Read for this week's study: Judges 10:6-12:7.
Memory text: Judges 10:16, RSV
Key thought:
When God's people repent and return to His covenant, He can provide for them as He has wanted to do all along. Zeal for God's cause is an inspiring and motivating force, but rashness is destructive.
Promises, Promises. A father promises his son an outing but does not mark the promise in his appointment book. Responsibilities come up. The father forgets his promise. But the son does not.A bride vows to "love, honor, and cherish" until death. But down deep she knows that if things don't go as well as she hopes, she can be divorced and marry someone else.
While he is partying, a king promises with an oath to give his daughter whatever she wishes. Prompted by her mother, she asks for the head of a preacher on a platter. "The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison" (Matt. 14:9, 10, NIV).
Promises are a problem! We are in trouble if we don't keep them, but sometimes we are also in trouble if we do keep them. Making a rash promise, which should not have been made in the first place, can result in a no-win situation. This was the predicament in which Jephthah found himself. He vowed, but it never occurred to him that his daughter's future was at stake!
Outline:
Summary:
When the Israelites turned again to God, putting away those things that came between themselves and Him, He forgave them and mercifully turned again to help them. To deliver them from the Ammonites, God raised up Jephthah as their leader. Jephthah was zealous for the Lord, but at a highly stressful time, he sought assurance from God in an unwise way, which was not consistent with faith. Rash vows that dishonor God should not be kept.