Be Careful Little Mouth ...

Aug. 20

Read: Judges 11

“Be Careful Little Mouth…”

“And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” (v. 35)

Consider for a moment the raw power of words: God SPOKE all of creation into existence. (cf. Gen.1) It is easy to lose sight of the power of our words. Our words have the equal ability to bring either “life” or “death”. No one knows this truth better than Jephthah. In haste he made a vow to the Lord to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house to greet him after battle if God would only grant him victory in war. (v. 30,31) What a reckless vow to make! What was his motivation? Was God swayed by this vow?

Jephthah had a lot to overcome. He was the son of a prostitute, ostracized because of it. (v.1-3) He was run off by the other sons of his father. His reputation as a “mighty warrior” and his band of mercenary soldiers that ran with him prompted the leaders of his home town to come back and seek out his help when they had been conquered. There was a lot riding on this battle for Jephthah… redemption, vindication, a future leadership position, a welcoming into a position of power and acceptance. I understand why he might be a little nervous about the outcome of the battle he was about to wage.

The scriptures tell us “the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah.” (v.29) He already had a “seal” and affirmation from the Lord that he was with him in this battle. Jephthah knew from the get-go that it would be the Lord who delivered the people… just look at his comments. (cf. v.9) Yet, he felt like he needed to “add'' something to the equation… he felt like he needed to “sweeten the deal” a little. How often do we think we are going to coerce God by promising him our worship? Do you think that the willingness to offer to God whatever came out of his house was going to sway God if he had not already decided to give him victory? Was God up there in heaven saying, “I am going to have the Ammonites destroy Jephthah'', right up until he made him that offer? Like God was up in heaven saying, “I had planned to destroy him… but since he offered me some burnt goat… I guess I am going to let him win now!” It is silly to think of the games we play sometimes… the ways that we try to twist God’s preverbal arm… our attempts to manipulate the creator of all things!

Our words carry weight and power though. God has called us to be people of our word. (cf. James 5:12) So what do you think Jephthah did? Did he sacrifice his daughter? Would God even be pleased by that? I would love to hear what you guys think happened! We will look at the outcome more in the next devo. For today, I want you to truly consider the weight of your words. What you say can bring very real blessing and encouragement as well as very real damage and loss. Likewise, I want you to consider if you are a person who tries to “wheel and deal” with God? Are you trying to promise your “devotion” in exchange for getting what you want? What more do you want from the Lord in addition to his Spirit? Take some time today to think about the words you speak. May the Spirit of the Lord do his work on our hearts and tongues. Some of you will need to apologize to people around you that your words have hurt. Some of you need to take a moment to say thanks or to encourage someone who needs your words to bring some LIFE and joy to them. “be careful little mouth what you say”. Love you guys. - JDP