TOPIC: Standing By Your Vow

TEXT: JUDGES 11:29-40

KEY VERSE: 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, and I cannot go back. (Judges 11:35).

MESSAGE

Years ago, while Douglas Aircraft was competing with Boeing to sell its big jets to Eastern Airlines, Eddie Rickenbacker, the director of Eastern Airlines implored Donald Douglas to win his company by out-promising Boeing DC-8 noise-suppressing feature which the Douglas big consulting with his fellow engineers, told Rickenbacker that he couldn’t make that promise on something that was not true.

Rickenbacker replied, “I know you can’t, I just wanted to see if you were still honest. He kept his promise to always say the truth. This is integrity!

The story of Jephthah is another case of the test in integrity. The son of a harlot and born to a Gileadite, Jephthah rose from an outcast to become a spirit filled judge and a warrior in Israel. In a show of confidence and reliance on God for victory in battle against the Ammonites, he made what appears to be a rash vow.

Most accurate Hebrew scholars translated the vow to mean that he would consecrate to the Lord, or offer to Him as burn offering (as the case make be) whatever comes out of his house to meet him on return from the battle.

Jephthah defeated the Ammonites. Alas, it was his daughter that first met him at the door of his house! Painfully but committedly, Jephthah told his daughter the vow he made to God to which he was obligatoriy committed to perform. And she willingly surrendered.

Scholars have it that she was consecrated to the Lord by way of staying unmarried and kept her virginity all her life.

There is neither scriptural nor cultural basis to support the argument that she was offered as burnt offering. Jephthah’s commitment to fulfill his promise to God even when it was most inconvenient is a lesson on integrity for every believer.

Even though we live at a time when faithfulness and truth are fallen in the street, Christians should not be caught in the web of breach of contract, unfulfilled promises and deceitful dealings. Walking with God demands that we fulfill our vows to Him and our promises to other people.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Better to be lean on promises and robust in performance than otherwise.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 4-6

DCLM Daily Manna Devotional 2nd January 2023 Message | Deeper Life Devotional Guide was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. He’s the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.