A Witness in the Cloud

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Short Summary
The discourse centers on the biblical figure Jephthah, examining his story from Judges and Hebrews 11 to highlight the gravity and consequences of making vows before God. It emphasizes the importance of faithfulness in keeping promises, the cultural and spiritual challenges faced by individuals of faith in ungodly environments, and encourages believers to learn from these examples by living sacrificially and with steadfast faith. The message concludes with a reminder to consider carefully before making vows and to uphold them with integrity.

Long Summary
Context and Purpose of the Discourse:
– The discourse draws inspiration from Hebrews chapter 11, known as the “Faith Chapter,” focusing on exemplary figures of faith.
– The speaker chooses to focus on one individual from Hebrews 11 due to time constraints: Jephthah, a lesser-discussed biblical character.
– The story of Jephthah is found in Judges chapters 11 and 12, set during a period when Israelites repeatedly did evil in God’s sight, resulting in divine punishment through oppression by Philistines and Ammonites.

Background on Jephthah:
– Jephthah was born illegitimately and was rejected by his half-brothers, who denied him inheritance rights.
– He fled to Tob (east of Gilead) and became a leader of a band of outlaws.
– When the Ammonites threatened Israel, the elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to lead them in battle.
– Jephthah negotiated a permanent leadership role if he succeeded in defeating the Ammonites.
– Relying on God’s might, Jephthah defeated the Ammonites.

Jephthah’s Rash Vow (Judges 11:30-31):
– Before battle, Jephthah made a vow: “Whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:31).
– This vow is controversial and often discussed—whether it was rash or foolish.
– The Hebrew conjunction translated as “or” in this verse suggests ambiguity: either dedicate whatever meets him to the Lord or offer it as a burnt offering.
– Human sacrifice was forbidden by Mosaic Law (Leviticus 20:2), making this vow problematic.

Examples of Rash Vows and their Consequences:
– The discourse references 2 Samuel 21:6-9, where a rash vow led to the death of seven men, showing that rash vows were not uncommon and could have tragic consequences.
– A vow is defined as a solemn promise or oath, binding before God, and must be fulfilled (Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
– People were expected to keep vows seriously; failure was considered sin.
– The Nazarite vow (Numbers 6) is given as an example, showing strict conditions and serious commitment, even extended to women.
– Apostle Paul is noted to have taken a Nazarite vow (Acts 18:18).

Jephthah’s Tragic Fulfillment of His Vow:
– Upon returning victorious, Jephthah’s only child, his daughter, came out to greet him.
– Despite the horror and unexpectedness, Jephthah honors his vow.
– His daughter accepts her fate, showing faith and submission (Judges 11:35-36).
– She remained a virgin for life and mourned her virginity, reflecting the cultural importance of bearing children (fruitfulness).
– Unlike Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22), where God stopped the sacrifice, Jephthah’s daughter was dedicated in a different way, possibly lifelong seclusion or service, not necessarily literal death.

Legal and Cultural Considerations:
– Leviticus 27 provides that vows involving persons could be redeemed by payment to the priest, suggesting that Jephthah could have redeemed his daughter instead of offering her as a burnt offering.
– The law forbade human sacrifice, so Jephthah’s vow was extraordinary, and his fulfillment of it was exceptional.
– The Hebrew term used for “burnt offering” (olah) can mean a gift completely given to God, not necessarily death.
– The daughter’s lifelong virginity and seclusion resemble Samuel’s dedication to the Lord.

Broader Lessons on Vows:
– Proverbs 20:25 (Amplified): “It is a snare to a man to devote rashly something as holy and to make a vow and not pay it.”
– Luke 14:28 teaches the wisdom of counting the cost before making commitments.
– The importance of carefully considering vows before uttering them and faithfully keeping them afterwards.
– Romans 12:1-2 is cited as a New Testament application: presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

Examples of Faith and Endurance from Biblical Figures:
– The discourse highlights figures from Hebrews 11 and other scriptures who exemplified faith amidst trials: Rahab (Joshua 2), Daniel, the three Hebrew youths, Joseph, Job, Hannah, Deborah.
– Rahab’s faith in one God amidst idol worship (Joshua 2:9-11) is especially noted.
– The suffering endured by these individuals was often severe but produced spiritual growth and honor.
– James 5:10 is cited regarding the role of suffering in the lives of the righteous.

