I Will Offer It Up As a Burnt Offering
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August 12, 2012 |
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 "Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, 'If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.'" (Judges 11:30-31)
In our lives, we sometimes make promises with others. If we break the promise, we may cause great loss to them and the trust relation might be hurt. On the contrary, when we keep the promise even when it means our loss, we can bear beautiful fruit.
The same applies in our relationship with God. If you have an appointment with the President of your country, you probably would not tell him, "I will be ten minutes late due to a personally urgent matter." In the same way, if you break or change the promise made with God who is the Creator and the Master of the heavens and the earth, just how rude do you think that would be!
Therefore, if we make a promise with God, we should keep it, even if it means great loss to us. Then, God will repay us with amazing blessings. Now, let's delve into how to keep a promise with God by taking a look the case of Jephthah in the Bible.
1. God gave a quick answer after listening to the Jephthah's vowed prayer
After the Israelites came out of Egypt, lived in the wilderness for 40 years, and entered the land flowing with milk and honey, many things happened. After Joshua, successor of Moses, died the Israelites soon betrayed God and served Baal and Asherah. There were no kings, but judges who led the Israelites in those days. At the time there was a judge named Jephthah.
Gilead was Jephthah's father and Jephthah was the son of a harlot. Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman" (Judges 11:1-2). He fled from his brothers and formed a nation with great power in Tob. When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander in the battle.
In the end, he fought with the sons of Ammon as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. In order to win in the battle, he gave a vowed prayer to God. He said he would offer up whatever comes first out of the doors of his house to meet him after the battle if God let him have the victory.
God answered his earnest prayer and gave the sons of Ammon into his hand. He struck them resulting in a very great slaughter. From Aroer to the entrance of Minnith- twenty cities- and as far as Abel-keramim the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel (Judges 11:32-33). God knew his inner heart and that he would keep his vow before Him, so He gave the great blessing as an answer to his prayer.
2. Jephthah valued the vow with God more than his beloved child
Who do you think was the one who came out of his house first to welcome him when he returned to his house after the victory? It was not his slave or other servant. It was his only daughter. She heard the news of victory and came out to greet him with tambourines and with dancing. Seeing her, he tore his clothes and grieved.
Although it was his one and only daughter, he couldn't change his vow before God. And he said, "I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back." And his daughter also said, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD; do to me as you have said, since the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon."
Some might wonder why God accepted the horrible vowed prayer. But it was not God who wanted Jephthah to offer up a human being as a burn offering and He didn't tell him to give such a vowed prayer. It was Jephthah who gave such a vowed prayer in haste before the battle.
In the Bible, God commanded Abraham to offer up his only son, Isaac as a burnt offering. Then, God prepared a ram beforehand and stopped him from killing Isaac. But why didn't God do the same thing to Jephthah? This is because God wanted us to realize how important it is to keep a promise with God.
Abraham and Jephthah both might have felt it easier to offer themselves rather than to give their one and only child. But they valued their relationship of trust and love towards God more than their beloved children, so they could offer them up to Him.
3. What we should keep in mind in a vowed prayer and the importance of fulfilling it
Here, we should realize that we must not make a promise or a vow carelessly even when we are in urgent and desperate situations. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Even if you don't vow something, you must not say something without care. And if you have promised to do something before God, you must keep it whether it is small or not.
Deuteronomy 23:21 reads, "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you." It emphasizes on the significance of paying a vow to God. Numbers 30:2 reads, "If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth."
So Jephthah offered up his one and only daughter as a burnt offering. In other words, he separated her flesh from bones just like he had done to animals and offered her up to God as a burnt offering. God had known this heart of Jephthah, so He listened to his vowed prayer and gave him an answer. He knew that he would keep the promise even when it was harmful to him.
Then, do you keep the promise with brothers in faith, the worldly people, or yourselves as well as God? Keeping promises proves that you don't have lying hearts or crafty hearts. Those who keep promises well will be recognized and loved by God.
4. Blessings that follow after keeping a vow
When we keep a vow before God, He will repay us with amazing blessings. Even if it's hard to keep it, if you make up your mind and keep it quickly, you will receive blessings for sure. But if you keep it slowly, the blessing will also slow down. And if you don't even keep your vow, it will make a wall of sin against God. So your prayer will not be accepted by God even though you pray. Thus, it's not proper to make a vow on impulse with greed.
Then, you may ask, "Isn't it better not to make a vow or a promise?" But if you want to show your love for God or your faith to God, or you are strongly guided by the Holy Spirit, it's good to obey.
Let's say the Holy Spirit guides you to give such and such amount of offering to God but you think 'I will give when my situation is better' and ignore His voice. Then, you will miss a golden opportunity to grow up in faith and receive great blessing. Therefore, we have to discern the voice of the Spirit and our own greed.
God is pleased with people who keep their vow and promise without making any excuse in any situation. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will keep vows that you made out of your free will and receive great love and blessings from God.
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