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Jephthah for President
Judges 11 This 9th judge of We need more statesmen of
character. As we said last time,
a statesman makes decisions based on what's best for the next generation...a
politician makes decisions based on what's best for the next election. Where are the people of
principle, with core values which cannot be blown about by the winds of the
polls and popular opinion? Jephthah is a great example
for us all... Hebrews 11:32 Jephthah had character in
the face of difficulty, and courage in the face of danger.
1.
Character in the face of difficulty. v. 1-3 If anyone had an excuse to blame
their failure on their past or their upbringing it was this guy.
The illegitimate child of a prostitute.
Really there is no such thing as an illegitimate child, just
illegitimate parents. Abortion
says, "this child is not wanted, so this child is not valuable."
But the circumstances in which a child is conceived does not
determine the value of the innocent child.
This is why we as Christians reject abortion even in the extreme
cases of rape or incest, because it's all about the child, not the parents.
In the case of rape you don't kill the child, you kill the rapist,
according to the Bible! But because of the
circumstances of his birth, Jephthah was branded from birth with a stigma,
was excommunicated, ostracized, and exiled by his own half brothers. v. 2 "You're not
welcome here...we disown you...you aren't part of this family", and they
threw him out. v. 3 He departed to
another place, got with the wrong crowd, and became what we might call a
'gang leader.' He's leading this
band of criminals and desperados.
So he's the son of a
harlot, ostracized from his family, a gang leader, and yet in the end he's
named to God's hall of faith!
Only God can do such a thing. And your past does not have
to determine your future! You
can be unshackled from your past, you can rise above your past, you can get
past your past. You may have no
control over the character of your ancestors, you can determine the destiny
of your descendants. Stop making excuses and
blaming your circumstances for your lack of achievement.
Stop assigning fault and start taking personal responsibility. All Jephthah ever knew was
failure, rejection, and poverty.
But if he were in We do people a great
disservice when we allow them to use their background as an excuse for
failure. Some of the most
influential people in history were folks who refused to be shackled by their
past. ill.--Helen Keller, the
deaf/blind girl who learned to communicate, was taught by Anne Sullivan.
How did she teach her?
Especially when at age 5 Anne had an illness that left her nearly blind.
A few years later her mother died, and 2 years later she was
abandoned by her father. She was
sent to an orphanage. In those
days they didn't have programs for her, so they fed her and let her sit and
rot. But she longed to go to
school and learn like the other children.
Her persistence caught the
attention of a visiting man, a state inspector.
His heart was gripped, and he paid personally to send her to the
Perkins Institute for the Blind, in Up to that time Helen's
family had let her live like an animal, walking around the family table just
grabbing food off their plates and shoving it in her mouth.
There was no discipline, no control, and no efforts to teach or train
her. But Anne Sullivan gave her
time, her love, and her heart to train and nurture Helen to the point she
could not only communicate but get a college education, and eventually
travel worldwide speaking w/ Mrs. Sullivan, raising millions of dollars for
the American Association for the Blind. Now there's 2 ladies who
refused to let their past control their future! And you can overcome your
past, no matter what it is, with God's help. By the way, are we sure
that we want to start down the slippery slope as a nation of having 'panels'
making our health decisions, deciding who is worthy or not and what their
potential is? Another illustration:
We no longer have drunks in
We don't do a drunk a favor
when we tell them they have a disease...for then we relieve them of personal
responsibility. The same is true
for perverts, we say they were born with an "alternate proclivity."
Were they really born that way?
The Bible says yes in a way, we are all born with a sin nature, we
all make behavioral choices, and we need to take responsibility for it, get
God's help with it, and get victory over it!
But if you never get the right diagnosis you can never find the right
cure. Certainly our environment
can influence us to make bad choices, but the lesson of Jephthah is that you
can rise above that and make the right choices! Jephthah could have
qualified as a victim, but he didn't go that route.
If your birth wasn't a good
one, take courage, you can be born again.
God's grace is plentiful, His forgiveness is free, and His strength
is sufficient for your future!
And even if your background is dark, God can use that as a black velvet
background on which to display you as a diamond of His grace!
1.
Character in the face of difficulty...
2.
Courage in the face of danger. v. 4-11
The Ammonites are now attacking the nation of v. 7 What the people
in ill.--During the Korean War
an atheist soldier was in a foxhole and bullets were flying above him.
Some of his comrades were fallen in the field nearby, and were not
dead. His Commanding Officer
ordered him to leave his foxhole and rescue some of his comrades.
When his CO turned his back he hunkered down and looked at his watch.
2 others in the foxhole watched and wondered why he wasn't obeying.
A few minutes later the CO returned and said, "Hey boy, didn't I tell
you to get out of this hole and help your fellow soldiers?"
"Yes sir, will do!" The
CO walked away, and he again hunkered down and looked at his watch.
His buddies in the hole wondered if he was sick or afraid or what.
The 3rd time his CO appeared again, this time livid, and repeated his
command along with the threat of punishment if not followed.
The soldier apologized, and acted like he was leaving the foxhole as
his CO moved along to others.
But again he looked at his watch for about 2 minutes.
Then, like a bolt of lightning he fired out of that foxhole and went
out where the battle was raging and by the time it was over he had
successfully rescued several of his fallen comrades.
When it was all over one of
his buddies asked, "I noticed that you waited so long to obey that command,
and kept looking at your watch.
Why?" The young atheist said,
"I'm ashamed to tell you why. I
don't believe in God, but my mother does, and the day I left she gave me a
Bible and inside she wrote down several different hours at which she would
be praying for me. I was waiting
for one of those hours to strike, because I knew that under the cover of my
mother's prayers, whatever happened would be ok." That big strapping soldier,
armed to the teeth, claiming he didn't believe until he was in danger - he
is a microcosm of what is happening in ill.--Just after 9/11,
Billy Graham's daughter, Anne, was interviewed by the Early Show on CBS.
The interviewer asked, "How could God let something like this
happen?" She answered, "I
believe God is deeply saddened by this just as we are, but for years we've
been telling God to get out of our schools, our government, and our lives,
and being the gentleman that He is I believe He has calmly backed out.
How can we expect God to give us His blessing and protection if we
demand that He leave us alone?"
Isn't it strange how the
world trashes God and then wonders where He is when trouble comes? Jephthah said, so, now you
need me, huh? And if I help you,
will you let me be your leader?
[v. 9] And God is asking If we want God to be our
Savior He must also be our Sovereign!
Jephthah maintained his
obedient faith and courageous character without compromise, and in the end
of the story passes the ultimate test of integrity and keeps his word in the
most difficult of circumstances.
He followed God even when it hurt and cost him dearly.
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