Judges 11 It Used To Be Said A Man Is As Good As His Word
Judges 11
It used to be said a man is as good as his word.
Now a days people will make an agreement with you and they do not intend to keep it or feel that they can keep it, or don’t keep it. The idea of keeping your word, covenant, that you have made with someone is not the thinking of the church world today.
We will read through Judges the eleventh chapter. I want to remind you about renewing your mind. Thought the King James version of the bible most of the time (over 6000 times) when you see the word Lord its saying the Covenant Keeping God.
Judges 11:30-38 (KJV) 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD (the covenant keeping god), and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S (the Covenant Keeping God’s), and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD (the Covenant Keeping God) delivered them into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD (the Covenant keeping god), and I cannot go back. 36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD (the covenant keeping god), do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD (the Covenant Keeping God) hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. 38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
The Jews still celebrate this, that Jephthah’s daughter, was going to be dedicated to the Lord for life. She would not marry, have no sexual pleasure or have children. Having children was very important to carry on the name of a family. Some have taught that he took her and made a type of human sacrifice which would have been totally against the will of the Lord. The Jews sacrificed to Moloch which was a sin. If you look in Leviticus the eighteenth chapter you can read where they sacrificed unto Moloch.
Leviticus 18:21 (KJV) 21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God (Creator): I am the LORD (the covenant keeping god).
The Lord is saying do not sacrifice your children. Moloch was in the valley of Tophet. Tophet meant the drum roll that drowned out the screams of their children that they laid on the arms of Moloch. Moloch was a brass idol with fire in the belly. They would build a very hot fire in the belly of Moloch and the children would roll down into the fire. This is the background of the people who believed in reincarnation. They believed once the child passed through the fire they would be reincarnated into something else. There are different religions that believe in reincarnation. The Hindu’s are an example.
If you read any of the news that is going on in India they are killing Muslims because they will eat the cattle. They believe the cattle may be someone who has been reincarnated.
Leviticus 20:1-5 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
This shows it would not be right to sacrifice a human.
3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: 5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
Leviticus 27:1-8 (KJV) 1 And the LORD (the Covenant Keeping God) spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons (souls) shall be for the LORD (the Covenant Keeping God) by thy estimation. 3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. 5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
There was dedicated people to the Lord. What Jephthah’s daughter did was a type and shadow of presenting your body as a living sacrifice unto the Lord; holy and acceptable. That is in Romans the twelfth chapter.
Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (the Creator).
If you are presenting your body as a living sacrifice you don’t kill yourself. Paul does use the term put to death or crucify the deeds of your flesh. The word crucify was incorrect the original word was stauros. Jesus was crucified on a pole not on a cross. He said just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so shall the man be lifted up. I will cover that subject some other time. Paul wasn’t saying to literally kill yourself but to put to death the deeds of your flesh.
Under covenant relationships and vows to the Lord the Lord expects you to keep your vow. When I taught in Joshua where the people lied to the Joshua, Joshua ended up being deceived. But Joshua still could not break his word to the people that deceived him. We need to be people that keeps our word.
Another thing considering Jephthah’s daughter, the Lord spoke to me years ago about a generation to come. Pastors, teachers, evangelists and various ministers need to begin teaching that the generation to come will not come the way we did just expecting to be born again but they will enter into a blood covenant. The word confess means to make a binding agreement or covenant with your mouth. The generation to come; your children and those not yet born teach them about covenant; keeping their word, vows this way they can say you made a vow keep your vow. They need to understand covenant. It’s very important. We do not know how long it is going to take for the chip to come into play but more and more people are getting the chip in them, the mark of the beast. Your children need to understand covenant relationship.
As we just read in Romans we should renew our minds. The word renew means to change or renovate the way you think. We need to think in terms of the meaning of the words Lord and God to help us draw closer to Him in a covenant relationship. Sometime in the future I will go over scripture where it is used over and over again. If you use something over and over with understanding it becomes a part of you. You will have a different attitude as you walk with the Lord in covenant relationship as you add covenant to your born-again experience.
David and Johnathan show another covenant relationship.
One of the things about entering into a covenant is there are blessings and cursing’s. In first Samuel you’ll see where the greater blesses the lesser. Johnathan was an older man who had a parental love towards David
1 Samuel 18:1 (KJV) 1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul (life) of Jonathan was knit with the soul(life) of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul (life).
The word soul means life. At times when David said bless the Lord oh my soul, or I will praise the Lord, he is saying me myself or I myself will bless or praise the Lord.
1 Samuel 18:2-4 (KJV) 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul (life). 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
David did not have anything to offer except himself. That is also a type and shadow of our relationship with Almighty God through His Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has everything to give us. We have nothing to offer Him except we will keep our word and walk in covenant, stay away from false gods, set no other god before us, and not worship any images. All of this is important. We come with nothing but ourselves as a living sacrifice. We receive a new birth, enter into a new covenant and we are promised the sure blessings of Abraham.
1 Samuel 18:5 (KJV) 5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
We know that later Saul set out to kill David. The devil was using Saul. Satan put in Saul the desire to kill David out of jealousy. If David had been killed the line that was prophesied in the beginning, the seed of the women would not be fulfilled. David would not have been seated on the throne and would have cut off the bloodline that the Messiah our Savior would come through.
1 Samuel 20:8 (KJV) 8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD (the Covenant Keeping God) with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
1 Samuel 20:8 David is saying to Jonathan if I have broken covenant then you then kill me yourself. People today do not take covenant and their word that seriously. I’ll give you an example. If you and I had entered into a covenant and your son saw that there were men trying to kill me, and he didn’t try to come and help me fight this battle, then when the son came home you would kill your son for not keeping our covenant. The family is in a covenant relationship. That is how serious covenant relationship was taken. The Lord is very serious about covenant. If thou shalt make a binding agreement or covenant with the blood of Jesus Christ (the Lamb), He is the only one that could be accepted as a proper sacrifice. When Abraham took his son, that he waited on for years, the Covenant Keeping God saw Abraham was willing to sacrifice him. Abraham built the alter and prepared to slay him and the Covenant Keeping God saw what he was willing to do. Abraham had already believed that his son would be coming back down, even if he killed him, his son would come back with him. He believed he would come to life. He knew the word of the Covenant Keeping God could not be fulfilled if Isaac didn’t come back to life. God told Abraham through your seed the tribes and generations would come. When it states Abraham, Isaac and Jacob those are the three who ratify the covenant. Out of two or three witnesses is my word established. The word witness is also the legal term used in Revelation 12:11. That is the only way we are going to overcome the mark of the beast and the refusal to worship the image – this is by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony otherwise legal witness. There are three legal witnesses who confirmed the covenant. The Lord told Abraham not to kill Isaac. The Lord provided a ram in a bush. That is when the name of Jehovah or Jira was used. The word Jehovah Jira means he will see and provide himself a sacrifice. He saw that Abraham would be obedient. Down through the generations he saw our need and Jehovah Jira provided himself as a sacrifice meaning our Lord, our salvation Jesus Yahshua, as John announced behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jehovah Jira will see and provide. The name of the Lord we should be using is El Shaddai meaning the breasty one or He that is more than enough to supply our needs. He sacrificed himself. There is no other human sacrifice that would be accepted.
Ministers that teach Jephthah sacrificed his daughter need to understand these things. It would have been a sin to make a human sacrifice unto Yahweh the Covenant Keeping God. As you grasp more understanding of covenant relationship you can add covenant to your born again experience and be ready to be an overcomer when the cash is finally taken away and you can’t buy or sell for three and a half years.
I encourage you read Issue 4.