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Introduction
Turn to Judges 10:1-12:7 so we can pick up our study where we left off last week. This series is called “Under the Influence” because that is just what we see happening in the book of Judges. Israel went into the land of Canaan to take possession of what God had promised them. But they did not fully possess it because they did not fully obey Yahweh. Yahweh commanded them to drive out every single inhabitant. But they did not. They disobeyed him. So now, in the time of the Judges, the people of Israel are living alongside the pagans who worship a multitude of false gods. And as we read through the book of Judges we see that more and more the people of Israel are living under the influence of their neighbors instead of living under the influence of Yahweh. This has shown itself in Israel’s idolatry. Again and again they have turned from Yahweh to worship the gods of the Canaanites. They have forsaken the True God to worship pagan gods like the Baals and the Asherahs. But that’s not all. A different type of idolatry has also crept in. A more hidden idolatry. A more despicable idolatry. Not only have they begun to worship pagan gods, but they have begun to worship the True God in a pagan way. They are worshiping Yahweh but they are treating him like a pagan god, they are worshiping him like he is no different from Baal or any other pagan deitey. And this, too, is a form of idolatry that Yawheh had explicitly warned them of before they entered Canaan. Listen to the word of the Lord from Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” Israel was guilty of both types of idolatry. They were worshiping false gods and they were worshiping the True God in the wrong way. We’ll see that as we look at the story of Jephthah today. But we’ll also see something else. We’ll see that we, too, are guilty of worshiping false gods and we’re guilty of worshiping the True God in the wrong way.
Manipulating God through Behavioral Modification
So let’s start by reading Judges 10:1-6. So at the beginning of the chapter we’re introduced to two more judges who delivered Israel and ruled over them for a combined total of 45 years. These judges were chosen by Yahweh and sent by Yahweh to deliver his idolatrous people, Israel, from their oppressors. As in every prior case, the people of Israel had done absolutely nothing to deserve deliverance. There is no mention of repentance and certainly no evidence of repentance. Yet Yahweh, in his compassion and mercy, continues to raise up judges to deliver them. Yet in spite of these gracious and powerful acts of Yahweh the Israelites continue to turn to idolatry time after time after time. This is what we read in verse 6, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines…” The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The author of Judges then goes on to explain how complete their evil was. He lists seven different gods, or seven different groups of gods, that Israel had given themselves to in worship and service. Now, remember, even if the author didn’t give us this list of gods we’d still know what he meant. If all he said was, “Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD” we’d still know what he meant. Because in the Bible evil and idolatry are synonymous. To do evil is to commit idolatry and to commit idolatry is to do evil. This means, of course, that you and I are idolaters. Because we do evil. And every single time that we do evil, every time that we sin, we are rebelling against the True God and serving a false god. Even if we are agnostic or atheist we are always worshiping we are just not worshiping properly. We lie because we have chosen to serve our own interests instead of Jesus. We covet because we think there is something we need that we don’t already have in Jesus. We serve money because we trust it to keep us secure instead of trusting in Jesus. So while you may be tempted to think that all of this talk about idolatry is outdated and irrelevant it is actually very relevant and quite timely. We may not worship the same false gods as Israel but we do worship false gods. And this angers Yahweh, the only True God.
Reading on in verses 6-9, “And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress.” Remember the cycle that we’ve seen every single week? The cycle begins with Israel’s idolatry, because of Israel’s idolatry Yahweh gives them over to oppression, later, in his mercy, Yahweh delivers them, and then, once again, the Israelites return to idolatry. So here we see the second stage of that cycle. Because of Israel’s idolatry Yahweh has given them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites to oppress them. For 18 years he has allowed these pagan nations to oppress Israel, to shatter them and crush them, as verse 8 says, and Israel is greatly distressed.
