If you would, turn with me this evening in your Bibles to the book of the Judges in chapter number 10. The book of Judges in chapter 10. We'll pick up in our study. If you found your place in Judges, hold your place there. I'm going to ask you to do this this evening just because it will help you as we develop this coming chapter. But if you'll look over, those of you who have maps in your Bible, if you'll look at the tribal allotments. If you look at a map that shows you the different tribal allotments, which tribe got which area, if you look at that, most of you have one in your Bible, if you see, if you're looking at the tribal allotments and you see the Sea of Galilee, again, I remind you it's shaped like a human heart, not the Valentine's heart, but it's shaped like a human heart, you see you have the land of East Manasseh, Okay, we're on the right side of the page. We're on the east of Jordan. You have East Manasseh. Okay, down below that you have the land of Gad and the land of Reuben. Most of that land from the Sea of Galilee southward, and we're on the right side of the Jordan River on the east of the Jordan, most of that land in the southern part of East Manasseh The land of Gad and a portion of the land of Reuben is what is known as the land of Gilead. In my Bible, just to the east of these two and a half tribes, you see the land of Amon or Ammon. Do you have that in your maps there you see the land of Amman or the land of Amman. That's important. So you have this big, huge track of land there that consumes all of Gad, southern part of East Manasseh, and the northern part of Reuben. All of that is known as the land of Gilead. And as we turn into our narrative this evening, the Ammonites, those who live on the other side, you've got those two and a half tribes, but even further east you have the land of Ammon. The Ammonites come over and they essentially take control of that huge swath of land. Big, huge part of land. Southern part of East Manasseh, the land of Reuben and Gad. So, just keep that in mind. This is what Israel was up against. In fact, if you will remember from last week, And the Ammonites had come and they sort of seized control over Gilead. You remember this guy who had 30 sons that rode on 30 donkeys and they possessed 30 cities in the land of Gilead? But when the Ammonites come, they took control over that big swath of land, and not only that, they crossed over the Jordan River and entered into the land of Ephraim, into the land of Benjamin, into the land of Judah, and did war with them. So there is no judge at this time in Israel. The Ammonites have oppressed Israel for eighteen years. Eighteen years they have been bondage, particularly the two-and-a-half tribes on the east of the Jordan River. They've been in bondage to the Ammonites, that huge piece of land known as Gilead. And not only that, they've crossed over the Jordan into Israel proper as well. And after 18 years of bondage, you remember last week, they cry out to God. And we looked at last week, God's anger and God's mercy. God in frustration tells his Israelites, tells the people, You wanted to serve the gods of the Philistines and the gods of the Amorites and the gods of Molech and all these. You wanted to serve them. Ask them to deliver you out of the hands of the Ammonites. You remember that last week? God, angry and rightly so with his own people, said, You want to worship them? Then worship them and call on them to help you. And that was God's anger, but at the close of chapter 10 and verse 16, we read, And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord. And his soul, God, was grieved for the misery of Israel, who looked down in mercy on them. And not only was he angry with them, but he was merciful to them. And I believe that God, and it sort of happens in a roundabout way, but God will raise up a judge. a man by the name of Jephthah. And Jephthah will lead Israel to war against the oppression of the Ammonites. Normally I read my text and then we make our way back through it verse by verse, but tonight I just simply want to read and then speak, go right along verse by verse as we go through this. We stopped last week at chapter 10 and verse 16, and that's where we'll begin this evening, chapter 10 in verse number 17 of the book of Judges. Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpah. And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? Excuse me, he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. So after 18 years of oppression. The Ammonites are about to wage war again. This time they gather together in the land of Gilead. They amass an army, the Ammonites do, and they're about to attack Israel. They already have a big portion of that land that they possess, that they run, but now they're going to go war against them again, either to possess more land or to go back through the land and essentially take all of their possessions, whatever that they could get from them again. And the Israelites then in response to that, they assembled together an army as well. In verse number 17, they encamp in Mizpah. So you have the Ammonite army and you have the Israelite army. They're about to wage war one with another. But the people, verse 18 says, and the princes of Gilead, they say one to another, who's going to lead us? Who's going to lead the battle for us? You remember this man that we looked at last week, Jair, who had 30 sons, who rode on 30 donkeys and lived in 30 cities? They were of no help, seemingly, at least from what the narrative gives us. Even though they thought themselves to be something as rulers over 30 cities, they essentially were no help when the Ammonites came in and took control over this land of Gilead. And so they gathered together. The Israelites just said, who's going to lead us? Who will be our leader? And most of them from Gilead, and that's just a