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JEPHTHAH (III)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Judges 11:12-28

Deuteronomy 20:10-15

 

“If it be possible,
as much as lieth in you,

live peaceably with all men.”

 

JEPHTHAH (III)
 
Jephthah’s first act was a diplomatic one. He sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. He did not go to war with the aggressors as a first resort. As God had instructed through Moses, he first sought peaceful means. God’s people are not to wage unrighteous wars, they are not to fight with a neighbour that is content to dwell safely beside them, or fight out of hatred or selfishness. They are not to fight out of lust and thirst for power. Jephthah, in sending word to the king of the Ammonites, showed that it is the Ammonites who had sinned and not Jephthah (Judg 11:27) and so his war would be a righteous war and God would fight for him.
 
“And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon” (Judg 11:14). This begins a detailed statement of historical facts defending Israel’s right to the land that had belonged to the Amorites and the Moabites. Jephthah knew the history of Israel and the accounts recorded in the Pentateuch. The conquest of Sihon, king of the Amorites, is given in Numbers 21 with clear indication of the Ammonite borders in verse 24, while the account of Balaam and Balak is in Numbers 22 to 24. Jephthah then ended his response to the Ammonite king by pointing out that the Moabites remained silent (Judg 11:25) though they had a greater claim than his.
 
“Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?…” (Judg 11:24). The statement that Jephthah sent also had a spiritual implication. His testimony of Israel’s history showed that Israel had not sought out for themselves the land they had possessed, and even while passing through to possess the Land of Promise, they had purposed to just pass through the land now in question (Deut 2:9, 29). Denying Israel the right to the land they possess would also deny the Ammonites’ right to any land they possess by conquest; and if they were to seek a quarrel, then God would be the Judge between them (Judg 11:27).
 
THOUGHT: Conflict must not be the believer’s first option or recourse.
PRAYER: Father, grant unto us wisdom in times of distress to pursue peace.

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