Now, if you and I have picked up on this cycle by now it’s probably safe to say that Israel had picked up on it too. By now they have figured out that when they find themselves oppressed because of their idolatry Yahweh is compassionate and gracious enough to deliver them. So they cry out to him in verse 10, ““We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.” Based on their prior experience I’m sure they expected that Yahweh would overlook their evil and graciously reach out his hand to rescue them. But not this time. Yahweh is no fool. He knows that Israel has not truly changed their heart. He knows that they are not thinking about Him, they are thinking about themselves. It just so happens that Yahweh is their only hope for escape so they cry out to him. But he will not allow them to continue to take advantage of his grace. Listen to his response in verses 11-13, “…When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.” Yahweh reminds them that he has saved them time after time after time. He has shown them his love, and his compassion, and his grace, and his power. He has shown them that he is the only True God and that the pagan gods have no power over him. And yet the Israelites continue to turn from him and turn to gods that do not save. So Yahweh mocks them with sarcasm in verse 14, “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” But by now Israel knows better. They’ve been oppressed for 18 years and their gods have done nothing. So they again plead to Yawheh, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please, rescue us now.” The Israelites knew that mere words would not be enough. So verse 17 says, “they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”
On the surface it might appear that Israel has genuinely repented. But they have not, as we’ll see later. And Yahweh knows their hearts. He’s not at all deceived by their words or their actions. He knows that they are saying what they are saying and doing what they are doing because they are trying to manipulate him into doing what they want him to do. That last sentence in verse 17, “and he could bear Israel’s misery no longer” can actually be translated, “and his soul was short because of the efforts of Israel.” In other words, Yahweh was frustrated and angered by Israel’s constant idolatry and constant attempts to manipulate him. This is probably why Yahweh does not respond to them here and we do not hear from him for the rest of this narrative. Remember the warning that Yahweh gave his people in Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.” It was bad enough that the Israelites were committing idolatry by worshiping pagan gods but now they were committing idolatry by worshiping the True God in a pagan way. You see, pagan religions are all about manipulation. Every ritual, every vow, every act of worship and obedience that is offered by a pagan worshiper is offered to manipulate their god into doing something for them. If they want to win a war they worship this god in this way. If they want their crops to grow they worship that god in that way. If they want to get pregnant they worship another god in another way. In all forms of paganism the real god is not the one being worshiped but the one doing the worshiping. The worshiper has control over the god. If they just say the right words, or perform the right ritual, or do the right thing their god is obligated to respond in service to them. This is how the Israelites were treating Yahweh. They were treating him like a pagan god who was under their control. Well, if we confess our sin then he has to forgive us. If we get rid of our foreign gods and say we’ll serve him he has to save us from our oppressors. But Yawheh is not a pagan god. He is not controlled by human beings. And he is not manipulated by human beings. Yahweh saw the hearts of his people and he saw that they had improper motives. They were not interested in worshiping or serving him, they were interested in using him to serve themselves.
Yahweh sees your heart, too. And he sees my heart, too. He knows that just like Israel we are very good at modifying our behavior without modifying our hearts. And while religion is concerned with changing our behavior the gospel of Jesus is concerned with changing our hearts. Maybe you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you go to church and do good Christian things. But God’s favor is not for sale. And God is not fooled. He sees that you have just exchanged one sin for another. You’ve exchanged the obvious sin for the sin that is easier to hide. You used to worship yourself by feeding your passions. But now you worship yourself by feeding your self-righteousness. Some of you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you have not had sex outside of marriage. But God’s grace is not for sale. And God is not fooled. You may have abandoned the obvious sin of fornication but he sees that in your heart you are filled with lust and perverted desires. Maybe you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you give money to the church and give your time to the church. But God’s grace is not for sale. And God is not fooled. He knows that you are giving your time and money to the church to compensate for the fact that you are not serving him in the other areas of your life. The rest of the church may think you’re a model Christian. You may even be able to convince yourself that you’re a model Christian. But Yahweh sees your heart and he sees the rest of your life. He sees that you are giving so much time and money and energy to the church to compensate for the fact that you are still withholding parts of your heart and your life from Jesus. My friends, we cannot manipulate God. He is in control and we are not. Nothing we do can force his hand. Nothing we do can earn his favor. And no amount of behavior change can fool him into thinking our hearts are focused on serving him if they are really focused on serving ourselves. The religious strategy of modifying our behavior to please God does not work with him. When Yahweh does deliver us and bless us and show us favor it has absolutely nothing to do with who we are and everything to do with who he is.
Manipulating God through Religious Ritual
This was the case for Israel. Yahweh would deliver them from their oppressors, the Ammonites. But he didn’t do this because of their “repentance,” he did this because of his mercy and compassion. Yet because his patience was repeatedly tested and because Israel repeatedly turned to idolatry their deliverance would not be without its problems and their deliverer would not be without his issues. Yahweh would empower a man named Jephthah to deliver his people. Jephthah was a mighty warrior who also happened to be the son of a prostitute. Because of this he was rejected by his brothers and forced to flee his hometown of Gilead. But he was more than just an outcast. He was an outlaw. Chapter 11 verse 3 tells us that he was the leader of a gang of scoundrels. He was Jessie James, he was Tony Soprano, he was Jabba the Hut, he was Marlo Stanfield. He was not a hero just waiting for the opportunity to save someone.
