“Jesus” (By Gregory of Nazasazus AD 38)

Jesus began his ministry by being hungry… Yet he is the Bread of Life.

Jesus ended his earthly ministry by being thirsty…

Yet he is the Living Water.

Jesus was weary… Yet he is our rest.

Jesus paid tribute… Yet he is the King.

Jesus was accused of having a demon… Yet he cast out demons.

Jesus wept… Yet he wipes away our tears.

Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver… Yet he redeemed the world.

Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter… Yet he is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus died… Yet by his death he destroyed the power of death.

The Law is said to have in fact contained a promise of eternal life in reward for perfect obedience and to have actually conferred it on Jesus because he kept it faultlessly. Such reasoning is false. Three epistles (Hebrews, Romans and Galatians), prove it to be so.

Hebrews. None could dispute that the ministration of righteousness is a better covenant than that of Sinai if only because it is established upon better promises (Heb 8:6). One of the chief of these is the promise of eternal inheritance (Heb 9:15). Eternal life is a prerequisite of such an inheritance: a man, to possess an inheritance for ever, must, as JT logically argues, be made immortal to enable him to possess it everlastingly. There was thus a distinct promise of eternal life in the everlasting covenant which, apart from any other, constituted it a better covenant than the covenant of Sinai, for the latter contained no equivalent promise. This fact is easily verified from the Old Testament itself: we look in vain in the Sinai covenant for any such promise, explicit or implicit, in reward for perfect obedience.

Romans. A man who earns a reward by effort receives it as his due. In the words of Paul, to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt (Rom 4:4). Paul therefore concludes logically that if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory. But what are the facts? What saith the Scripture? Abraham had faith in God, and that faith was reckoned to him for righteousness (Rom 4:2,3). That is, Abraham did not receive the reward by works. Why? Was it simply because, through the weakness of the flesh, he obviously could not obtain it by merit? By no means: Christ did in fact live sinlessly, and if for that reason the Law had power to confer life on him, then the reward must have been reckoned to him of debt. But Paul shows that the principle which applied in the case of Abraham applied also in that of Christ, his Seed, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, though law, but through the righteousness of faith (Rom 4:13).

Galatians. A human covenant, once ratified, is binding: though it be but a mans covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto (Gal 3:15). So it is with God’s arrangements: This I say, adds Paul, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect (Gal 3:17). Such, however, would be the case if the Sinai covenant had contained the same promise: it would have been a modification of the Abrahamic covenant, and have rendered it obsolete, for if the inheritance be of law it is no more of promise (Gal 3:18). Is such a contingency conceivable? Is the Law against the promises of God? God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law (Gal 3:21). In view of this statement the Law of Moses could not possibly have had the essential power to confer life. The law made nothing perfect. It was but the bringing in of a better hope (Heb 7:19, mg).

Habakkuk. Habakkuk’s words (quoted in all three epistles) settle the matter finally so far as the position of Christ is concerned: The just shall live by faith (Hab 2:4). Variant renderings for Habakkuk’s statement as quoted in Heb 10:38 are helpful: My righteous one shall live by faith (RV): it is by faith that my righteous servant shall live (Weym); and again, My just one by faith shall live (Diag). Stephen tells us that the prophets shewed before of the coming of the Just One (Act 7:52). Jesus was without doubt the Holy One and the Just of whom Habakkuk spoke (Act 3:14). Why was he called the Just One? Because he lived a sinless life, observing the Law perfectly. How then did he, the Holy One and the Just, attain to life eternal? Habakkuk answers, by faith. Why not by works, even in his case? Because God GAVE the inheritance BY PROMISE to Abraham, and if to Abraham then to Jesus also, for, as we have already seen, to Abraham AND HIS SEED were the promises made — to Abraham and Christ, that is, since Christ is the seed (Gal 3:16).

We now perceive the twofold weakness of the Law of Moses. Firstly, no one could keep it: as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them (Gal 3:10). Secondly, even if a man kept it, it lacked the essential power to confer life. We find this illustrated in Christ. He kept the Law perfectly, but that no man is justified by law in the sight of God is evident: for, The just shall live by faith (Gal 3:11). Had it been otherwise — if righteousness came by law — then Christ died needlessly (Gal 3:21). But Christ did not die in vain, but to make good the deficiencies of the Law.

Yet he died a sinless man. Necessarily so, for without perfect obedience on his part to the Law of Moses, righteousness could not justly be imputed to those who could not keep it (and so were unjust). But, by virtue of the fact that he offered himself without spot to God, his blood purges our conscience (Heb 9:14) and by it we are justified (or declared righteous), our faith being counted for righteousness for his sake (Rom 5:9; 4:5).

His sinlessness emphasized by contrast the wickedness of the hands that crucified him. If only because sinners could not be permitted to triumph over the One in whom God was well pleased, it was essential for him to rise. But altogether apart from this, God’s purpose in and through him could not be frustrated, and necessitated his resurrection. So God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. He is now, in consequence, alive for evermore, having as our forerunner entered into that within the veil, to which the righteousness which is of the Law could never give access. So the Apostle bids us be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience, inherit the promises (Heb 6:12) (RIC).

“Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes.” So states the title of an article published by a team of researchers in the Publications of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2000. (On the internet it may be found at: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.10115997.)

