Value of Words

I was reading today in Judges. I had decided a while ago that I was going to read the entire Bible. I have read the whole NT before but there are a number of books in the OT that I was not really interested in. How horrible! I know - so I determined that I was going to read the entire Word of God. This has not been an easy task and I haven't gotten very far - yet. However, I have just started to use a tool that has made it "easier" for me - or at least it is removing some of my self-made barriers. The tool is e-Sword, which is a free program for your computer. How many of us have no problem reading on the computer? I know for me (and I don't fully understand why) it is easier for me to move the mouse and click to the next chapter rather than turn the page of an actual book. This may not make any sense to you but it is working for me.

Back to my first statement. I was reading today in Judges - chapters 10 and 11 specifically. To summarize - Israel is disobedient again. Persecution ensues. Meanwhile, Jephthah is an outcast – son of a harlot that is raised by his dad but his siblings despise him. God uses him to go against the children of Ammon and gives him victory. This is another example of how God uses the “least of these”.

But then there is this part where Jephthah makes a vow to God (11:30) and says that if he is given the victory that whatever comes out to meet him upon his return home, he will offer up as a sacrifice to God. What was he thinking?!? Obviously something living would walk out that door – and my guess is that it would be a family member! It was. His daughter. God did not stop him from fulfilling his vow – not like Abraham (although technically Abraham didn't make a vow regarding Issac - he was walking in obedience. I know. I know. It is just "blah" in my head). God allowed him to follow through. I don’t understand this. I don’t understand the seemingly foolishness of Jephthah's vow. I don't understand that God allowed the completion of it – allowed an innocent life to be sacrificed. The other thing is that she (Jephthah's daughter) willingly allowed her dad to kill her (the Bible doesn't say "kill" but it does say burnt offering and this was done by him so in my mind...kill) - after she mourned for 2 months. I am not a Biblical scholar - I don't have special training. I am simply a daughter of God who wants to know more - more about Him, more about life, etc. And to me, this is how it reads.

Now I go into analysis mode. So how is this real to me? BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PROMISE!!!! The tune of "be careful little mouths what you say..." is going through my head now. A children's sunday school song with big stakes meaning here. Your word is very important – don’t say things in a flippant or unbelieving manner. Maybe Jephthah thought it would be impossible for him to have the victory and therefore made a promise that he never believed he would have to fulfill! We need to KNOW that NOTHING is impossible for God. No-thing. No matter what we are going through. And that as we are going through the tough times in life to watch what we say. God will hold us to our word. Wow. So that is my life-lesson today and trust me...I know as useful as this is to me, it will be a benefit to teaching Jeter and Barber about what they speak and the value of words.