[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":94},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-disturbing-stories":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-disturbing-stories-surround":83},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":64,"date":67,"description":16,"extension":68,"image":69,"meta":70,"minRead":71,"navigation":72,"path":73,"postType":74,"publication":75,"publicationUrl":69,"seo":76,"stem":77,"topics":78,"__hash__":82},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-disturbing-stories.md","Those Disturbing Stories",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"Hebrews",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":63},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,26,29,32,39,45,48,54,57,60],[14,15,16],"p",{},"The story of Jephthah contains so many rough edges that it almost hurts to read it. With only two vowels in a word spelled with eight letters, even his name is difficult. His family life had a rocky start. His mom was a prostitute, so his brothers considered him illegitimate, disinherited him, and drove him away from home (Judges 11:1-3). After settling in a distant land, Jephthah became the gang leader of a band of “scoundrels” (v. 3).",[14,18,19],{},"Later it must have rankled Jephthah when some of the very same fellows who had",[14,21,22],{},"driven him away from home came asking for his help to fight the Ammonites (vv. 4-11). As commander, he began to engage in high-level diplomatic negotiations with the Ammonite king, but he must have felt frustrated when the king paid no attention to his communications (v. 28). How frustrating that must have been! Ultimately Jephthah led his Israelite brothers in several military victories, but not without personal pain.",[14,24,25],{},"Jephthah’s poorly considered vow involving his only child is one of the strangest, most heartbreaking stories in all the Bible (vv. 34-40). Jephthah tried to bargain with God, and his daughter ended up being a tragic bargaining chip. It’s discomforting to read about this brave but flawed leader whose zeal outpaced his common sense.",[14,27,28],{},"Let’s Be Honest",[14,30,31],{},"Puzzled Bible readers scratch our heads when we read Judges chapter 11. What can we learn from Jephthah’s disturbing story? Here are three points to consider.",[14,33,34,38],{},[35,36,37],"em",{},"The Bible tells it like it is."," Yes, a character like Jephthah raises questions for us, but remember, he lived in a tumultuous period when many in Israel had lost their moral and theological bearings. To their credit, the authors of Scripture never gloss over the failures and flaws of the people they describe—even the main characters. With unvarnished honesty the Bible bluntly tells about Noah getting drunk, Abraham lying, Jacob conniving, Moses losing his temper, David committing adultery, Solomon marrying multiple wives, James and John vying for power, Thomas doubting, and Peter denying Jesus. The Bible’s honesty is one more reason to believe it is reliable—even when some of its stories make us cringe.",[14,40,41,44],{},[35,42,43],{},"Our lives are messy too."," Hopefully none of us will ever make a rash promise as costly as the one Jephthah made. But before being too hard on him, consider: Would you like your life’s story (including the really messy parts) to be written down in the Bible for people to read throughout history? Have you ever made any foolish decisions that you would prefer not be widely known? Cultural conditions were appalling during the time of the Judges, but things are",[14,46,47],{},"pretty messy in our own day, too, as it becomes increasingly popular for everyone to do whatever seems right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25).",[14,49,50,53],{},[35,51,52],{},"Our perfect God uses imperfect people to accomplish his will."," Jephthah’s rocky background and the shocking results of his rash vow make him an unlikely hero; yet in the New Testament he is listed by name among God's faithful servants (Hebrews 11:32-34). In spite of",[14,55,56],{},"Jephthah’s rough edges, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Judges 11:29) and used him to win important victories.",[14,58,59],{},"Yes, the story of Jephthah makes us uncomfortable. Strangely, though, at the same time it gives us hope that good can come even from our own disturbing stories.",[14,61,62],{},"QUESTIONS:",{"title":64,"searchDepth":65,"depth":65,"links":66},"",2,[],"2017-06-18","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-disturbing-stories","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Fthose-disturbing-stories",[79,80,81],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Spiritual Formation","YPNJrwNi4blL9j1vf5myCBgfQMcgdmMLZc9enCvB5v0",[84,89],{"title":85,"path":86,"stem":87,"description":88,"children":-1},"This Isn’t a Game","\u002Farticles\u002Fthis-isn-t-a-game","articles\u002Fthis-isn-t-a-game","Have you ever heard of unpaired words? Language experts consider a word unpaired if it stands alone even though on the surface it looks like it should have a straightforward opposite. For example, “dismayed” has no corresponding opposite (“mayed”). Here are some more examples:",{"title":90,"path":91,"stem":92,"description":93,"children":-1},"Those Little Tinges of Sadness","\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-little-tinges-of-sadness","articles\u002Fthose-little-tinges-of-sadness","Have you ever noticed those little tinges of sadness? The strokes of gray that paint dark shadows around the edges of otherwise sunny scenes? Those melancholy moments that seem oddly out of place when others seem happy and we ought to be as well?",1790466188044]