Our sad reading is rooted in one man’s terrible knowledge of God. He knew a lot about God, and was even willing to serve him, but then Jephthah did some terrible things because he had no real knowledge of God’s ways.
No-one here will repeat Jephthah’s mistakes exactly. But I would guess that most if not all of us have made the bones of his mistakes in the past.
With an improved knowledge of God, hopefully you can look forward to a more encouraging and peaceful future.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral in October 2025. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Trust in God
Jephthah’s biggest weakness was his terrible knowledge of God.
The man himself didn’t have a great background: He was the son of a prostitute. His brothers ran him out of town, so he became leader of a band of “worthless men” that used to go on raids (11:3).
But he was asked to become the leader of Israel…
When the nation sinned, God handed them over to their enemies the Ammonites. When they cried out to God, he told them to cry out to the gods they’d chosen instead of him! But they repented and put those gods away, turning to the one true God. The people then asked Jephthah to come back to lead them against the Ammonite enemy.
He tried diplomacy with the king of Ammon first, but it didn’t work. So then he advanced against Ammon: Read Judges 11:29.
Remember that in the Old Testament believers didn’t have the Holy Spirit of God the way Christians do today (since Pentecost). So this was a powerful moment. Momentum was with Jephthah for sure.
But we saw a few weeks ago how Gideon’s weak faith prompted him to put out a fleece, to test God.
Here, Jephthah’s weak faith prompts him to try to bargain with God: Read Judges 11:30-31.
There’s so much wrong here: You need to realise that you can trust God. He’s not reluctant to save; when he says you’ll be saved you will be. Worse, when you try bargaining like that it means that you’re trying to contribute something to God’s work – or, worse still, to manipulate God. Whether you’re contributing or manipulating, you’re displaying a lack of faith and robbing God’s grace of glory.
God is a giver. Grace is free. You don’t need to add to it or manipulate it. Trust in God.
And yet who hasn’t prayed like that at some point?
- You might have been feeling low, or ill, or worried.
- “Lord, if this thing passes, I promise that I’ll…” Pray more? Go to church every week? Do good? Is that your attempt at payment? Is it manipulation?
But that’s not even the worst aspect of these verses, is it? Did God really need a person to be sacrificed?
That is the most natural way to translate the words. It’s so hard to believe, most translations soften it a bit – and so do quite a few commentators. But Jephthah was bargaining with God for success in battle. A goat won’t do. Besides, goats don’t come out of your house to “greet” you (the language is wholly human in v31).
The book of Judges doesn’t commend Jephthah’s actions; it just reports it.
But God never asks for human sacrifice.
A flawed knowledge of God will always, always lead to flawed morals, broken ethics.
What happened next? There was deliverance from Ammon. Read Judges 11:32-33. That earned Jephthah a place in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith. You know he trusted God because he was obedient to him, and defeated the enemy Ammonites. More, you know he trusted God as it was God’s victory.
But the writer moves over that quite quickly, taking us into pain.
And what we see is preventable agony: Read Judges 11:34-38. She was his only child. Her death was the end of his line. His own rash oath had brought about this agony. If he’d simply trusted in God, he wouldn’t be regretting his words now. It’s the consequence of his sin; grief and pain pour off the page like blood. As you live with the consequences of your sin, you share Jephthah’s remorse, shame, and regret.
Did he have to go through with it? Surely this is a case of recoverable foolishness? Well, that depends on how well you know God: Read Judges 11:39-40.
Jephthah did what he said he would. Notice that we’re not told this was an acceptable sacrifice for the Lord. It wouldn’t have been.
What might Jephthah have done instead?
- He should have confessed his foolishness to God.
- He should have cast himself on the mercy of God.
- Trust in God to be the compassionate, forgiving, merciful God he is.
- You must. Whatever you’ve done.
You don’t need to strike a bargain with God. He has already provided you with deliverance from sin and hell.
And it came not through the sacrifice of a girl, but of a man.
Jesus is God in human flesh. Your deliverance from sin and hell comes through the willing, deliberate, planned and chosen sacrifice of Jesus, Son of God. God sacrificed himself. In your sin, you can turn to him and cry out for forgiveness. And he will forgive you everything you ever did. Jesus punished in your place; you acquitted of everything.
Cast yourself on him the way Jephthah should have.
And then:
Build One Another Up
Remember, Jephthah’s biggest weakness was his terrible knowledge of God. That was shown first in trying to manipulate God’s grace, and next we see it in failing to grasp the oneness of God’s people under him.
Bear with me for a bit of geography, as it’s relevant. Ephraim and Gilead were in Israel, a bit south of the sea of Galilee. So we’re in the northern end of Israel. The river Jordan was roughly between the two: So west to east went Ephraim, the Jordan, Gilead, then Ammon.
Jephthah was from Gilead, and God defeated the Ammonites through him and the men of Gilead.
