[One-Verse Meditation]

Judges 11:30-31 (NIV) “And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’”

[Meditation]

Yesterday, we saw the beginning of Jephthah’s faith, as the outcast stood before God and ‘repeated all his words before the LORD.’ But today’s text shows the tragedy that is born when zeal is not met with a knowledge of God. Before the battle with the Ammonites, the Spirit of the LORD first comes upon Jephthah (v. 29). Therefore, victory was already guaranteed by God’s power. Yet, immediately after this, Jephthah makes a terrible vow to God: that he would sacrifice as a burnt offering whoever first came out to meet him upon his victorious return. This was a Canaanite practice of human sacrifice that God detests (Deuteronomy 12:31).

Why did he make such a vow? Perhaps his life as an outcast made it difficult for him to fully trust in God’s ‘unconditional grace.’ So he may have tried to add an anxious insurance policy of a ‘human transaction’ to God’s promise. It is a tragedy.

This tragedy of Jephthah serves as a mirror for our faith today. Don’t we, too, confess “I believe in Jesus,” yet still try to use the world’s methods and our own merits as a safety net for our faith? Don’t we feel at ease only after adding our own diligence, our own devotion, our own vows, because we fail to trust in God’s sufficiency?

True faith is not a transaction with God. It is believing that God has already ‘finished it’ on the cross and resting in that grace. It is holding onto Christ’s perfect righteousness, not our own condition.

[Prayer]

Lord, let my walk of faith be only in Christ Jesus. Let me hold onto nothing but the perfect righteousness You accomplished on the cross. And so, may this new day be led not by my anxious vows, but by Your faithful promise. Amen.

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(Daily Reading)

Judges 11:24-40