The article describes genetic research and analysis (at a level of sophistication and scientific exactitude impossible until recently) conducted upon cross sections of men in various Jewish communities (both in Israel and elsewhere) and other non-Jewish Middle Eastern communities. Bypassing all the mathematical data and statistical tables published in the article, we may simply note several of the conclusions:

• The level of genetic divergence among Jewish populations is very low despite their high degree of geographic dispersion. In fact the level of genetic divergence among different Jewish populations is considerably less than that found among other groups in the study. Put in simple terms, the average Jew in London, let us say, shares much more commonality of genetic likeness with the average Jew in North Africa or Israel than he does with his non-Jewish next-door neighbor. (This conclusion provides solid proof of the Biblical assumption that, although scattered among the nations of the earth, the Jews have by and large maintained their racial identity — see, eg, Jer 30:11 — while other ancient peoples have mingled and submerged themselves in one another, until their Bible-era ancestors are largely unidentified and unidentifiable.)

• The extremely close affinity of Jewish and non-Jewish Middle Eastern populations supports the hypothesis of a common Middle Eastern origin. In other words, the average Jew — wherever he lives — shares a greater degree of genetic commonality (and therefore has a higher proportion of common ancestry) with the average Palestinian or Jordanian or Syrian than with other non-Jewish groups outside of the Middle East.

• In summary, the combined results suggest that Jews and Arabs may trace a common ancestry to a Middle Eastern source population about 4,000 years ago!

So… despite their intense hatreds for one another, and their religious differences and rivalries, the Jews and the Arabs are demonstrated to be, genetically-speaking, “cousins”!

Just who are the progenitors of the modern-day Arabs? The answer of Genesis is obvious: Terah was the father of Abraham (Gen 11:26), and the grandfather of Lot (Gen 11:27) — who accompanied his uncle Abraham to the Land of Promise. From Abraham were descended Ishmael (Gen 16:15), and the sons of Keturah (Gen 25:1-4), and — through Isaac — Esau (Gen 25:25), the father of the Edomites (Gen 36:9). From Lot were descended Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:37,38). (Most of the nations of Psa 83, as a matter of fact, are of this lineage.)

But what of the other peoples of the Land of Palestine, the nations mentioned in Gen 15:18-21, who were there when Abraham and Lot first set foot upon the Land — the Amorites and Canaanites and Jebusites and so forth? And what about the Philistines, who arrived in the Land a bit later, but made such an impact upon Israel? Where have these peoples gone? Have they completely disappeared? The simple answer is: they are the Arabs also!

What evidently has happened is that, since the beginning, the (Arab) descendants of Abraham and Lot have intermarried with the Canaanitish peoples (something Isaac and Jacob and the nation of Israel were strictly forbidden to do: Gen 24:3; 28:6,7; Deu 7:1-3; etc) so as to create, over time, a mixed or mongrel people. There are in fact Bible examples of just this sort of mingling of “seed”:

“While he [Ishmael] was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt” (Gen 21:21).

“He [Esau] married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite [cp Exo 23:23; Jos 1:4], and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen 26:34,35).

Other instances of the Hebrew word “ereb” — signifying “mixed” or “mingled” — related to peoples are:

1. 1Ki 10:15: “all the Arabian kings”.
2. Jer 25:20,24: “the foreign (or ‘mingled’: AV) peoples… the Philistines… all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the foreign (mingled) peoples… in the desert”.

3. Jer 50:37: “all the foreigners (or ‘mingled people’: AV) that are in the midst of her [Babylon]…”

4. Eze 30:5: “Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all Arabia (or ‘the mingled people’: AV)”.

5. Neh 13:1,3: “Ammonite and Moabite…all who were of foreign descent (or ‘the mixed multitude’: AV)”.

So the “mixed peoples” of the Middle East are the “Arabs” — with blood ties to the original Canaanitish peoples (the ten nations of Gen 15) as well as the corrupted descendants of Abraham (the majority of the nations enumerated in Psa 83).

It stands to reason, therefore, that — whereas the Jews are still a distinct ethnic group, as the genetic study suggests — the other Middle East natives are truly an altogether “mixed” bag, being at the same time the descendants of the Biblical Ishmaelites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, as well as the Biblical Canaanites, Philistines, Amorites, etc, etc!

It may be impossible today to find a single people who can be conclusively linked with the Edomites, for example [see Appendix], or with the Philistines, or with any other of the ancient Middle Eastern national enemies of Israel. But these ancient bloodlines did not just disappear, and these nations did not simple “evaporate”; instead, they were blended, and blended again, until there emerged a truly “mixed” (or “Arab”) peoples across the whole of the Land of Promise — the “melting pot” descendants of all the tribes and nations of Gen 15 and Psa 83.

So, when the Bible presents us with evidently “Last Days” prophecies that refer to the nations of Genesis (such as Ammon or Moab or Edom or Philistia), we may not be able to identify any single modern nation in the Middle East as the exclusive and pure descendants of that particular ancient nation. But nevertheless we may assume that either: (1) the prophecy refers particularly to the portion of the whole Arab “mixed” race that occupies the same territory as the ancient nation, or (2) the prophecy refers to the whole of the Arab “world”, because the blood of ancient Edomites or Moabites or whoever flows in all their veins, or (3) both!

Both these groups of peoples (the primarily “Hamite” peoples of Gen 15, and the primarily “Semitic” peoples of Psa 83) have demonstrated, historically, intense hatred for the Jews — fulfilling the Old Testament “types”: Ishmael versus Isaac, and Esau versus Jacob, and Canaanite and Philistine versus Israelite. Now, with the admixture of a unifying religion — Islam — these Arabs… whether they live in Jordan, or Lebanon, or Syria, or Saudi Arabia, or the West Bank, or Gaza… all view the Jews as great “infidels”, who have no real claim to the Land of Palestine.

And the stage is set for the final act in a 4,000-year-old drama: the climactic struggle between Jew and Arab, between the modern “Goliath” and the modern “David”, as it were, on the mountains of Israel.

Appendix: Edomites and Nabataeans

It has sometimes been suggested that Old Testament prophecies about Edom, for example, cannot be fulfilled by any modern nation or nations — because there are simply no surviving descendants of the ancient Edomites today. But a scholarly study suggests very much the opposite. J.R. Bartlett, writing in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly 111 (1979), (“From Edomites to Nabataeans: A Study in Continuity”), does not believe that the Edomites became extinct, as some assert. Rather, he offers considerable evidence — archaeological, cultural, and linguistic, as well as historical — to the effect that the ancient Edomites, being overrun and dominated by the Nabataeans (the descendants of the Biblical Nebaioth: Gen 25:13), simply survived by intermarrying with their conquerors to produce a new people: a mixture of Nabataean and Edomite which survives to this day in the Bedouin Arabs.

For more than one hundred years this question has been before the Brotherhood: Did Jephthah actually sacrifice his only daughter, or did here merely dedicate her to a celibate service, perhaps at the Tabernacle? The earliest discussion of the subject of which I am aware occurs in the 1875 Christadelphian, in a brief article by JJ Andrew (Vol 12, May, pp 236,237). It is a measure of the “popularity” of this debate that there are no less than 32 separate articles — and these in the Christadelphian and Testimony magazines along — over the intervening 105 years. A fuller index of other periodicals would surely increase this number considerably. (One is tempted to inquire if a like number of words have been written on many other subjects of far more importance).

There has never been a Christadelphian “party line” on the question. In such respects as this our community compares very favorably with others, such as “Jehovah’s Witnesses” — who make a great show of devotion to individual Bible study, but who scarcely, if ever, deviate from the official interpretation of “headquarters” on any subject? A review of our writings on Jephthah’s vow, just as one minor example, reveals a great stress on private, personal, independent thinking along Scriptural lines. Surely it is a small price to pay for our community’s freedom from “learning by rote” that, once in a while, a question of secondary importance is allowed to overlap the bounds of “cut-and-dried”, canned (or “potted” — for the English) reasoning.

Robert Roberts is first on one side, then the other, of this subject. [His last thought on the subject favors the death of Jephthah’s daughter (Law of Moses, 1984 edition, pp 290,291) — but his argument is very brief and far from air-tight.] And CC Walker follows him in the same course — first favoring a dedication and then vacillating between the two and finally expressing “no doubt that Jephthah’s daughter was really slain in sacrifice” [Xd 64 (Jan 1927), p 28]. But his defense of that view seems curiously flippant, as, for example, his question: “What is a daughter more or less?” (Ibid, Feb, p 77) — certainly not designed to win the sisters over to his view, to say the least! Then, “making all due allowances”, as he expresses it, he reproduces a portion of a Tennyson poem which catches the “spirit of the maiden” — in which the poet sees her coming in a vision and then returning “toward the morning star”! (Ibid, p 86). Not much “proof” in that, certainly!

The next editor of the magazine, John Carter, weighs in on the other side of the issue, with an article by G. Buckler to the effect that the girl’s life was not taken — to which he appends his own note of approval [Xd, Vol 78 (June 1941), pp 260,261].

The Testimony Magazine also presents, at different times, both views. PH Adams, for years the editor of “First Stages” and then the “Problems” sections, has a real “problem” with this question! Issue after issue, he advances and repeats arguments for sacrifice instead of devotion — but his readers (if one may judge by the printed response) are overwhelmingly of the other school of thought. So, patiently and with good humor, he answers as best he can their objections. Reading these exchanges (In Volumes 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, and 27) is certainly a good lesson in the fine art of “disagreeing without being disagreeable”, something most of us could do with more of!

One of the most curious contributions on the subject is a “Trial in the Court of Historical Research” — before “Lord Penetrating Impartiality” (in the style of Robert Roberts’ “The Trial: Did Christ Rise from the Dead?”). Both sides of the question are argued out at length by counsels with such names as “Noble Acceptor-of-all-Truth”, after which the reader is left to decide for himself (Testimony, Vol 28 (April, 1958), pp 121-127).

What are the arguments, pro and con? The following is a summary of the more cogent points in favor of each side, for the benefit of those who do not have access to back numbers of our periodicals:

First, in favor of the theory that Jephthah did indeed offer his daughter as a burnt offering:

1. We cannot say that anything God does or allows is inconsistent with His declared character. It is not for us to sit in judgment of Him.

2. This view was never called in question by Jew or Christian until about 1200 AD. The Septuagint and Vulgate — and Josephus — have always conveyed the idea of a literal sacrifice.

3. Just because Jephthah is elsewhere described as a righteous man does not mean everything he did was righteous! To believe that he offered up his daughter does not require believing that he was right in doing so!

4. The AV text (if not the margin), RV, RSV, and most other versions favor the “and” in v 31 — giving strong support to the idea that the vow called for the burnt offering of whatever or whoever came out first, since (no matter how we understand its terms) it is beyond any doubt that Jephthah did perform his vow (v 39).

5. Would Jephthah’s sorrow have been so overwhelming, and would an annual memorial have been called for, if the only “fate” his daughter suffered was perpetual virginity and service at the Tabernacle?

And, secondly, for the alternate theory:

1. Human sacrifice was expressly forbidden by God (Deu 12:30,31; Psalm 106:37,38; Isa 66:3; Jer 32:34,35).

2. Jephthah, being one who “wrought righteousness” and “obtained a good report through faith” (Heb 11:32,33-39), can hardly be expected to have been so seriously ignorant of what was and was not acceptable to God in this matter. It is very improbable that a man like that would make a vow that would likely call for him to do something which the Law expressly forbade.

