FACOG nurse midwife about our services meant since serves field rules. But amid the welter of contradictory voices he had heard the voice of God saying, You keep your word, and he heeded the vice. It was a of paganism to shut one's ears to inconvenient messages, as he knew: the of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah But Jephthah was a of and he did heed at any rate the message of God concerning faithfulness, whatever confusions have accompanied it. What he did is a thing all Scripture condemns; why he did it is a thing all Scripture commends. Bratcher: We are supposed to recoil from the monstrosity of Jephthah's actions. The later community of who included this story the biblical traditions knew how wrong child sacrifice was, there would be no mistaking this for a model of right behavior. It would be another example of what happens when God's people become confused their thinking about who is really God and how God works the world. This becomes another lesson for that God not be manipulated by magical incantations or bargains that we strike with him on our own terms. That is precisely what Jephthah tried to do making his vow to sacrifice the first thing that met him on his return home, if only God would help him win a battle. God did not need that bargain to aid Jephthah. Jephthah was yet another tragic figure Judges who had not yet learned enough about God to know that God does not respond to magic or bargains, which lay at the heart of Ba' worship. Jephthah's battle against the Ammonites was not won because of his vow, but because of God's presence His lack of God, and understanding of who God is, cost him his daughter. http: jephthah.html Tim McQuade: When people face a challenge they are tempted to bargain with God. The greater the challenge the more tempting it is to try to make a deal with God. Jephthah tried it, we mustn't. There are problems with trying to make a deal with God. The first problem is that God doesn't care for it. Rather than attempted bribe, God would much rather A second reason is that you can't, or won't keep the promise you made. If you promised to go to church every for example, you cannot keep it. You eventually, a Things work initially, but over time you'll forget the deal you made. Trust God. 't try to manipulate Him. 't bargain because you cannot keep it. 't bargain because God is unimpressed. 't bargain because God wants your http: SermonHelps 11599536 Woodrow Kroll: I think the daughter be the real story here. You're right--she is courageous, she is obedient, she is loyal to her father And I think that what she teaches us is that there is honor courage and obedience and loyalty, and that's a lesson that people apparently have forgotten today. http: index.php Back-to-the-Bible-Radio-Program Jephthah-s-TragicMistake-2010.html Judges 11 And it came about when he saw her, that he tore his clothes and said, Alas, daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back. The of victory was suddenly turned to sorrow when Jephthah saw his daughter and remembered his vow IVP Background Commentary Since a vow is a religious act, drawing the deity into compact with the worshiper, it not be broken under penalty of God's displeasure Though a vow could not be broken, the law allowed for the mitigation of vows, especially those involving persons This loophole was apparently unknown to Jephthah. Bush Alas, daughter, thou hast brought me very low. Heb. חכרע חכרעתני hakraa hikrateni, bowing thou hast made me to bow; generally spoken of bowing down upon the knees for purposes of religious reverence, or from feebleness and exhaustion, especially when overcome battle. Here the idea seems to be, that from being highly elated by the recent victory, he had now, meeting his daughter under the present circumstances, been suddenly and wofully depressed and struck down, as it were, to the earth. His exultation was changed to humiliation and grief. His daughter had done to him what the Ammonites could not. The evident bitterness of emotion which he betrayed, on meeting his daughter, clearly shows that he then looked upon himself as bound by the tenor of his vow to make her life a sacrifice. Although the