Judges 07

A Message for Misfits

Judges 10:6 - 11 A wise man once said, one of the problems Christians have is trying to be more holy than God himself. We forget who we are where we came from. In time we start to judge people by standards we could never attain and God never placed on us. At the heart of the problem is the tendency to embrace the values of the world. The world judges people on three things: 1. What you have. 2. What you do. 3. Who youre with. Problem with all three is they are external. Dont really see the heart issues. And in our defense I dont know how we could. Maybe thats why God says to leave the judging to him. God looks at something quite different. He examines the heart. And as a result of this he often uses people you would never imagine. Jephthah is a glaring example! I mean glaring! Jephthah was a man with a dark past and a sordid present and yet God used him mightily for his purpose. Story is found in Judges 11. Really starts in 10:6 Verse 6. See the cycle again. Verse 7. Philistines were on the southwest plain. Sons of Ammon were across the Jordan to the east. Ammonites. Remember the Lord promised the land west of the Jordan. But he made an exception for the tribes of Gad and Rueben and Mannassah. When they came into that area they decided they wanted to stay. God allowed it on condition that they enter the land with the Nation of Israel and help them dispossess the people West of the Jordan. That done they resettled East of the Jordan in Land that used to belong to the sons of Ammon.

So there is a long standing feud here. Verse 8. 18 years. Remember Viet Nam only lasted 11 or 12 years. We fought WWII for 5 years. 18 years is a long time to be at war. Verse 9 the Ammonites even crossed the Jordan and waged war on Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. The sons of Israel cried out to the Lord again for deliverance. This time God isnt so quick to deliver. See a growing trend here. God is getting fed up with their tactics. Sure they seek him in trouble but they wont follow him in prosperity. I think the test of faith is prosperity not adversity. Need to realize that there are consequences to the cycle of rebellion. Proverbs 29:1 A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. God finally says enough. Verses 11-13. That is the judgment of God. Not that he condemns but that he stops caring. This led them to a crisis. They would have to do more than mouth their repentance they would have to act. Verses 15-16. True repentance. Different than being sorry. Micah bit a little boy in nursery last week. Amy bit Micah. Micah was really sorry he bit Tyler. But Im not sure it was true repentance. True repentance is a change of heart and actions. Ill. . . Corinthians. Had a man living with his fathers wife. Paul rebuked them. They repented. Put the man out of the church. Church discipline. Still practiced in many churches today. 2 Corinthians he writes to commend them for their determination to repent. Opens our eyes to what God is looking for. 2 Corinthians 7:9[8] For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it-- for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while-- [9] I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. [10] For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without

regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. [11] For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. Two kinds of sorrow. According to the world leads to death. According to God leads to repentance and life. The nation finally repented. God started to work. And here we see the fascinating story of Jephthah. 11:1. Jephthah had a dark past. Valiant warrior. A mighty man of valor. Strength. Force. Powerful man. But. And that but was so important. It changed his life. He was the son of a prostitute. Couldnt help it. He just was. The brothers drove him out. Verse 2. Verse 3. Jephthah hits rock bottom. He becomes a bandit hoodlum of Tob. Hey, you cant help what your parents did but you can determine what you do. Like so many trapped in this kind of cycle Jephthah reached for the lowest common denominator. Ryrie says, Jephthah became a kind of bandit chief in the outlying area of Tob, N. of Ammon. But that really doesnt do it justice. I prefer the way Swindoll sets the scene.
Before he ever came to the plate, Jephthah had three strikes against him. He was an illegitimate child. Strike one. He was the son of a barmaid and a brute. Strike two. He was raised in an atmosphere of hatred and hostility. Strike three. Nurtured in an overcrowded cage of half-brothers, he was the constant target of verbal put-downs and violent profanity. Putting it mildly, Jephthah wasn't wanted. He compensated by becoming the meanest kid on the block. Kicked out of home before he reached young manhood, he took up the lifestyle of a rebel among a tough bunch of thugs that hob-nobbed in a place called Tob. Earning a reputation as the hardest hard guy 1 he