3. The “vow” Jephthah made (Jdg 11:30) was a “nadar” — for which the Law allowed the possibility of redemption upon payment of money. (Lev 27:1,8). Considering this, it is almost unthinkable that the distraught father would not have availed himself of this “escape” if the vow had meant death for his daughter. (The Hebrew for “devoted” things, which could not be redeemed, was “cherem”, as in Lev 27:29, but that word does not appear in this narrative.

4. “Whatsoever” of v 31 can be translated “whosoever”, as applying to persons. This is a reference, probably, to the custom of women coming out to meet victorious warriors, with timbrels and dancing (v 34). The women who met David returning from battle (1Sa 18:6) and Miriam also (Exo 15:20) were following this custom. It seems very unlikely that Jephthah would have been vowing to put to death “whomsoever” of the young men or women came out first, as he would surely have realized beforehand how likely it would have been for a human rather than an animal to come out first!

5. “I will offer it up” (v 31) can be translated “I will offer Him (ie, God) a burnt offering” — making the pronoun masculine, with God the One to whom the offering was to be made.

6. “And I will offer it up”: The AV margin suggests “or” (though the preponderance of translations favors “and”), so that Jephthah may be expressing an alternative; ie, If a person comes out first, he or she shall be dedicated to God, or if an animal comes out first (and if it possesses the suitable qualities) it will be sacrificed as a burnt offering.

7. If there had been any illegality in the vow, that is, if in fact the outcome had been a human sacrifice, then someone like Jephthah — who feared God — would have had good reason to forbid the breaking of His law.

8. The burnt offering of the damsel, if such it was, would have to be carried out be a priest at the Tabernacle — who would then be knowingly participating in an improper offering and a criminal act!

9. Furthermore, the specific rules of the burnt offering (Lev 1:1-17,7:8) provided that a male be offered, the skin to belong to the priests, and the blood to be sprinkled round the altar!

10. In lamenting her misfortune, Jephthah’s daughter did not bewail the loss of life; she simply bewailed her “virginity”. This deprivation of the opportunity to bear children was considered a great calamity among Jews, and would be especially hard to bear for Jephthah also — since he was an important man in Israel and she was an only child. The word “lament” (Hebrew “lethanoth”) in v 40 is not the common word for such, which would have been most appropriate if the grief of death were intended. Instead, it is a word which can have the meaning “to rehearse” or “to talk with” — as the margin shows. It is used only here and in Judges 5:11, where the daughters of Israel retell and celebrate the righteous acts of God. The young women evidently went up to the Tabernacle to talk with Jephthah’s daughter year by year.

11. “She knew no man” (v 39) seems foolishly redundant if she were put to death. It rather seems to express her entering upon a state of complete dedication to Yahweh — in some special service. (Compare Hannah offering Samuel during the same period). Though similar to Roman Catholic nuns and “holy orders”, such a dedication should not be objected to on that score alone, since this would be a dedication in truth, not error. Paul says that the unmarried may more easily care for the things of God (1Co 7:34). Such an order of virgins devoted to Tabernacle and Temple service is at least implied in such passages as Lam 1:4 and Exo 38:8.

12. It is not explicitly stated that she was actually offered — which is rather remarkable in so singular a case. This seems so unusual an omission that even the commentators who favor the idea of sacrifice are compelled to admit that a “veil” is drawn over the actual bloodshedding. But is it not more reasonable to assume that there was nothing in the narrative so embarrassing to Jephthah’s character that a veil was even needed?

***

A quick reading of the points compiled above might seem to favor one opinion over the other by sheer weight of numbers. But no doubt much could be said in rebuttal of various points on either side. It is possible that this writer’s leanings are by now obvious, but he has made a conscious effort to state fairly the arguments for both sides. This is of course not a matter of “first principle” consequence, so perhaps the best conclusion is this:

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good”.

The book of Job contains such long and involved speeches that it is often hard to see the overall development of the book. In this summary, written as a play, each chapter of Job is distilled down to a paragraph or so. It helps to be able to see the structure and development of thought in the book, and then to go back to better appreciate the full text of Scripture. (Chapters are in parentheses.)

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  Narrator: Long ago, Job was one of the richest men alive, yet he was blameless and honest, and a priest to his family. But one day in the assembly, the accuser challenged God. He claimed that Job was righteous only because God had blessed him so much. To prove otherwise, God stripped Job of everything: his possessions, his servants, even his children. Suddenly all was gone. Job was devastated, but he remained faithful and humble. “The Lord gave,” he said, “and now the Lord has taken away. Praise be to his name.” (1)   The accuser was not convinced. “You never hurt Job himself,” he accused God. “Do so, and he will certainly curse you!”   So Job was afflicted with disease. Covered in festering sores from head to foot, he wasted away. But even when his wife scorned him saying, “Curse God and die, Job,” his attitude remained, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”   And so Job did not sin.   Job had three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who heard about his troubles. They came to comfort him, but when they arrived, they found him so disfigured they hardly recognized him! They sat in silence, grieving for him for the ritual week of mourning until, finally, Job broke the silence. (2)   Job: I curse the day I was born! If only I had died at birth! Then at least I would be at rest. Even captives and slaves find release in death, yet my life still goes on! I long for death, but it doesn’t come. Oh why does life continue for those in misery?   This is my worst nightmare! I’ve always been afraid that something like this might happen! I have no peace, no rest, only turmoil. (3)   Eliphaz: Job, I really must respond. Don’t be offended at me. You used to be blameless. That at least should give you some hope. Whatever God is punishing you for, there’s no need to despair.   I learnt in a vision that no one is truly righteous before God, so don’t become resentful now. God certainly punishes the fool and destroys his family, but if it were me, I would appeal to God. Even though he punishes wickedness, he also heals those who accept his discipline. Who knows, before long you’ll be laughing, secure in a new household, living out the fullness of your life. Just apply the lesson to yourself. (4,5)   Job: My words were rash, but I am suffering unimaginable terrors from God. I wish he would finish me off, then at least I would know I had been faithful to the end. As for you: a man should be able to rely on his friends. But you see something dreadful and you speak from your fear. Your words are useless to me.   If you can teach me then I’ll listen, but you must accept that I never departed from my righteous ways. God has appointed a time of misery for me, so now my body is clothed in worms and scabs, and my skin is festering.