Modern Applications and Examples:
– The speaker shares a personal anecdote about a Greek sister who, despite illiteracy and hardship, demonstrated fervent love for the truth.
– Contemporary examples of faithfulness, including named brethren and sisters, who exemplify the qualities of the biblical witnesses.
– Encouragement for believers to imitate the faith and endurance of these “witnesses in the cloud.”

Summary and Final Exhortations:
– Hebrews 12:1 exhorts believers to run the race with patience, laying aside sin and focusing on Jesus.
– The importance of faith as the key to pleasing God is emphasized repeatedly.
– The call to self-denial and following Christ is highlighted as the standard for believers today.
– The discourse closes urging careful consideration before making vows and faithful fulfillment once made, appreciating the example of Jephthah’s integrity despite tragic circumstances.

Key Bible Verses Mentioned:
– Judges 11:2, 11:29-31, 11:35-36 (Jephthah’s story and vow)
– 2 Samuel 21:6-9 (Rash vow consequences)
– Numbers 6 (Nazarite vow)
– Acts 18:18 (Paul as Nazarite)
– Deuteronomy 23:21-23 (Obligation to fulfill vows)
– Leviticus 20:2, 27:2-8 (Human sacrifice forbidden, redemption laws)
– Genesis 22 (Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac)
– Proverbs 20:25 (Warning against rash vows)
– Luke 14:28 (Counting the cost)
– Romans 12:1-2 (Living sacrifice)
– Joshua 2:9-11 (Rahab’s faith)
– James 5:10 (Endurance of the righteous)
– Hebrews 11 (Faithful witnesses)
– Hebrews 12:1 (Running the race with patience)

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This detailed summary covers the main points, scriptural references, and practical lessons from the discourse on Jephthah and related biblical teachings on faith, vows, and endurance.

Transcript

A witness in the cloud, the background for our discussion or for our thoughts today. It stems from our study, which we had on a Monday night meeting on, in the Book of Hebrews, and specifically Hebrews, chapter 11 is the impetus behind this talk.

So the purpose, of course, is to see if we can look into some of the lives of these individuals, to draw a lesson or two, time permitting, and today we are not going to discuss all of them which are mentioned in Hebrews 11. We’ll pick only one because of the time, and we look at the life and lesson, and without keeping it as a suspense as to who that witness is, this is about Jephthah, and it’s a story which is very seldom heard or discussed, at least from my perspective.

And the story is found in the Book of judges, chapter 11, and chapter 12, and I’ll give you a backdrop before we get into the details. So the Israelites, time and again at this time, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forsook the Lord and did not serve him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the Ammonites.

So we begin with chapter 11, verse 2. Onward. Jephthah, being born illegitimately, what happens to him? His half brothers drive him away, saying, you have no right for any of the inheritance, and so he moves away and into a land dwelling in a land called Tob, east of Gilead.

And so he joins a band of outlaws, and they went raiding with him. So what happens? The elders of Gilead ask him to lead them in fighting against the Ammonites, and here is something called negotiations, and sometimes we call it, you know, I want to bargain.

He bargains something, and that is if I do this. He wanted a permanent position in the armed forces, and so they agree, provided he defeats the Ammonites.

So on behalf of Israel as a whole, and in reliance on the might of God, the judge Jephthah challenges the Ammonites, and so in during the challenge, he makes a verb, and he makes a verb. We’ll come back to that again. That whatever that comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s.

And I will offer it up for a burnt offering. That is Judges 11:31.

