S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN
I encourage you to read 1 Sam 14:24-45 & Judges 11 before proceeding.
Likely Saul’s intent in making that vow was so that there will be less time spent in anything other than warfare. If the people actually ate some food they would be better off than fighting in famished conditions. They were suffering the effect of Saul’s vow!
It is noteworthy that the people abided by the vow of their king. There was nothing wrong with abiding with that vow, but in reality God did not demand it and coming under the power of this vow later exposed them to conditions under which they violated God’s word by eating animals raw with the blood in them! Saul was not killed for this vow, which he made and broke. In reality it was borne of ignorance and rashness.
There were people who knew what Jonathan had done. It was obvious that Jonathan was ignorant of his father’s vow. It was also obvious to the people that the victory was largely due to the operations of God through Jonathan. They knew that informing Saul would hasten Saul to take the life of his noble son who was a loveable man.
Clearly the one who had broken the vow was Jonathan. God knew that Jonathan should not face the consequences of Saul’s rash vows. The people also knew this. Only Saul was in the dark, he was zealous but beyond the bounds of scripture. He was vindictive.
Whereas Saul didn’t know when not to go ahead with the execution of a rash vow, the people around him knew enough of God’s character and nature to know that it would be foolish for Saul to make good his vow. This same people that obeyed their king’s vow not to eat and also obeyed his order that they also forgo sleep knew that Jonathan ought not to die.
The people also resorted to vows! They swore that Jonathan would surely not die.
You realise that Saul was an anointed man. Even though he was anointed, it would be foolish for this king, anointed man that he was, to kill an innocent son because of a foolish vow that he made.
There is another father who typifies this in the Bible - Jephthah.
If Jephthah didn’t actually offer up as a burnt offering with literal fire, he had achieved the equivalent in attitude and slant. In ancient Israel a woman carries the privilege of bringing forth the future of the family. If she remains a virgin, this potential goes unfulfilled. It is in effect the death of motherhood. It guarantees that she has no children to sustain and care for her in old age hence exposing her to destitution or needless lack. In effect so much of “what could have been” has been sacrificed.
She would live her whole life without husband or children because her father had delivered her over to such by the strength of his vow. We are told that this was an only child, therefore all the hopes of Jephthah was hinged on that lady. Jephthah by his actions then effectively ends his own lineage for he had no other child besides her. It is possible that he was upset not so much by her dying a virgin, but by her living on as one throughout her earthly life. He would have a continual reminder of the solemn fact that the state of things was a product of his use of words and the rashness of his vow.
Some people assume that God was in support of what Jephtah did. You must realise that the fact that the bible records an event does not imply that it sanctions it. God granted Jephthah victory. Does this mean that His granting the victory validated the vow? This is a question that perplexes Bible students.
Jephthah got this victory by the anointing of God’s Spirit. I want you to notice that Jephthah was already anointed before he ever vowed. It is easy to reason that since the Lord gave Jephthah victory after he made the vow, then it must mean that the vow was the reason for the victory. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and this was before he made any vow. The anointing upon him and the victory he functioned in are both from the Lord. His vow did not secure a victory, nor did the Lord require it. In this specific instance his vow secured the end of his posterity!!
We marvel at Jephthah’s dedication, but what a price to pay. He was paying the price of being too quick to make a vow.
In the Old Testament the Spirit was upon only the prophet, priest or king. When it does come upon any other person it is for a specific service. Consider the instances cited below
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet Judges 6:34
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. Judges 14:6
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say: "This is what the LORD says: That is what you are saying, O house of Israel, but I know what is going through your mind."
Ezekiel 11:5
From the passages above, we see a pattern that holds true in scripture - when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon anyone, there are specific things he comes to do and this is often stated right after it says “the Spirit of the Lord came upon..”
Therefore we can deduce from the bible that what the Spirit of the Lord comes upon to do is stated immediately after we are told whom the Spirit has come upon.
It seems clear then that when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, he came upon him so that he could move around recruiting the army that he was taking to make war upon the Ammonites. This is significant.
You notice that at the onset Jephthah responds to the anointing and accurately determines that it was for mobilization of troops for war, and so he goes about.
The key is the phrase “pass over”. As long as Jephthah kept “passing over” the anointing flowed strongly. He should have relied more on the anointing than on his vow in this instance.
Jephthah begins to enter into troubled waters when he steps out from that which he had already discerned that the Spirit is upon him to do and he starts making bargains with God! For reasons best known to Jephthah he sees a need to make a vow. Keep it in mind that this vow was not initiated by God, but by Jephthah.
Some people wonder why God didn’t stop Jephthah from making this vow. We must realise that God allows people to make choices whether right or wrong ones. He makes his word available to provide wise counsel about what his ways and thoughts are, but as it turns out, religious zeal by itself could have dire consequences. So the fact that an anointed man makes this kind of decision does not mean that God causes them to make these choices or that God condones them.
The Spirit was not upon him to make bargains, but to utterly defeat the Ammonites.
Nevertheless this mighty man resorts to vows. Just imagine the vow he made:
"And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
Judges 11: 30-31
What did Jephthah expect to see when he got home? Someone else’s child? A neighbour? A neighbour’s grandmother that had come visiting? Maybe he was expecting his mother-in-law [laughs]. Whatever the case Jephthah was ready to “sacrifice” a family member for victory. Irrespective of what is meant by sacrifice. Irrespective of how Jephthah planned to keep this vow, it is not commendable because he clearly had no specific “offering” in mind. It was “whatever met him”.
It was up to the fathers in those days to give away their daughters. The ultimate decision to keep them single or married had a lot to do with their fathers. His intentions were good but nevertheless went beyond the demand of scripture. He seemed to have more respect for his vow, than he had for the life of his daughter or for the ability of the anointing that was already active in his life.
Jephthah put himself in this tight spot. He made a vow in exchange for victory over the enemies of Israel. This qualifies as a rash vow. We know it was rash because he didn’t wisely guide his words in making the vow. His reaction shows that when he was making the blanket vow he didn’t have it in mind that his daughter would qualify.
There are situations orchestrated by yourself or some other person where you will be exposed to a strong urge to vow, I encourage you that you do not do it, just give the money, but do not vow. The giving is the important thing. The vow is not. However once you step into the realm of vows you are in tight territory.
… to be continued
I encourage you to read 1 Sam 14:24-45 & Judges 11 before proceeding.
Likely Saul’s intent in making that vow was so that there will be less time spent in anything other than warfare. If the people actually ate some food they would be better off than fighting in famished conditions. They were suffering the effect of Saul’s vow!
It is noteworthy that the people abided by the vow of their king. There was nothing wrong with abiding with that vow, but in reality God did not demand it and coming under the power of this vow later exposed them to conditions under which they violated God’s word by eating animals raw with the blood in them! Saul was not killed for this vow, which he made and broke. In reality it was borne of ignorance and rashness.
There were people who knew what Jonathan had done. It was obvious that Jonathan was ignorant of his father’s vow. It was also obvious to the people that the victory was largely due to the operations of God through Jonathan. They knew that informing Saul would hasten Saul to take the life of his noble son who was a loveable man.
Clearly the one who had broken the vow was Jonathan. God knew that Jonathan should not face the consequences of Saul’s rash vows. The people also knew this. Only Saul was in the dark, he was zealous but beyond the bounds of scripture. He was vindictive.
Whereas Saul didn’t know when not to go ahead with the execution of a rash vow, the people around him knew enough of God’s character and nature to know that it would be foolish for Saul to make good his vow. This same people that obeyed their king’s vow not to eat and also obeyed his order that they also forgo sleep knew that Jonathan ought not to die.
The people also resorted to vows! They swore that Jonathan would surely not die.
You realise that Saul was an anointed man. Even though he was anointed, it would be foolish for this king, anointed man that he was, to kill an innocent son because of a foolish vow that he made.
There is another father who typifies this in the Bible - Jephthah.
If Jephthah didn’t actually offer up as a burnt offering with literal fire, he had achieved the equivalent in attitude and slant. In ancient Israel a woman carries the privilege of bringing forth the future of the family. If she remains a virgin, this potential goes unfulfilled. It is in effect the death of motherhood. It guarantees that she has no children to sustain and care for her in old age hence exposing her to destitution or needless lack. In effect so much of “what could have been” has been sacrificed.
She would live her whole life without husband or children because her father had delivered her over to such by the strength of his vow. We are told that this was an only child, therefore all the hopes of Jephthah was hinged on that lady. Jephthah by his actions then effectively ends his own lineage for he had no other child besides her. It is possible that he was upset not so much by her dying a virgin, but by her living on as one throughout her earthly life. He would have a continual reminder of the solemn fact that the state of things was a product of his use of words and the rashness of his vow.
