Turning Back to Jephthah

As we return to our studies in Judges, God is beginning the process of delivering His people from oppression again. Once more He chooses as deliverer a man to whom few in Israel would look, that He might bring glory to Himself. In this instance, however, God works in a new way to call His judge. Whereas it has been His practice to super-naturally “raise up” a man to spark Israel to throw off its oppression, the army comes together first in this instance, and God’s providence in the calling of His deliverer works through more ordinary channels.

The Ammonites, we are told, assemble in Gilead (the portion of Israel east of the Jordan) to launch another assault against Israel. In response, the Israelites gather to offer what resistance they can. But this is an army with no commander. The leaders of Gilead confer as to who should lead their forces, but for reasons that are unclear, no man can be found who possesses the necessary military prowess (or none will accept the job). The discussion finally centers on one Jephthah, the one man the leaders know who has distinguished himself as a warrior. He is “a mighty man of valor,” the same description used of Gideon (Judg. 6:12). But appointing Jephthah is problematic for these leaders; as Matthew Henry puts it, he has three “disadvantages,” or three strikes, against him. First, he is the son of a prostitute. Gilead (likely a descendant of the original Gilead, Num. 26:29, whose name became attached to the Transjordan region) fathered him out of wedlock. In this, Jephthah is like Abimelech. Second, he is an outcast. His brothers, the legitimate sons of Gilead, drove him away lest he claim a share of their father’s estate. Third, again like Abimelech, he is associated with “worthless men,” whom he leads in raids from his exile in the land of Tob, northeast of Israel. Additionally, the leaders of Gilead apparently assisted or at least sanctioned Jephthah’s expulsion by his brothers (11:7), so approaching him will require an admission of wrongdoing on their part.

However, the situation being dire, the leaders of Gilead swallow their pride and go to Jephthah, inviting him to command the armies of Israel. Just as the nation has in some sense turned back to the God it had rejected, these leaders of Israel turn to a man they had rejected in the hope that he will be their deliverer.