But the Ephraimites living in the same area were grumpy about it: Read Judges. 12:1. The men of Ephraim had lost sight of who the enemy was! They were ready to fight their brother Israelites in Gilead! They did something similar when Gideon defeated the Midianites, but Gideon smoothed things over. Not so Jephthah. He’d lead “worthless men” and was himself quite a bit rougher than Gideon.
So he goes on the offensive against Ephraim. He retaliates. Read Judges 12:2-4.
But it’s not enough just to defeat them – Jephthah wanted to wipe them out: Read Judges 12:5-6.
- You might think that sounds simple.
- Anyone could easily pronounce Shibboleth.
- But it’s about language and dialect. You can imagine some Welshmen stopping the traffic on the A55 and asking everyone to pronounce “Llandudno” or “Machynlleth”! “Back you go, Sais.”
Ephraim had been proud, and stood up for what they thought were their rights. Jephthah did the same.
And the outcome was slaughter. Israelites had been killing Israelites, instead of focussing on their joint enemies, or even working together to make God’s great name known to the nations! They refused humility and forgiveness. It’s part of the disintegration of Israel that runs throughout the book of Judges. A downward spiral.
But Israel were to be one people, one nation. Not many parts.
In exactly the same way, the church today is to be one. When I say “church” I mean people, not buildings. And I mean all Christians everywhere. Those like us, and those very unlike us! All one, all described in the Bible as Christ’s body (many parts, but still one) or Christ’s bride (not brides, just one).
Jesus said that he would call his people to be one flock with one Shepherd – and he is that one shepherd.
Disunity and separation is a sign of judgment, not blessing.
- In Corinth, the church was dividing along the lines of people’s preferred church leaders. 1 Corinthians begins by addressing the mess and reminding them that we’re all one in Christ.
- So sometimes there are competing cliques, but often it’s just between two people: In Philippi, Paul had to write to two women to “agree in the Lord” (Phil 4:2).
- That can happen here as much as anywhere. But that would be your fault, not the Lord’s. Jesus prayed for you (this church) in John 17:21 “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you.”
- And the spiritual reality is that we are one in Christ: So Ephesians 4:16 From [Christ] the whole body [the church], fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Everyone here is tasked by Jesus to build one another up. And, unlike Jephthah, to avoid anything that will tear down.
I said that Jephthah’s problem was his terrible knowledge of God.
- A true knowledge of God will see him as one who creates unity and peace. Christians have union with Christ, so it makes no sense for hand to fight a foot (using the body analogy). The whole body suffers. And Christ is our head.
- But you also need a true knowledge of yourself. Be real. You are a sinner. You don’t always forgive as you should. Sometimes, maybe often, you don’t want to have peace and unity with other Christians. You like a fight; you enjoy finding the “Sibboleths” to highlight differences – so that you can feel good about yourself.
Work to develop a truer knowledge of God and a more honest knowledge of your own nature, your weaknesses, your temptations.
Is the church a disappointment to you? Do you feel let down? Remember that you are the church.
Everyone has a part to play in the oneness Christ calls us to. So trust in God, build one another up. And, most of all:
Rejoice in Christ
There’s mess and pain in the world. The news is full of it. There’s also mess and pain in the church.
Wherever it is, it starts with human sin and a lack of the knowledge of God.
So learn from the unnecessary death of Jephthah’s daughter:
- You don’t need to bargain with God. He is good; he’s a giver and a Saviour. There’s no need for pilgrimages, or mass, or attendance registers: None of those can make up for your sin. But Jesus can and does; his atonement for your sin is complete, if you will call to him and seek him. Trust him to save you; trust him to lead you daily.
- Rejoice in God’s grace to you. God loves you so much that he gave his eternal Son. 1 John 4:8-9 says God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Not “might live through him plus a whole load of hoops to jump through and burdens to carry…” And that is all the proof you need of God’s love and his desire to save you; turn to him and trust him now.
- So cast yourself on God. All your sin, guilt, regret, all your mess and mistakes. Jephthah thought he was locked into his sin and its consequences, so he didn’t cast himself on the mercy of God. But when Jesus has been punished in your place, there is no more condemnation. The charge sheet against you was nailed to the cross. All of it. Trust in God. Rejoice in Christ.
And let there be no more Shibboleths. We’re one in Christ.
- If you hold anything against any Christian here – even if it’s been years – get that sorted.
- Love makes the first step, and love moves towards pain.
- And rejoice to see God blessing other believers, other churches.
- Rejoice to see believers of other ethnicities and social standings.
- The oneness of Christ is glorified in our amazing diversity of language and culture.
- And rejoice in your own forgiveness, and how that enables your own ability to forgive others – especially other Christians.
- Build one another up. In the church. In your family.
Trust in God; build one another up; rejoice in Christ.
And in that way you will live the kind of life individually and collectively that will delight and honour the Lord, will make him known, and will give you great joy and fellowship in him.