High. So because 
they reject the diplomacy, because they reject this particular attempt, 
now war must be engaged or must be leveled against the Ammonites. So we see his empowerment, verse 
29, and the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. We see that 
with Othniel. We see that with Gideon. We see 
that at least indirectly with Barak. Remember that he pleads 
that Deborah goes with him. That is the presence of the Lord 
because Deborah is the Lord's prophet. She is a prophetess. 
So this is God's way God's means of enabling his people so that 
they can do the task that he has called them to specifically 
to bring deliverance from their oppressors. Jephthah then moves 
through Gilead and Manasseh. He passes through Mizpah of Gilead. And from Mizpah of Gilead, he 
advanced toward the people of Ammon. So he's got the spirit 
of the Lord upon him. He's going to engage the enemy. 
And all throughout this particular chapter and into the next, it 
is evident and clear from whom victory comes. It is God, the 
Spirit of the Lord, who came upon Jephthah to bring deliverance. We see that in verse 32, the 
Lord delivered them into his hands. We see it from the mouth 
of Jephthah's daughter in verse 36, because the Lord has avenged 
you of your enemies. And then again in chapter 12, 
verse 3, when there's conflict with Ephraimites, he says, and 
the Lord delivered them into my hand. So we need to understand 
that. Whatever happens in terms of 
Jephthah and his vow, God is sovereign, God is glorious, and 
he works through these human agents. No matter how we land 
on Jephthah's vow, if it was a vow to consecrate her into 
perpetual virginity, that in and of itself was not a good 
thing. I mean, either way we go on this 
particular vow. I mean, all commentators, all 
Bible students, everybody who comes to Jephthah's vow would 
agree that it was problematic. And so either way, it's going 
to have implications as to one way or the other, but the fact 
is that he made this vow, and it was rash, and I will suggest 
it was wicked, but nevertheless, God overrules and God works through 
these particular means. Something we need to understand 
and learn is that God accomplishes his purposes in this earth, and 
at times, all the time, he has to use unsavory means. God isn't like the doctor. When 
you have a surgery, let's say you had a surgery tomorrow morning, 
and you go to the hospital there. The doctor takes his instruments, 
and they have been sterilized. They have been adequately, or 
at least they should have been sterilized. I shudder to think 
if they weren't. But the doctor has sanitized, 
sterilized instruments by which he performs surgery. Well, God 
is dealing with sinners. There is never a completely sanitized 
and a completely sterilized specimen of a human being. God uses unsavory 
means at times to accomplish savory things for his glory and 
for the good of his people. The most unsavory and the most 
wicked act in the history of mankind was the crucifixion of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter says that this 
was the predetermined plan of God. Again, God doesn't operate 
like the surgeon where he has sterilized instruments. He uses 
sinners to accomplish his particular purposes. And when we say that, 
people oftentimes misrepresent and characterize what we are 
saying. When we talk about the doctrine of sovereignty or we 
talk about what men commonly call Calvinism, When we talk about the reality 
of the sovereignty of God, that sovereignty is never divorced 
from the fact that our God is good. He's merciful. He's kind. He's gracious. He's wise. He's 
holy. He is accomplishing holy, wise, 
and glorious ends through the means that he has ordained. And 
so it is wrong to say that Calvinists aren't concerned about the things 
that go on in the world. Most certainly we are. But we 
realize that God has a morally sufficient reason for the evil 
that exists, and he overrules it for his glory and for the 
good of his people. And so behind the scenes in all 
of this, God is using Japheth. He's using Samson. He's using 
these various human judges to accomplish his purposes. And 
you'll note the silence of God in terms of this particular chapter. You'll note the silence of the 
author in terms of commending one way or the other. Remember 
that the Bible oftentimes reports things without giving us an ethical 
lesson based on that particular truth. And this happens to be 
one of them. Anyways, we see that he's empowered. Now notice his vow in verses 
30 and 31. Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. Remember that an oath is something 
that man makes to man before God. A vow is something that 
man swears directly to God Most High. And so Japheth made a vow 
to the Lord and said, if you will indeed deliver the people 
of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes 
out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in 
peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and 
I will offer it up as a burnt offering. Now, just a couple 
of observations here. First, he made a vow to the Lord. There's a solemn promise that 
if God does what he asks, then he will offer up as a burnt sacrifice 
the first thing that walks out of his house. Secondly, note 
why he made this vow. He made the vow in order to secure 
victory over the Ammonites and to ensure peace for himself. This is what the text says. He 
made a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed deliver the 
people of Ammon into my hands, it's the first part. He's treating 
God in a way that is not consistent with the people of God. God is 
not to be bargained with. He is not to be manipulated. We don't enter into deal-making 
with Him. We are to obey God and walk in 
faithfulness. We see a problem here with Japheth. He's seeking to manipulate God. It seems he's taken on something 
of the canonization that is around him. Because remember that with 
Moloch or with Baal, with the gods of the Canaanites, they 
were gods that you manipulated. They were gods that you coerced. 
