Judges 12 Commentary
Ephraimites, again. Gideon dealt with Ephraim’s arrogance and indifference with tact and wisdom. A civil war was abated.
Jephthah isn’t Gideon. Wisdom isn’t common knowledge!
Foolishness, arrogance, and pride all take root within God’s community, and a civil war claims forty-two thousand lives.
The saint’s enemy has many identities. Jephthah defeats one of them: The Ammonites. But Jealousy and pride aren’t easily defeated. Israel suffers more losses from these two enemies than she could have possibly lost from the war with the Ammonites.
The Spirit who powered Jephthah against Ammon is the same Spirit who powered the Ten Commandments with which Israel needed to defeat pride and hatred from within.
The Ephraimites during the time of Gideon are probably different from Jephthah’s Ephraimites. But trouble runs in the blood. Immediately after Solomon’s death, it would be another Ephraimite to lead the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel.
The next judge with more details is Samson, but we have three judges in between, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.
From Jephthah’s letter to the Ammonites, we can tell Israel has occupied the Promised Land for some three hundred plus years. These have been years of great unfaithfulness and rebellion.
Israel’s knowledge of their God was so low that you wonder if all they knew who they were.
Humanity doesn’t have an identity without God. Israel couldn’t tell herself from the enemy. The loss of forty-two thousand Israelites at the hands of themselves tells a story of confusion and insanity.
If the enemy doesn’t do it, we do it ourselves – unimaginable madness of life!
It’s a sad tale of life under sin. This is what a human leader can do – a little good which is quickly overtaken by a greater evil. They went to Jephthah; they should have gone to the LORD God! Aren’t we missing Calvary and the blessing that comes with it without sorrow?
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