He was not the ideal deliverer. But Gilead was in trouble, and all of Israel with them. So the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah, the gang leader, who they had previously kicked out of their town. Now they needed him. And so just as the Israelites had tried to manipulate Yahweh the elders of Gilead set out to manipulate Jephthah. “Come,” they said, “come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.” Of course Jephthah is a scoundrel. What scoundrel wouldn’t want to be king? So he agrees to fight on behalf of his people. But he’s not fighting on behalf of his people because he loves them. And he’s not fighting on behalf of his people because he loves Yahweh. He’s fighting on behalf of his people because it benefits him, he will become the head of Gilead, head of the very people who threw him out of their town.
Gilead selected their deliverer through manipulation. This is clearly not how you’re going to draw the right kind of man. And this is clearly not the way you would go about it if you truly trusted in Yahweh. But there’s no mention of them asking for Yahweh’s guidance. There’s no mention of them trusting in Yahweh to select a deliverer. They’re doing their own thing. But they’re doing it in the name of Yahweh. After Jephthah agrees to the task they go through a ceremony, a ritual, of committing their plans to Yawheh. They’re not concerned about Yahweh, they’ve already proven that. They’re concerned about themselves. And so they try to manipulate Yahweh into honoring their plans by sealing their plans in a religious ritual. They have once again committed idolatry by worshiping the True God in a pagan way. And Yahweh is not anything like the pagan gods. He is in control, he is always in control, and he owes nothing to anyone.
Manipulating God through Personal Sacrifice
So now that Jephthah has accepted his assignment he sends word to the king of Ammon that this is not a battle he should want to fight. But the king of Ammon ignores him and the stage is set for a battle between Jephthah and the Ammonites. Then, look what happens in 11:29. The Scripture says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.” Yahweh is merciful. He’s going to deliver his people. And he’s even going to use someone as inadequate and unrighteous as Jephthah to do it. Once we read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah we know that the victory is already won. There’s no question about it. Yahweh, the warrior, will liberate his people.
But Jepthhah does not trust Yahweh as he should. Jephthah does not trust that Yahweh will deliver his people because of his grace, and his compassion, and his sovereign control. Jephthah believes he must somehow buy Yahweh’s favor. So Jephthah once again attempts to manipulate God. Read verses 30 and 31, “And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’” Of course Yahweh did give the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand. Of course Yahweh did deliver Israel from their oppression. But it had nothing to do with Jephthah’s vow. It had everything to do with Yahweh’s grace. But Jephthah treated Yahweh like a pagan god, like a god that could be manipulated into doing his will. But Jephthah was wrong. And he suffered terrible consequences for his idolatry. Because when he arrived home from his victory the first thing that came to greet him was not the cattle or the sheep he expected. It was his daughter. His innocent daughter. His virgin daughter. His only daughter. His only child. And because Jephthah thought Yahweh was like a pagan god he thought that he had to fulfill his vow and sacrifice his daughter in exchange for the victory God had given him. Yahweh demanded no such thing. In fact Yahweh demanded the opposite. Remember that passage from Deuteronomy 12:31? “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” That is exactly what Jephthah just did. He worshiped the True God in a pagan way. He committed idolatry.
Now, it’s easy for us to look back on this historical event and be horrified by Jephthah’s vow, isn’t it? It’s easy to be disgusted by how he attempted to manipulate God, even at the cost of his own daughter. And we should be horrified, we should be disgusted. But the truth of the matter is that we should be equally disgusted with ourselves. Because while we may not be offering our children in the fire we are just as likely to try to manipulate God through other means. This is true whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian. This is true whether you’re religious or irreligious. Just like Jephthah and just like the Israelites you try to control God. But you can’t control God. Because he is God. And the moment he gives up control to you – even if he just gives up that control for one moment or in one instance – he ceases to be God. If he allows you to control him for even a moment then for that moment you become his Lord. Of course most of you would never say it that way. You would never say that you are Lord. You would never say that you control God. But your behavior might say otherwise. Your behavior might show that you treat God like a genie in a bottle. You seem to think that if you just rub the bottle the right way then he must respond to you. Religious and irreligious we all do this. And when we do this we show how little we understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Some of us try to manipulate God by doing good things. We think we can control God by our good behavior. In our minds we think that if we do this then God must do that. If I’m a generally good person then God must leave me alone and allow me to do what I want with the rest of my life. If I’m a good person then God must leave me alone and not bother me with all of this talk about a savior and repentance and “organized religion.” If I do good then God must accept me. If I do good then God must bless me. If I do good then God must give me a happy life, free from suffering and other hardships. This is manipulation. It is manipulation that doesn’t work. Your good works cannot force God to look the other way. Your good works cannot buy God’s silence. Your good works do not earn you the right to be accepted by God. Your good works cannot buy you “blessings” from God. Your good works cannot give you a life that is free from suffering any more than being perfect brought Jesus a life free from suffering. We think that if we do good we deserve to get good in return. But here’s the thing, if you’re doing good things because you want to get something in return your works are not truly good to begin with. They’re selfish. If you do this you’re like the man who wines and dines a woman – not because he loves her – but because of what he hopes to get from her as a result. You’re not doing good to serve God or to serve others, you’re doing good to serve yourself. But Yahweh is not naïve. God will not be mocked. He will not be manipulated by your goodness even when you call it religion or Christianity. To attempt to do so is to commit idolatry. It is to offer pagan worship.
