7Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
8They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”
“The nation of Ammon, the Ammonites, lived to the south of Israel. They were a semi-nomadic group of people who descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot.” (Guzik)
“May not God justly say as much to most of us? We seldom seek to him till needs must.” (Trapp)
“Because of the crisis of the Ammonites, the leaders of Gilead were desperate for an able leader, and they turned to Jephthah. They were willing to give him the authority as head over Gilead.” (Guzik)
Experience
One major lesson that the Bible teaches us through life’s trials is that, through those trials a person gains the necessary experience so that the Lord can use them. Several examples are David when Saul was trying to kill him and Joseph when his brothers sold him as a slave to Egyptian traders. Could either boy have gained the experience necessary to lead a nation or save a nation and people from starvation if they didn’t experience the trials set before them?
Would Jephthah have gained the experience necessary to become a warrior and to be considered a commander if his brothers didn’t expel him from his father’s house?
The question we need to consider is when we are faced with a trial is, what is the Lord going to teach me and how will He use me when I come out on the other side?
Blessings
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