Series: Greater Things “Trusting God in the Pain” Judges 11:1-33 As we read through Hebrews 11, we see name after name and story after story of men and women who lived by faith. The chapter is filled with what seems like a “Who’s Who” of important Bible characters. Then, in the middle of this great list, God tells us about a man that has mostly been forgotten. In fact, you may have been in church for years and never even heard his name or heard his story. His name is Jephthah and his story is powerful. Hebrews 11:32-34 says, “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.” I imagine that most of us have never heard a message about this forgotten man Jephthah. He seems to come from nowhere to be mentioned in Hebrews 11, but a close look at Judges 11 explains the story that I want to share with you today. Jephthah has to be the most unlikely candidate to be mentioned in the Great Hall of Faith. He wasn’t from a great family. He wasn’t the well-loved son of a Godly father. He didn’t have a deep spiritual heritage and, as we learn later, he had no descendants to carry on his legacy after he was gone. He didn’t have a long line of people who had invested in his life who helped him out along the way. In fact, he didn’t have an easy life at all. He is the exact opposite of Samson, who was set up for success early on. Jephthah had none of that. Instead, Jephthah had a great deal of pain and turmoil. Literally the entire record of his life in Judges 11-12 seems to go from one hardship to another to another. Yet through it all we find that God was faithful to accomplish His purposes. The story of Jephthah’s life is a powerful encouragement that we can trust God even in the midst of the pains and heartaches of life. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done, or what’s been done to you – you matter to God, you can know God, and can be used by God to accomplish His purposes for your life. Read Text (Judges 11:1-28) This morning we have read a very unfamiliar passage of Scripture. It may seem strange and out of place and you may wonder, “What in the world does this have to say to me? How can this possibly relate to me today? What can I get from a story of a guy who lived and died 1,000 years before the birth of Christ?” I believe that God has much to teach us through this passage of Scripture about trusting Him with the pains in our life. As we study, I want us to remember several key truths: I. We All Face Pain in Life (vs. 1-7a) I don’t like it, and I know you don’t as well, but we all face pain in this life. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, everything was good and perfect. However, Adam and Eve sinned against God and, as a result, sin entered the world and passed on to every single one of us. Today we are still living in this fallen, sin-cursed world. We see the evidences of 2 pain and brokenness all around us. This is not how God wanted it to be, but this is the clear result of man’s sin. Because we are sinners living in a sinful world, every single one of us experience some measure of pain. Nobody gets a free pass. Job 14:1 says, “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil.” In other words, in our lives we all face difficulties and trials. Jesus warned His disciples about this very truth in John 16:33a saying, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation…” There are times that we face trials and tribulations because we have done something wrong. When we do things that we shouldn’t, we can surely anticipate that there will be consequences, like we saw in Samson’s life last week. However, not all trials are consequences of our bad actions. There are some pains that we experience simply because we are imperfect humans living in an imperfect world. As a result, pain comes. We fall and hurt ourselves, we get the bad news of disease, we have a loved one who passes away, etc. Then some pains we face because people sin against us. A friend betrays us, a spouse leaves us, a leader disappoints us, etc. I hope you get the point. We all face pain. It doesn’t matter your name, your position, your wealth, your power, your influence - we all experience pain. The Bible tells us that Jephthah was a valiant warrior. We don’t know how he arrived at this, but we understand clearly that he was a soldier of great boldness. In fact, the root of the word that is used suggests that he was “heroic.” He was apparently well-known for this, but pain is no respecter of persons. Verse 1 says, “Jephthah was a valiant warrior, but….” Pain didn’t care about his position. Jephthah would experience great pain not because of his actions, but because of the actions of others. He experienced three types of pain: A. A Painful Reproach (vs. 1) The Bible tells us that Jephthah’s dad was named Gilead. Gilead had a wife and with that wife he had several sons. This gave the appearance of a picture-perfect family. However, upon closer examination we learn that Jephthah was not the son of his father’s wife. Instead, he was the son of prostitute. In other words, at some point in Gilead’s life he spent time with a prostitute, and she conceived and gave birth to Jephthah. Needless to say, this wasn’t the healthiest or easiest of beginnings. I think it is important to point out here that every child is a gift from God. Psalm 127:3 states, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Every child is given by God and is wonderfully made by Him. No child can control how they are conceived or brought into the world. No child has any power to determine what kind of home they are brought into. This was the case with Jephthah. He didn’t ask for this, didn’t plan for this, and did nothing wrong. However, being born as a result of his father’s infidelity carried a certain stigma with it. Gilead acknowledged the child and took him into his home to provide for him, but these actions of provision could do nothing to take away the pain that his actions caused. Jephthah faced the pain of being raised without his biological mother and he would face the pain of others who would look down upon him. Additionally, nowhere do we read of Gilead’s love for him or protection of him. This was a painful place to be. B. A Painful Rejection (vs. 2-3) 3

