Judges 11:12-29
“And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.” (Judges 11:12-13)
When Israel came in to possess the land, God commanded, “And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession,” in Deuteronomy 2:19. Israel had carefully kept that command, giving The Ammonites no cause for complaint, but, as so often happens were trying to justify wrong doing on their part by making false accusations.
“And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.” (Judges 11:14-22)
Jephthah reviewed the records of how Israel had contacted each of the nations whose land they needed to cross and had been denied. They had honored the those denials and gone around them on the east sid until they came up against the Amorites. When they requested permission to cross the Amorite lands, the Amorites attacked them without provocation, and Israel defended themselves, defeating them and taking their land. It had never belonged to the Ammonites.
“So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” (Judges 11:23-24)
The Ammonites did not hesitate to claim the land they conquered, so they should concede Israel the same right. There should be no double standard. If God gives the land, they have the right to it. Their complaints were much like the countries aroungd Israel today, who do not hesitate to take land from Israel by force, but file complaints with the UN when Israel takes it from them.
“And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.” (Judges 11:25-27)
The Moabites would have had more reason to fight Israel than the Ammonites, because they had occupied land adjacent to theirs, but the Moabites had not seen fit to fight them. The events they were complaining about had happened more than three hundred years before, and if there was any validity to their claims it should have been mentioned before this. Their claims had no merit and a war to get them would be wrong, resulting God’s judgment on them.
“Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.” (Judges 11:28)
A diplomatic approach may work when there has been an honest misunderstanding. It never works when there is a deliberate intention to do wrong. The one intending to do wrong merely pretends to listen to give the impression he is being reasonable in hopes of getting his way without a fight, or to sway others to his side, but is adamant about having his way. He will consider no compromise. This is true whether talking about governments, political parties, labor disputes, marital conflicts, or legal disputes. The Ammonite king was no exception.
“And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.” (Judges 11:12-13)
When Israel came in to possess the land, God commanded, “And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession,” in Deuteronomy 2:19. Israel had carefully kept that command, giving The Ammonites no cause for complaint, but, as so often happens were trying to justify wrong doing on their part by making false accusations.
“And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.” (Judges 11:14-22)
Jephthah reviewed the records of how Israel had contacted each of the nations whose land they needed to cross and had been denied. They had honored the those denials and gone around them on the east sid until they came up against the Amorites. When they requested permission to cross the Amorite lands, the Amorites attacked them without provocation, and Israel defended themselves, defeating them and taking their land. It had never belonged to the Ammonites.
“So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” (Judges 11:23-24)
The Ammonites did not hesitate to claim the land they conquered, so they should concede Israel the same right. There should be no double standard. If God gives the land, they have the right to it. Their complaints were much like the countries aroungd Israel today, who do not hesitate to take land from Israel by force, but file complaints with the UN when Israel takes it from them.
“And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.” (Judges 11:25-27)
The Moabites would have had more reason to fight Israel than the Ammonites, because they had occupied land adjacent to theirs, but the Moabites had not seen fit to fight them. The events they were complaining about had happened more than three hundred years before, and if there was any validity to their claims it should have been mentioned before this. Their claims had no merit and a war to get them would be wrong, resulting God’s judgment on them.
“Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.” (Judges 11:28)
A diplomatic approach may work when there has been an honest misunderstanding. It never works when there is a deliberate intention to do wrong. The one intending to do wrong merely pretends to listen to give the impression he is being reasonable in hopes of getting his way without a fight, or to sway others to his side, but is adamant about having his way. He will consider no compromise. This is true whether talking about governments, political parties, labor disputes, marital conflicts, or legal disputes. The Ammonite king was no exception.
Here we have James 4:1 played out for us? We want what we want simply because, and we will cling to any excuse to get it, so we can satisfy our lusts. We all know this experientally.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Almost our whole society runs on the idea that we've been done wrong and it's not our fault when we do something wrong.
Delete