14Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. 16But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
19And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ 20But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
21Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, 22seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? 24Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us. 25Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
26For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? 27I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
a. Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon: Jephthah’s written response to the King of the Ammonites carefully explained why Israel had a right to the land that the Ammonites claimed was theirs.
b. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country: Jephthah reminded the King of the Ammonites that the Amorites conquered the Ammonites and took control of their land. When Israel defeated the Amorites in battle, they justly took the land of the Amorites - which also happened to be the previous land of the Ammonites. The war against the Amorites was prompted by the vicious Amorite war against Israeli civilians.
c. And now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it: Jephthah argued that since God gave this land to Israel, the Ammonites had no claim over it.
d. Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess: Jephthah argued that the Ammonite god Chemosh must show himself worthy to conquer the land of Israel. Since Israel held this land for three hundred years, it demonstrated that Chemosh was not greater than the God of Israel. (Guzik)
“The three hundred years is remarkably close to the total of the various figures for the judges and the periods of oppression given up to this point. The exact figure is 319 years.” (Cundall)
“If your god is mighty enough to give you the land, then let him do it. Let us see who is stronger - Yahweh or Chemosh.”
“Jephthah did not see this battle as primarily between two armies, but between the God of Israel and the false god of Ammon. Jephthah showed true wisdom in seeing this as a spiritual battle first.” (Guzik)
“Jephthah’s logical, reasoned response was of no effect upon the King of Ammon. War was therefore inevitable.” (Guzik)
Spiritual Battle
Ever have a day and it seems like the whole world is against you and nothing is going right?
Ephesians 6: 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
I remember attending a Bible study at church and at the beginning, nothing was going well. The leader said, we need to stop and pray for something is going on spiritually. We did and the problems and glitches cleared up and went away.
Have you ever recognized a spiritual battle was taking place, stopped and prayed?
Blessings
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