Your Word
"Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead
and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon.
Jephthah promised the Lord: 'If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will
burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when
I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice.'
So Jephthah crossed the river to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him
victory. He struck at them from Aroer to the area round Minnith, twenty
cities in all, and as far as Abel Keramim. There was a great slaughter, and the
Ammonites were defeated by Israel. When Jephthah went back home to Mizpah,
there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing and playing the
tambourine. She was his only child. When he saw her, he tore his clothes
in sorrow and said, 'Oh, my daughter! You are breaking my heart! Why must it be
you that causes me pain? I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot
take it back!' She said to him, 'If you have made a promise to the Lord, do what
you said you would do to me, since the Lord has given you revenge on your
enemies, the Ammonites.' But she asked her father, 'Do this one thing for me.
Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the
mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin.' He told her to go and sent her
away for two months. She and her friends went up into the mountains and grieved
because she was going to die unmarried and childless. After two months she
came back to her father. He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died
still a virgin. This was the origin of the custom in Israel that the young women
would go away for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of
Gilead." (Judges 11:29-40 GNB) [1]
I have heard some people years ago say that their word was their bond. This
meant that whatever they said, they would do. They didn't need to sign a
contract, just a handshake sealed the deal. Jephthah was like this. He made a
promise to God not knowing how it would turn out. Even though it had a terrible
outcome for both him and his daughter he went through with it and his daughter
agreed to it. That is hard to fathom.
How many times have people gotten into problems and promised God they would do
something or other? If all these people's word was their bond, how many church
buildings would be full? How many Bibles would be worn out? How many prayer
warriors would we have? Who knows what else might be done.
Is your word good? If Jephthah can sacrifice his only child, can't you follow
through with what you have promised God you would do?
By Dean W. Masters
homefurn@preferred.com
owner of the Masters List
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/masterslist
Unedited redistribution approved