They were gods that you tried to get to perform in a particular 
way for you. But it's not only deliverance 
from Ammonites, but it's also peace for himself. Remember that 
Jephthah does want to be the head in Gilead. This was one 
of the things that was mentioned at the end of chapter 10. They 
said that whoever delivers us from the Ammonites, we will make 
him head over Gilead. And remember, when they come 
to Jephthah initially, they ask him to be commander over the 
people. Jephthah says, wait a minute, 
I thought it wasn't just being a commander, but it was being 
head over the people in Gilead as well. There is an ambition 
going on in Jephthah. He does want to be the head over 
the Gileadites. He wants to be the one that everybody 
looks to. And he not only wants victory 
over these Ammonites, but he wants peace when he comes home. Notice in verse 31, then it will 
be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet 
me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon shall surely 
be the Lord's and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. Another 
thing we need to realize is that he vowed as a burnt offering 
the first person to exit from his house. Now, if Jephthah meant 
an animal, he was out of his mind. Jephthah did not mean an 
animal. Kyle and Dalich, which offered 
the best argument in my estimation for the non-literal view. In 
other words, they take the position that what is going on in Jephthah's 
vow is that she's being consecrated to a life of perpetual virginity. 
They take that position, and as far as I'm concerned, for 
several pages they do the best job at arguing for that particular 
interpretation. But even they admit that Jephthah 
did not expect that a calf would walk out the door of his house. 
Going out the doors of his house to meet him is an expression 
that does not apply to a herd or flock driven out of the stall 
just at the moment of his return, or to any animal that might possibly 
run out to meet him. Moreover, Jephthah no doubt intended 
to impose a very difficult vow upon himself, and that would 
not have been the case if he had merely been thinking of a 
sacrificial animal. Could you imagine a difficult 
vow when a ruler says, I will sacrifice a calf to the God that 
gives me victory? That's not difficult. That's 
not a hardship. That's not an issue that one 
would stumble over. When Japheth says, whatever comes 
out of my house, he's thinking of a human being. Does he realize 
it's going to be his daughter? Probably not. However, he is 
thinking in terms of a human. And in verse 31, he says, and 
I will offer it up as a burnt offering. So had it been a man, 
had it been a male servant, or had it been a son? Because you 
see, up to this point, we don't know. We don't know that he's 
only got one daughter until she walks out the door of the house. 
Up to this point, the reader doesn't understand or doesn't 
know that he doesn't have 10 sons sitting in the house. How 
could he possibly sell them into perpetual virginity in the same 
sort of way that he does with a daughter? He's expecting a 
human being to come out from the door. He's expecting a human 
being to walk out to meet him. I like to think my dog comes 
out to meet me, but she comes out to meet whoever it is. She 
doesn't say, hey, Jim's home. I'm going to go see him. Whoever 
knocks on that front door, whoever opens that door, she will go 
to meet them. In this instance, he says specifically, 
then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my 
house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, 
shall surely be the Lord's. Some translations offer a gloss 
here. Instead of the translating, and 
I will offer it up as a burnt offering, they read it this way. 
I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the 
Lord's, or I will offer it up as a burnt offering. It's not 
correct. He's talking about the same thing. 
