Day 69, or March the 10th. He should have counted
to ten. Our thoughts today are from Judges chapter
11, verses 30 and 31. 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. The big picture surrounding
these verses. In just four chapters of the book
of Judges, there are seven judges mentioned.
We start with the son of Gideon, Abimelech, who
unlike his father really wanted to be king. Then
we have a list that includes Jephthah. These
are amongst the least well -known judges. And
now today's action step. When a door -to -door
salesperson comes to your house, you are usually
given a cooling -off period, after they've gone,
to reconsider any decision you may have made.
In the heat of the moment we can promise some
outlandish things, but Jephthah was in a league
of his own when it came to making silly promises.
What did he expect to come out of his house?
In parts of the Middle East, even today, it could
be a lamb or a goat or maybe a dog, but it could
also just as easily be your spouse or a child.
Sadly for Jephthah, it was his only daughter.
At least he honoured his promise and paid the
price, but actually it was his daughter who paid.
I do wonder if he should have been pleading with
God first. People in the Bible don't always get
it right. Never make rash promises that deep
down you know you maybe can't keep. A friend
of mine, whenever he was asked for a speaking
date, would always tell the enquirer that he
would get back to them. He never agreed on the
spot. I have to admit, agreeing instantly has
got me into more trouble than I care to think
about, so I'm writing this for me. but I don't
mind if you read it too. When you are next asked
for an instant response that could have long
-term repercussions, try to respond with, May
I come back to you? I know I'm going to.