URC Daily Devotion Saturday 25 April 2026
Judges 11:1-28
Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead’s wife also bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, ‘You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.’ Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him. After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. They said to Jephthah, ‘Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites.’ But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house? So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?’ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘Nevertheless, we have now turned back to you, so that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and become head over us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.’ Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.’ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘The Lord will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say.’ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah. Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, ‘What is there between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?’ The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, ‘Because Israel, on coming from Egypt, took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.’ Once again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said to him: ‘Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea[a] and came to Kadesh. Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Let us pass through your land”; but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. Then they journeyed through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, arrived on the eastern side of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. Israel then sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Let us pass through your land to our country.” But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel. Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has conquered the Amorites for the benefit of his people Israel. Do you intend to take their place? Should you not possess what your god Chemosh gives you to possess? And should we not be the ones to possess everything that the Lord our God has conquered for our benefit? Now are you any better than King Balak son of Zippor of Moab? Did he ever enter into conflict with Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that are along the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? It is not I who have sinned against you, but you are the one who does me wrong by making war on me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today for the Israelites or for the Ammonites.’ But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message that Jephthah sent him.
Reflection
Jephthah’s name derives from the verb ‘he opens’ and in today’s and Monday’s reflections we discover its significance in two different ways. His parentage is presented as being somewhat obscure – ‘Gilead’ implies someone from the town, rather than an identifiable individual; and he is rejected by the townsfolk, becoming an outlaw with a reputation as a warrior.
When the Ammonites attack, the Israelites ask Jephthah to return and lead their troops. He rightly points out that they’re the ones who drove him out! They respond by indicating that now they need him; and offer to make him head over the whole community, if he’ll do it.
Jephthah is the one who brings God into the conversation, saying he’ll accept their offer if God gives him victory over the Ammonites. The Gileadites don’t wait for this outcome – they make him head straightaway.
In verses 12-28 we encounter Jephthah trying a diplomatic approach to resolving the conflict – the ‘warrior’ doesn’t immediately go to war. He asks the Ammonite king what the problem is; and on hearing his position, Jephthah responds with a lengthy explanation of how the situation appears from Israel’s perspective. He refers to Chemosh (the Ammonite god) and Israel’s God as both acting on behalf of their respective people during the area’s past history. He suggests that God be asked to resolve the dispute between the two peoples now; but the Ammonite king rejects Jephthah’s attempt to make peace through dialogue and negotiation.
In this passage Jephthah opens his mouth as a peacemaker. He’s presented as a faithful man of God who is prepared to speak about God to his own society and a foreign king. He knows what God has done in the past and is ready to tell the story; and he’s also respectful of the Ammonite’s own faith traditions.
In this passage of text Jephthah is a reminder that we should be wary of prejudging any whom our society rejects; and he sets us a good example.
Prayer
God of all, we know you are impartial
and that you call individuals
from every section of society to fulfil your purposes.
Forgive us when we underestimate
the insights and abilities of those
whom our world pushes to the sidelines as ‘unacceptable’.
Help us to listen to their wisdom and faith,
born out of experience of your love.
Give us the confidence to speak more openly of you
in all our conversations and inspire us to be peacemakers.
In the name of Christ, Amen.