Okay, so we want to get this PowerPoint going.

Thank you. So it talks about here in verse 29. He was a captain of the army in Israel during the War which was conducted with one of its enemies, and therefore he wanted to win it so badly. This is what he does.

He makes a bow unto Jehovah and you keep our bookmarkers here. We’ll come back to this, and was it a bad vow? Was it a reckless vow? We will see that.

And the Scripture says it did a foolish thing. Be that as it may, we’ll see whether it’s foolish or whether it was wise. Some writers have observed that the Israelites of the time widely disrespected mudrate law by doing what which forbade human sacrifice.

And there are several examples of rash vows which were made, some with similarly terrible consequences. For instance, 2nd Samuel, chapter 21, verses 6 through 9. I’ll read it. Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them unto the Lord. In Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose.

And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because the Lord oath that was between them and between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rispa, the daughter of I am, whom she bear unto Saul, Armani and Mephibosheth and the five sons of Michal or Michelle, the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel, the son of Barzilia and the and here’s the Scripture, and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites and they hang them in the hill before the Lord, and they all seven of them together fell and they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of the barley harvest.

And there is a vow which had a terrible consequence. So what is a vow? It’s a solemn promise, an oath.

Promise of fidelity or to Sol. To promise solemnly. There are different kinds of vows in the mainly in the Old Testament and probably occurs only twice in the New Testament.

And here’s the first one and it talks about It’s a particular kind of vow called the vow of an azerite. Initially I thought only men can keep or take this vow of Nazarite. But based on the scriptures, even a woman can or could.

And so it lists what the prerequisites are to if you take a Nazarite bow, nothing to do with any flavor of wine, of wine or strong, strong dink nor eat grapes, moist or dried, nothing made of the vine tree from the kernels even to the husk. No, no razor can come upon the head, never come in contact with the dead body, whether it’s your father, mother, sister, brother, or your offspring. Notice no one was forced to take this vow, but once a vow is uttered, it was taken seriously.

And who do you think fits this category in the New Testament? Acts 18:18 Apostle Paul was a Nazarite, so the nation of Israel took vows when the when the law was read, they said all these things we will do. As the weeks went by, their conduct was not in harmony with what they vowed. Because of that they received punishment. But one of the bubs they really kept it and that is Numbers chapter 21, verses 2 and 3.

They vowed unto the Lord and said, if thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities, and the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered upon the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities, and he called the name of the place hormah. Numbers 29:39 tells us that nobody had to make a vow or free will offering, and if they did, they had to follow a proper procedure or a predetermined prescribed manner for it to be acceptable.

Foreign Deuteronomy 23, verses 21, 22 and 23 when thou shalt vow above unto the Jehovah thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it for Jehovah thy God will surely require it of thee, and it would be a sin in in thee, verse 22 but if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. Verse 23 that which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe and do according as thou hast vowed unto Jehovah thy God, a free will offering which thou has promised with thy mouth. So a vow doesn’t have to be in writing, brethren, God is the covenant keeping God, and he expects us to keep our side of the agreement as well, and you’ve heard the expression talk is talk is cheap, and that is to to agree to do something is just not enough. In business, some of them have a motto or a mission statement, and I’ve never heard of a motto like this.

Our business does not want promises, but our business wants to keep them.

And so there is a distinction between wanting and keeping, and we know the distinction. Philippians 4:19, which talks about and the Lord will supply me with all my needs, as opposed to all my wants. Evidently it is very difficult to keep these promises or those promises. The old adage his word is as good as gold or money in the bank.

We know it’s not always the case, and who are the ones who upheld? They’re supposed to be upholding the law. The scribes and the Pharisees, they promised to work in the Father’s vineyard.

And but the sinners who made no pretense were gladly accepting the message of our Lord, and I will read Proverbs 20:25 in Amplified. Think about the promise before you make it and not after you make it a promise, and think so it’s talking about a vow of consecration.