Some people assume that God was in support of what Jephtah did. You must realise that the fact that the bible records an event does not imply that it sanctions it. God granted Jephthah victory. Does this mean that His granting the victory validated the vow? This is a question that perplexes Bible students.
Jephthah got this victory by the anointing of God’s Spirit. I want you to notice that Jephthah was already anointed before he ever vowed. It is easy to reason that since the Lord gave Jephthah victory after he made the vow, then it must mean that the vow was the reason for the victory. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and this was before he made any vow. The anointing upon him and the victory he functioned in are both from the Lord. His vow did not secure a victory, nor did the Lord require it. In this specific instance his vow secured the end of his posterity!!
We marvel at Jephthah’s dedication, but what a price to pay. He was paying the price of being too quick to make a vow.
In the Old Testament the Spirit was upon only the prophet, priest or king. When it does come upon any other person it is for a specific service. Consider the instances cited below
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet Judges 6:34
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. Judges 14:6
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say: "This is what the LORD says: That is what you are saying, O house of Israel, but I know what is going through your mind."
Ezekiel 11:5
From the passages above, we see a pattern that holds true in scripture - when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon anyone, there are specific things he comes to do and this is often stated right after it says “the Spirit of the Lord came upon..”
Therefore we can deduce from the bible that what the Spirit of the Lord comes upon to do is stated immediately after we are told whom the Spirit has come upon.
It seems clear then that when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, he came upon him so that he could move around recruiting the army that he was taking to make war upon the Ammonites. This is significant.
You notice that at the onset Jephthah responds to the anointing and accurately determines that it was for mobilization of troops for war, and so he goes about.
The key is the phrase “pass over”. As long as Jephthah kept “passing over” the anointing flowed strongly. He should have relied more on the anointing than on his vow in this instance.
Jephthah begins to enter into troubled waters when he steps out from that which he had already discerned that the Spirit is upon him to do and he starts making bargains with God! For reasons best known to Jephthah he sees a need to make a vow. Keep it in mind that this vow was not initiated by God, but by Jephthah.
Some people wonder why God didn’t stop Jephthah from making this vow. We must realise that God allows people to make choices whether right or wrong ones. He makes his word available to provide wise counsel about what his ways and thoughts are, but as it turns out, religious zeal by itself could have dire consequences. So the fact that an anointed man makes this kind of decision does not mean that God causes them to make these choices or that God condones them.
The Spirit was not upon him to make bargains, but to utterly defeat the Ammonites.
Nevertheless this mighty man resorts to vows. Just imagine the vow he made:
"And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
Judges 11: 30-31
What did Jephthah expect to see when he got home? Someone else’s child? A neighbour? A neighbour’s grandmother that had come visiting? Maybe he was expecting his mother-in-law [laughs]. Whatever the case Jephthah was ready to “sacrifice” a family member for victory. Irrespective of what is meant by sacrifice. Irrespective of how Jephthah planned to keep this vow, it is not commendable because he clearly had no specific “offering” in mind. It was “whatever met him”.
It was up to the fathers in those days to give away their daughters. The ultimate decision to keep them single or married had a lot to do with their fathers. His intentions were good but nevertheless went beyond the demand of scripture. He seemed to have more respect for his vow, than he had for the life of his daughter or for the ability of the anointing that was already active in his life.
Jephthah put himself in this tight spot. He made a vow in exchange for victory over the enemies of Israel. This qualifies as a rash vow. We know it was rash because he didn’t wisely guide his words in making the vow. His reaction shows that when he was making the blanket vow he didn’t have it in mind that his daughter would qualify.
There are situations orchestrated by yourself or some other person where you will be exposed to a strong urge to vow, I encourage you that you do not do it, just give the money, but do not vow. The giving is the important thing. The vow is not. However once you step into the realm of vows you are in tight territory.
… to be continued
3 comments:
God bless you,i cant wait to read the conluding part of this write-up
Hello Sir,i am anxiously waiting for the concluding part of this write-up,when will the concluding part be posted to the net.im waiting...............thank you and God bless you.
i ave posted a commitment before now. if you found yourself in this kind of situation of making vow upon vow and you are finding it difficult to fufil them,pls what do u do?
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