It will be offered up, it will surely be the Lord's, and I will 
offer it up as a burnt offering. Now, you all know what a burnt 
offering is. Leviticus chapter 1. You wouldn't 
need to be a Bible scholar or a PhD to know what a burnt offering 
is. A burnt offering means something 
that's Burned, right? You kill it and then you burn 
it onto the Lord God Most High. Now let's just suppose for a 
moment, and maybe this is a bit of rhetoric just to bolster my 
case, but let's just suppose for a moment that 32 to 38 weren't 
in the Bible. Let's just suppose that we go 
from 31 where he says, whatever walks out the front door of my 
house, I will offer it up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 
And then in the end of verse 39, he says, and he carried out 
his vow with her, which he had vowed. There'd be any indication 
that he didn't do what he said he was going to do. Of course 
not. He offers up this vow to offer 
up the first person or whoever comes out to meet him. He says 
that he will offer it up as a burnt offering. And then notice. Terms of the problem with this 
vow. Again, if you take the non-literal position that he's consecrating 
her to a life of perpetual virginity, there's still problems with this 
vow. First, it was unnecessary. There's nothing prescriptive 
in the Old Testament that says you make a deal with God and 
then you get what you want. Jephthah's out of his element 
here. He looks more like Canaanite 
leaders than he does a leader in Israel. And this is something 
that I think is the case with him. I think he knew Yahweh. 
I think in his own way he feared Yahweh. I think he made a grievous 
sin and a grievous error and sinned against the Lord God Most 
High in a terrible way. But this was an unnecessary act 
on his part. Secondly, it was manipulative. It was manipulative to His God. If you do this, then I will do 
this. We cannot live that way, brethren. 
The Bible says we are to walk in obedience to the Lord. We 
don't walk based on, God, if you do this, then I'll obey. 
God, if you make sure everything goes my way, if you give me this 
job, or you give me this girl, or you give me this guy, then 
I'll be a good Christian. No, you fear God and obey Him. and you walk faithfully before 
him. Jephthah's vow was unnecessary. It was manipulative. Thirdly, 
it was presumptuous. Don't you ever vow to the Lord 
God Most High what concerns another human being. You do not have 
that right without their permission. You do not have that prerogative. There is not a one of us in this 
room who has the right to say to God, Lord, if you do such 
and such, you can have my little junior to be a minister or a 
missionary. How many people have been thrown 
into a particular field that they have no part in being because 
Aunt Bessie made a vow to the Lord? That is presumptuous. And then, I would argue, it was 
wicked. The vow came as a result, ultimately, 
because of his determination to gain victory and be the head 
over Gilead. If he consecrated her to perpetual 
virginity, it was a wicked means to gain victory over the Ammonites 
and be the head in Israel. Right? I mean, even if the lesser 
of the two, he's still not off the hook, there's no vindication 
for Jephthah if this is all that's at stake. If it was in fact that 
he offered her up, killed her, and then burned her as a sacrifice 
to the Lord, it was wicked because he did this to gain victory over 
the Ammonites, and the place as the head in Gilead. Either way, Jephthah was determined 
to secure victory over the Ammonites. His was not a rash vow. Remember, this is no dummy. When 
he sends the delegation to negotiate this treaty with the king of 
the people of the Ammonites, he knows history. He knows theology. He knows precedence. He puts 
together a beautiful argument. This isn't some country bumpkin. 
This isn't, you know, boss hog falling out with a, you know, 
with a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth. He knows what 
he's doing. He's calculated, and he's put 
this together. He's not a dummy, and he engaged 
in a wicked vow. Again, one way or the other, 
however you interpret this. Now, note the battle. And note 
the brevity by which the battle is reported. Where's the emphasis 
in the narrative? It's on Jephthah's vow. It's 
not on the battle. Look at verses 32 and 33. So 
Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against 
them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated 
them from Aroer as far as Mineth, 20 cities, and to Abel-Karamim 
with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were 
subdued before the children of Israel." Now before you say, 
well obviously the Lord approved of this particular vow because 
He gave them victory. The Lord already promised to 
give them victory. The Lord already raised Him up 
to bring victory. The Lord already said that He 
was going to deliver. the Israelites from Ammonite 
oppression. He was not manipulated. He was 
not bargained with. He was not the cosmic slot machine 
that spit out the three cherries and this man got what he wanted. That is simply not the case. 
