1 00:00:02,690 --> 00:00:13,410 Speaker 1: Life Audio Hello. Thank you for listening to your daily 2 00:00:13,430 --> 00:00:16,890 Speaker 1: Bible verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,350 --> 00:00:19,710 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and His will for us. 4 00:00:20,470 --> 00:00:22,930 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word 5 00:00:22,950 --> 00:00:30,350 Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible verse, Judges 12, 7. 6 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,290 Speaker 1: Today's Bible verse is Judges 12-7. Jephthah led Israel six years. 7 00:00:43,570 --> 00:00:46,370 Speaker 1: Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a 8 00:00:46,430 --> 00:00:52,130 Speaker 1: town in Gilead. Today we're continuing with Jephthah's story. If 9 00:00:52,170 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 1: you missed my last episode and want to know more 10 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: about his background, listen to last Friday's content or read 11 00:00:57,940 --> 00:01:03,790 Speaker 1: Judges chapter 12. Imagine getting bullied in school, enduring years 12 00:01:04,069 --> 00:01:08,540 Speaker 1: of mocking, rejection, maybe worse, and returning to your high 13 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,860 Speaker 1: school reunion 20 years after graduation as a successful district attorney, 14 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: heart surgeon, or highly respected professor. Or... leaving your childhood 15 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:21,490 Speaker 1: home to predictions made by your parents that you'd never 16 00:01:21,550 --> 00:01:24,850 Speaker 1: amount to much, and two decades later, living as a 17 00:01:25,050 --> 00:01:29,370 Speaker 1: financially secure business owner with a thriving marriage and well-adjusted 18 00:01:29,410 --> 00:01:34,539 Speaker 1: kids who adore you. Maybe that was your experience. Maybe you, 19 00:01:34,660 --> 00:01:38,220 Speaker 1: like Jephthah, are a living example of God's grace for 20 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,830 Speaker 1: the downtrodden and displaced. Before I go any further, I 21 00:01:42,890 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: do need to acknowledge Jephthah was a complicated man who 22 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,860 Speaker 1: demonstrated a heart for God and a heart that seemed 23 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:54,900 Speaker 1: to show a rage infection that escalated conflict unnecessarily. That said, 24 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: I can understand why, based on what scripture reveals regarding 25 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: his family of origin and the deep wounding he probably 26 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: experienced growing up. I discussed his background again in last 27 00:02:06,940 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: Friday's episode, but here's the paraphrased version. Although Jephthah was a, quote, 28 00:02:11,540 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: valiant warrior, a trait that would have earned him much 29 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: respect and admiration in the ancient world, he was also 30 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:23,829 Speaker 1: the son of a prostitute. That, and perhaps his brother's greed, 31 00:02:24,230 --> 00:02:26,950 Speaker 1: caused them to give him the boot. They made it 32 00:02:27,010 --> 00:02:29,900 Speaker 1: clear they didn't want his kind around, and so he fled, 33 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: adding distance between himself and the place of his pain 34 00:02:33,540 --> 00:02:39,270 Speaker 1: and those responsible for it. Everyone, Jephthah included, probably assumed 35 00:02:39,430 --> 00:02:42,610 Speaker 1: that was the end of his story. It might have been, 36 00:02:42,889 --> 00:02:46,190 Speaker 1: if not for a series of events that Scripture doesn't 37 00:02:46,330 --> 00:02:50,220 Speaker 1: explicitly assign to the Almighty, but has the fingerprints of 38 00:02:50,340 --> 00:02:54,380 Speaker 1: grace all over it. You see, God's people once again 39 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,860 Speaker 1: found themselves in a mess when the Ammonites, a neighboring 40 00:02:56,900 --> 00:03:02,260 Speaker 1: people group, launched war against Israel. Apparently, Jephthah's combat skills 41 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: were so impressive that the elders decided to seek out 42 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: the man they'd previously scorned. After a brief interchange and 43 00:03:10,210 --> 00:03:15,210 Speaker 1: a promised leadership position, should he succeed, Jephthah agreed to 44 00:03:15,270 --> 00:03:19,470 Speaker 1: go into battle on behalf of the people. And he did, 45 00:03:19,650 --> 00:03:24,130 Speaker 1: in fact, succeed. The result? The man no one seemed 46 00:03:24,150 --> 00:03:26,610 Speaker 1: to want previously rose to a position of prestige and 47 00:03:26,650 --> 00:03:30,430 Speaker 1: power in which he ruled for six years. Granted, that 48 00:03:30,470 --> 00:03:32,730 Speaker 1: might not seem like much of a career, spanning less 49 00:03:32,889 --> 00:03:36,910 Speaker 1: than a decade, but notice the stark contrast between where 50 00:03:37,010 --> 00:03:41,210 Speaker 1: he was and how he was treated when Scripture first 51 00:03:41,290 --> 00:03:43,850 Speaker 1: introduced him to where he was and how he was 52 00:03:43,930 --> 00:03:47,430 Speaker 1: treated the day he breathed his last. In this, we 53 00:03:47,490 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: see something that's evident throughout Scripture. God's grace for the displaced. 