Room of former at sessions level a 1973 showed times God had to raise up other judges to on the generations. This is one of the primary points of the secondary judges 12–15. Ibzan had thirty sons and daughters and Abdon had forty sons and thirty grandsons The principle is: There is no lasting success apart from godly generations. Like Jephthah, perhaps God has given you success your job and ministry. Praise God! But I have a few questions: Are you applying your knowledge of God's Word all the circumstances of your life? Specifically, have you focused on your family and your subsequent generations? The danger that you and I face is a failure to apply God's Word the difficult circumstances of our lives. Generally, it's not that we 't know what to do. We know the Word… we just fail to apply it. Today, you be a doer of the Word and not merely a hearer you make a commitment today that you spend five to ten minutes a day five days a week reading God's Word and praying with your children? This simple discipline not only change your own life, but it impact your children and their children. There are no easy answers, quick fixes, or guarantees parenting, but parents who read God's Word to their children and pray with them typically experience amazing results. you focus on your family and raise up a godly line of believers who transfer truth of next generation? to tragedy, Judges While Jephthah has shined up to this point, he does something unnecessary, rash, foolish, that it robs him of any satisfaction triumph. A fateful vow, Judges Was it not enough that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him that his ability to rally troops gave clear evidence of God's hand? The issue he faced was trusting the Lord. Cundall he showed his lack of appreciation of the character and requirements of the Lord, and also a lack of confidence the divine enablement by seeking to secure the favor of God by his rash vow. Here he sought to bargain with God as though the Lord needed whatever he offered sacrifice. He treated the Lord virtually a superstitious way. A vow of service or obedience is one thing but he added to it a dimension that reeked of the superstitions of Canaan. Perhaps the years of 's waywardness was taking a toll Jephthah's well-meaning vow. Vows are not wrong. But they are to be taken seriously, Ecclesiastes Some attempt to tone this down by saying he thought animal would emerge first from his house: God had prescribed acceptable sacrifices sheep, goats, bulls, birds Jephthah likely had servants and thought that one of them was expendable for his vow Cundall states that the language of v. 31 must refer to intended human sacrifice We cannot attribute more piety to Jephthah than the text reveals. He knew much about Yahweh, But that does not mean Jephthah observed the law he knew Plus his companionship with worthless fellows hardly enhanced social graces or nourished personal ethics, as states Yet he made a vow which he intended to keep A dance of death, Judges Jephthah's daughter came through the door true Israelite fashion to acknowledge the But the of victory was short-lived for Jephthah. There are some strange happenings here but useful lessons. Be careful what you vow. God is not manipulated by grandiose vows. He is the sovereign Lord who calls for our obedience and trust. Human sacrifice is never acceptable to God. It is condemned throughout the Old Testament The sanctity of human life should have overridden his foolish vow But he chose the path of death for one who should not have died. Yet we must acknowledge on the other hand a sense of honor and integrity when it came to a vow. Both Jephthah and his daughter put this above their own comfort. a day that treats vows tritely from marriage to business to public office it would do us well to have this same spirit shown this tragic setting. It is ironic that act that the Lord forbids, we still learn a lesson of the deepest honor. It is also commendable that his daughter holds this sense of honoring a vow with a most charitable spirit Wilcock expresses it well: What he did is a thing all Scripture condemns; why he did it is a thing all Scripture commends THAT: this term of conclusion and the subsequent action he takes would support the fact that Jephthah fact knew that the SPIRIT had come upon him. As the case of Gideon the Spirit of the Lord empowered Jephthah preparation for battle. Strengthened by this divine designation, he traveled north through Transjordan, gathering troops from the tribes of Gad and Manasseh. These two tribes actually split Gilead between them with Gad receiving the larger share. F B Meyer A SHADOWED VICTORY Judges All the nations around were accustomed to offer those dearest to them sacrifice to their cruel national deities. This was pre-eminently the case with the neighboring country of Moab, which the prophet rebuked, But all that wild border-country, there was then no prophetic voice to arrest Jephthah, who probably felt that Chemosh should not claim from the of Ammon more than he would surrender to Jehovah. Out of this arose, not the rash but the deliberate though mistaken vow of Judges 11. Before