Again, when the Bible reports certain things, it doesn't always 
give us the ethical lessons that we ought to conclude later in 
reflection. Now notice, The payment of Jephthah's vow. We'll just run through the narrative 
and then we'll look at the two main ways of interpreting. First, 
the celebration. Verse 34, when Jephthah came 
to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to 
meet him with timbrels and dancing, and she was his only child. Besides 
her, he had neither son nor daughter. Now, other Gileadites would have 
come out praising Jephthah for his military prowess. This girl 
comes out praising her dad. This is her father. He's come 
back from this particular battle and he's victorious. Now, those 
who reject the idea that Jephthah actually offered her up as a 
burnt offering say, well, doesn't he know the law? Of course he 
knows the law. He knows that child sacrifice 
and human sacrifice are prohibited by God. The question being, with 
reference to Jephthah, is how much of his Old Testament did 
he actually know? There's an interesting instance 
when the children of Israel return victorious with reference to 
the Egyptians, that Miriam and friends come out celebrating 
with Timbrel and rejoicing over the victory of the Lord. If he 
had that in his mind, he had to expect something like that 
when he returned home after his particular battle. Anyways, it's 
a cause for celebration. His young daughter comes out 
and she's dancing. And then notice it's underscored, 
and she was his only child. Besides her, he had neither son 
nor daughter. Now that doesn't preclude that 
perhaps his wife had other children from other husbands. But in terms 
of his seat, in terms of he and his wife, this was it. And again, 
this is the first we hear of this. See, we operate knowing 
already a whole bunch of stuff. But up to this point, we don't 
know that he doesn't have 10 kids. Remember, the minor judges 
before and the minor judges after have like 30 kids. I mean, these 
are, you know, men with big tribes, basically. So we would conclude 
that he also has a whole bunch of people in his house. But it's 
this one lone daughter. And the statement here invites 
comparison with Genesis 22. We don't have time to sort of 
compare that. But take thine son, thine only 
son, when God calls upon Abraham to take Isaac up and to offer 
him at Moriah, there are some parallels going on between this 
section and that as well. Anyway, she's celebrating, she 
comes out. Notice in verse 35 is grief. And it came to pass when he saw 
her that he tore his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, 
you have brought me very low, for you are among those who trouble 
me, for I have given my word to the Lord and I cannot go back 
on it. Now, I do not doubt that this 
was a time of grief for this man. I'll call him a brother. He's in Hebrews 11. I believe 
he's a saved man. Again, I believe he does something 
incredibly sinful. He's grieving. But note where 
the emphasis lies. Look at what he says. Alas, my 
daughter, you have brought me very low. You are among those 
who trouble me. Where's the concern for her? 
Whether she's going to be a burnt sacrifice, or she's going to 
be a perpetual virgin in Israel, where this would be considered 
a shameful thing, a woman who doesn't have children. Where's 
his love expressed to her? Oh honey, I'm sorry, I made this 
rash. Wow, it's you I'm concerned, 
that's not it. The emphasis in the spotlight's 
always on Jephthah. It's all about him. He does conclude 
rightly, For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot 
go back on it." Now that is not strictly the case. He could have 
broken this vow. Never forget that. No matter 
which position we pick, whether she's a burnt sacrifice or whether 
she's a perpetual virgin, he could have broken his vow. He 
could have invoked the displeasure of God upon his own head. But 
you see, he wanted peace. He doesn't want the absence of 
peace. He certainly doesn't want Yahweh upset with him. He certainly 
doesn't want to provoke the living and true God. I mean, he learned 
that from the Canaanites. If you barter a deal with Baal 
or Molech, and you don't pay up, then something bad could 
happen to your particular land. He doesn't want that to happen. 
So he's a covenant keeper when it comes to this particular statement. For I have given my word to the 
Lord, and I cannot go back on it." And then the fulfillment. 
Notice verses 36 to 40. The daughter submits to her father's 
decision. Again, just like Isaac. Isaac just marches dutifully 
right alongside of Abraham, doesn't he? I mean, we're reading it 
going, Isaac, don't you know what's going on? Don't you understand 
what's happening? Isaac's old enough to conclude, 
you've got the fire, you've got this, but you don't have a sacrifice. 
Isaac's probably in his late teens. He's trafficking, he's 
cognizant, he's knowledgeable. The same sort of thing here. 
She says, my father, if you have given your word to the Lord, 
do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because 
the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Amnon. 
