And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”. . .When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.”. . .After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. Judges 11:30-31, 34-35, 39
Jephthah, a judge called by God to fight the Ammonites, made a very rash vow before the Lord, promising to sacrifice whatever walked through the door when he came home from victory. He hoped it was a sheep or a goat. Unfortunately, it was his only daughter.
But this story is not about human sacrifices, although it appears his daughter was killed.
God does not ask for human sacrifices. Sacrifices were always animals. This was not an acceptable action on Jephthah’s part.
God’s word to us is a promise that cannot be broken. The same holds true for us. We must keep our word to God. Jephthah kept his word, as wrong as it was, to show his allegiance first to God.
The sacrifice came willingly. The daughter went off for two months and mourned that she would never marry or be with a man. She was a virgin. She returned and offered herself to God.
God only asked for one human sacrifice – Christ. Jesus fulfilled a promise God made to us, for a king who would rule on his throne forever, a Messiah to save us. That sacrifice, undefiled by sin, came willingly, like Jephthah’s daughter. Jephthah's daughter was a type of willing human sacrifice like Jesus.
Jephthah’s incident was a mistake, but was used as a symbolic sign for a sacrifice that would soon come to save the world.
