Judges 10 starts by telling us of two judges: Tola and Jair. Each of them judged Israel for a little longer than twenty years. We aren’t given much detail about them, but after their leadership ended, we read a familiar account: After Jair died the people of Israel turned from the LORD and worship the Baals and Ashtaroth. They lived according the to customs of the indigenous peoples, and broke from following the Lord’s command. Once again, the LORD gave them over to their desires and they ended up enslaved to the Philistines and the Ammonites. By the middle of the chapter the Israelites cry out to the LORD, and promise to return to following Him. Once again, God agrees to deliver them.
In Judges 11-12 we read the tragic account of Jepthah. He was the son of Gilead, but he was not born of Giliead’s wife. We’re told his mother was a prostitute. That led to Jephthah’s rejection by his family, but in Israel’s time of need they turned to him to be their leader. He agreed. He made a terrible decision as he led the people off to battle against the Ammonites: he vowed he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of the door of his house when he returned, if the LORD would give him victory in battle. The vow seems strange, because would you think what would come out of the door of your house would be one of your family members? In 21st century America we would think that, but in Jephthah’s time, chickens and other animals would be kept in homes, so that was what he must have been thinking. The LORD gave Jephthah and his troops victory, but when he returned home the first “thing” that came out of his house was his daughter.
Think about that: you have vowed to the LORD if He gives you victory in battle you will sacrifice the first thing out the door of your house when you come home, and the first thing is your daughter. What would you do? Jephthah upheld his vow. He sacrificed his daughter. I have thought about this one dozens of times over the year. Having two daughters of my own, and now three additional girls who are part of our family, what would I have done? I would not have kept my vow. Yes, the culture is different. Yes, a vow is a vow. But, and this is an important but: the LORD is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He didn’t give Jephthah victory because of his rash vow. He gave Jephthah victory, because He loves His people. I would have counted on that love for the people to include my daughter, and I would have repented before the Lord of making a foolish vow, asked forgiveness, and taken whatever consequences came with that.
Jephthah ended up in a battle with some of the other tribespeople of Israel, because he didn’t include them in the battle against the Ammonites. Jephthah made it clear the people knew about the battle and they would have been welcomed had they come, but they didn’t. It’s always easy to claim we have been subjected to injustice, but Jephthah pointed out an important truth. We don’t have to wait to be asked to do the right thing. We ought to be like the old Nike commercials, and “Just do it!”
As we return to John 15, we review Jesus analogy of Him being the vine, and we being the branches. The illustration offers us a powerful picture of how vital our relationship with Jesus is. After all, a branch of a grapevine that is cut off from the main vine dies. Our relationship with Jesus isn’t dependent on us, but on Him. We can’t sustain ourselves as spiritual beings, without a connection to Jesus, who is the source of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. As we go about the day, let’s remember Jesus is the source for everything we need today. As we abide in Him the result will be “fruit,” “more fruit,” or “much fruit” in our lives. We exist to glorify God and to enjoy His presence. As we do that the “fruit” we produce will be the fruit of the Spirit, which the Apostle Paul identified in Galatians 5, and other people’s lives turning to Jesus and trusting Him as Savior and Lord.