And hence we come up with The Luke, chapter 14, verse 28, the Word, Count the cost.

So in the Lord’s sight, once a vow is uttered, it is binding, and so we come back to the book of Judges, chapter 11, verse 30.

It’s a snare to utterly utter a rashly a vow in this case. What do you think Jephthah had in mind when he made this vow?

Small hint. The word whatsoever in Hebrew is masculine.

And surely he did not have his only child in mind because his child happened to be your daughter, a female. Of course, he certainly did not have a human in mind. Also because offering up a human burnt offering was against the law. So he had a mental picture as to what should happen and how he is now faced with what did happen.

It’s a traumatic surprise why the first thing which comes out of this house is his only child.

Is he prepared to follow up with the vow in offering up as a burnt offering? That’s what he said he will do.

And so this is what happens. 11:35 and it came to pass when he saw her that he rent his clothes and said, alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me. For I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah and I cannot go back, and here’s his daughter’s reply.

And she said unto him, my father, thou hast opened my mouth thy mouth unto Jehovah. Do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of your mouth, thy mouth for as much as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of Ammon. Brethren, one thing stands out in this narration, and that is his superb character. He shows complete faith in God, even though something happened which was very unexpected, and so here’s the example or the true saying of that’s he is as good as his word, hence his name in the book of Hebrews 11.

And I think that’s one of the reasons why he was probably chosen to as selected as a captain.

And his word was as good as Gold. As horrific as his vow was, he will pay what he vowed and we will see how he pays that, and here’s a beautiful expression. You’ve heard the expression like mother, like daughter here. Like father like daughter.

It’s an exception. Basically, she’s telling the father, don’t worry about my feelings, do what you promised.

In Leviticus chapter 20, verse 2, there was great criticism of Israel offering up human sacrifices to heathen gods, and so the penalty of offering up a human sacrifice was stoning to death.

And so Leviticus 27 also gives us a clue. There are other ways in the law as far as the vow was concerned, what one can one should do if their sacrifice unto the Lord was not acceptable, and the priests had explicit rules in governing the exchange for money, of money for people, and so Leviticus 27:2 tells us an estimation was based on a specific criteria and it did not vary from one priest to the other.

One could exchange for an unclean beast for money because you could not offer an unclean animal. Only clean animals were acceptable. Jephthah could have followed Leviticus 27 account and exchanged his daughter for a set price. That would be in accordance with the letter of the law, and he would have kept his vow.

He could also do something else. He could also exchange and an individual for the sacrifice of the sanctuary where they became servants of the priests.

So the letter of the law would allow the exchange of money in substitution for his daughter. But the spirit of the law is what what he vowed and, and it talks about, and it shall be whatsoever cometh forth from the Lord from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah’s, and when we use the scripture in English and it gives us in Hebrew, it’s or.

Or I will offer it up as burnt offering.

And I will offer it up as a burnt offering. Look at the context, and so the Hebrew word for is or. We know that the law would not permit him to offer up a burnt offering.

And so however, the word in Hebrew, the same word for burnt offering is used in reference to Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11:31 and also used in other biblical stories alluding to human sacrifice, such as the story of Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 22 and Misha of Moab and his son, 2nd Kings 3:27. Moreover, an Allah O l a H in Hebrew Bible exemplifies a pure gift to the deity. So Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter stands in Contrast to the binding of Isaac in the book of Genesis in which Abraham was about to perform a divinely ordered sacrifice of his son, and when the angel of God directly intervened and stopped the sacrifice. So question is, what happened to his daughter?

And it came to pass at the end of two months, this is daughter referring to his daughter, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow what he had vowed, and she knew no man.

And what it’s talking about, that she remained the rest of her life as a virgin and she mourned for her virginity in the light of the biblical commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

What she would do now no longer will be able to fulfill. So there’s another similarity here about Jepta’s daughter. She was offered to the Lord in the same way Samuel was offered at birth and spent the rest of her life in seclusion, and I want to give you an anecdote after if this is time remaining. Let’s see.

