Judges 11:34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

Jephthah was persuaded by his half-brothers who had hated him to go fight a battle for Israel against the Ammonites. Jephthah took the matter to God at Mizpah and then agreed. He made a vow to God that if he won the battle he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house to meet him on his return. For me, this account of Jephthah needing to sacrifice his daughter is among the saddest in Scripture. It turned me inside out when I read it. What was Jephthah thinking? Surely he must have known when he made the vow that his daughter would most likely be the first person to run to him when he got home – children do that! It is one of the purest joys of parenthood.

Was it Jephthah’s intention to demonstrate his love for God or was he just shooting off at the mouth? In the end he tore his clothes and admitted to his daughter that he was miserable and wretched because he could not break the vow he had made to the Lord. It is a cautionary tale to us, especially when you consider how lightly vows are regarded in society today. Should we make vows to God? Are we capable of keeping them?

As I meditated on this story and the outcome, the Holy Spirit dropped two words into my consciousness: “equal sacrifice”.  Jephthah experienced the pain of the heart of God when he gave his only Son. Years later as I re-read this account, the Holy Spirit spoke again:

“Those called of God are very special people. They are called to walk on a different level entirely; to be like God, to have his heart, to give as he gave, to love as he loved to the point of sacrifice. It will hurt, but it is to the end that men see the heart of God in their fellows. Only then can they draw men to me. And that is what I require, that my children draw others to me by their love.”