Jephthah, Mighty Man of Valor

“Whom God Sets Free”

Take for example, the experience of Jephthah. Jephthah will be in heaven. He is in the honor roll of faith. His name means “whom God sets free.” [Gesenius, Tregelles]. The root stem of his name means, “to open,” “to let loose,” “to begin to lead in,” “to loosen bonds,” “to loosen off the girdle,” (used of a warrior taking off his armour after a battle). Jephthah loosened the bonds of Ammonite oppression, by faith and the Spirit of God.

 

Eighteen Years of Terrible Apostasy

Jephthah started out life with all appearances against him. He lived in a time of terrible apostasy, when Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, serving Baalim, Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, Zidon, Moab, and Ammon.  The Lord sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the hands of the children of Ammon. For eighteen years the Ammonites vexed and oppressed the Children of Israel on the east side of the Jordan, the land of Gilead, a rocky, forested mountain region.

 

Thrust Out, An Exile

Jephthah was an illegitimate child, the offspring of Gilead and a harlot. Gilead’s wife bore Gilead various sons. These sons grew up, and when they were grown, they threw Jephthah out of the house because of the circumstances of his birth.  He was thrown out an exile, disinherited “thrust out,” “driven away.” Judges 11:2.

 

Jephthah Leads A Band of Warriors

Jephthah “fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob.” Tob, the land where Jephthah dwelt, means “good.” It is believed that this area was according to 2  Samuel 10: 6, 8, which uses the term, Ish-Tob, a district northeast of Perea, on the border of Syria, between Syria and Ammonites. In time a band of worthless men gathered about Jephthah in this border region, “and they went out with him.” (Judges 11:3). To “go out with him” carries a military connotation, a verb meaning also ‘to march.” Jephthah, by force of circumstances, learned bravery, learned valor, learned stamina and endurance, learned what it takes to lead men in battle, learned the military art, which would one day be used of God by faith, to save Israel.

 

A Mighty Warrior of Power

Now the entire story of Jephthah begins, before even telling circumstances of his birth with these words: “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty, valiant, powerful, warrior, man of valor, a warlike hero, a mighty man of military force, of mighty valor, strength and power.  So here is the picture of a man, rejected, driven away, surrounded by a band or worthless men in the good lands of Tob, a band of men who follow this mighty man of force, power, and capacity, as he learns military tactics and strategy, welding his band of worthless men into a fighting force.

 

Israel Terrified

In time, after eighteen years of oppression of Israel on the east side of the Jordan the enemy, the Ammonites, children of Lot and his younger daughter, made war against Israel, passing over the Jordan to fight Judah and Benjamin, and Ephraim, the tribes on the west side of the Jordan. They had oppressed Israel for eighteen years (Judges 10:8) in the Gilead, but now they decided on all-out war against all of Israel. The Israelites gathered in Mizpeh, frightened, fearful, and terrified. Would Israel survive, or would it be subjugated and absorbed into Ammon?

 

Israel Repents

In mortal fear, Israel put away the strange gods and sought the Lord God of Israel, and served the Lord. “And His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:16. God had in reserve a man who had been learning about faith, about valor, about resourcefulness, about courage and bravery.

 

No One Found to Lead Israel in Battle

Throughout the encampment, no one capable of leading the army could be found. In the crisis, there was no one to lead Israel. Not one general. Not one military man to save the nation in the emergency. Someone had to be found who had courage, valor, and ability. He had to be “a mighty man of valor,” a mighty, valiant, powerful, warrior, man of valor, a warlike hero, a mighty man of military force, of mighty valor, strength and power. 

 

“Come, And Be Our General”

So the elders of Gilead “went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob,” way off to the wilderness of the Northeast, offering him the generalship of all the armies raised, and the Judgeship, or headship of the nation after his successful prosecution of the war. “Come, and be our general, that we may fight with the children of Ammon,” they said. Jephthah reminded the elders of Israel about their rejection of him, “Did ye not hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? And why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?” Judges 11:7.

“And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, therefore now we return to you that you may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and you will be to us for a head to all the dwellers of Gilead.” Judges 11:8.

 

The Elders Swear That Jephthah Will Be Their Head

After questioning their sincerely further, and after the elders swore to him that, if the Lord gave Ammon into his hand, that they would make him their head, Jephthah went with them. Jephthah, the man of faith, required that if he was to lead Israel in war, he must be made judge afterward to secure the nation in obedience to God. The faith required for victory in battle must prevail in the nation after victory.  “And the people set him over them for a head and for a general and judge, and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.” Judges 11:11. [Hebrews.] Now all of Jephthah’s experience in the border land of Tob, successfully leading a military band in mission after mission, would become crucial to Israel’s survival, and the ultimate birth of the Messiah to a nation surviving as Israel.