God will also not be manipulated by your vows and promises. Some of us try to control God by bartering with him like he’s a used car salesman waiting to wheel and deal with us. We make these offers to God on our own terms: if you do this for me then I’ll do that for you. I imagine that every one of us has done this at least once and some of us are doing it regularly, some of us are doing it right now. Lord, I know I shouldn’t have had sex with this person outside of marriage. But if you just make sure that she doesn’t get pregnant – if you just make sure that I don’t get pregnant – I promise I’ll never have sex outside of marriage again. Sound familiar? When this bargain didn’t work some of you have tried to make similar bargains from the abortion table. Lord, if you just let me live through this I will never, ever, ever, do this again. We do this in all types of situations. God, if you heal me of this disease – if you heal my loved one of this disease – I will serve you with all my heart. Lord, if you just make sure that no one finds out about what I said or what I did, I will do exactly what you want me to do. Father, if you just help me to get this job then I’ll be a more generous person. If you make sure I don’t go to jail, if you make sure I don’t lose my job, if you make sure that this person marries me, if you help me get this car, if you help me get this house, if you help me lose this weight, if you give me this and give me that then I will do whatever you ask of me. These are not only despicable attempts at manipulation they reveal a supreme arrogance on the part of those who say these things. The person who tries to bargain with God puts themselves on the same level as God. As though God is sitting on his throne unable to act because you just haven’t said the right words yet. As if God is sitting on his throne saying, “Oh no, what am I going to do? If only Cole would serve me with his whole heart then all my dreams would come true. I would give him whatever he asked if only he would promise to do something for me.” God is not like you. He does not need you or anything you have to offer, which means there is no bargain you can make that would be a good deal for him. On top of that, though, God is also not selfish. He does not decide what he will or will not do based on what does or does not benefit him. He is not a pagan god, he is not a god created in your image. He is Yahweh, the only True God. And to worship him in a pagan way is to commit idolatry.
Unfortunately, it’s not just individuals who do this. It’s not just religious people and irreligious people that try to manipulate the True God. Churches that call themselves Christian are often guilty of perpetuating this false worship of the True God. Christian churches are often guilty of treating Jesus like a genie in a bottle, or a used car salesman, or your average pagan god. They teach us to manipulate God through tithes and offerings. Oh, they don’t call it manipulation but that’s what it is. They tell us to give to God’s church so that God will give to us. Tithe so that God will bless your finances. Tithe so that God will bless your work. Tithe so that God will bless your health. Tithe so that God will bless your family. And yet that is the exact opposite of what the New Testament tells us to do. The New Testament tells us to give because of what we’ve already been given in Jesus. You can give all the money you want to God’s church but if you are giving it so that you can be “blessed” you are not worshiping Jesus, you are worshiping yourself. But our churches teach us to manipulate God in this way. Our churches also teach us to manipulate God through our service. They tell us to give our time and our energy volunteering in the church so that God will bless us. But again, this is the exact opposite of what the New Testament tells us to do. We don’t serve because of what we might get, we serve because of what we already have in Jesus. To serve for any other reason is to commit idolatry, it is to worship something other than Jesus, it is to attempt to manipulate God. Some of our churches teach us to manipulate God with our faith. If you have enough faith, then God will heal you. If you have enough faith, then God will answer your prayers. If you have enough faith, then God will save your loved ones. They tell us that God is just sitting, waiting, with his arms outstretched to respond to us just as soon as we muster up enough faith. But, again, this is the exact opposite of what the New Testament teaches us. The New Testament teaches us that God does whatever he wants, however he wants, whenever he wants, with whomever he wants and that any faith that you have is a gift from him. You can’t muster it up, you can’t create it, and you certainly can’t manipulate him with it because he gave it to you. These churches also teach us to manipulate God with our prayers and our words. They tell us that for certain things to happen we have to pray the right prayer in the right way. If you pray in the morning you’ll have a good day. If you don’t pray in the morning you’ll have a bad day. If you say these words in this way then God will deliver you but if you don’t then he won’t. They even teach us to manipulate God in our worship. They say things like, “When praises go up, blessings come