broad term to encompass this large group of people, asked, who will be our general, who's going to be our leader of our military when we go out to fight the Ammonites. And then in response to that, chapter 11 introduces to us Jephthah. Jephthah. And we're given a little bit of background about him. In fact, you might say chapter 11 in verses 1 through 3 are sort of a parenthetical statement that's sort of just thrown in. so that we get some idea of who it is that will be leading the battle. Look at chapter 11 now. Let's read the first few verses. Chapter 11 verse 1 says, Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of an harlot. And Gilead beget Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons. And his wife's sons grew up. And they thrust out Jephthah and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him." And that is my thought for this evening. Jephthah, the rejected hero. Jephthah, the rejected hero, or the rejected judge, however you want to say this. We are introduced. We see Israel in a conundrum. Israel is in a pickle, if you will. The Ammonite army is about to invade them again. They've been subject to them to some degree for 18 years, and now they've amassed an army, and they're about to wage war against them again. They say, what are we going to do? We need somebody to lead our army to go out and fight against the Ammonites. But who will it be? And then the author here introduces us to a man named Jephthah. And Jephthah was a Gileadite. He was from that area, that land of Gilead. And he was a mighty man of valor. He was a warrior. He was a soldier. He had proven himself. Obviously, we don't call him this for no reason. He's obviously proven himself to be very dependable, very trustworthy when it comes to battle, to waging war. But there is a notation made about him in verse 1 that he was the son of a harlot. He was an illegitimate child. His father, Gilead. And all this can get confusing, right, when you start getting into this. Let me see if I can help you some as I try to work my way through this. There was a man named Manasseh, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, right? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. So twelve sons named Manasseh. Manasseh had a son named Maker. Maker had a son named Gilead. Gilead, okay? Years pass. Generations pass. The Israelites leave Egypt. And they finally, after wandering through the wilderness, they began to make their way into Canaan. But before they do, you'll remember, two and a half tribes stop on this side of Jordan and say, we want this to be our homeland. And a man by the name of Gilead, he's named after, namesake of one of his ancestors, the grandson of Manasseh, a man by the name of Gilead. was instrumental in fighting off the enemy, the Amorites in particular, fighting them off. And because of that, that big swath of land is essentially named after him. And he will have a son, and his son's name is Jephthah. Jephthah here this man who had was a mighty warrior himself who had led in great battles He has a son, but his son is not by his wife It is an illegitimate son from really no other word for it than a prostitute a harlot He goes in under her she gives birth to a son. They named him Jephthah and He becomes like his dad. He becomes a great warrior and But verse 2 tells us that Gilead's wife has some sons as well. They're not going to have this half-brother. This is rough language, but it's Bible language. They're not going to let this bastard son inherit with them, so they throw him out. Look at verse 2. They thrust out Jephthah, saying he's not going to inherit our father's house because he's the son of a strange woman. In fact, maybe his mother may have been completely an unbeliever, could have been a Canaanitish woman. So they take him out, even though he's a mighty warrior, and even though he's proven himself in battle, they take Jephthah and they throw him out of the house, throw him out of the town, throw him out of Gilead, and they want rid of him. They're not going to allow this man to rule over them, not allow this man to uh... to share in the father's inheritance so they get rid of him in verse three we learned that he leaves he goes to the land of tobe which is uh... would be eastern of the sea uh... east that we believe at least east of the sea of galilee and there he begins to live that's where he lives in the land of tobe and while he's there a bunch of other vain men or rotten men if you will They gather around him. I am reminded of this as I study it. Reminds me of David. David's mighty men. As he was fleeing from Saul, a bunch of men gathered around David, and they were rough dudes. I mean, you wouldn't want to meet any of these guys on a dark alley. You wouldn't want to cross them. They'd kill you in a minute. In a similar fashion, Jephthah, having been driven from his home, rejected by his own people, here vain men gather to him. But, don't forget, the Ammonites were about to attack. So we were introduced Really, the author, you have to like the way he does this. He sets up the battle. They're getting ready to go to war. What are we going to do? Well, let me tell you about a man named Jephthah. And then he brings back in the war scenario, the battle cry that goes on. Look at verse 4. And it came to pass in process of time that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob. Now isn't that interesting? The same ones that had rejected him now call out to him in their hour of need. Look at it in verse 6, And they said unto Jephthah, Come and be our captain. that we may fight with the children of Ammon. His reputation as a mighty man of valor calls them to swallow their pride and go to Jephthah and say, man, we are in a fix and we need you to come lead our army against the Ammonites. You're the most qualified that we've got to do battle with them. Verse 