“What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets” (Hebrews 11:32 CEB).
As we move towards the end of our journey through Hebrews chapter eleven, we now pause to examine the life of a highly obscure member of the “Faith Hall Of Fame.” That individual is Jephthah, and we find the details of his life beginning in Judges chapter eleven.
Unlike Samson, it’s probably safe to say that many have never heard of Jephthah. Therefore, we might benefit from an introduction to this little-known member of the Hebrews “Hall of Fame.” Here is Jephthah’s Scriptural debut as given to us in Judges 11:1-2…
“Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. ‘You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,’ they said, ‘because you are the son of another woman'” (NIV).
This was certainly not an auspicious beginning for a hero of the faith. Here we have a man who was born out of wedlock as the son of a prostitute, and rejected by his siblings. Those negative family dynamics eventually led Jephthah to seek a change of address…
“So Jephthah fled from his father’s home and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had quite a band of malcontents as his followers, living off the land as bandits. It was about this time that the Ammonites began their war against Israel.
“The leaders of Gilead sent for Jephthah, begging him to come and lead their army against the Ammonites. But Jephthah said to them, ‘Why do you come to me when you hate me and have driven me out of my father’s house? Why come now when you’re in trouble?’
“‘Because we need you,” they replied. ‘If you will be our commander-in-chief against the Ammonites, we will make you the king of Gilead.’
“‘Sure!’ Jephthah exclaimed. ‘Do you expect me to believe that?’ ‘We swear it,’ they replied. ‘We promise with a solemn oath'” (Judges 11:3-10 TLB).
If we read further into this narrative, we find that Jephthah first tried to talk things over with the Ammonites (see Judges 11:12-28). Unfortunately, the Ammonites didn’t seem very interested in talking. That was an unwise decision, for the Spirit of the Lord subsequently came upon Jephthah and he began a successful military campaign against Israel’s enemies (Judges 11:32).
However, Jephthah also made a tragic decision that we’ll read about next.