By: Beth White
Having grown up in the church my whole life, I have seen a lot of good. I have heard amazing stories and personally witnessed God doing incredible works through His people. But I have also seen the incredible failure of those same people. Iโve been in churches where my friends and family members have been hurt by pastors, and where staff members have been caught in infidelity. I have looked up to leaders and speakers who were eventually convicted of grave sins, and I have seen Christian institutions and organizations with great potential to do good be corrupted by power or greed.ย
When Godโs people fail us in these ways, it is easy to get discouraged. Sin runs deep within society, and even deeper within the human heart. Sometimes it feels hard to believe that God is actually at work, or that true redemption is possible. But God is not surprised by the grave effects of sin. In fact, His people have been plagued by it since Adam and Eve first rebelled in Eden. He did not abandon His people then, and He will not abandon us now.ย
The tragic story of Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11 reveals the deep effects of sin. In Judges 10, we see that the Israelites had again turned from God and began worshiping false gods. As a consequence, God allows another nation to rise up and oppress them. In turn, they repent and beg God for deliverance. Eventually, a judgeโa new leader named Jephthahโrises up to lead the Israelites to victory. Initially, everything looks great. The other nation could not stand against Jephthahโs army. He appears to know God and seemingly has the potential to lead Israel back to true worship. But in the end, we see his failure and his ignorance. Lacking trust in God, he hastily tries to bribe Himโmaking a vow that after he wins victory in battle, he will sacrifice whoever comes out of his house first. That person happens to be his young daughterโhis only child. He cries, โNo! Not my daughter!โ But he has โgiven [his] word to the Lord and cannot take it backโ (Judges 11:35). Tragically, Jephthah follows through on his vow.ย
The story is horrifying and forces us to reckon with the deep and invasive nature of sin. The author of Judges does not give much commentary on the story, but we are told that the sacrifice of Jephthahโs daughter is something that ought to be mourned, and we know for a fact that God strongly condemned human sacrifice (Deuteronomy 18:9โ10). So Jephthah either sinned in making the vow in the first place, or sinned by carrying it out. Whatever the case, we know that how this story played out was a result of sinโs deep effects. Israel had turned from God, and even their best leaders were tainted and corrupted by sin.ย
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In the same way, all humanity has turned from God. We worship false gods and build idols out of our money, our possessions, our relationships, or even our own selves. Sin runs deep in all of usโeven our best leaders and organizations. We are all too familiar with this reality, as we see failure after failure coming from Godโs people. But God did not abandon His people in Jephthahโs day, nor does He abandon us in our day. He has proven His faithfulness through Jesus Christ, and has guaranteed redemption through His death and resurrection. Sin does run deep, but Godโs grace, love, and redemption run even deeper.ย
Jephthah came on the scene in Judges with great potential, but his story ended in great failure. Christ, however, came on the scene with great potential and His story ended in great success. Jephthahโs story ended with a sinful sacrifice that could have been prevented, but Jesusโs story ended with a selfless sacrifice that was absolutely necessary to bring redemption to all places marked by sin. Jesus took all our sin, all our pain, and all our grief, and put it to death on the cross. Then He was raised to life again to demonstrate His victory over that sin, pain, and death.ย
While stories like Judges 11 show us the deep effects of sin, the story of Jesusโs death and resurrection shows us the deep effects of Godโs grace and love, which guarantees that all thingsโincluding the unjust death of Jephthahโs daughter, and the failures of church leaders and Christian organizationsโwill see justice and redemption when Jesus finally returns, brings us into eternity, and sets all things right.ย ย
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