  Oh God, life is so short that I must speak out. I would prefer strangling and death to this body of mine! Why do you examine a man so closely? Why do you never give me a moment’s rest? If I have sinned then tell me now, for my life will soon be gone! (6,7)   Bildad: You’re being ridiculous, Job! God is just! When your children sinned, God handed out their penalty. And if you are so pure then God will restore you, but listen to what the fathers have told us. It is those who reject God that are cut down in their prime! God does not reject a blameless man! (8)   Job: I know that no one is truly righteous before God. The wisdom and power of the Creator are so vast, so utterly beyond us. No one can call him to explain himself. He controls the sun and the stars. He performs innumerable miracles and wonders. None of us could possibly stand up in his courtroom and dispute with him. If I tried I could only plead for mercy. This is why I say that God destroys both the blameless and the wicked.   And now, even if I dropped my complaint, I would still dread my sufferings because you have already condemned me! If only there were someone who was able to speak to God on my behalf, to remove his terror from me. Then I could stand up to God, and I would challenge him.   O God, what charges do you have against me? Do you enjoy seeing me suffer? You know my heart. You shaped me from the dust. Are you going to return me to the dust again? I cannot lift up my head because of what you’ve done to me. Leave me alone, and let me die in peace! (9,10)   [pause]   Zophar: Is no one going to respond? Job, you claim to be innocent, but I reckon that God has even forgotten some of your sins! God is greater than you can conceive, so when God chastises you, you cannot challenge him. He reacts to the evil he has witnessed. If only you would put away your sin you could lift up your head without shame. Then God would rescue you. He would protect you for the rest of your life. But the hope of the wicked is nothing more than a dying gasp. (11)   Job: Oh, you’re all so wise! But I have a mind as well! Previously God used to answer me when I called, yet now I suffer your contempt! Men at ease have contempt for misfortune. And the wicked? They live in comfort! Yes, and it is God who makes it so!   However great we are, God is greater. He is able to tear down anyone he has established, whether kings or priests or judges, elders or nobles. I’ve seen all this with my own eyes. And yet, you smear me with lies, you useless healers! I wish you would remain silent rather than distort God’s work. How will you fare when his dread falls on you? Your words are proverbs made from ashes.   [Eliphaz tries to interrupt]   No! Let me finish.   Even if God slays me I will still hope in him, and still defend myself before him. Can anyone honestly condemn me? If so I will be silent and die.   Oh God, let me have a little rest, and then I will answer you. Show me my offence. Show me my sin, because I’m rotting away to nothing. You know that man is a fleeting shadow. Cut him down and he does not rise again. To the end of creation he lies in the dust.   Oh if only you would hide me in the grave, hide me until your anger has passed, until a time comes to remember me.. Yes, I will wait. I will wait for my renewal. You will call and I will answer you. You will see the steps I’ve taken. And you will throw away my sins like a bag of rubbish. Oh, but you’re wearing me down. You’re destroying this man’s hope through the pain of his body… (12-14)   [Pause, to be sure Job has finished]   Eliphaz: You windbag! Your own mouth condemns you, and your words undermine devotion to God. How come you know so much about him? Do you sit in his council?   Oh Job. How come your heart has carried you away so that your eyes flash with anger at God? Even the heavens are not pure enough for God, much less man. Ask any wise man, or any of the fathers. It is a wicked man that God takes from comfort and security to plunge into distress and anguish. His strength is useless because God will pay him in full before his time. (15)   Job: I’ve heard all this before, you miserable comforters! Why don’t you cease? If we changed places then I would encourage and comfort you. Instead, not only do I suffer at the hand of God, but you jeer and sneer at me. God has devastated my family and destroyed my flesh. My face is red with weeping, even though my hands are free from violence, and my prayers pure. My blood cries out from the ground. Even now my account is in heaven. If only there were someone to plead with God on my behalf, as a man pleads for his friend. Instead, I’m about to die and I’m surrounded by mockers, bearing the brunt of your hostility. (16)   O God, you are the only one who can save me!   But God has made me a byword, a man in whose face people spit, a man to shock the upright. So come on then. Try again. But I’ll get no wisdom from you. Death is my best option now. (17)   Bildad: Be sensible, Job. Why do you call us stupid? You’re just tearing yourself to pieces in your anger. It is the lamp of the wicked that is snuffed out. Calamity overcomes him, eats away at his skin, and strips him of his children so that his memory is lost from the land. This is the fate of an evil man. (18)   Job: How long will you torment me with words? If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me, then let me tell you that God has wronged me! God caught me in his net and alienated me from my relatives, from my friends, and even from my wife. Those I love have turned away from me. My breath is sour and I am nothing but skin and bones. Have pity on me, my friends, and stop hounding me.   How I wish my words were written down. I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Then I will awake. I will see God with my own eyes — I and not another.   