Vows Made in Haste

One of the things I love about reading the Bible all the way through, is that I get a chance to read the less popular stories. You know…the ones that end oddly. The ones that don’t make the best Sunday School songs or family-friendly sermon illustrations. The ones where you go, “I so would NOT have put that in there, if I were God.”

Take the story of Jephthah, for example, found in Judges, chapter 11:

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. (vs 1).

Sha-ZAM! In one verse, this story disqualifies itself as Sunday School/Family Friendly material.

Jephthah’s half brothers (born of Gilead’s wife—not the prostitute) don’t like that he’s a brotha from anotha motha. So they drive him out of the house so he doesn’t get any of the family inheritance. Jephthah flees to the land of Tob where a gang of scoundrels gather around him and follow him. (vs 3)

Yes, my friends, it actually says “a gang of scoundrels.” Which makes my feeble attempt at a cultural reference to rap music all the more relevant.

The brothers and all the people of Gilead want nothing to do with Jephthah, who obviously is one tough dude, what with the gang of scoundrels, and all. So tough, in fact, that when they need someone to help defeat the Ammonites, they approach Jephthah and make him an offer: defeat the Ammonites and they will make Jephthah ruler over everyone in Gilead.

Jephthah’s like, “You swear?”
And they are all, “We swear.”
And Jephthah’s like, “Okay, I’m in.”

So, Jepthah goes to fight the Ammonites:

“Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” (vs 29-30)

Whoa, whoa, whoa…WHAT? Whatever comes out his door to meet him, he will sacrifice as a burnt offering? Why kind of vow is THAT? What if the “whatever” that comes out of his door happens to be a human being? I almost want to cover my eyes as I read the rest of it, cuz I suspect this is NOT going to end well.

“Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.” (vs 32)

Uh oh.

“When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.” (vs 34)

I told you this wouldn’t end well. Seriously, of all the people or animals (!) who could have come out to meet him, did it have to be his daughter? His only child? And did she have to be dancing in celebration of her daddy’s victory?

Surely, he won’t follow through. After all, the vow was a little…well, rash. Sincere, I’m sure. But rash, nonetheless. Since when does the Lord delight in human sacrifice? Never. Certainly, Jephthah will come to his senses and reconsider the vow.

“When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, ‘Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.’” (vs 35)

Nope. He’s gonna do it. I almost cannot believe how this story ends. Basically, the daughter totally understands his predicament (?!?) and only asks that he allow her to go up to the hills with her girlfriends for a few months to roam around and mourn the fact that she will die a virgin.

And she does.

And when she comes back, he sacrifices her to the Lord.

The end.

It seriously ends there. Which causes me to ask so many questions. I mean,

~ Where is the angel that swoops in at the last minute and stops his hand?

~Where is the voice of God saying, “My Spirit came upon you before you even made the vow. You would have been victorious anyway. I would never require you to follow through on such an impulsive promise, because your victory was not dependent upon it. And besides, I’m not really into human sacrifice”?

~Jepthah had two months while his daughter roamed the hills to inquire of God and hear His voice on the matter. Did he?

~If Jephthah had asked God for mercy, would God have allowed him a do-over?

~If Jephthah would have better known the character of God, would he have made such a ridiculous vow in the first place?

Maybe you have the answer. I sure don’t. Even Bible scholars differ on their opinions. So, today, I file this one away in the “Things I Don’t Understand” folder and ask God to help me draw some sort of immediate application:

~I wonder how many times I’ve impulsively vowed something to God, because I thought it would get Him to move in my favor.

~I wonder how many times God’s spirit is already upon me, securing my victory, and I’m too distracted to notice.

~I wonder how many times other people suffer as I struggle to follow through on an impulsive and unnecessary vow.

~I wonder if I were in a similar situation, would God—in His tender mercy—save me and my unsuspecting daughter from the tragedy of the follow-through.

~I think about people I know who have set out to do incredibly ambitious things, supposedly for God. They sacrifice time, money and precious relationships to follow through. They strive and struggle. They tear their clothes and cry out, “I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break!”

I wonder, is God even pleased with these vows? Does following through on a promise made in haste bring God glory, especially if we destroy relationships in the process?

I’m asking…what do you think? Have you ever made a hasty vow to God and then felt obligated to follow through?

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P.S. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who offered your prayers, support and ideas with regard to my blogging-brain fog. Your comments and encouragement made me smile. And they gave me some good ideas to consider for future posts. You really are amazing. I thank God for you all.