WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Scripture: Judges 11:30-31,34-40, John 10:10

One of the saddest things about the life of Jephthah is the absolute misapplication of the vow that he made before God. Jephthah, having been turned out of Israel, may have never learned or been taught the true mercy of God. And consequently, he made a vow that if God would give him the victory he would sacrifice the first thing that would come out the door of his house when he came home. He could have instead vowed to tithe for the rest of his life or he could have vowed to give leadership in Israel back to others. But the vow he made was beyond foolish. He voluntarily offered up one of his family as a payment for a victory. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, God did not intend to kill him. Abraham received Isaac back in faith, expecting God to raise him from the dead. But the angel stopped him. It is entirely possible that Jephthah’s early rejection was very costly to him in the end. He missed some of the training about Who God is and what He expects. And none of us ever want to be in that place. We need to study God’s Word because it is a life and death issue for us. Death and life are in the power of the tongue and it certainly came to pass for Jephthah. He was a mighty man of faith and gained a great victory for Israel but at a terrible price. John 10:10 really comes before us in a moment when we are looking at the life of Jephthah, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” That is certainly true of all of us in the New Testament and we can be very thankful!