7, And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me and expel me out of my father's house? And why are you come unto me now when ye are in distress? We understand how Jephthah feels, do we not? You didn't want anything to do with me until you needed something. Any of you all know people like that? They want anything to do with you. Don't pick up the phone. Don't call you. Won't check on you. Don't care if you fall off the face of the planet until they need something from you. And if you'll just stop at what I think the author does for us here is he paints a good analogy of the relationship between the elders of Gilead and Zephthah and the elders of Israel and God. Because the Israelites wouldn't have anything to do with Yahweh, Jehovah God, until they needed Him. They'd go out and they'd serve all these false gods. You remember that list that we read last week? All these false idols that they bowed down and worshipped? Turned away from God. Didn't have anything to do with God that had delivered them until they needed Him. And then when they needed Him, they'd call out, We need you. Sometimes things are a little bit silly, but there's an old expression that we're not to use God as a spare tire. A lot of people want to use God like a spare tire instead of a steering wheel. There's a little bit of something to be said for that. Some of this foxhole religion that people have, we want anything to do with God until we get caught in a trap. In this case, it is a parallel, a picture, of the relationship between Israel and God and Jephthah and the Gileadite elders. They didn't want anything to do with Jephthah until we need you. Now when we need you, we want to pull you out of our pocket like a magic trick so you can do something for us. This is the same way Israel had treated God and the servant's not above his master. Chew on that for a little while. And he says to them, you didn't want anything to do with me in verse seven. You kicked me out of my father's house, and now when you're in distress, now you turn to me. But much like God, he will help them in their hour of need. He says, I'm sorry, in verse eight, and the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, therefore we turn again to thee now. You're right, we did that, but we can't change it, but now we're turning to you. that thou mayest go with us and fight against the children of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." So they're saying to him, come with us, lead us, Jephthah. If you'll come, we'll make you ruler over everything. And Jephthah, understandably, is a little bit hesitant to believe them. He knows that they need him, but he probably thinks just as soon as I go out and win the war for them, they'll disown me again, because how many times has Israel done that to God? So he says to them in verse in Jephthah verse 9 and Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon and the Lord who delivers them Don't you like the way Jephthah says it'll have to be God that delivers the Ammonites. I Just want to throw this in It's good to study a judge a that focuses on the delivering power of God for a change. Because it's been a while since any of the judges that we've studied have brought God into the equation. Perhaps some of these minor judges did, we just don't know. But we certainly know Abimelech, if we may call him a judge, which God never called him to, but if we may call him that, he didn't bring God into the equation. But here, it's good to see Jephthah showing and acknowledging the wayward Israelites that your hope really shouldn't be in me, your hope ought to be in the Lord giving you deliverance. And I like verse nine, and against the children of man, and the Lord deliver them before me. He asked them, shall I be your head? Will you, in fact, will you make me your military leader and your political leader? Will I be the head over Gilead? Verse 10, they respond by saying, and the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, the Lord be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. God's our witness. We'll make this commitment right now before God and man. If you'll come back and lead our troops against this Ammonite battle, against this Ammonite war that's coming, we'll make you ruler over Gilead. We'll make you governor, leader, not just general over the army, but we'll let you run things. In verse 11, then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them. So he is political leader and military leader. Essentially, this was Jephthah saying, I don't want to just be the military leader. If you want me to lead you, I'll lead you. But I'm going to have to be in charge, not just during wartime, but also during peacetime. So they make him head and captain over them. And Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. So again, we have a judge calling out to God. I believe this is an inference towards Jephthah praying, calling out and saying, God, you've given me now this responsibility to lead these people. I need your strength. I need your grace. I need your help. And so now, having been made leader and elder or ruler over the Israelite army with war looming, with the battle about to take place, Jephthah's going to reach out to the Ammonite leaders, the leaders of the Ammonites, and he's going to try to find a political solution to this problem. Rather than him going to war, he's going to see if they can't solve this thing through peacetime, through some kind of a treaty Read with me verse 12. And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, the Ammonites, saying, What hast thou to do with me that thou art come against me to fight in my land? Now, I couldn't help it, but I wondered if maybe, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but I wondered if Maybe some of that authority didn't go to Jephthah's head a little bit. Because he says, he asked them Ammonite