Judges 11:7-11: a reflection

7Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them before me, will I be your head?” 10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.” 11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

Jephthah had been driven out by his own people, rejected and cast from his father's house. But now, in their distress, facing the Ammonites, the elders of Gilead come back to him, asking the very man they had rejected to lead them. Jephthah reminds them of it: Didn't you hate me, and drive me out? Why have you come to me now? Yet he agrees to lead them, and God uses him to deliver Israel. The one they had rejected becomes the one God raises up to save them; the cast-out man is the one made head over them.

Notice how God raised up the rejected one. Jephthah had been cast out, rejected by his own people, thought unworthy of a place among them. But when deliverance was needed, it was to this rejected man that they turned, and through him God delivered Israel. The one who had been driven out became the one God used to save them; the rejected one was raised up to lead. God's choice fell not on the one they had honored, but on the one they had cast out. The rejected and overlooked became, in God's hand, the deliverer.

That is worth taking to heart, for God often raises up the rejected and overlooked for his purposes. We can assume that those who have been rejected, cast aside, overlooked, are of no use, that God works only through the honored and accepted; but God raised up the rejected Jephthah to deliver Israel, and this pattern points to Christ, the stone the builders rejected, made the cornerstone. God is not limited to the accepted and honored; he raises up the rejected. Do not despise the rejected and overlooked, or assume God cannot use them; he often raises up the very ones others have cast aside, as he raised up Jephthah. And if you feel rejected and overlooked, do not think God cannot use you; he raises up the rejected for his purposes, as he raised up Jephthah to deliver Israel, and made the rejected stone the cornerstone; for God's choice often falls on the cast-out and overlooked, and he is not limited to those the world has honored.

Lord, Jephthah had been driven out by his own people, rejected and cast from his father's house. But now, in their distress, facing the Ammonites, the elders of Gilead come back to him, asking the very man they had rejected to lead them. Jephthah reminds them of it: didn't you hate me, and drive me out? Why have you come to me now? Yet he agrees to lead them, and you use him to deliver Israel. The one they had rejected becomes the one you raise up to save them. Show me how you raised up the rejected one. Jephthah had been cast out, rejected by his own people, thought unworthy of a place among them. But when deliverance was needed, it was to this rejected man that they turned, and through him you delivered Israel. The one who had been driven out became the one you used to save them. Your choice fell not on the one they had honored, but on the one they had cast out. Take that to my heart, for you often raise up the rejected and overlooked for your purposes. I can assume that those who have been rejected, cast aside, overlooked, are of no use, that you work only through the honored and accepted; but you raised up the rejected Jephthah, and this points to Christ, the stone the builders rejected, made the cornerstone. Keep me from despising the rejected and overlooked, or assuming you cannot use them; you often raise up the very ones others have cast aside. And if I feel rejected and overlooked, keep me from thinking you cannot use me, Lord; you raise up the rejected for your purposes, as you raised up Jephthah.