was elected leader of a gang They ripped and rammed their way through villages like a pack of wild hyenas. Had they ridden motorcycles, their black leatherjackets' could have read "TheTob Mob" as the)' raced over hills, outrunning the law of the land. ReadJudges 11:1-3 for yourself It's all there. A societal reject, Jephthah was Charles Manson, the Boston Strangler, and Clyde Barrow all wrapped in one explosive body. Having him and his apes drop into the Tob Pharmacy for Saturday night malts was about as comfortable as taking a swim with the Loch Ness monster Suddenly, a change occurred. The people of Israel encountered a barrage of hostilities from their not-so-friendly neighbors to the east -the Ammonites. The longer the battle raged against this hateful enemy tribe, the more obvious it became that Israel was against the ropes. Defeat was inevitable. The Jews needed a leader with guts to stand up against the fiery foes from Ammon. Guess who the Israelites thought of? Right! They figured that only a guy with his record would qualify for the job, so they called the man from Tob. Tremblingly, they said: Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon. . . . and [you may] become head over all the in-habitants of Gilead What a deal! Asking Jephthah if he would fight was like asking Al Hirt if he could blow some jazz orA.J. Foyt if he could drive you around the block. That was Jephthahs day in court. After a brief cat-and-mouse interchange, the mobster signed the dotted line. Predictably, he annihilated the Ammonites in short order and the Tob Evening News rolled off the presses with the headline: HOODLUM BECOMES HEROEX-CON ELECTED JUDGE!

Its really extraordinary when you think of it. God uses unholy Jephthah to do His Holy Will! Not only was Jephthah tough, he was shrewd. This reads like an exchange between the Godfather and another underworld boss. Verse 12. I can hear the dialect of Marlon Brandos Godfather, What is this between me and you that you have come to fight against my land? The complaint was a trumped up charge. Verse 13. You took our land. Jephthah wasnt falling for that line. He gives a brilliant defense. 1. It wasnt our fault, it was Gods will. Verses 14-23. He told the story of how the people came up from Egypt and how they were attacked and the betrayal by he Amorites. Verse 23. Notice his train of thought. Verse 24.

Hey, if God does this thing who are we to argue. 2. Statue of Limitations is Up. This was the other achilles heal to King of Ammons argument. Hey, its been 300 years. Verse 26. Why now? That would be the same as if in another 100 years England suddenly decided to try to take back the colonies! It isnt going to happen. Both men knew it. Jephthah Was going through the motions. Verse 28. Jephthah made a foolish vow. Still got a lot of the world in him. Verse 30. It was a short battle. Verses 32-33. You see in this the lightening strike of the bad boys from Tob. Then tragedy. A rash vow. Verse 34-35. Lots of comments on this. Did he really kill her or just put her away? I dont know. See the danger of a rash vow. Dont miss the point. God used Jephthah.

III.

It Doesnt Really Matter What We Think.

Hey you judges out there. When Jephthah and his black leather jacketed gang of malevolent malfactors roared into town to deliver the people, what would you have thought? No way! God wont use him. Is God out of his mind. Doesnt he know. Doesnt he care. What will people think. Let me point you to one more verse that might blow away whatever preconceived idea you had bout who God can use: 32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (MEN OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY), Jephthah was a man of whom the world was not worthy! Because of Faith!

I.

It Doesnt Really Matter where You come From.

Pedigrees need not apply. God is in control of all of that. Ever think you were excluded by heritage? Message for misfits: God can use you.

II.

It Doesnt Really Matter What Youve done.

I hear that sometimes. But you dont know. No, and I dont really care to know. God knows and it doesnt limit him. Swindoll, There is one major difference between Jephthah and us. God chose to reveal his past for everyone to read, while He chose to hide ours so none would ever know what colossal misfits we really are. Talk about grace!