A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

paternity could not always be established with any degree of certainty. In this respect, Jephthah
may have been one of the fortunate ones in that his father was identified.
Such regression to idolatry on the part of Israel again stirred the anger of the Lord. The
result this time was an eighteen-year oppression of the land by both the Philistines and the
Ammonites. But toward the end of this period, Israel finally began to realize the error of their
ways, and repented. “So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord.
And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel” (v. 16). After they had dealt with the
foreign gods, they were ready to deal with their foreign oppressors. Very soon their opportunity
to do so would come.
The Ammonites gathered their army together and set up a military camp in the city of
Gilead. The people and leaders of that city fled their homes and gathered together in Mizpah.
This left plenty of room between the two armies as Israel attempted to resolve an important
problem. “And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, `Who is this man who will
begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead’
“ (v. 18).
For some time the problem remained unresolved. There may have been men in the city
who would have liked to become the tribal head, there were none prepared to take the risk
required in going to war against the army of Ammon. But events beyond their control were
forcing the elders of the city to take a course of action they might only think of under desperate
circumstances. “Now it came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against
Israel” (11:4).
The invasion of the Ammonites created a crisis which could only be met by decisive
action. What had been something of a topic of discussion now became an absolute necessity.
They needed a leader to wage war against the aggressor. They needed a leader who knew
something about battle strategy and had some experience on the battlefield. They needed
someone who had proven himself valiant in conflict, someone they could follow confidently into
battle. In all the time they discussed the problem of a leader, there was only one man who
seemed to qualify, as much as they disliked the thought of him being their leader. But something
had to be done, and done quickly. “And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against
Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob” (v. 5).
When Jephthah had been run out of town by his half-brothers, he had gone to the town of
Tob not far away from Ramoth Gilead. He became engaged in several military conflicts and
earned the coveted title “mighty man of valor” (v. 1). A number of men of low character began
following Jephthah as their leader and seem to have formed something of a standing army. Now
that the Ammonites were invading Israel, those same half-brothers, now the elders of the city,
were coming to him for help.
Jephthah did not let the elders forget their former treatment of him. But the men of the
city had changed their minds about Jephthah. In their distress, they needed him more than they
disliked him. They affirmed they would make Jephthah head of Gilead if he would defeat the
Ammonites. When Jephthah had confirmed their promise to make him head of Gilead, he returned
with the elders to Mizpah.
In his initial dealings with the Ammonites over the conflict, Jephthah attempted the
diplomatic approach. He sent messengers to the king of Ammon to discern the reason for the
sudden conflict. The battle was claimed to be the result of a boundary dispute. According to the
king of Ammon, “Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as
far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore those lands peaceably” (v. 13). The