So we’ve already established that Jephthah had a literal human sacrifice in mind when he made his vow to the Lord.
Piggybacking on top of that, here’s another interesting fact you can tell those folks who insist that Jephthah did NOT kill his daughter and make a human sacrifice out of her.
When we examine ALL the written records about this event BEFORE the Middle Ages, you will not find one single shred of commentary suggesting that Yiftach didn’t kill his daughter.
The period of the Middle Ages began around 500 A.D. and ended around 1500 A.D.
So specifically up until 500 A.D., nowhere will you find this idea that instead of being killed, the “sacrifice” was that Jephthah’s daughter stayed a virgin and lived a life of seclusion, prayer and celibacy.
It wasn’t until after 500 A.D. that such ideas began to emerge.
Don’t you think that’s a bit fishy in and of itself?
I think just throwing dates at you might not have the intended effect I wanted, so let me frame it for you in a way that will really hit home and make sense.
The horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks that took place on American soil occurred in the year 2001.
I remember clearly what I was doing the day it happened.
I remember riding up an elevator to the 44th floor in one of the biggest buildings inside San Francisco’s Financial District.
I remember getting to work, turning on my computer and then being shocked at what I saw on the news on Yahoo’s homepage.
I remember later that day balling like a baby in my bedroom because of all the tragic innocent life that had been taken.
Those memories are etched in my brain forever.
I also remember I had just graduated university and was waiting to receive a job offer but was worried I wouldn’t get it now that our nation was under attack.
It’s uncanny.
I can’t for the life of me remember what I was doing and how I felt on September 10th or even the days after on September 11th, 12th and so on.
Those days are all but a blur for me now.
But I remember and will NEVER FORGET what was going on in my life on 9/11.
And of course, not just me.
Everyone in the nation will never forget what they were doing on that tragic day when our nation was attacked.
In addition, the newspapers and journalists gathered eyewitness reports from those who were in New York City at the time it happened.
Tons of commentary and articles about the four planes that were abducted and turned into missiles were published.
We knew what happened at that time because we lived it.
Have there been new pieces of information that have emerged and added a new perspective to the general understanding of what took place that day?
Of course, but only to a slight degree.
The core narrative has not changed.
Now imagine this.
Let’s say some journalist came along 50 years after the events of 9/11 took place and wrote a book that completely challenged the first-hand accounts of what happened on that day?
In other words, this author completely rewrote history and denied the truth of the thousands of accounts of people from all walks of life who lived through the horror of 9/11.
Let’s take this one step further.
Next, further imagine that another 300 years passed and another author came on the scene.
And this author said that all of the original accounts of 9/11 were wrong and that his understanding of what really happened was the correct one.
Maybe he said something like…the incident didn’t really happen on Tuesday September 11th but really took place on September 13th instead.
And that it wasn’t commercial passenger airplanes that crashed into the Twin Towers but US military aircraft instead.
And that it wasn’t an attack carried out by the Islamic extremist group called al-Qaeda but a bunch of terrorist Swedes instead.
How would you feel about the truthfulness of such a book?
I don’t know about you but I’d probably throw that book in the trash.
Because how can a person who lived 3 centuries after 9/11 have a better understanding than those who were alive at the time?
But we’re not done yet.
Let’s take this thought exercise yet another step further.
Imagine that a whopping 2000 years after 9/11 another so-called investigative journalist arrived on the scene who said they possessed the REAL truth of what happened.
And what he said was entirely different and even more wild and wackier than what anyone who came before him said.
Maybe he said the real terrorists were green aliens from the planet Mars or something.
How would you feel about the credibility of what he was saying?
Pretty doubtful and laughable, don’t you think?
Well, that’s exactly what you’re asking me to believe in the case of Jephthah and his daughter.
Why?
Because from the time of the actual event for a period of about 2000 years, all eyewitness and those who lived during that time and handed the story down from generation to generation…
…including the author of Judges and all the commentators (both Jew and gentile) who wrote about the event say that Yiftach undoubtedly killed his daughter and made a human sacrifice of her.
It was only after a whopping 2000 years had passed that some Rabbis and Christian scholars came on the scene claiming that something different happened than what is clearly spelled out in Scripture.
Seriously, who would you believe?
Would you believe some pontificating scholars who arrived on the scene a good 2000 years after the events in question took place?
Or would you believe those who actually lived during or near the time of the events in discussion?
The answer seems pretty obvious to me…
And by the way, you can apply the same principle to other erroneous doctrines (such as the trinity etc) that arose way after the events in question took place and instead were decided in councils by men who were far removed by anyone who actually lived and walked with Yeshua.
Yet somehow what these men decided by vote during some council has become official doctrine that we’re expected to bow down to lest we be cast out as heretics.
Oh darn, I’m starting to go on a rant here.
Let me stop now while I’m ahead.
Leave a Reply