down.” They say things like, “I don’t know about you but I’m going to praise God so that I don’t miss my blessing.” This produces people who engage in acts of worship not because of what Jesus has already done but because of how it makes them feel or what they think they can get out of it. When we do this we are worshiping ourselves and not Jesus. These churches teach us that we can get God to come into the room by singing songs and shouting praises. They teach us that we can get into God’s presence through our worship. This produces people who think that music, a certain type of music, has the power to lead us into worship or to bring us closer to God. But the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He’s the only one who draws us into worship and he’s the only one who takes us into the presence of God. So much of what we hear in some of our “Christian churches” is manipulative. It explicitly and directly contradicts the Bible. But you know what it doesn’t contradict? It doesn’t contradict pagan worship. In fact, it’s exactly like pagan worship. Pagans have always tried to move God through music, and singing, and ritual, and sacrifices, and offerings, and specific prayers. Many of our “Christian churches” are doing the same thing. They are teaching us to worship the True God in the wrong way. They are treating Jesus no differently than Baal, or Zeus, or any other pagan god or goddess. But remember what Yahweh said in Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.”
Jesus the Only True Sacrifice
What’s amazing, though, is that God knew that we would. God knew that we would worship false gods. God knew that those of us who call ourselves Christians would worship the True God in the wrong way. God knew that we would be idolaters. And if Yahweh were anything like the pagan god we treat him as he would have turned his back on us forever. He would have withheld every possible blessing from us. He would have lashed out on us in anger and wrath. But Yahweh did the exact opposite. Though we turned our back on him he refused to turn his back on us. He continued to pursue us, and chase after us, and woo us, and invite us to himself. He continued to bless us though we had done nothing to deserve a single blessing. And he took the curse that we were under for worshiping other gods, he took the anger that we deserve for making ourselves gods, and he took the wrath that we deserve to swallow in full and he poured it all out on himself. Instead of turning his back on us, he turned it on his own Son, Jesus. He placed our curse on his own Son, Jesus. He directed his anger with us toward his own Son Jesus. He took his wrath that belongs upon us and he poured it out in full on his own Son, Jesus, who absorbed every drop. He did this so that you and I – idolaters, and pagans, and spiritual whores – could finally be reconciled to him, could finally be in a proper relationship with our True Creator. The gods of the pagans require that you make a sacrifice to them to get back in their good graces. The gods of other religions require that you sacrifice yourself for them to be accepted by them. The god of some “Christian” churches requires that you make sacrifices for him so that you can receive his favor. But the God of the Bible, Yahweh, does no such thing. The God of the Bible made your sacrifice for you. He sacrificed himself in your place and accepts you and shows you favor, not because of anything you’ve done, but because of everything he’s done in Jesus Christ.
You see you can’t manipulate the True God. The True God is entirely self-sufficient. He does not need you and he does not need anything from you. According to the Scriptures your righteousness is as useless to him as a used menstrual cloth, a filthy rag. Not only are you unable to manipulate him, but the good news is, you don’t have to. Because he has given you everything you could ever need in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone you are reconciled to the living God now and forever. Through Jesus Christ who has reconciled you to the Creator you are also being reconciled to everyone and everything that he has created. Through Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, you are always in the presence of God…always. And Ephesians 1:3 reminds us that through Jesus Christ you presently possess, you presently possess, every spiritual blessing…every spiritual blessing. So you have no need to manipulate God because there is nothing that you need that he has not already given you in Jesus Christ.
To say that your righteousness is capable of earning you any favor with God is to say that the death of Jesus Christ is insufficient and ultimately meaningless. To say that there is something you need that has not already been provided in Jesus Christ is to say that there is something in this world more valuable and more meaningful than God himself. Which is to say that God is not God and something else is. The truth is, Jesus is God and he has made you an offer that you ought not refuse. He has offered you himself. He has offered you himself and all that he has. So the question is this: will you accept this offer of God coming to you in Jesus? Or will you reject his offer and continue to worship yourself in his place and call it religion, or irreligion, or even Christianity?
