“The men of Efrayim assembled, crossed into Tzafon and said to Yiftach, ‘Why didn’t you call us to go with you when you went over to fight the people of ‘Amon? We’re ready to burn down your house with you in it!‘”-Judges 12:1
Anyone here ever see that movie The Bronx Tale starring Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminterri?
There’s an unforgettable scene in this movie involving a rowdy gang of redneck bikers who had a reputation for riding around the country, going into local taverns and beerhalls and after getting thoroughly drunk, trashing the poor establishment they had just walked into.
Well, in the movie, one day they walk into a bar in the Italian section of New York City thinking they’re gonna be able to do what they always do…
But, little did they know, this time they had walked into the WRONG bar.
Because that bar happened to be run by a bunch of Italian gangsters who were even more ruthless and violent than they were.
In the scene, I’ll never forget the looks on the faces of the bikers when they realized this time around they had just made the biggest mistake of their lives.
Because a few seconds later, a group of Italian thugs emerged from a backroom and gave the bikers a taste of their own medicine which let’s just say involved a lot of blood and broken limbs.
Now you’re probably wondering, what in the heck does this story have to do with our study of Judges Chapter 12?
Let me draw the connections for you.
Like the rowdy redneck bikers I just mentioned, the leaders of Ephraim had a reputation for harassing God’s anointed Judges and giving them a hard time.
They did it with Gideon when they accused him of not inviting them to the party…so to speak.
After Gideon had successfully defeated Israel’s enemies, Ephraim showed up flaunting their power and prestige and demanding they be bowed down to and given a lion’s share of the war booty Gideon and his men had won fair and square.
Now Gideon was quite a capable leader who was able to exercise self-control and keep his ego in check.
So he kowtowed to Ephraim’s demands in order to avoid a full-blown civil war breaking out in Israel.
However, the leaders of Ephraim had “walked into the wrong bar” when they tried to treat Jephthah the same way..
Because Jephthah was no Gideon.
He was a cold-blooded warrior and had zero patience for Ephraim’s ridiculous assertions and demands.
In verse 1, the leaders of Ephraim threatened to kill Jephthah and all his family members because they felt insulted that they weren’t consulted before Jephthah went to battle with the Ammonites.
Jephthah instantly pushed back on Ephraim’s unfair accusations and told them he did come to them for help but they chose to stand on the sidelines instead.
Given Ephraim’s past behavior, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened.
Now this skirmish with Ephraim must have taken place a few weeks after Jephthah and his men had defeated the Ammonites.
Because a few verses later we’re told that Jephthah had to re-gather his men for the battle he was about to fight with Ephraim.
That’s right, Jephthah wasn’t wasting any time on diplomacy or discussion.
The insults he had received from Ephraim were too much to take lying down.
Ephraim were basically accusing the men of Gilead as being traitors who had deserted both the tribes of Ephraim and Manessah.
And they were suggesting that Jephthah’s army wasn’t even really an army more than they were just a mob of misfits who shouldn’t even be considered fellow Hebrew brothers.
Jephthah was a hardened man who had had to deal with insults all of his life because of his background.
This was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.
Jephthah had made a DECISION to go to war with Ephraim and there was gonna be no turning back.
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