Then, verse 37, she said to her father, let this thing be done 
for me. Let me alone for two months that I may go and wander 
on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I. Give me two months. Give me two 
months to go and bewail my virginity with my friends. Just give me 
this before you execute your vow. Verse 38, so he said go 
and he sent her away for two months and she went with her 
friends and bewailed her virginity on the mountains and it was so 
at the end of the two months Sorry. And it was so at the end 
of two months that she returned to her father and he carried 
out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And 
it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel 
went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the 
Gileadite. Now you got to be careful in 
some of the literature. The people that take the non-literal 
view suggests they're lamenting the virginity of the daughter. 
But it doesn't say that. They lament the daughter of Jephthah, 
the Gileadite. So that's the rub. That's the 
situation. Let's look at the nature of the 
vow. As I said, there's probably other 
contenders for how we should interpret it. But the two main 
positions, the consecration to perpetual virginity, and then 
the literal view. Now, I just indicated what commentators 
hold which in my library. I don't have an extensive library 
on the Book of Judges, but in my library, those who hold to 
the consecration of the perpetual virginity, Gordon Caddy, perhaps 
you've never heard of him, John Gill, Always troubles me when 
I go against dear brother John Gill, but such is the case. And then as I said, Kyle and 
Dalich actually, in my mind, they argue the best for this 
consecration to perpetual virginity. In my library, the literal view, 
Matthew Henry, Ralph Davis, F.F. Bruce, Daniel Block, Keddie says 
older Jewish commentators and the early church fathers, perhaps 
not all of them, but the early church fathers took the literal 
view in terms of Jephthah's vow. So that's just the scorecard. 
Again, it's not a test of orthodoxy. I like what Matthew Henry says 
after the whole thing is over. He says, and he takes the position 
that it was literal, that he actually did put his daughter 
to death. At the end of his discussion, Matthew Henry says, thankfully, 
what is necessary in terms of salvation is crystal clear in 
the Bible. Good men do differ on their interpretation 
of Jephthah's vow. And while it may be somewhat 
difficult to get it, you know, absolutely clear, he says, in 
the matter of salvation, those things that are set forth in 
terms of redemption by Christ are absolutely crystal clear. 
And he made a statement concerning praise to God for that. So let's 
just look first at the consecration to perpetual virginity view. And I'm going to give three statements 
here as to what these proponents say and then seek to diffuse 
them. The first is the heinousness 
of human sacrifice could never have been carried out in Israel. In other words, this was such 
a horrific crime, such a horrific sin, that it was unthinkable 
that it would have been conducted by Jephthah in this setting. Now, child sacrifice did formally 
enter into Israel under the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh. Is it unthinkable that there 
was an informal foray at this dark period in the time of the 
judges? I mean, haven't we seen, in Judges 
chapter 2, these cycles? And then they reverted to more 
corruption after the judge died. In many respects, it almost seems 
to follow that they just keep getting worse and worse. If the people of Israel are increasingly 
being canonized, could it be the case that Jephthah is taking 
on something of that canonization as well and he makes truck with 
Yahweh the way a pagan would with Molech or with Baal? So I don't know that that can 
carry the day. the consecration of women to 
sanctuary service. See, the argument sort of goes 
like this, that what's happening is that he makes this particular 
vow. But what in reality he is vowing 
is that she is a perpetual virgin and that she is set apart to 
serve in the sanctuary of the Lord. Exodus chapter 38, verse 
8. We might call this the Judaic 
nunnery view. Nuns being those who don't have 
relations with men. Judaic nunnery. I thought that 
was funny. Good. At least somebody got it 
there. Judaic nunnery. Exodus 38, 8. Women were connected 
with some sort of service to the sanctuary of the Lord. First 
Samuel chapter 2. Remember the sons of Eli lie 
with women who are at the sanctuary. They had some involvement in 
terms of the house of God. But neither of those texts indicate 
that they were there by vow, and they certainly weren't necessitated 
to be virgins. It doesn't say that in the passage. Another text that is marshaled 
is Leviticus 27. Leviticus 27, 1 to 8, is the 
price, the redemption price, for somebody that is consecrated 
to the Lord. The redemption of persons or 
property dedicated to God. Again, not in terms of a sacrifice, 
but there were persons set apart unto service of the Lord. Well, 
there was a monetary price one could pay to get out of that 
particular consecration. Leviticus 27, 1 to 8, deals with 
that particularly. Each person had a value assigned 
to him or her which the person who made the vow paid to the 
priest, thus no doubt redeeming that person. So if you made a 
vow to the Lord and then it turns out you couldn't fulfill it, 
you'd pay a certain amount of money to the priest so that he 
could release you from that. The money would then go into 
the coffers and you would be freed from that particular vow. 