leaders, he said, why y'all coming around here messing with me in my land? This is my land. Maybe he's just showing his power, his authority that's been asserted to him or given to him by the Israelites. We do not know for sure, but he asked him, why are you here to fight in my land? And in verse 13, they respond to him, the king of the children of Ammon, answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, and they're going to say, here's why we're here, because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon, even into Jabach, and into Jordan. These are names of rivers, the Arnon River, the Jabach River, and the Jordan River. And they say, now therefore, restore those lands again peaceably. They reply to him and say, Jephthah, that's not your land, that's our land. We need to clear this up, they say to him. We're here because the children of Israel stole this land from us. That's why we're here. We're here to reclaim what was once ours. Give it back to us peaceably. And in verse 14, and Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon. And in verses 15 through verses 22, there's a history lesson. A history lesson is really what that is. Jephthah is going to tell these Ammonites, you don't know what you're talking about. I mean, I know you're laying claim to this land, but the truth about it is that never was your land. Now, we're going to read this, and it's hard to make sense of all this because of our unfamiliarity with the names of places. But the reason why I wanted you to look at those maps to begin with, is because when the children of Israel made their exodus, they wanted to go straight up into the land of Canaan, but they were not allowed. So they had to go around Edom, they had to go around Moab, and they were getting ready to cut through and make their way through the land of the Amorites when the king of the Amorites attacked them. You remember we've talked about this on a number of occasions. The Amorites attacked them, Israel did battle with them, destroyed them, and took control of their land. Now I know it's very similar, but listen, there's a difference between the Amorites and the Ammonites. Completely different people groups. This land that these Ammonites are claiming never was their land. They wanted it to be, but it wasn't their land. The children of Israel have made their way around, and actually if you'll look at it on the map there, they go right in between the land of Ammon, or Ammon, and there where Edom is, and Moab is, and the land of the Amorites is. They're making their way right up through. They didn't mess with the Ammonites. It is the Ammonites who have invaded the land of the Israelites. And in verses 15 through 22, that's what this is. It's a history lesson. Jephthah's going to say, let me straighten you fellows out. Because I hate to say this, there are some people who don't like the facts getting in the way of a good argument. Do you hear what I say? There are a number of people who don't want the facts or the truth to get in the way of a good argument. And Jephthah is going to bring the truth out. Let's read verses 15 through 22. Jephthah sends messengers unto the king, verse 15, and said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Haman. But when Israel came up out of Egypt and walked through the wilderness into the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, Kadesh, Barnea, they wanted to enter in the short way, but they were not allowed. Verse 17, Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land. The king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent. And Israel abode in Kadesh. Then they went along through the wilderness and come past the land of Edom. They went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the east side of the land of Moab and pitched on the other side of Arnon that came not within the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshmon. And Israel said unto him, this is Moses trying to work this out so that they could amicably pass through them, but they wouldn't hear it. Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast. But Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched in jihads and fought against Israel. And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. What we're talking about is Gilead. They possessed it. And they possessed all the coast of the Amorites from Arnon, even into Jabbok, and from the wilderness even into the Jordan. So that's a long way of simply saying this. Jephthah's telling them, you've got your history messed up. Israel didn't take that land from you. It never was your land. We took that land from the Amorites, not from you. Now, you're trying to lay claim to that land, but it wasn't yours. And so Jephthah clears this up, first of all, by saying to them that they have a military right to that land, a military right to that land, because they destroyed the Amorites and took it. But then secondly, he's going to say we have a divine right to that land because our God gave us that land. Read with me now in verse 23. So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Do you hear what he's saying to them? God kicked the Amorites out and gave that land to us, and now you're trying to lay claim to it. Does that make sense? Is that right? Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy God giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them we will possess. In other words, let me just say this. He's saying to them, not only do we have a military right to this land because we fought for it and we won, but we have a divine right to this land because our God gave us victory over them. It was commonly understood that these people during that time period, you possess the land that your God gave you. And he's saying to them, our God gave us this land, your God gave you that land. Why are you trying to take our land that our God gave us? And he sort of, in a mocking way, to some degree, says to them, why don't you just live over there in that little spot of land that Chibosh gave you, that idol gave you? This is ours. So they say, we have a military right to that land. We have a divine right to that land. And then they're going to say, we've got a historical right to that land. And continue reading in verse 25. Now art thou anything better than Balak? Remember Balak who tried? to hire Balaam to prophesy against Israel? Are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? He wanted to, while Israel dwelt in Heshbon, and her towns, and in Arora, and her towns, and all the cities that belong by the coast of Arnon, 300 years. Why, therefore, did ye not recover them within that time? So he said to them, first of all, we got a military right, we got a divine right, but we also have a historical right to this land. Jephthah says unto them, we've been living here for 300 years. And I don't think it's been really even taken into an exact amount, just as much as sometimes we just say, I ain't seen you in a month, or I ain't seen you in a whatever. You understand, we just use that vernacular. The Bible uses that kind of vernacular. Jephthah essentially, he's just saying to them, look, If y'all felt cheated, why did you wait for 300 years to do something about it? We have a military right to the land. We have a divine right to this land. But we have a historical right to this land. We've been living here for 300 years. And now y'all want to come and try to lay claim to this land? And he then clarifies it, just brings it all together in verse 27 by saying, wherefore I have not sinned against thee. We're not the ones in the wrong here. But thou doest me wrong to war against me. You're the ones in the wrong. You're the one that's brought this conflict. And I love these sweet words that Jephthah says. The Lord, the judge be judged, verse 27. The Lord, the judge be judged this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. Again, it is refreshing. to read of a judge who's calling on the name of God. And here he calls God, The Judge. The Lord, The Judge. See that with our capital J. The Judge be judge over us. He is the rightful decision maker and He will judge which one of us is right. And essentially what Jephthah is saying to them, I'll tell you how God's going to judge which one of us is right about this thing. It's whoever wins the war. Whoever wins the war will determine who's right and wrong about it. But he said, I can tell you this right now, our God's the judge, and He'll judge between us, and He'll give us victory over you. How be it, verse 28, the king of the children of Ammon harkened not unto the words of Jephthah. which he sent him. So they were as it were. They had their mindset that they was going to fight. And even though he had laid out for them what I think is a solid argument, right? I mean, first of all, your histories are on. God gave us the land. We've had it for 300 years. If you wanted to complain, you should have done so before now. I think he lays out a pretty strong or a valid argument saying, listen, you're the ones that are in the wrong about this. Go back to your own land and leave us be. But they will not. They have bloodthirsty, wicked desires to destroy the Israelites. And so they are going to go to war with Israel. But we're going to stop there because I don't want to get in to Jephthah's vow and the battle until next week. But I want you to stop and think about this. Jephthah is the rejected judge, the rejected hero. These people who had rejected him, had driven him away, who said, you'll not have part and parcel with our family, had to call on him for deliverance. And when they called on him, he became a strong national leader. and would lead them to victory in the battle. I don't know how we can see that or study that and not see a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was rejected by his own people, was he not? Did they not say, you'll not be our king, we have no king but Caesar, we'll not have this man to rule over us. Jesus was rejected by his own people. But the only hope for the future of Israel is that the rejected judge come back and deliver them. If I could sort of make a dual application, the only hope that we have for salvation is that the one that has been rejected would receive us. The one that has been driven away, that he would receive us. That's the only hope we have. That our judge, our great judge, our great savior would deliver us from the enemy of sin and death. That's the only hope we have. We may deny him, we may initially reject him, but he's the only hope we have. But if I can, without twisting the text too far, I also believe that there's coming a day when Israel will again have to swallow their pride and call out for that same one that they've rejected to come and deliver them. It is my prophetic position that one of these days Israel's gonna be backed up in a corner. They are in a fix. They are in a conundrum. And the only hope that they have is to call out to the one that they had rejected, the one that they had driven away. And he will, though, in this great, like Jephthah, he will come and deliver them from the hands, in this case, of the Antichrist and his armies. Deliver them from the hand of the enemy and become a strong leader for the people. Jephthah, in my opinion, I don't even know what, I don't know about this battle of Jephthah. I've been, will continue to battle with this. But let me tell you something about Jephthah. He made it into Hebrews 11. Have you thought about that? On that great hall of faith of all the names that are mentioned in Hebrews 11, Jephthah's name is mentioned there. I can't help but think that some portion of it is because he was the shadow of the coming king. that would deliver Israel from their enemies.