Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Tola, Jair, and Jephthah are listed in Judges 10.  We only start the story of Jephthah.  The people of Gilead are looking for a leader because the Ammonites and preparing to attack them.

Judges 11 tells more of the story of Jephthah and Gilead.  His father had other sons by his wife, but Jephthah’s mother was not married to his father.  Another fine family in the Israelite lines.  These half-brothers ran him out of town.

Later the town fathers decided to override the sibling rivalry.  They offer Jephthah the leadership of Gilead, if he will lead the attack on their enemies.  He leads the Jews to victory over the Ammonites.  He has made a vow to offer a human sacrifice of the first person to welcome him home after his return.  That person is his daughter.  He is going to go back on his vow to Jehovah.  She convinces her father to give her time to mourn her early death and then return to die at his hand.  Not exactly what we would think of as Godly behavior.

The story of Jephthah ends in Judges 12.  Ephraim and Gilead fight each other over the failure of Jephthah to allow Ephraim’s descendants to fight with them.  Gilead defeated Ephraim.

Ibzon, Elan, and Abdon are three more judges that ruled during the time before Israel had a king.  The cycle continues with Israel rejecting God, being overtaken by others and crying to Jehovah for a leader.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger