Judges 11:1-11, 29-40

The account of Jephthah is simply tragic. The worst part is that the tragedy Jephthah self-inflicts on himself with a rash oath was completely unnecessary and uncalled for. God was going to bring deliverance to Israel apart from anything Jephthah gave up or sacrificed.

Jephthah’s folly can be a loud warning siren to us - that we never attach strings to God’s no-strings-attached deliverance in Christ. The only necessary sacrifice was made for our sins so that none of our stories have to end in tragedy. They end in victory.