54 00:03:53,660 --> 00:03:57,890 Speaker 1: Here are a few examples. Hagar, an Egyptian slave, used 55 00:03:57,990 --> 00:04:01,630 Speaker 1: and sexually exploited by a barren couple named Abram and Sarai, 56 00:04:01,690 --> 00:04:05,350 Speaker 1: who experienced a personal encounter with God and later gave 57 00:04:05,410 --> 00:04:10,070 Speaker 1: birth to the father of 12 rulers. Genesis 37 tells 58 00:04:10,190 --> 00:04:13,310 Speaker 1: us about a Hebrew teenager abused by his brothers, sold 59 00:04:13,350 --> 00:04:16,050 Speaker 1: into slavery and carted off in chains to a foreign land, 60 00:04:16,550 --> 00:04:19,500 Speaker 1: who God later raised to second in command over all Egypt, 61 00:04:20,270 --> 00:04:25,630 Speaker 1: a dominant force at that time. Then there was David, 62 00:04:25,690 --> 00:04:28,430 Speaker 1: whose family didn't seem to value him enough to call 63 00:04:28,470 --> 00:04:31,230 Speaker 1: him in from the fields when the most prominent prophet 64 00:04:31,390 --> 00:04:35,290 Speaker 1: in that day arrived at the house, and who also 65 00:04:35,330 --> 00:04:40,750 Speaker 1: spent over a decade living as a disdained fugitive until 66 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:46,270 Speaker 1: the Lord placed him on the throne. This reminds me 67 00:04:46,310 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: of a passage I find particularly beautiful when I consider 68 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:53,470 Speaker 1: my own story. Psalm 137, verses 7 to 8 reads, 69 00:04:53,570 --> 00:04:56,890 Speaker 1: He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the 70 00:04:56,970 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: needy from the ash heap. He seats them with princes, 71 00:05:01,020 --> 00:05:07,260 Speaker 1: with the princes of his people. Why? Because God loves 72 00:05:07,620 --> 00:05:12,430 Speaker 1: showering his children with good gifts. Absolutely. But more than that, 73 00:05:12,490 --> 00:05:15,890 Speaker 1: to reveal that none of this— our roles, our skills, our 74 00:05:15,950 --> 00:05:20,469 Speaker 1: reputations and opportunities— It's about us. It's all about the Lord. 75 00:05:20,630 --> 00:05:23,310 Speaker 1: And he has the power to raise one person up, 76 00:05:23,390 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: as he did Jephthah, and bring others low. But here's 77 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: what I want to communicate for us. God's grace is 78 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: greater than our pain, the things we suffer, and other 79 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,310 Speaker 1: people's attempts to displace or even destroy us. What he 80 00:05:39,770 --> 00:05:43,450 Speaker 1: plans will come to pass. And his grace, not the 81 00:05:43,490 --> 00:05:48,210 Speaker 1: wounds and injustices we suffer, determine our ultimate goal. destination. 82 00:05:48,510 --> 00:05:54,349 Speaker 1: Let's pray. Holy Father, remind us of who you are, 83 00:05:54,470 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: of your power, your goodness, your wisdom, your brilliance, your sovereignty, 84 00:05:59,830 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: your care, your faithfulness, your love, your tenderness. Remind us 85 00:06:05,140 --> 00:06:10,460 Speaker 1: of everything you are, especially when we're wounded, when we're hurting. 86 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: May we turn to you. You will never turn us away. 87 00:06:15,470 --> 00:06:18,890 Speaker 1: You welcome us close and you lavish us with love 88 00:06:19,589 --> 00:06:22,100 Speaker 1: and grace. And Lord, we do ask that you would 89 00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: heal those things in us that have caused us to 90 00:06:25,020 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: view ourselves in any way less than how you see us. 91 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,540 Speaker 1: Help us to see ourselves as you do. Show us, 92 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,140 Speaker 1: tell us how you see us. Help us to boldly 93 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,370 Speaker 1: walk in your grace in the confidence that you have 94 00:06:37,380 --> 00:06:40,779 Speaker 1: in us. that is befitting sons and daughters of the 95 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,150 Speaker 1: risen King. And it is in his name, Jesus Christ, 96 00:06:44,230 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: our risen Lord, that we pray. Amen.