Turn to Judges 10:1-12:7 so we can pick up our study where we left off last week. This series is called “Under the Influence” because that is just what we see happening in the book of Judges. Israel went into the land of Canaan to take possession of what God had promised them. But they did not fully possess it because they did not fully obey Yahweh. Yahweh commanded them to drive out every single inhabitant. But they did not. They disobeyed him. So now, in the time of the Judges, the people of Israel are living alongside the pagans who worship a multitude of false gods. And as we read through the book of Judges we see that more and more the people of Israel are living under the influence of their neighbors instead of living under the influence of Yahweh. This has shown itself in Israel’s idolatry. Again and again they have turned from Yahweh to worship the gods of the Canaanites. They have forsaken the True God to worship pagan gods like the Baals and the Asherahs. But that’s not all. A different type of idolatry has also crept in. A more hidden idolatry. A more despicable idolatry. Not only have they begun to worship pagan gods, but they have begun to worship the True God in a pagan way. They are worshiping Yahweh but they are treating him like a pagan god, they are worshiping him like he is no different from Baal or any other pagan deitey. And this, too, is a form of idolatry that Yawheh had explicitly warned them of before they entered Canaan. Listen to the word of the Lord from Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” Israel was guilty of both types of idolatry. They were worshiping false gods and they were worshiping the True God in the wrong way. We’ll see that as we look at the story of Jephthah today. But we’ll also see something else. We’ll see that we, too, are guilty of worshiping false gods and we’re guilty of worshiping the True God in the wrong way.
Manipulating God through Behavioral Modification
So let’s start by reading Judges 10:1-6. So at the beginning of the chapter we’re introduced to two more judges who delivered Israel and ruled over them for a combined total of 45 years. These judges were chosen by Yahweh and sent by Yahweh to deliver his idolatrous people, Israel, from their oppressors. As in every prior case, the people of Israel had done absolutely nothing to deserve deliverance. There is no mention of repentance and certainly no evidence of repentance. Yet Yahweh, in his compassion and mercy, continues to raise up judges to deliver them. Yet in spite of these gracious and powerful acts of Yahweh the Israelites continue to turn to idolatry time after time after time. This is what we read in verse 6, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines…” The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The author of Judges then goes on to explain how complete their evil was. He lists seven different gods, or seven different groups of gods, that Israel had given themselves to in worship and service. Now, remember, even if the author didn’t give us this list of gods we’d still know what he meant. If all he said was, “Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD” we’d still know what he meant. Because in the Bible evil and idolatry are synonymous. To do evil is to commit idolatry and to commit idolatry is to do evil. This means, of course, that you and I are idolaters. Because we do evil. And every single time that we do evil, every time that we sin, we are rebelling against the True God and serving a false god. Even if we are agnostic or atheist we are always worshiping we are just not worshiping properly. We lie because we have chosen to serve our own interests instead of Jesus. We covet because we think there is something we need that we don’t already have in Jesus. We serve money because we trust it to keep us secure instead of trusting in Jesus. So while you may be tempted to think that all of this talk about idolatry is outdated and irrelevant it is actually very relevant and quite timely. We may not worship the same false gods as Israel but we do worship false gods. And this angers Yahweh, the only True God.
Reading on in verses 6-9, “And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress.” Remember the cycle that we’ve seen every single week? The cycle begins with Israel’s idolatry, because of Israel’s idolatry Yahweh gives them over to oppression, later, in his mercy, Yahweh delivers them, and then, once again, the Israelites return to idolatry. So here we see the second stage of that cycle. Because of Israel’s idolatry Yahweh has given them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites to oppress them. For 18 years he has allowed these pagan nations to oppress Israel, to shatter them and crush them, as verse 8 says, and Israel is greatly distressed.