I think we are doing reasonably well.

So there was a heavy penalty for a woman not to bear a child. Why number one was the cultural issue not being blessed. Hence not being blessed automatically means you were cursed, and every point number two, every woman’s desire or hope was to be the mother of a child, which would be that seed, and we get that from Luke chapter 1, verse 30.

They prayed so that they could be the mother of that seed to bless Israel.

Here’s the anecdote. 1998 I was in India and I happened to be visiting an ecclesiastical and one of my my talk was about I was focusing on Lydia in the New Testament and Deborah in the Old Testament. So to cut a long story short, finish with the discourse, and who do I find sitting in the audience was a brother who was single handedly responsible for at least two hundred and fifty brethren to come to the knowledge of truth.

And he did that by riding a bicycle.

So he happened to be sitting there and he was asked to close the meeting with a word of prayer, and everybody knew that brother Charles did not believe. A sister can be of the little flock.

And his reasonings were show me how many apostles were women, show me how many women worked in the tabernacle. So what happened after the discourse? He was asked to pray. That was the first time.

And the brethren heard the sisters can be of the little flock in his prayer. He was probably 90 years old by then anyway. So what did it mean to Jephthah in this case is there’s no lineage, his name would perish again and with a heavy penalty, and so cultural, all because a vow which was uttered rashly. Yet he followed through with his vow, even though it cost him his progeny and his only child, and so we commend his character from that perspective.

So what is the lesson for us, brethren? A vow for us is Romans 12:1 and 2. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reason, spiritual service, and be not fashioned according to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

And you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

And one of the things we could also extract is there were women who worked in the tabernacle who made the curtains. When you look in the book of exodus in chapter 28, it tells you how many women helped in building the tabernacle.

Ecclesiastes tells us that better, better is it that thou shouldst not vow than thou shouldst vow and not pay.

I have to bring you another sense of reality. This is for myself. Growing up I was a very adventurous until I went to New Zealand and I realized it’s the only country in the world, it’s not against the law to bungee jump.

And what came to my mind, if I was, if I, if I was not a Bible student, I would explore, do we do that? And, and that is I realized, do not tempt the Lord. The world can offer anything that would make us to look back and say, I feel very sorry that I can’t do that. Brethren, the standards for these men of old are not the same as for the church. They did not have the Holy Spirit, but yet we see their exemplified superb qualities.

These were men and women who were incredible in that they came from different lands, different cultures. They lived a span over 4000 year period of time. They were unique. Some were poor, some wealthy, mostly men, few women, mostly Israelites, priests, kings, judges, prophets, widows, men of war. No matter, wherever you place them, they would excel because of their inherent qualities.

And they possess godlike qualities, rare qualities. We hope there are individuals who still exist.

Here is a true example of our present day. A witness in the cloud.

There was an old Greek sister who was a shepherdess and never learned to read or write.

Her husband was very abusive to her and her life was very difficult. When she told, she was told that the Greek class might split and there would be no more meetings in New York. She was asked what she would Do. She responded that she would take the train to Manhattan, go to the door of the meeting, say a prayer and go home.

Her fervent love of the truth was always apparent to the brethren she met with.

And I want to touch upon what Brother Arbor started with in his opening this discourse and opening thoughts. He mentioned few names and I’m sure we all have role models now in our Christian walk.

Can any of them can be put in this category? I surely can and I’ll mention only few names with the because of the shortness of time, I would start with in new order. Brother Raylook, for example, Brother Michael Nagora, Brother Leopold.

So one of the things we see I just gave you a few examples and I can give you plenty of sisters also. I would begin with Sister Lundquist.

Sister Ruth Sabinsky.

So three surprises when we if we go beyond the wheel, we won’t see the people we expected to see there. We will see people we never expected to see there.