You see, Judges 11 never mentions that whatsoever. That is to take 
a passage and to read it into it. When we move from verse 31 
and the promise that I will offer it up as a burnt offering, and 
to the end of verse 39, he carried out his vow with her, which he 
had vowed. There's no suggestion whatsoever 
that he paid a price to redeem her and get her off the hook 
from this vow he made in terms of a burnt sacrifice. I hope 
you're following. I think these things are strong. 
Some infer that Jephthah vowed his daughter to Yahweh and that 
he fulfilled that vow through her lifelong celibate service 
at the sanctuary. Again, Leviticus 27, 1 to 8 is 
not concerned about lifelong service at the sanctuary. And 
it certainly doesn't say one whit about virginity. So several 
texts that are used to get Jephthah off the hook and to this other 
sort of better position are really not relative or not relevant 
to the passage at hand. It has no bearing on Exodus 38, 
none whatsoever on 1 Samuel chapter 2. And with reference to Leviticus 
27, he's not paying a price to keep her from being consecrated 
to the Lord. Because you see, the argument 
is, is that she is consecrated to the Lord. She's going to serve 
as a virgin in the house of the Lord. How is that not consecration? If he paid a price, she would 
be freed from that and she could go and engage in relations and 
have children. It just doesn't make sense whatsoever 
of the text. And then the third element, with 
reference to the consecration to perpetual virginity view, 
is the repeated emphasis on her virginity. Why does the author 
keep telling us this? Do you know why I think? I think 
it's because that when we are about to die, we say things like, 
I never got to skydive. I never got to go to Costco with 
a credit card. I never got to fly in a plane. 
What's the chief benefit and blessing to a young woman in 
Israel? I never got to have a child. 
I think that's why the repeated emphasis. Listen to Matthew Henry's 
statement concerning verse 37. Note verse 37, then she said 
to her father, let this thing be done for me, let me alone 
for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and 
bewail my virginity, my friends and I. Matthew Henry says, besides, 
had she only been confined to a single life, the perpetual 
virginity view, she needed not to have desired these two months 
to bewail it in. She had her whole life before 
her to do that. Why take two months when you're 
going to live another 30 years? You can cry every day about your 
virginity. And then he goes on to say this 
concerning her. Nor needed she to take such a 
sad leave of her companions. Because after the two months, 
if this is the correct position, she wouldn't be stripped of her 
friends. She wouldn't be without friends 
in Gilead. Service at the Lord's house didn't 
mean isolation. This wasn't prison, was it? I think Matthew Henry is on the 
right. Right way there. And then notice 
in verse 39, the very end, she knew no man. Why the emphasis? Bloch says this, with his vow, 
Jephthah had tried to secure his present, but through it, 
he ends up sacrificing his future. This is brilliant. Jephthah sought 
something. And it was probably the judgment 
of God that this transpired the way that it did. I mean, what 
better for a judge in Israel than to have grandsons? He's trying to secure his present 
by sacrificing his future. I think that's beautiful. How 
many times do the people of God sacrifice their future for something 
in the present? Be faithful. Be consistent. Don't make rash vows. Don't make 
promises that you can't keep. Do what you're supposed to do 
each and every day. He goes on to say, accompanied 
by her friends, she spends the last days of her life in the 
mountains lamenting the fact that she will die a virgin, never 
having known the joy of sexual intimacy and, more importantly, 
failing to carry on the family line. With her death, the family 
dies. She knew no man is as much a 
statement about Japheth as it is about her. Because she knew 
no man, there was no grandson, there was no issue, there was 
no seed, there was no heritage, there was no legacy for this 
man Japheth. Here he makes this vow before 
God, his daughter walks through the door, he carries out the 
vow, he's got to put her to death. He goes on to say, with her death, 
the family dies. And then he makes this statement, 
the narrator deliberately softens the horror of her end and spares 
the reader the horrific details. He carried out his vow with her 
which he had vowed. Bloch suggests we think of Genesis 
22. when Abraham ties Isaac to the 
altar, when he readies the knife to bury it into his son. That's 
what he would have had to do. Some commentators said that would 
have shown the absolute corruption of the priesthood if they actually 
facilitated the death of this girl. Again, at the time of the 
judges, are we expecting nobility? Are we expecting a priesthood 
that functions and operates in consistent obedience to the law 
of God? In the best days of Israel's 
monarchy, when Solomon is on the throne, do we find perfection, 
consistency? When David is on the throne, 
arguably the best king ever. We see murder and adultery in 
the king's palace. We ought to be careful as to 
what we expect from the human players on the pages of Holy 
Scripture. He says, the narrator deliberately 
softens the horror of her end and spares the reader the horrific 
details. And then verse 40, became a custom 
in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days each 
year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. Why would 
they do that if she was alive? You have to suggest, you have 
to imply, and you have to bring in there that they lamented her 
virginity. That's not what the text says. 
