The Ammorite King Rejects a Diplomatic Solution.

God's Urgent Call
Called to Be Strong

Jephthah Answers the Call

Judges 11:23-28 The Message

It was God, the God of Israel, who pushed out the Amorites in favor of Israel; so who do you think you are to try to take it over? Why don’t you just be satisfied with what your god Chemosh gives you and we’ll settle for what God, our God, gives us? Do you think you’re going to come off better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he get anywhere in opposing Israel? Did he risk war? All this time—it’s been three hundred years now!—that Israel has lived in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns along the Arnon, why didn’t you try to snatch them away then? No, I haven’t wronged you. But this is an evil thing that you are doing to me by starting a fight. Today God the Judge will decide between the People of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
But the king of the Ammonites refused to listen to a word that Jephthah had sent him.

For Reflection

Having tried and failed to establish a peaceful solution to the Ammonite threat, Jephthah has no other rational choice but to defend his people.  The King of the Ammonites has, for whatever reason, (perhaps because of the King's confidence in false gods) decided to pursue a bloody solution.

Convinced that his cause is righteous, Jephthah is sure that God will allow him to win the coming conflict.  To what extent is the defense against an aggressor justifiable?

Pray

Pray that you will be reluctant to settle matters with violence. Pray for those who prey on others in the hope God's word will satisfy their needs.  Pray for confidence in the realization of God's will for humankind.