But you. You should fear the sword yourselves. Then you will know that there is judgment. (19)   Zophar: Again I must speak. You disturb and dishonor me by your rebuke. You must know that, from the beginning, the joy of the wicked is brief. In his pride he reaches for the heavens, but he is banished like a dream and his children must make up for his evil. Though he revels in oppression, terrors will overcome him. The heavens will expose his guilt and God’s wrath will consume him. (20)   Job: Let me try once more, then you can continue to mock me. Despite openly rejecting God, the wicked enjoy prosperity. Their children still grow up and sing to the music of tambourine and harp. Be honest. How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? Instead, two men lie down in the dust of death, side by side, one lived in security and plenty, while the other died in bitterness, never having enjoyed anything good.   I know what you’re thinking, that I bear all the marks of punishment for sin. But just travel a little and you will see that evil men are spared calamity. So how can you console me with your nonsense? (21)   Eliphaz: So God is punishing you for your righteousness! Job, the list of your sins is endless! You stripped your own brothers naked, you gave no water to the weary, no food to the hungry. You sent widows away empty handed, and you worked orphans into the ground. You wonder whether God sees you, but he does. Why continue in wickedness? Even now, Job, submit to God, and you will be restored and light will shine on your ways. You will then be able to save others likewise. (22)   Job: Look, if only I knew where to find God I would state my case before him, and he would listen! But I can’t find him anywhere, even though I treasured his words more than my daily bread. He remains aloof and unreachable. (23)   I wish that God would indeed set times for judgment. Terrible injustices occur, but God charges no one with wrongdoing. Men prey on the needy and the destitute. They murder, they creep around in adultery. You say that God is bound to bring them low, but he does not. You cannot contradict that. (24)   Bildad: God is a God of order, and of power, and of righteousness! But man? He is a maggot! (25)   Job: How you have helped me! What great wisdom! God is so far above our understanding. How can any of us explain his acts? (26)   As long as I live I will not speak wickedness, and neither will I deny my integrity. Hypocrisy would completely cut me off from God. (27)   You have seen God’s ways, so why do you speak such rubbish. Why do you say that suffering is allotted only to the wicked, that only the children of the wicked die by the sword or go hungry, that it is only the wicked that are blown away? Where can true wisdom be found? You can’t mine it out of the ground, or purchase it with gold. God alone knows where it is, and so He tells man, “Fear the Lord — that is wisdom.” (28)   I long for the days when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house. I was respected in the city. I helped the poor. I rescued orphans. I acted as eyes to the blind, and as feet to the lame. I helped the needy, and broke the fangs of their exploiters. I expected to live peaceful to a ripe old age. But now? Instead of hanging on my every word, they mock me, mere youths! They detest me and spit in my face. (29)   I am frightened. My life ebbs away. Pains gnaw at my bones and God throws me in the mud. Even though I cry out to him he tosses me into the storm. I used to weep for those in trouble, but when it was my turn to hope for good, evil came. (30)   I kept myself from sin because I know God watches my every step. If I am guilty — and if God would weigh me honestly he would know I am not — then indeed let others eat my food. If I am an adulterer then let them take my wife from me; if I have denied any charity then indeed let my body be broken. But how could I have denied justice to others when I know that God is the Judge who formed us all?   If I had trusted in wealth, that would be sin; or if I gloated over my enemy or cursed him; or if I had not shown hospitality; or if I had hidden sin in my heart — whatever it is let my accuser declare it so that I can answer him — or if I had devoured land without payment then, certainly, let briers come up instead of barley. (31)   That’s all I have to say.   [A young man, Elihu, has been listening. After realizing that no one is going to respond to Job, he bursts out]   Elihu: I’m younger than you elders so I kept quiet, but age doesn’t give wisdom, God does. You have utterly failed to answer Job, so now let me speak before I burst! And I can assure you I have no intention of flattering anyone! Job, I ask you to listen to me. I’m a man just like yourself. I heard you claim to be sinless, and accuse God for faulting you. You have no right to say such things. Why do you strive against God? He uses visions and events, even chastenings, to turn a man from his pride, providing a messenger to teach him. And not just once, he will do so again and again. (32)   Listen to me, Job! If you have anything to say, then say it, but otherwise let me teach you wisdom. Listen to me all of you, and let us discern together what is right. Job claims that God denies him justice, and even claims that there is no value in serving God! But it is unthinkable that God would do wrong. It is he who gives men their very breath, and is able to take it away in an instant, however great and noble they are. Would you really condemn God in his justice? He can judge without trial because he watches men even in secret, but whether he punishes or remains silent is for him to decide. Wise men say that Job speaks out of ignorance, and now he adds rebellion to his sin. (33)   Job, you claim that God will clear your name. But at the same time you also imply you get no benefit by avoiding sin! It’s actually the other way around! How can you possibly affect the Great Creator by either your righteousness or your sin? It is only other people who would suffer your wickedness. If God is prepared to close his ears to the cries of the wicked, how much more will he ignore your self-righteous indignation. Job is an ignorant babbler. (34,35)   Bear with me a little longer. There’s more to be said on God’s behalf, and through his inspiration I will speak. Even though God is mighty, he doesn’t despise men, but he does use suffering to turn people from evil. The godless resent this, and refuse to respond. Now that you are laden with the judgment of the wicked, beware of turning to evil as a means of escaping affliction.   [The sky begins to darken with an approaching storm]