So, picture the scene as Jephthah grows up in a household where he constantly felt out of place. He was the third-wheel. His biological mother isn’t around, his adoptive mother isn’t very affectionate, his father is frankly still dealing with the shame and embarrassment of the past, and his brothers don’t include him. He is the odd man out, and it appears that the father did nothing to try to mend this. Eventually the boys grow up and the dad dies. It is then that the brothers reveal their true heart towards Jephthah. With the patriarch’s death came the dividing of the inheritance. Everyone directly related to the father should have been a recipient of the blessing, but notice what the brothers did. They said, “You shall not have an inheritance in OUR father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” There is much that we miss in our translation from the original language, but we can still get a grasp of it. They are saying, “Jephthah, you have no part in this inheritance. You are OUR father’s illegitimate son. You should have never been born. You are a disgrace to our father’s name and our family. After all, you are the son of another woman.” The word for “another” here means “strange.” In other words, “We have no part with her. She is unclean and better left unknown. We don’t want to know anything about her and don’t want to have anything to do with you.” This whole scene is painful. They rejected him from the inheritance, rejected him from the family, and even rejected him from the community. The text says, “They drove Jephthah out….” The pain of rejection strikes us at the core of who we are, and family pain seems to be the worse. This is where Jephthah was. C. A Painful Remembrance (vs. 7a) In verse 3 we see that Jephthah left his hometown and fled to the land of Tob about 80 miles north, which was near Syria. He was a valiant warrior that stood out among the crowd. Along the way he met many who were idle looking for something to do. They were adventurers in need of an adventure. Combined with a valiant warrior, these men teamed up with Jephthah to form a military brigade. They would fight off attackers, seek to conquer unknown territories, they were ready for the next adventure whatever that may be. After several years had passed, one day the elders of Gilead came looking for Jephthah. They needed his help because the powerful Ammonite army was causing problems for the Israelites. When they asked for his help, he was shocked. Why? He states in verse 7b, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” Think about this for a moment. His brothers were the ones who rejected him and left him out of the inheritance. His brothers were the ones who drove him out of his hometown, but how did they do this? The elders at that time would help settle various disputes. They were like a judge today, helping to determine what is right and best. Apparently, his brothers had taken the situation before the elders of Gilead so that the whole matter would be heard in the public square. Needless to say, this would have brought shame, humiliation, and embarrassment to Jephthah. **ILL: Can you imagine what it would be like if we told every one of your family secrets from the stage today? I imagine that it would be painful. The elders heard the brothers’ version of events and agreed that Jephthah had to go. Here is Jephthah years later as a grown man - a bold, courageous, reputable man - yet the pain was so real that he remembered it all like it was yesterday. 4

We all face pain in this life. Some of you hear this today and feel like I might as well be talking about you because you can so easily relate, but don’t lose hope. Jephthah may have been rejected by man, but he wasn’t rejected by God. God knew exactly where he was and had a plan for him. Jephthah wasn’t the first or the last to suffer. Even Jesus went through pains and trials. Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Jesus faced these same things as Jephthah and overcame them. He faced the same painful reproach. People said all sorts of things about Mary and Joseph. People looked down at Him all the time because He was from Nazareth, the poorest land in the entire region. He faced the pain of rejection as the very ones He came to save cried, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Jesus faced the pain of remembrance when, after He rose again, He reminded the disciples that He indeed had to suffer and die. His victory didn’t mean that He forgot the painful price He endured. How can we have hope in the middle of our pain? II. We Must Trust God’s Providential Plan (vs. 7b-33) We don’t always see what God is doing or how He is working. In fact, in most circumstances we rarely, if ever, have God’s perspective of the situation. To us, things don’t make sense and there seems to be little order or plan, but from God’s perspective, He is working to accomplish His purposes. **ILL: God is weaving a tapestry with our lives. One day a little boy sat playing at his mother’s feet as she, too, was weaving a tapestry. From his view, all he could see was the loose strings everywhere. They were colorful, but they were chaotic. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to what was going on. Finally, he couldn’t stay silent. He blurted out, “Mommy, it looks ugly from down here.” She said, “That’s okay honey, you don’t need to worry about it. From where I sit, I can see that it’s one of my finest works.” She saw everything for what she was creating it to be. This is the same way with us. We must learn to trust the plans of God. Romans 8:28 assures us, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” This is a wonderful word of promise to know that God works all things, the good and the bad, for our good and to accomplish His purpose. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” Yes, we will go through pain and circumstances, but if we know the Lord and trust Him, He will also comfort us and work in us and through us for His glory. In fact, He works through the trials to further equip us and prepare us for the Greater Things that are in store. The key to this is that we must be willing the trust the Lord. I’m sure that Jephthah felt forgotten. I’m sure he wondered, “God, where are You right now? God, why are You allowing this to happen to me?” None of us desire these times of pain, but I assure you that in these moments God is preparing us for the service that He has for us and making our troubles work for our good, our growth, and His glory. Jephthah was able to grow and see good because he trusted in God. How did he do this? A. Jephthah Recognized His Dependence on the Lord (vs. 7b-11) 5

We can understand what is happening. Jephthah the bold warrior has been kicked out of his home and his hometown. He has been despised and looked down upon simply because of who he was born to and how it came about. He is now a grown man and the Israelites are in need. They are in need because the Ammonites are pressing in and fighting against the Israelites. The Ammonites were a cruel, pagan people. They worshipped several gods, most notably Molech, a fire god, that was created with arms that were extended. In their worship to their pagan god they would offer children as a sacrifice. You can always tell the evil of a culture by how they treat their babies, born or unborn. Amos 1:13 tells us how they treated the unborn and their culture tells how they treated them once they were born. Needless to say, these were an evil people who detested the Israelites. But, once again, as we see in the book of Judges, it appears that Jephthah and the Israelites were no match for the Ammonites. After all, the Israelites didn’t even have a military general. They sought Jephthah because he was the most courageous man they could find. Jephthah first clarified what the leaders were asking for. They admitted that they needed his help, but Jephthah knew that he needed help from Another. He needed God. In verse 9 he said, “If the Lord gives them up to me.” Please understand that Jephthah is not doubting God’s ability. He just isn’t sure if God is going to give the victory and he is calling them to get their attention back on God. He knew that the Israelites had sinned against God. In fact, the way that they had treated Jephthah was merely a picture of how they had treated God. They had abandoned God years earlier and basically told Him to take a hike. They were fine doing whatever they wanted while everything was good. Now that the enemy is breathing down their neck they know they need help, so they look to Jephthah, but Jephthah is trying to get them to remember the Lord. He is saying, “Whether or not we are victorious will depend on the grace and mercy of God.” In other words, “We can’t win it. We can’t do it. We don’t have the power, the skills, the men, the resources, the weaponry, etc. to win this impossible battle. The only way we can have the victory is to depend on the Lord.” At every comment in these negotiations, Jephthah is emphasizing the Lord. The leaders of Israel agreed to follow Jephthah and make him the head and the chief over the people. Then notice the very first thing he did in verse 11b. “Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.” This means that immediately after his appointment to his new position, he got away from the crowd and went to the Lord in prayer. The phrase “spoke all his words” means that he “spread all the matter” out before the Lord. It’s like he went to the Lord and he laid everything out on the table. “Lord, here is what I am thinking, here are my plans, here are the problems, here are my fears, here are my concerns, here are my needs, etc.” He is committing everything to God and is unwilling to do anything without His direction and favor. Proverbs 3:5-6 calls us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Trust in the Lord with your whole heart and don’t rely on your own logic and thinking. In everything you do, in every step you take, look to the Lord and He will make your path straight. This is what Jephthah did. B. Jephthah Relied on the Truth (vs. 12-26) 6

Jephthah, the new leader, is brought in to face the enemy head on. We quickly see that he was not a hotheaded man who was looking for war. In fact, he tried to make peaceful negotiations with the Ammonites. The Ammonites were the clear aggressors here. Neither Jephthah nor the Israelites had brought on this hostility. So, Jephthah asked why they were acting so aggressively. The king of Ammon did what the enemy does to us, he falsely accused and arrogantly demanded. He said, “Israel stole our land when they came up from Egypt…Now give us back what belongs to us.” Without the background of this text, this sounds somewhat reasonable. However, this entire statement was based on a lie. This is exactly what Satan does to us. Jesus spoke of Satan in John 8:44 saying, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Jesus could say that from experience. Satan lied to Jesus to tempt Him to sin. Surely if he would do that to Jesus, he would do that to us. It is important for us to be equipped with the truth or else we will likely give in to the lies. The truth is that things were very different than what the Ammonite king had suggested. The truth was that the Israelites had not stolen the land from the Ammonites. The truth was that 300 years earlier when the Israelites were leaving Egypt they were going to the promised land of Canaan. In order to get there, they had to pass through the land of Ammon. Moses and the Israelites requested permission to pass through the land safely. In fact, they even guaranteed that they wouldn’t even drink water from their wells. They