And we find ourselves there. So the one unique quality that they all had in common was their faith. Reverend Faith in what? One God in the midst of all ungodliness, mass ungodliness, worshiping heathen gods. I have to divert a little bit and it always comes to my mind is the Tower of Babel is akin to the land of India.

Why the epitome of ungodliness. The last I knew was probably about 300 gods. Maybe it’s still counting, and so the metaphysics of this is complicated. Multiple gods may have a relationship such as that is several and our aspect of one another.

So and this is what they lived under. They were the only ones and lived surrounded by heathen. So out of this also comes out another character by sheer virtue of birth in that culture. Many things went against this individual. Number one, Hazel.

Number two, she was a woman. Number three, she was a Canaanite, and you know who I’m referring to, Rahab. Joshua 2:9 tells us. I know.

It’s the evidence of her faith. Verse 11, she believed in one God. What a rarity that was. That must have been for someone of this persuasion to have such a belief.

Brethren, we submit that Rahab, of course ran a house of harlots, and she was definitely a proselyte like Ruth, and what she did, did God approve of her lie?

So we can have discussions on Joshua chapter 2, verses 17 through 18 about that. Another rare quality righteousness of Daniel.

They saw no corruption in him and they could not find any charges against Daniel, who was righteous, and of course the three Hebrew lads, they knew what righteousness was. Men like Joseph, men like Job, women like Hannah, Deborah.

They had very high standards, brethren. Because their righteousness is what led them directly in the paths of afflictions.

Do we see a parallel, James 5:10. Who has not suffered on this planet? And so thousands suffered their death by a sword, stoned, led into gas chambers, tortures, imprisoned, sworn asunder, and many other atrocities that these individuals, they suffered in a special way for the sake of righteousness.

All suffering we go through is not for the sake of righteousness, and one example is. I’m sure many who are married can relate to this.

There are three rings. When you get married, once when you get engaged, once, a second when you get married, third after you get married, get three rings. That’s called suffering.

That’s where the third ring comes from. I don’t know whether it’s the first or the second. Third, probably that’s why I said many who are married can relate to this. Nevertheless, the usual reaction for any suffering is bitterness and sometimes vindictiveness, pettiness. But these individuals, brethren, their sufferings had a beautiful effect, a crystallizing effect.

There must be a parallel. If we as called out and chosen ones react like the world. Then the purpose of the intended afflictions are not having a fruitful effect.

So how do we control these afflictions? And it’s an individual matter, and I’ll give you one example. We had a sister we used to meet with on Wednesday’s evenings, and all the Wednesday night brethren studied.

Brethren know who I’m referring to? Sister Mary Sannix, and when she would go to pray and she would come out and her husband would ask, what takes you so long?

And her answer was, I have a lot of brethren I need to pray for. The point is, if it doesn’t cost you anything, brethren, it is no sacrifice. If it does, then there is a sacrifice. So we have something called afflictions are for noble purpose. They were not perfect, they were human.

Just like you and I. We’re talking about, for example, David, King David. So we need to imitate our Lord. Of course we know the Greek word is makrothumia, long suffering, and so many may have a passion for music, food, art.

These had macro passion for the opposite.

And there is a problem with the church of Laodicea, and that is leaving the first love. So our chairman is here and we will summarize these individuals who are mentioned in Hebrews 11. They pleased God because of their faith. Without faith you cannot please God and the world was not worthy of individuals like Paul, Lydia Barnabas.

They were unique and so are you. Why has the Lord chosen us and blessed us? Because we are called to deny ourself self denial. How much time do we spend on a given day after all the mortgages are paid in gratifying the flesh? These individuals were not called to deny brethren, but we are told to deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus.

And so maybe the examples of These individuals in Hebrews 12:1 which talks about be an example to each one of us and the great cloud of witnesses and we saw only once there, and when you make a vow before you make it, think about it, and when you make it, keep it.

And let us lay aside every weight and the sins that so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. May the Lord add his blessings.

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