  God is the ultimate teacher, with powers and abilities far beyond our understanding. He forms the rain, the clouds, and thunder. Look! See how his lightning flashes around. This is the power he uses to govern the nations! (36)   [Thunder crashes. Elihu shouts to be heard as the noise continues to increase]   Listen to the roar of his voice! It makes my heart pound! God works throughout the whole world; he does great things beyond our understanding. He sends rain and snow, stopping men from their labor, and sending the animals to their dens. He brings clouds both to punish, and to water the earth in love. Listen Job! Stop and consider God’s wonders. Can you match his power? Can you really expect to call him to account? We can’t even stare at the sun in its brightness. (37)   And now! Here is God coming! God who is beyond our reach, and is full of justice and righteousness! This is why men revere him. And in turn he cares for those who are wise in heart.   [The storm is upon them. God speaks from the whirling cloud]

  The Lord: Who is this who darkens my counsel with ignorant words? Brace yourself, Job. I’m calling you to account!   Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who shut up the sea behind doors, and wrapped the sky in clouds? Have you given orders to the morning, or walked on the bed of the sea? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or even the storehouses of hail and snow? But you are so wise! You have lived so many years!

  What about the stars, great Orion and the Bear and other constellations? Can you guide them in season? You can’t even count them! Can you control the clouds and the lightning? Perhaps you feed the lioness or the raven, or maybe you help the mountain goats give birth? Perhaps you know why the ostrich is so foolish, or the horse so strong? Is it your wisdom that allows the hawk to fly and to hunt, or the eagle to soar? You wanted to wrestle with me, Job, so now I want an answer from you. (38,39)   Job: I am unworthy. I cannot answer you.   The Lord: Brace yourself, Job. I want an answer. Would you discredit my justice, or condemn me in order to justify yourself? If you have power like mine then use it. Bring the proud man down! Bury him in the dust with the wicked! If you can do this, then I will admit that you can save yourself.   I made a mighty beast when I made you. His great bones are brass and iron. He exercises dominion over the works of God, demanding tribute from the other beasts. The raging flood is nothing to him. Can anyone take him with hooks, or trap him in a snare? What about it, Job? Can you tie him down? Will he make a lasting covenant with you? Will you make him your plaything when he terrifies you?   It is in my mercy that I allow him to plague mankind, but I limit him, despite all his boasting about his teeth, his armor, his breath setting coals ablaze. The mighty are terrified before him, and neither sword nor spear has any effect on him. He makes the deep sea boil, and he is a beast without fear. With his heaven-confronting eyes, he is king of the proud. (40,41)   Job: I know that you can do all things. No one can oppose you. I did not really understand before. Now that I have seen you I despise myself. I repent in dust and ashes.   [God turns to Eliphaz]   The Lord: Eliphaz, I am furious with you and your two friends because you spoke lies about me. But if you bring sacrifices, my servant Job will pray for you, and I will listen to him and not deal with you according to your foolish ideas.   Narrator: So Job prayed for his friends, and the Lord accepted his prayer. Afterwards, the Lord made Job prosperous again, giving him twice as much as he had before. Everyone who knew him came to him and gave him gifts. He also had seven sons and three beautiful daughters. Job lived long enough to see his great grandchildren. And when he finally died, he was old and full of years. (42) (JL)

As [Jephthah] approached his home [following his great victory] the maidens of the town came forth, according to the custom of the time, to greet the mighty man of valour with songs and dances. In this way, Miriam and the women of Israel had celebrated the destruction of Pharaoh’s host in the Red Sea (Exo 15:20); and later, David’s victories over the Philistines were acclaimed in the same fashion (1Sa 18:6).

But now, to his consternation and grief, Jephthah beheld amongst them his own daughter, and he who should have been enjoying the victor’s triumph rent his clothes: “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.”

However Jephthah’s vow be understood, that last phrase shows what a sterling character he was. “I cannot go back!” Come what may, his vow to God must be performed. Jephthah swore to his own hurt, and changed not. “He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” For this Jephthah’s name is inscribed in the Lord’s “roll of honour” in Hebrews 11 amongst those who glorified God by their faith.

The question of the fate of Jephthah’s daughter as a result of the vow he made unto the Lord is probably the most discussed problem in the Book of Judges. Traditionally the vow of Jephthah has been taken as meaning exactly what it says. Nevertheless there are those who believe that Jephthah’s daughter was not slain and burnt on an altar, but that she was dedicated to life-long service of God in connection with the tabernacle. This latter conclusion has the weight of evidence behind it. It is those who believe that the maiden became a burnt offering who are faced with difficulties.

First, it is tolerably clear that Jephthah was expecting to have to give to God, in fulfilment of his vow, a PERSON and not an animal; or to be more precise, BOTH a person AND a burnt offering. His words were: “Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me… shall surely be the Lord’s.” There is no point in stressing “whatsoever (as distinct from whomsoever) cometh forth”: the word “whatsoever” is a Hebrew masculine, for in such a sentence the masculine would cover all genders.

But what animal might come to meet Jephthah? The only animals that might be offered as a burnt offering were sheep, goats, bullocks, and (for the very poorest of the people) pigeons. Would Jephthah be expecting to be met by any of these? The only animal that might conceivably go out to meet him would be a favourite hound, and that would certainly not make an acceptable offering to the Lord.

In any case, Jephthah’s vow manifestly signified something of considerable value in his eyes — a real sacrifice, in the modern sense of the world.

Since, from the very nature of the vow, it must refer to someone over whom Jephthah had full control, the possibilities are limited to two: a favourite slave, or servant, or his only daughter.

