Sermon Tone Analysis

Our text today contains a series of negotiations.

In many ways, all of life is based on our ability to negotiate, though that may be less true than it once was.

We expect our government to negotiate trade deals, peace treaties, etc. Local governments might negotiate with businesses, non-profits, etc. for various matters.

We saw this when Amazon was interested in building a second headquarters.

Business negotiate with employees, employees negotiate with business.

Individuals negotiate with each other on the sale of used vehicles, etc.

Just check out FB marketplace and there are few things sold there that haven’t been negotiated.

Sometimes we use the phrase, negotiating your way through life.

This an expression that refers to the idea that you’re doing your best to make it through life in the best way possible.

On its own, negotiations aren’t sinful.

Many characters in the Scriptures negotiated, including Abraham with God himself!

Problems arise, however, when we negotiate for the wrong things, or the right things for the wrong reasons, or even if you want a good thing for a good reason, you’re willing to give up something you shouldn’t in order to get it.

Our passage today is full of negotiations.

But as the author of judges presents them to us, these are the actions of men who have abandoned their king, and as a result are left drifting and grasping at things beyond their reach.

God is gracious in the midst of these things, but he is not presented as taking as active of a role as he took in previous judge cycles.

Here we have the actions of men, and God’s graciousness despite their efforts, rather than God’s graciousness raising up and deploying the leaders he chooses.

Negotiations made without godly motivations will always end in disaster.

It may not be in this life, but we will have to give an account.

And in that day, there will be no negotiating our way out of anything.

Recall that we are just coming out of a section where Israel has sought to get God to free her from the Ammonites, and God tells Israel to go fly a kite.

I’ve rescued you countless times before, but you keep going after your foreign gods.

Let them save you.

The people seek to manipulate the Lord, but ultimately they do not rest upon his deliverance.

This is evident with our first major heading, where the people seek to negotiate salvation, not with God, but with anyone who would be willing to rise up to save them.

Negotiating Salvation

The people offered the kingship to anyone who would lead them and save them from their peril.

How many times has this played itself out over history?

People become desperate and so they are willing to go after any leader who seems to be able to offer them the freedom or relief they desire.

Churches can do this when selecting a pastor.

They’re looking for a charismatic leader—and I don’t mean theologically charismatic, but her personality—rather than a godly man who displays a high degree of moral character.

God knew there would come a time when Israel would seek our a king.

He made provision in his law for the kind of man to appoint.

It was not just anyone who could deliver the people.

It had to be a man of character who would read and obey the word of God.

This will be instructive for us as we continue to move through this passage.

As we come into chapter 11, the scene shifts to Jephthah.

It provides background information on the man that is relevant to the story, as the narrator tells the story of how Jephthah comes to power.

Negotiating Leadership

In many ways, Jephthah’s story is going to mirror the story of Abimelech.

Both were children of women who were not the wife of the father, one from a concubine, the other from a prostitute.

Both men gather about themselves worthless fellows.

Both gain power not for the sake of their people but for their own agendas.

Let’s read on.

Jephthah is rightfully skeptical of the people.

Why come to him after they have driven him out?

Jephthah requires them to give them some assurance and they make an oath with him.

Here we have them invoking the name of the LORD.

There is very little in this passage about the LORD, and when his name is used, He is a passive witness rather than an active agent.

Rather than submit to the LORD as king, they use his name to accomplish their own agendas.

So Jephthah assumes command, and his first act seems to be get on the hotline to the king of Ammon in order to negotiate a peace settlement.

Negotiating Peace

It seems as though Ammon wants to reclaim her land.

Trouble it, it was never actually theirs, as Jephthah is about to demonstrate and is corroborated by archaeological evidence.

There are several elements of this worth noticing.

First, Jephthah deserves credit here, because he knows his history!

Whether he just knew it from his upbringing, or if he learned it in preparation to respond to Ammon, he has given a thorough recounting of both Israel’s history and the geopolitical lay of the land.

It’s important to note that there are two different people groups being mentioned that are similar and you can get them confused if you don’t read carefully.

There are the Ammonites, who are making war against Israel, and then there are Amorites, who were the ones actually used to possess the land, but God gave it to Israel.

Jephthah makes a historical argument: This land wasn’t yours.

It was Amorite.

He makes a theological argument: God took it from them because they refused to let us pass through the land peaceably.

Who are you to try to take it for yourselves??

The mention of Chemosh is difficult.

Is Jephthah validating their a false god?

No, we must remember that this is political jockeying.

Chemosh isn’t even the god of the Ammonites, but rather the god of the Moabites.

This may be an intentional insult from Jephthah, who questions if they think they are better than kings like Balak, king of Moab.

He makes a chronological argument.

If this land was yours, why have you not tried to retake it these 300 years?

He concludes his argument by once again invoking the name of the LORD to serve as judge and witness between them.

By all accounts, this is a well crafted and well done defense for Jephthah.

It fact it is so well done that it will shortly stand in strong contrast to what is missing from his life later on.

For all his efforts, however, it was ineffective to get the king of Ammon to back down, and war was looming.

Negotiating Victory

This next section contains the only two mentions of God’s direct involvement in an active rather than passive way, and it is almost in passing.

We aren’t told why he passed through these regions, but the last time we saw something like this was Gideon, who passed through the land in order to rally the troops, so it seems best to understand that such things are happening here.

It’s not clear if Jephthah was even aware of the Lord’s help here, and even though he invoked the LORD’s name before Ammon, he does not seem to be confident of victory.

So, being the negotiator that he is, he seeks to negotiate victory…with the LORD.

There is no response from the LORD, but the offer is made.

Whatever comes out of my house I will sacrifice.

Scholars debate Jephthah’s intent here.

Some argue that he was quite aware this might cost him his own children and he was willing to give that up in order to secure victory.

This can happen sometimes.

We get so desperate for something that we want, that we over promise or over pay to get it…only to wish that we hadn’t done so after the dust settles.

Other scholars argue that he was only thinking of his animals at the time.

In those days, the farm animals would live and have access to courtyard of the house, and whatever came out upon his return might have been a cow, a goat, a sheep, or other farm animals.

In either case, he makes this promise.

Whatever it is that comes out, I will offer it as a burnt offering.

And God gives the victory!

At first glance it seems as though God honored his vow!

But we must not get too far ahead of ourselves.

The fact that God gave Ammon into Jephthah’s hands is true, but it is almost glossed over in the text.

It’s almost as if the author is acknowledging God’s sovereignty over the matters rather than drawing attention to God’s direct intervention.

This would make sense in light of the sparse mention of the direct acts of God in this passage.

God graciously handed them into the hands of Jephthah, but his involvement was not as it has been at other points in this book.

And as we read on, we find more reason to doubt that God granted victory on account of the vow:

In many ways, this is one of the saddest portions of this book.

Jephthah, perhaps expecting an animal, perhaps regretting his vow, is devastated by his daughters appearance.

All she was doing was celebrating her Father’s conquest…and for that, she must die.

Scholars debate what actually happened here.