Jephthah

Jephthah's Story
Judges 11

Jephthah was a mighty man, and his father's name was Gilead, but his mother was not the wife of Gilead. And so his brothers did not want Jephthah, and so Jephthah ran from his brothers and lived in the land called Tob.

But after a time, there was a war with the children of Ammon, and the people of Jephthah's city went to fetch him, and wanted him to be their captain, but Jephthah said "If you bring me home to fight and the Lord delivers them, will I be your head?" And so Jephthah was made captain and head over them.

And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and told them about how the LORD God of Israel had given the children of Israel the land. But the king of the Ammonites would not listen, and so the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he made a vow to the LORD, and said "If you deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, then whatever comes from my house to meet me when I return, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

So Jephthah fought against the Ammonites and the LORD brought them into his hands. And Jephthah and the children of Israel had the victory.

And then Jephthah came home to to his house, but his daughter came out to meet him with musical instruments, and dancing, and she was his only child. And when he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said "Oh my daughter, you have brought me very low, and you trouble me, because I vowed to the LORD and I cannot go back."

And she said "My father, if you have vowed to the LORD, do to me what you have said, because the LORD has given you victory over your enemies. But let me alone for two months, so that I can go up and down upon the mountains, and mourn because I have never been married.

And so Jephthah told her to go, and she went away for two months with her friends, and at the end of two months, she returned to her father who did with her what he had vowed to the LORD he would do. And after that every year the daughters of Israel went to remember Jephthah's daughter.

Memory Verse: Judges 11:36 "My father, if you have vowed to the LORD, do to me what you have said, because the LORD has given you victory over your enemies."

Questions:
1 Why did the people of Gilead come to get him?
2 What vow did Jephthah make to the LORD?
3 Who came out of his house first?
4 What did Jephthah's daughter ask of her father?
5 What happened when she came home?

Answers:
1 They wanted Jephthah to fight for them against the Ammonites
2 He vowed that if the LORD gave him the victory, he would offer for a burnt offering whatever came out of his house first when he got home.
3 His only child, his daughter
4 She asked her father to let her go to the mountains for two months
5 Her father did according to what he had vowed to the LORD.

Vicki C. Gross

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