Consequently, the conclusion becomes inevitable that Jephthah was vowing unto God someone for whom he would have real affection, someone whose loss he would mourn bitterly. His vow was a vow worth making. It honoured God by an offering that was by no means inconsiderable.

Once this vow is thus seen in its true perspective, all other details begin to fall into place.

It has already been seen [from his astute handling of Scripture earlier in Jdg 11] that Jephthah was no uncouth desperado, but — like the outlaw David — a devout man well-schooled in the Scriptures. He would therefore be no stranger to such passages as the following: “Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord” (Lev 18:21).

“Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods” (Deu 12:30,31).

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch” (Deu 18:10).

Then is it possible that such a man as Jephthah would even consider making a human sacrifice? Is it likely that having just returned from the slaughter of the Ammonites (whose god had been unable to deliver or prosper them), he would then proceed to imitate the rites of Molech, the god of Ammon, which were utterly forbidden to Israel?

Again, let it be supposed that Jephthah had sought to offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. This could be done only at the altar of the Lord, and through the ministration of a priest — and what priest would condone or assist such a flagrant breach of Levitical precept?

And, if the maiden were to die as a sacrifice, would it not be an intensely unnatural thing for her to spend the last two months of her life away from her father who loved her so much?

It needs to be recognized also that the vowing of persons to God was a perfectly normal matter in the life of Israel; the Law made provision for such acts of exceptional piety: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation” (Lev 27:2). A commutation price, differing for males and females and according to the age of the person vowed unto the Lord, might be paid. In the case of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty, this payment was fifty shekels (for a working man, more than a year’s wages?).

Evidently then, the vow took the form of consecrating, in effect, the labour value of the person vowed. The practical result, in most instances, would be for the commutation price to be paid and the life of the individual concerned would proceed normally.

But, it has been claimed, the same scripture REQUIRES the actual sacrifice of such as Jephthah’s daughter: “Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold, or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; abut all shall surely be put to death” (Lev 27:18,19).

To apply these words to the question under discussion is to confuse two very different things, namely (1) that which is vowed; and (2) the devoted thing (Hebrew “cherem”; eg, Josh 6:17,18 same word).

Whereas there was always optional redemption of a vow by means of a money payment, the “cherem” — nearly always associated with what was taken in war — normally meant utter destruction (something akin to whole burnt offering). Jephthah’s vow was the former of these. Lev 27:18,19 describes the latter.

There were instances, like Hannah’s vowing of her son unto the Lord “all the days of his life”, when advantage of the commutation arrangement was not taken. This is what Jephthah meant when he said: “I cannot go back.” His daughter was to be given to the Lord all the days of her life. So completely did Jephthah feel his indebtedness to the Lord that there was to be no suggestion of taking an easy way out. He would pay his vow in the fullest sense, by giving his daughter from that time forward for permanent service in the precincts of the tabernacle. (WJR).

Author: Jeremiah and Baruch

Time: 630 – 575 BC

Summary: Jeremiah warns of the impending military force of Babylon that would destroy Jerusalem and enslave the Jews. He urges Jerusalem to turn from its wicked ways, but there is no response. He further warns of the false prophets who are leading the people astray with deceptive doctrines and falsehoods. He urges the Israelites to submit to the Babylonian authority as the instrument of God’s judgment. They do not heed his warnings and the people are carried away to Babylon. He predicts that the captives will return after 70 years to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

Outline

1.	The prophet’s call: Jer 1
2.	Prophetic oracles against Jerusalem and Judah: Jer 2-35
	a)	Early discourses: Jer 2-6
	b)	Temple message: Jer 7-10
	c)	Covenant and conspiracy: Jer 11-13
	d)	Messages concerning the drought: Jer 14-15
	e)	Disaster and comfort: Jer 16:1-17:18
	f)	Command to keep the Sabbath holy: Jer 17:19-27
	g)	Lessons from the potter: Jer 18-20
	h)	Condemnation of kings, prophets and people: Jer 21-24
	i)	Foretelling the Babylonian exile: Jer 25-29
	j)	Promises of restoration: Jer 30-33
	k)	Historical appendix: Jer 34-35
3.	Sufferings and persecutions of Jeremiah: Jer 36-38
	a)	Burning Jeremiah’s scroll: Jer 36
	b)	Imprisoning Jeremiah: Jer 37-38
4.	The fall of Jerusalem and its aftermath: Jer 39-45
	a)	The fall itself: Jer 39
	b)	Accession and assassination of Gedaliah: Jer 40:1-41:15
	c)	Migration to Egypt: Jer 41:16-43:13
	d)	Prophecy against those in Egypt: Jer 44
	e)	Historical appendix: promise to Baruch: Jer 45
5.	Prophecies against the nations: Jer 46-51
	a)	Against Egypt: Jer 46:1-28
	b)	Against Philistia: Jer 47:1-7
	c)	Against Moab: Jer 48:1-47
	d)	Against Ammon: Jer 49:1-6
	e)	Against Edom: Jer 49:7-22
	f)	Against Damascus: Jer 49:23-27
	g)	Against Arabia: Jer 49:28-33
	h)	Against Elam: Jer 49:34-39
	i)	Against Babylon: Jer 50-51
6.	Historical appendix: Jer 52
	a)	Judah’s fall and captivity: Jer 52:1-30
	b)	Jehoiachin’s liberation: Jer 52:31-34

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Jeremiah’s chapters in chronological order

1-6; 11; 12; 26; 7-10; 14-20; 35; 36; 45; 25; 46-49; 13; 22-24; 27-29; 50; 51; 30-33; 21; 34; 37-39; 52; 40-44.