We are going to see Jephthah's vindication of Israel. He is going to negotiate peace with the Ammonites, and they are going to respond, "OK, you can have peace as long as you give us your land". Afterwards we will see Jephtha's victory and his vow in the final section.

Jephthah -- whom we have seen leading a band of brigands in the area of Tob, a man accustomed to conflict -- the first thing he does when asked to be a military leader is to negotiate peace. We learn that he's got a good grasp of the word of God and that he is eloquent. As a man of war he knows he doesn't want any more of it.

Jephthah's name means, "to release, to open". He opens his mouth and what comes out is the word of God.

The whole dispute is over who owns the land. That question resonates to this very hour regarding Israel.

There are three parts to Jephthah's argument:
i. an argument from history in verses 14-22
ii. an argument from theology v23-24
iii. an argument from experience v25-27

This is a good method for us to remember when in a confrontation: start with history, move to theology, and put our personal experience last.

Who actually owns the land? It doesn't belong to the Ammonites, it doesn't belong to Israel, and it doesn't belong to the Palestinians. Several portions of Scripture are examined to show that God himself claims and holds title to the land of Israel.

Jephthah says that Israel did not take away the land from Moab and Ammon because God told them not to. The land in dispute now was never in possession of the Ammonites; it had been occupied by the Amorites, and God gave it to Israel. So the Ammorites' claim is false; they had no historical basis for a quarrel with Israel. The king of the Ammonites was distorting the truth to cause a conflict.

In the ~319 years since Israel possessed the land, they had never made a claim until this point. If it really was their land, why did they wait 300 years before claiming it? We can see this happening in modern times: In 1948 when Israel was declared a nation by the UN, suddenly people became interested in land that had been considered a wasteland for hundreds of years.

We can trace God's dealings in history and we know that everything we believe has a historical basis. If you have a modern sect, such as the Mormons, come to your door, they won't be able to give you any historical basis for the Book of Mormon. Christianity has deep roots that go back to the first man.

If we come to the Scriptures with a bowed will, then God will reveal great truths. But if we say, "I want to understand, but I don't want to do this or that", then we are going to have a hard time hearing His word. May we be submissive, to have willing hearts that delight to do His will.