WEBVTT

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Day 69, or March the 10th. He should have counted

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to ten. Our thoughts today are from Judges chapter

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11, verses 30 and 31. Jephthah made a vow to

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the Lord. If you give the Ammonites into my hands,

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whatever comes out of the door of my house to

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meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites

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will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it.

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as a burnt offering. The big picture surrounding

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these verses. In just four chapters of the book

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of Judges, there are seven judges mentioned.

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We start with the son of Gideon, Abimelech, who

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unlike his father really wanted to be king. Then

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we have a list that includes Jephthah. These

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are amongst the least well -known judges. And

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now today's action step. When a door -to -door

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salesperson comes to your house, you are usually

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given a cooling -off period, after they've gone,

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to reconsider any decision you may have made.

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In the heat of the moment we can promise some

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outlandish things, but Jephthah was in a league

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of his own when it came to making silly promises.

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What did he expect to come out of his house?

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In parts of the Middle East, even today, it could

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be a lamb or a goat or maybe a dog, but it could

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also just as easily be your spouse or a child.

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Sadly for Jephthah, it was his only daughter.

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At least he honoured his promise and paid the

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price, but actually it was his daughter who paid.

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I do wonder if he should have been pleading with

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God first. People in the Bible don't always get

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it right. Never make rash promises that deep

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down you know you maybe can't keep. A friend

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of mine, whenever he was asked for a speaking

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date, would always tell the enquirer that he

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would get back to them. He never agreed on the

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spot. I have to admit, agreeing instantly has

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got me into more trouble than I care to think

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about, so I'm writing this for me. but I don't

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mind if you read it too. When you are next asked

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for an instant response that could have long

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-term repercussions, try to respond with, May

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I come back to you? I know I'm going to.