Now, if you and I have picked up on this cycle by now it’s probably safe to say that Israel had picked up on it too. By now they have figured out that when they find themselves oppressed because of their idolatry Yahweh is compassionate and gracious enough to deliver them. So they cry out to him in verse 10, ““We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.” Based on their prior experience I’m sure they expected that Yahweh would overlook their evil and graciously reach out his hand to rescue them. But not this time. Yahweh is no fool. He knows that Israel has not truly changed their heart. He knows that they are not thinking about Him, they are thinking about themselves. It just so happens that Yahweh is their only hope for escape so they cry out to him. But he will not allow them to continue to take advantage of his grace. Listen to his response in verses 11-13, “…When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.” Yahweh reminds them that he has saved them time after time after time. He has shown them his love, and his compassion, and his grace, and his power. He has shown them that he is the only True God and that the pagan gods have no power over him. And yet the Israelites continue to turn from him and turn to gods that do not save. So Yahweh mocks them with sarcasm in verse 14, “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” But by now Israel knows better. They’ve been oppressed for 18 years and their gods have done nothing. So they again plead to Yawheh, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please, rescue us now.” The Israelites knew that mere words would not be enough. So verse 17 says, “they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”
On the surface it might appear that Israel has genuinely repented. But they have not, as we’ll see later. And Yahweh knows their hearts. He’s not at all deceived by their words or their actions. He knows that they are saying what they are saying and doing what they are doing because they are trying to manipulate him into doing what they want him to do. That last sentence in verse 17, “and he could bear Israel’s misery no longer” can actually be translated, “and his soul was short because of the efforts of Israel.” In other words, Yahweh was frustrated and angered by Israel’s constant idolatry and constant attempts to manipulate him. This is probably why Yahweh does not respond to them here and we do not hear from him for the rest of this narrative. Remember the warning that Yahweh gave his people in Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.” It was bad enough that the Israelites were committing idolatry by worshiping pagan gods but now they were committing idolatry by worshiping the True God in a pagan way. You see, pagan religions are all about manipulation. Every ritual, every vow, every act of worship and obedience that is offered by a pagan worshiper is offered to manipulate their god into doing something for them. If they want to win a war they worship this god in this way. If they want their crops to grow they worship that god in that way. If they want to get pregnant they worship another god in another way. In all forms of paganism the real god is not the one being worshiped but the one doing the worshiping. The worshiper has control over the god. If they just say the right words, or perform the right ritual, or do the right thing their god is obligated to respond in service to them. This is how the Israelites were treating Yahweh. They were treating him like a pagan god who was under their control. Well, if we confess our sin then he has to forgive us. If we get rid of our foreign gods and say we’ll serve him he has to save us from our oppressors. But Yawheh is not a pagan god. He is not controlled by human beings. And he is not manipulated by human beings. Yahweh saw the hearts of his people and he saw that they had improper motives. They were not interested in worshiping or serving him, they were interested in using him to serve themselves.
Yahweh sees your heart, too. And he sees my heart, too. He knows that just like Israel we are very good at modifying our behavior without modifying our hearts. And while religion is concerned with changing our behavior the gospel of Jesus is concerned with changing our hearts. Maybe you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you go to church and do good Christian things. But God’s favor is not for sale. And God is not fooled. He sees that you have just exchanged one sin for another. You’ve exchanged the obvious sin for the sin that is easier to hide. You used to worship yourself by feeding your passions. But now you worship yourself by feeding your self-righteousness. Some of you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you have not had sex outside of marriage. But God’s grace is not for sale. And God is not fooled. You may have abandoned the obvious sin of fornication but he sees that in your heart you are filled with lust and perverted desires. Maybe you think you’ve earned God’s favor because you give money to the church and give your time to the church. But God’s grace is not for sale. And God is not fooled. He knows that you are giving your time and money to the church to compensate for the fact that you are not serving him in the other areas of your life. The rest of the church may think you’re a model Christian. You may even be able to convince yourself that you’re a model Christian. But Yahweh sees your heart and he sees the rest of your life. He sees that you are giving so much time and money and energy to the church to compensate for the fact that you are still withholding parts of your heart and your life from Jesus. My friends, we cannot manipulate God. He is in control and we are not. Nothing we do can force his hand. Nothing we do can earn his favor. And no amount of behavior change can fool him into thinking our hearts are focused on serving him if they are really focused on serving ourselves. The religious strategy of modifying our behavior to please God does not work with him. When Yahweh does deliver us and bless us and show us favor it has absolutely nothing to do with who we are and everything to do with who he is.
Manipulating God through Religious Ritual
This was the case for Israel. Yahweh would deliver them from their oppressors, the Ammonites. But he didn’t do this because of their “repentance,” he did this because of his mercy and compassion. Yet because his patience was repeatedly tested and because Israel repeatedly turned to idolatry their deliverance would not be without its problems and their deliverer would not be without his issues. Yahweh would empower a man named Jephthah to deliver his people. Jephthah was a mighty warrior who also happened to be the son of a prostitute. Because of this he was rejected by his brothers and forced to flee his hometown of Gilead. But he was more than just an outcast. He was an outlaw. Chapter 11 verse 3 tells us that he was the leader of a gang of scoundrels. He was Jessie James, he was Tony Soprano, he was Jabba the Hut, he was Marlo Stanfield. He was not a hero just waiting for the opportunity to save someone.
