Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. (Judges 11:1)

God Sees The Heart

The period of the Judges was a volatile time of wickedness by the people of God, oppression as a form of divine judgment, and the grace of God to save His people. It was a circular series of events where God’s people would engage in idolatry and wickedness, leading the Lord to bring a foreign enemy to oppress the land for many years. When the people repented and cried out to the Lord, a deliverer would be raised by the hand of God, and the land would have peace for a while. Judges like Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Barak, Gideon, and Samson fill the pages of God’s word with courage, wisdom, and trust in God.

Following the death of Jair, a Gileadite who judged Israel for twenty-two years. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They began to worship and serve the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. The children of Israel forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. To punish His people, God delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites. For eighteen years, the affliction upon Israel was heavy. Finally, the hearts of the people relented and sought the forgiveness of the Lord. They put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord because the soul of God could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

The man God chose to deliver his people was a man with a stained past. Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He had excelled in combat and was known as a great warrior. His skills had brought many victories for the people of God. However, Jephthah was the son of a harlot and was despised by his half-brothers, who eventually drove him away. Jephthah fled to the land of Tob, and worthless men joined him as raiders. When the children of Israel faced the Ammonite army encamped in Gilead, the elders went to Jephthah, begging him to lead them against the enemy.

Jephthah’s pedigree was not of his making, but it almost became his ruin. When the men of Gilead came to him seeking his leadership, he reminded them how they had driven him away because his mother was a harlot. He could have remained in obscurity as a leader of rebels the people looked upon with disdain. Instead, God uses Jephthah as the savior of His people to free them from the oppression of the Ammonites. God delivered Sihon, king of the Ammonites, and all his people into the hand of Israel with a very great slaughter. The people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Many people have stained histories that God uses for His glory. Moses was an Egyptian prince wanted for murder and was a shepherd in Midian when God called him. He became the great prophet and leader of the nation of Israel. Rahab, a gentile woman from Jericho, was a harlot listed in the genealogy of Jesus, along with Ruth, a gentile woman from Moab. Jesus chose a hated tax collector named Matthew as one of His chosen twelve. Saul of Tarsus tried to destroy the church before God used him to spread the gospel throughout the world. The only pedigree God is concerned about is what is in the heart.

Life for Jephthah would have been harsh growing up as the son of a harlot. He became a savior for the people of God because he believed in the power of God. What a man becomes should not be measured by his past if he believes in the grace and forgiveness of God. Paul regretted much in his life for what he did to the Lord’s church, but it became his fuel to do more for the work of the Lord. You have a past. Do not let your past define who you are today. With God’s love and grace, everyone can be a leader in the work of the Lord. Get busy. There are souls to save.