Jephthah

I'm really enjoying the current Bible reading plan I'm working through right now. I appreciate it because it helps keep me accountable to read through the Bible in a year. I haven't done it for a couple of years and I'm really getting a lot out of it. If you're like me, if you don't have a plan it won't get done :)

I was reading through Judges the other day when I came across the story of Jephthah. At a time when Israel was in bondage to the Philistines and Ammonites because they were worshipping idols and other gods, the Lord raised up Jephthah to deliver them. I like how the Bible first describes him. It says "Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute." Isn't it awesome to see that some of the people most greatly used by God came from the most unlikely situations? Jephthah didn't allow his scandalous heritage to keep him from becoming a mighty warrior in God's sight. In Judges 11:3 his family actually drove him away because he was the son of a prostitute!

I just love his reaction. "So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him." I love that!

Jephthah eventually led Israel out of Ammonite captivity. I think the Christian leaders of the future won't necessarily be the ones with the best heritage, but the ones willing to stand up and become warriors despite what the world thinks of them. Oh that God would raise up leaders and adventurers to bring freedom to people shackled in darkness!

(I think I might have to preach on this sometime :)