 

Suddenly Israel Had a Mighty Man of Faith and Valor to Lead Them

Brave Jephthah came to Mizpeh with his band of battle-hardened warriors, with his small disciplined force, with once worthless men made into men of courage, and suddenly the terrified camp of Israel at Mizpeh had a leader, a battle-hardened man of courage, capacity, and valor, a hero. The picture immediately changed. Now there was hope. A man, a mighty man of valor had been found. Courage revived. Faith dispelled terror. “A deliverer was raised up in the person of Jephthah, a Gileadite, who made war upon the Ammonites and effectively destroyed their power.” PP 558.

 

When It Came Time to Argue Israel’s Cause, Jephthah Was Prepared

Thrust out, rejected, driven away by apostate Israel, Jephthah kept his faith, landing on the feet of faith, upright. He made the cause of true Israel his own, despite Israel’s apostasy. When the time came to argue the cause of true Israel against Israel’s enemies, Jephthah was prepared.

Jephthah Knew Intimately Israel’s History

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way of the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history. LS 196 (1902).” LDE 72.

Jephthah issued his legal challenge to Ammon. It was a lengthy challenge that showed that Jephthah had a long and intimate knowledge of the history of Israel and the justice of Israel’s claim going back hundreds of years. The challenge and negotiations last fifteen verses.

The Man of Faith Knows the History of God’s Dealings and Is Prepared to Argue God’s Case On Sound Truth

In any great conflict it is critical to know the history of God’s leading and teaching in the past, so that we will have nothing to fear for the future. Jephthah, the outcast, not only became a warrior, testing tactics, and strategy continually in a border region against the Lord’s enemies, but as a man of faith, he had studied deeply the history of Israel’s experience with God and was prepared on a moment’s notice to defend the knowledge of that history in a time of crisis.

The man who has true faith, a faith that uproots all sin, self, devil, apostasy, and the world in the soul, can only receive God’s sacred history. That man of faith sacredly guards the knowledge of God’s truth-God’s leading and teaching in his own soul and personal experience with God.

True faith is always anchored and housed in truth-God’s Word, which is truth. True faith is always in submission to God, to Christ, to the Holy Spirit.

The Great Controversy Is God’s Account of His Dealings With His People in the Past, Present and Future of the Messianic Age

Inspiration is clear that it is crucial to not only know the truth, but the history of the truth in conflict with falsehood in the Great Controversy. That is why the Lord God of Heaven called upon His servant to write the book The Great controversy Between Christ and His angels and Satan and his Angels. The book The Great Controversy is a theological apology for the truth and the history of the conflict between truth and falsehood, delineating clearly the spiritual forces at work in history, prophecy and the future. It is the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:17; 19: 10.

Today in the terrible apostasy, we see in the highest echelon men saying that the book The Great Controversy was for the nineteenth century and that we are beyond that now. Nothing could be further from the truth. That book, like Daniel and Revelation, speak not only of the past, but also the present and the future, on through end-times, the millennium, and the New Earth.

 

Books of a New Order

“The enemy of souls has sought to bring in supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed.  The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written.  A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.” 1 SM 204.

A New Breed of “Adventist” Historians and Theologians

A new breed of Adventist historian and theologian has arisen, nursed in the New Theology, and determined to rewrite the history and theology of Seventh-day Adventism. One example is the new Annotated Questions on doctrine, with its effort to redefine the gospel along the lines of the New Theology’s basic thesis.

There were highly placed men in the Structure in the 1970s that believed that the first Questions on Doctrine should never have been written, as it sought to change fundamental positions on theology taken in the 1950s. I heard a vice-president of the GC state that Questions on Doctrine should never have been written.

Institutionalizing in History New Theology Positions

However, now the effort has been taken to a new level, to incorporate New Theology positions from the 1970s and 1980s, thus adding further levels to the historical institutionalization of apostasy.

Lessening the Fear of God

Beyond this, a whole new class of books, such as Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God? Are being written, which are adjusting God’s people to adapt to the age of skepticism and the loss of the fear of God.

Tampering With the Conception of God

Bob after book now is appearing in the Structure, tampering with people’s conception of the character of God.

In the end, Ammon rejected Jephthah’s just legal and historical challenge to the legitimacy of their claims and matters were set for war.

The Spirit of the Lord Came Upon Jephthah

‘Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead be passed over unto the children of Ammon.” Judges 11:26.

Jephthah rose above the rejection by Israel, rose above the circumstances of his flight and struggle, and by faith made the cause of spirituality revived Israel his cause, and fought for God and true Israel. Then the clash came.

Faith Triumphs

By faith, Jephthah, under God, won the war, and went on to judge Israel for six years (Judges 12:7). An illustrious career by a man who had all the strikes against him, but by faith, and a character developed by faith in the most difficult surroundings, made good for time and eternity, saved the nation, and provides a great example of faith for all time.

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