were peacefully trying to get from one side of the land to the other. The Israelites were in no position or shape to fight a battle and they had no intentions of doing so. However, Sihon the king of Ammon declined their request and then he called for all his army to gather against the Israelites. In his mind, he thought that these weakened former slaves from Egypt were in a perfect vulnerable place to be wiped out. So, the Ammonite king unexpectedly pronounced war upon Israel and began attacking them. However, God was on the Israelites’ side. They may not have been ready, and they weren’t anticipating the battle, but God gave them the victory anyway. Notice that Jephthah knows the truth and he tells it to the enemy. The truth is that they didn’t steal the land. God gave them the land by His divine plan and power. In fact, four different times in this passage, he gives God all the glory for the victories they had won. My simple point is that Jephthah didn’t give in to the lies of the enemy. He knew the truth, believed the truth, firmly grasped the truth, and acted on the truth. Those who are wise will do the same. Jephthah’s life mimicked the words of David in Psalm 26:1-3, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.” C. Jephthah Released the Outcome to the Lord (vs. 27-28) There are several things that stand out to me in verse 27. First, Jephthah had a clear conscience. He had laid the situation out before God and had sought His direction. He had no conviction in this situation that he had sinned against God. Also, he knew the truth about 7 the past and clearly saw how God had worked on Israel’s behalf to give them this land. He knew that something wasn’t right. The whole situation – the timing of the attack, the false accusation, the boastful demand – it was all very fishy. Second, he stated clearly, “You are doing me wrong by making war against me.” He saw it for what it was. He couldn’t control or prevent the enemy’s attacks. However, he could respond in a way that pleased God. So, what do you do when the enemy attacks? What do you do when he tries to steal, kill, and destroy? You submit yourself to the Lord and release it to Him. Please understand that this doesn’t mean that you don’t engage in the battle. We’ll see in a moment that this isn’t a passive release. This is a wholehearted surrender that God desires of those He will work through. Jephthah is saying, “God is God and I am not. I trust Him, so I give it to Him.” Jephthah was not neglecting his responsibility. He was simply releasing the right to judge, control, or manipulate the situation. He was believing that God’s plans would prevail and would show what is right and true. D. Jephthah Resolved to Go Forward in Faith (vs. 29-33) Read Text (Judges 11:29-33) Jephthah had come a long way. His past was messy and painful. There was no good in going back there because he had done nothing wrong that needed to be confessed or restored. Now focused on what God has equipped him to do, he is in a position to protect the people of God from the enemy’s false accusations and aggressive attacks. It would have been easy in this moment to let fear and doubt creep in, “Wait a second, who am I to go up to fight the Ammonites? What experience do I have to help me get the victory? How can I do this?” There were many doubts and fears that could have prevented Jephthah from going forward. Truthfully, there are always doubts and fears to hinder us from saying “Yes” to the Lord. We are praying about sending 50 short-term missionaries in 2020. Many of us will be led to go, but then the doubts and fears will begin to creep in. We are praying about the Greater Things campaign and seeking how God would have us to serve and what He would have us to give. As He leads us, the doubts and fears will creep in. “God, I can’t give that. How am I going to pay the bills? God, I can’t serve in that capacity. I don’t have the time. I’m sure someone else can do the job.” God is going to lead many of us out of our comfort zones this coming year to share the Gospel with people close to us and when He does the doubts and fears will come. What are we to do in those moments? We are to move forward in faith – trusting and obeying God no matter the consequence. Remember Hebrews 11:6a says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Let’s live our life in a way that pleases God. That’s what Jephthah did, mostly. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, leading him and moving him closer and closer to the place of victory. From this point forward we read nothing about his pain and nothing about his past. We simply see him as the victorious warrior. In other words, he trusted that God could use him regardless of his past. He trusted that God could use him regardless of his pain. He trusted that God could use him regardless of the many obstacles against him, not the least of which was the Ammonite army that awaited him. 8

How was he able to move forward in faith? Because he trusted that God was greater than all of these things. Verse 32b sums it up plainly, “The Lord gave them into his hand.” To be clear, Jephthah was not a perfect man. In fact, before this battle he acted rashly and made a vow to God without seeking God’s wisdom or direction. His premature action was very costly and painful. Yet, there is no doubt that he had acted in great faith and God blessed him for doing so. The key to Jephthah’s victory and ours is the same. 1 John 5:4b says, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” This is what Jesus was referring to in John 16. Remember that passage from the beginning of the message? In John 16:33 Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Jephthah was able to overcome his past and overcome the enemy because he placed his faith in the One who was greater than both. Today, God is calling us to do to the same. Will you today place your faith and trust completely in Jesus so that you, too, might experience His victory.