What’s More Important?
The story of Jephtha in Judges 11 and 12 is very disturbing. Jephtha and his daughter demonstrate that sometimes following the rules is exactly the wrong thing to do. Jephtha became one of Israel’s leaders—traditionally translated as “judge”—and at the beginning of his first military campaign, he made a vow to Yahweh: if Yahweh gave him victory over the Ammonites, then the first thing to meet him when he came home, he would sacrifice as a burnt offering.
When he arrived home in victory, his only daughter came out to him dancing with joy. Aware of her father’s vow, she insisted that he fulfill it. But she did have a request:
“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.” (Judges 11:36-37)
So, she went away for two months, but then she came back and Jephtha sacrificed her as a burnt offering, fulfilling his promise to God.
The reader of the story should be shocked and appalled. If you’re not, you’re not paying attention and you’re missing the whole point. Jephthah should not have kept his vow. Better to ask forgiveness for breaking an oath, than for murder. Not all promises are worth keeping. Some shouldn’t have been made in the first place, and though it is technically a bad thing to go back on your word—keeping a promise is generally considered a positive character trait—there are times when breaking the vow is the better choice.
The story of Jephthah serves as an illustration of something Jesus said in the New Testament about the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. Legalism, zero tolerance, “well, the law says” are the copouts of the stupid, vile, and thoughtless. It is the attitude of bureaucracy, which knows that no one ever gets in trouble for following the regulations, even if it leads to the opposite of what the whole point of the regulation might have been.
Bottom line: Jesus told us that the most important commandments were to love God, and to love people. He further stated that it was on these two commandments that all of the Bible hung(See Matthew 22:35-40; Romans 13:8-10; Colossians 3:14; Galatians 5:14). If your interpretation, if your conclusion, if “keeping the rules” violates the prime commandments, then guess what: your interpretation, your conclusion, is necessarily wrong.
