‘The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand” (Judges 12:1-2).

Despite the disadvantages he had grown up with, Jephthah has proved when Israel needed a: ‘mighty warrior’ he had all the right credentials, although he also proved to be handy as a diplomat as well. Despite his needless vow which led to tragedy for his daughter and himself, he’s proved to be the man who God raised up to deliver Israel. But his story is not yet over.

There’s a famous quote in the novel ‘The Go-Between’ by L. P. Hartley. ‘The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.’ It acts as a reminder that we can be so obsessed with the present, that we don’t look back at the past and learn from it. When we get to this part of Jephthah’s story, I can’t help thinking that he would have benefited by looking back at past history.

We’ve encountered the Ephraimites before in Judges. In their encounter with Gideon they came across as stroppy and undiplomatic. But Gideon showed tact and diplomacy when handling them (Judges 8:1-3). Unfortunately the Ephraimites manners haven’t improved since that time as when they encounter Jephthah they accuse him of not calling on them during the battle and threatened to burn his house down (v1). It could be argued that Jephthah is provoked, but rather than taking Gideon’s example, he reacts angrily. He reminds them that they didn’t come to his aid, but the Lord gave him victory (vs2-3). The sad thing is it’s possible this was a misunderstanding. Under the oppression of the Ammonites, it could have been a case of every man for himself and could’ve led to the Ephraimites not being called upon. But Jephthah’s diplomatic touch has deserted him and if the Ephraimites are cruising for a bruising he’s only to happy to oblige!

The tragedy is this is one generation on from Abimelech’s disastrous rule and Jephthah is leading Israel down the same path again! Once again, we get a taste of his doggy theology.  He knows of the Covenant, but he makes this personal which is demonstrated in the phrase: ‘Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?’ (v3). The Ephraimites attitude is actually an offence against the Lord, but you’d never know it by Jephthah’s attitude. The upshot of this is civil war, and we are forced to ask whether things are any better than it was in Abimelech’s time!

Jephthah and his men not only win the battle, they: ‘capture the fords of the Jordan’ (vs 4-5). What then follows, if it wasn’t in the Bible, you’d think it was from a ‘Monty Python’ sketch. ‘And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over”, the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No”, they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth”, and he said, “Sibboleth”, for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell’ (v6). It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad as Jephthah’s test of regional dialects proves how divided Israel is! Just as Israel needed a saviour after Abimelech’s, disastrous rule, it desperately needs one again! In the end we’re left with Jephthah’s rather sad epitaph (v7) with no mention of his liberation of Israel!

Verses 8-15 cover a period of 25 years. But 25 years of what? Ibzan with his huge number of sons and daughters, who he marries off, may have been trying to build influence through political alliances. Elon was a Judge for 10 years, but we know nothing about him! Abdon Seems to be a throwback to Jair’s time with his sons and grandsons patrolling the area with donkeys, the only difference being he’s got more. But we’re told nothing of the state of Israel at this time. So this  raises more questions than it answers. After Jephthah’s short  blaze of glory, even if some of his actions were idiotic, this feels like a complete let’s down.

But perhaps that’s the point. Once again, writer of the book  is reminding us that human leaders, even at their very best will fail, or even if they don’t fail, will die. In the end, they can never provide the salvation that people so desperately need as only God can do that!