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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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JEPHTHAH’S BATTLE
AGAINST EPHRAIM Judges 12:1-15,
11/20/13 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert
I. JEHTHAH’S FINAL LEGACY (Jdg 12:1-6) A. The Challenge of Ephraim (1) 1. [1] Ephraim had a tenacity for battle and
rightly so because they were fierce warriors. They had fought with Ehud (Jdg
3:26-29), Barak (Jdg 5:12-14), and Gideon (Jdg 7:24). They purposely crossed
the Jordan to Zaphon to rebuke Jephthah for not calling on them to fight.
They were so infuriated that they threatened to burn his house down. B. Jephthah’s Defense (2-3) 1. [2] Jephthah defended himself by saying
that he had called the Ephraimites when the Ammonites were causing great
strife. Unfortunately, the Ephraimites did not respond to come to their aid.
Scripture does not record when Jephthah called out to Ephraim for help.
However, knowing Jephthah’s commitment to vows, he was probably telling the
truth. 2. [3] Jephthah continued that when Ephraim
did not respond to their cry of help, Jephthah took it upon himself to fight
the sons of Ammon. Jephthah returned the credit to the Lord who gave the
Ammonites into his hand. a) At this point, we see the difference
between Jephthah and Gideon. Gideon had calmed the Ephraimites down with
flattery and diplomacy (Jdg 8:1-3). Jephthah on the other hand had had his
share of rejection and was not about to be bullied. b) In his honesty, he challenged the
Ephraimites reasons for threatening him. C. Jephthah’s and Ephraim’s Civil War (4) 1. [4] The outcome was obvious, the
Ephraimites did not rescind, and Jephthah went to battle with them. a) Ephraim was in the wrong by their strange
jealousy, which may have been prompted by a greed for the spoils. In any
case, Jephthah would not coddle them and Ephraim resorted to verbal abuse (Ad
Hominem Abusive). They began to call the men from Gilead, “fugitives (palit
- escapees, survivors) from Ephraim and Manasseh.” This may have been a
reference to Jephthah’s renegades that joined him after being removed from
his house and inheritance (Jdg 11:3). b) Having gathered the men of Gilead, they
defeated Ephraim and vindicated Jephthah’s renewed heritage. D. Jephthah’s Pronunciation Test (5-6) 1. [5] In the exchange of battle, the men of
Gilead captured the fords through the Jordan River so that the Ephraimites
could not cross. This is the third time we have seen this strategy imposed
with success in Judges (Jdg 3:28; 7:24-25; 12:5). a) However, there is a little twist to this
event in that Jephthah captured the fords on the “opposite” side. This
prevented the soldiers from retreat to Ephraim. In essence, the Ephraimites
became “fugitives” (same word as vs. 4) themselves. b) When the Ephraimites came to these fords
to escape, they would attempt to cross but were stopped by the men of Gilead.
When asked if they were Ephraimites, they said, “No.” 2. [6] In order to determine if these men
were actually from Ephraim, which is west of the Jordan River, they would
give them a test. The test was a pronunciation test. They would have the men
pronounce the word “Shibboleth.” If the
man was unable to pronounce it correctly and said, “Sibboleth,” it would
expose him as an inhabitant of the west side of the Jordan (Ephraim). a) The Hebrew word shibboleth (tl,Bovi
- shē-bō-leth - flowing
stream) begins with the letter v (shin- dot on right) and has an “sh” sound.
An almost identical Hebrew letter is f (sin - dot on the left), which is, pronounced
with an “s” sound. When they did not pronounce the shin it came out as
a s (samech) as an “s”
sound and formed the word sibboleth (tl,Bosi - sē-bō-leth) which meant “an ear
of wheat or corn.” b) The westerners were easily betrayed by
their incorrect pronunciation, and then killed. The total fatality of
Ephraimites was 42, 000. c) on the other hand, began d II. JEPHTHAH JUDGED SIX YEARS (Jdg 12:7) A. Jephthah’s Rule 1. [7] Jephthah judged Israel for only six
years, but it was an eventful six years to say the least. When he died, he
was buried in one of the cities of Gilead, possibly Mizpah, the place from
which he was initially removed (Jdg 11:2). B. Jephthah’s Leadership 1. Though Jephthah had his scruples, he
spoke more about the Lord than any other judge. He was always careful to give
the credit to the Lord. He did not doubt the Lord like Gideon, nor fear man. 2. All in all, Jephthah was one of the
better judges of Israel, spiritually speaking. III. IBZAN JUDGED SEVEN YEARS (8-9) A. [8-9] After Jephthah’s rule came Ibzan (Ēb-tsan).
He was from Bethlehem, probably the famous town south of Jerusalem. However,
some have suggested that it was another Bethlehem in the territory of
Zebulun, ten miles north of Megiddo (Jos 19:15). B. [9] We are told that he had a large family
consisting of thirty sons and thirty daughters, which suggested that he
possessed great wealth, but also practiced polygamy. The daughters he brought
from “outside” for his sons, could mean “outside the clan,” breaking with
tradition, or “outside the area.” C. [10] He judged Israel seven years, then
died, and was buried in Bethlehem. IV. ELON JUDGED TEN YEARS (11-12) A. [11] Next is Elon (A-lōn) who
judged after Ibzan. Elon judged for ten years. B. [12] We no little of Elon except that,
like Tola (Jdg 10:1-2, he was named after one of the sons of the founder of
the tribe (Ge 46:14). The city, Aijalon
(A-ya-lōn cf. A-lōn), in which he
was buried when he died may have been named after him having the same
consonants (cf. Jos 10:12). V. ABDON JUDGED EIGHT YEARS (13-15) A. [13] Abdon (Ab-dōn) is mentioned as Elon’s
successor. He was the son of Hillel, unknown reference. He was a Pirathonite,
an inhabitant of the city of from the city of Pirathon (Pēr-a-thōn,
perhaps modern day Far’ata, six miles of Schechem). It was the home of
Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men (1Chr 11:31) from Ephraim (1Chr 27:14). B. [14] We are told that he had forty sons
and thirty grandsons which all rode on donkeys, seventy in total. The number
of sons and donkeys for each as well as his grandsons suggests great wealth
and prestige (Jdg 5:10). C. [15] He ruled for eight years until he
died. Then he was buried at Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill
country of the Amalekites. VI. OBSERVATIONS & APPLICATIONS A. In-house fighting - Though it seems
civil war was inevitable between Jephthah and Ephraim, it was a sad
commentary on the division between the eastern and western tribes (Jdg
5:15-17). However, it was not only a problem among Israel, but also to the
church today. What a sad commentary it is, when those who have received the
love of God cannot show the same love among the brethren (Jn 13:34; 1Jn
5:7-8, 11-12). The enemy lies without and should not lie within. The church
must learn not shoot its own wounded. B. Peace and Unity - We do understand
that unbiblical doctrines do cause damage to the name of Christ as well as
rifts in the body (I am not at all referring to the doctrine of salvation).
Some of which cannot be compromised. However, as difficult as those things
are, believers must remember that all believers are part of the body of
Christ (Ro 12:18; 1Pe 3:11; 5:14; Ep 2:17; Col 3:15; He 12:14; Jm 3:18).
Perhaps at times we must embrace from afar, but we must embrace nonetheless.
Perhaps at times, we must have the blunt honesty of Jephthah without taking
up arms. Perhaps at times we must give the sharp edge of the word of God
without the sharp edge of hatred. Sin should never be tolerated within the
church, not even the sin of hatred for the brethren. Though we might take our
stand on different sides of the river, the name “Jesus,” should be a familiar
“Shibboleth” to all true believers. |
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