It says they lamented her. Why do you lament somebody? Because 
their dad put a knife in their heart and killed them in order 
to sacrifice them unto the Lord. Now the literal view. First, 
the plain meaning of the vow in verse 31. What do we expect 
when we read verse 31? And I will offer it up as a burnt 
offering. What does that mean in the orbit 
of biblical interpretation? It means you tie the victim down 
and you cut their throat and then you offer them up and fire 
to the Lord. That's what a burnt offering 
is. You see, atonement and sacrifice is a messy, bloody, gory business. And when this man says, I will 
offer it up as a burnt offering, you cannot tell me for a moment 
he didn't know what he was saying. This man repeated the history 
of Israel. This man knew theology. This 
man knew the gods of the regions. This man argues from precedent. 
He knew who Balak was. He knew who the son of Zippor 
was. He knew that they had been there for 300 years, and now 
you're trying to lay claim to this? This was no dummy. When 
Japheth says, I will offer it up as a burnt offering unto the 
Lord, He knows what he's talking about, brethren. He is not a 
fool. Again, if we drop from 31 to 
39, what would we conclude if 32 to 38 weren't there? He carried 
out his vow with which he had vowed. We would think that was 
the vow of verse 31 that he offered up her as a burnt offering. Secondly, 
the realization that a person would exit the house, not an 
animal. He knew the burnt offering he 
vowed in verse 31 would be a human being. Would it soften the blow 
for you if it was his wife? Would it be better if it was 
a servant? If he had sons, would that be more commendatory? He 
knew that a human being would walk out of that house to meet 
him, right? So whether it was Jephthah's 
daughter or somebody else who had the unfortunate prerogative 
to dwell with this particular man, somebody was going to be 
offered up as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. Third, the extent 
of his grief in verse 35. Now, I do not doubt for a moment 
that it would be a grieving thing to consecrate a daughter into 
perpetual virginity. But it wouldn't be nearly as 
bad as killing her. And let's just assume for a moment 
that she's consecrated into perpetual virginity so that she may serve 
at the sanctuary of the Lord. There's something redemptive 
there. There's a remedial end there. There's something beneficial 
at the thought that my daughter, though she's not going to have 
a man and she's not going to have grandsons, she's doing a 
noble cause. She's doing a noble task. Imagine 
for a moment if you had a daughter that instead of getting married, 
she went to the Sudan and she dealt with starving children. 
You would be proud of that girl, wouldn't you? It betrays the 
sort of grief that is evidenced here if she's only being sold 
into or consecrated unto sanctuary service. Really? Is that that 
bad of a punishment? I mean, yeah. Arguably, you don't 
want that, especially as a Jephthah. You want to have little grandson 
Jephthahs running around and doing their thing. That's to 
be sure. The grief doesn't seem to indicate 
this. And then notice, fourthly, the execution of the vow following 
the two-month period. If we take the consecrated to 
perpetual virginity view, that two-month period, she's already 
a virgin. She already is bewailing it. 
She's already entered in. But it's after the two-month 
period, after this lamentation period, then the vow is executed 
at that particular point. And then fifth, the gross violation 
of the law of God. Can we possibly conceive that 
people who fear the Lord do these sorts of things? Again, I already 
mentioned King David of Israel. This isn't going to be a who's 
who of how bad you can be and still fall into heaven. But remember, 
the canonization of Israel. There were corrupting influences 
all around them. Remember that Jephthah was the 
son of a harlot and he was excluded from his family. Who did he hang 
out with? He wasn't hanging out with his 
brothers. learning the catechism. He wasn't under the tutelage 
of godly parentage. He was influenced by those around 
him. He certainly knew who Yahweh 
was. He certainly feared Yahweh. He certainly would have had an 
understanding of these child sacrifice things. But even a 
man as great as Solomon, how does he end? You know what the 
Bible says concerning Solomon? What does it say? It says these 
wives led him away to other gods. Brethren, the moment you think 
that these things could never happen to your hero or to yourself, 
you need to be very careful. There ought to be a holy distrust 
in all of our hearts about our hearts. There ought to be the 
realization, I think it was Uncle Johnny who said, the seeds of 
apostasy are in every man's heart. We need to understand that. Davis 
comments concerning those who reject the literal view. He says, 
I have a problem with those who claim that Jephthah would never 
have sacrificed his daughter because that would have been 
against Yahweh's law. He says, they automatically assume 
that Jephthah was consistent with what he knew. We're not 
consistent with what we know. We don't function with what we 
know. We're not obedient to the things 
that are revealed. He says, but how do we know that 
Jephthah was consistently consistent? Is it not just as conceivable 
that in spite of what knowledge he had, he convinced himself 
that such a sacrifice, given the emergency, might be not only 
entirely proper, but also deeply pious? There could have ran in 
his veins the thought that what he was doing was actually a good 
thing for Gilead, for Israel, for the suppression of these 
pesky Ammonites. If a little blood, friendly fire, 
needs to occur along the way, well then the greater good is 
served. Brethren, I think I'm more convinced 
now than I was earlier today that Jephthah did what the text 
tells us he did. And that to bring in this idea 
that it was a consecration to perpetual virginity reads into 
the text what is not there. It is a noble, it is a valiant 
attempt to try and sanitize a particular passage of scripture, but we 
are not called to sanitize particular passages of scripture. Our task 
is to interpret what is there, not what we think should be there, 
not what makes better sense in our mind, but to realize that 
God uses muck and grime and filth and dirt, and he brings good 
out of it. I think it extols again the glory 
and the majesty of God most high. The episode further highlights 
the canonization of Israel and the mercy of God. He delivers his people even though 
human agents are less than perfect and it serves as we've seen with 
every judge and we'll see when we get to Samson. that these 
types, these men whom the Lord raises up to deliver Israel, 
point us forward to the one who is perfect, who doesn't make 
rash vows, who doesn't try to negotiate with his father, who 
when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, he says, if it is possible, Father, 
let this cut pass. Even so, not my will, but thine 
be done. There's no bargaining. There's 
no manipulation. There's no technique. Jephthah 
points us to Jesus to appreciate what perfection looks like in 
terms of the deliverer that God would send to ultimately rescue 
Israel from her sins. In conclusion, the Geneva Bible, 
I think, nails it. The Geneva Bible, their study 
note on this particular section says this. As the apostle commends 
Jephthah for his worthy enterprise in delivering the people, Hebrews 
11.32, they say, so by his rash vow and wicked performance of 
the same, his victory was defaced. And then they say this. And here 
we see that the sins of the godly Do not utterly extinguish their 
faith. I think that's what's going on 
in the passage. Jephthah did an incredibly horrible 
thing, but he's still in Hebrews 11. It's by faith. You see, Hebrews 
11 doesn't say, by works, Jephthah, by works, Samson, by works, Barak, 
by works, Samuel, by works, David, by works, Abraham, by works. 
It's by faith. It is Christ who saves His people 
from their sins. And I think that Jephthah illustrates 
that all too clearly when we consider Judges chapter 11. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word, and we thank You, God, that You have given us the 
entirety of the Bible. And Lord, I pray that You would 
help us as we come to passages like these to have our Our minds, 
affected by the truth that we read, help us to see again Your 
majesty and Your glory and Your holiness. Help us to see Your 
sovereignty, that You'd raise up a jephthah to accomplish Your 
will, to accomplish Your purposes. And God, help us to learn from 
a jephthah, not to swear rashly, not to engage in things that 
are that are wicked or presumptuous or unnecessary. Help us to derive 
from these things the lessons that you would have for us and 
help us to live in a manner that is consistent with your revealed 
will. And we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.