He was not the ideal deliverer. But Gilead was in trouble, and all of Israel with them. So the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah, the gang leader, who they had previously kicked out of their town. Now they needed him. And so just as the Israelites had tried to manipulate Yahweh the elders of Gilead set out to manipulate Jephthah. “Come,” they said, “come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.” Of course Jephthah is a scoundrel. What scoundrel wouldn’t want to be king? So he agrees to fight on behalf of his people. But he’s not fighting on behalf of his people because he loves them. And he’s not fighting on behalf of his people because he loves Yahweh. He’s fighting on behalf of his people because it benefits him, he will become the head of Gilead, head of the very people who threw him out of their town.
Gilead selected their deliverer through manipulation. This is clearly not how you’re going to draw the right kind of man. And this is clearly not the way you would go about it if you truly trusted in Yahweh. But there’s no mention of them asking for Yahweh’s guidance. There’s no mention of them trusting in Yahweh to select a deliverer. They’re doing their own thing. But they’re doing it in the name of Yahweh. After Jephthah agrees to the task they go through a ceremony, a ritual, of committing their plans to Yawheh. They’re not concerned about Yahweh, they’ve already proven that. They’re concerned about themselves. And so they try to manipulate Yahweh into honoring their plans by sealing their plans in a religious ritual. They have once again committed idolatry by worshiping the True God in a pagan way. And Yahweh is not anything like the pagan gods. He is in control, he is always in control, and he owes nothing to anyone.
Manipulating God through Personal Sacrifice
So now that Jephthah has accepted his assignment he sends word to the king of Ammon that this is not a battle he should want to fight. But the king of Ammon ignores him and the stage is set for a battle between Jephthah and the Ammonites. Then, look what happens in 11:29. The Scripture says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.” Yahweh is merciful. He’s going to deliver his people. And he’s even going to use someone as inadequate and unrighteous as Jephthah to do it. Once we read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah we know that the victory is already won. There’s no question about it. Yahweh, the warrior, will liberate his people.
But Jepthhah does not trust Yahweh as he should. Jephthah does not trust that Yahweh will deliver his people because of his grace, and his compassion, and his sovereign control. Jephthah believes he must somehow buy Yahweh’s favor. So Jephthah once again attempts to manipulate God. Read verses 30 and 31, “And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’” Of course Yahweh did give the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand. Of course Yahweh did deliver Israel from their oppression. But it had nothing to do with Jephthah’s vow. It had everything to do with Yahweh’s grace. But Jephthah treated Yahweh like a pagan god, like a god that could be manipulated into doing his will. But Jephthah was wrong. And he suffered terrible consequences for his idolatry. Because when he arrived home from his victory the first thing that came to greet him was not the cattle or the sheep he expected. It was his daughter. His innocent daughter. His virgin daughter. His only daughter. His only child. And because Jephthah thought Yahweh was like a pagan god he thought that he had to fulfill his vow and sacrifice his daughter in exchange for the victory God had given him. Yahweh demanded no such thing. In fact Yahweh demanded the opposite. Remember that passage from Deuteronomy 12:31? “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” That is exactly what Jephthah just did. He worshiped the True God in a pagan way. He committed idolatry.
Now, it’s easy for us to look back on this historical event and be horrified by Jephthah’s vow, isn’t it? It’s easy to be disgusted by how he attempted to manipulate God, even at the cost of his own daughter. And we should be horrified, we should be disgusted. But the truth of the matter is that we should be equally disgusted with ourselves. Because while we may not be offering our children in the fire we are just as likely to try to manipulate God through other means. This is true whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian. This is true whether you’re religious or irreligious. Just like Jephthah and just like the Israelites you try to control God. But you can’t control God. Because he is God. And the moment he gives up control to you – even if he just gives up that control for one moment or in one instance – he ceases to be God. If he allows you to control him for even a moment then for that moment you become his Lord. Of course most of you would never say it that way. You would never say that you are Lord. You would never say that you control God. But your behavior might say otherwise. Your behavior might show that you treat God like a genie in a bottle. You seem to think that if you just rub the bottle the right way then he must respond to you. Religious and irreligious we all do this. And when we do this we show how little we understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Some of us try to manipulate God by doing good things. We think we can control God by our good behavior. In our minds we think that if we do this then God must do that. If I’m a generally good person then God must leave me alone and allow me to do what I want with the rest of my life. If I’m a good person then God must leave me alone and not bother me with all of this talk about a savior and repentance and “organized religion.” If I do good then God must accept me. If I do good then God must bless me. If I do good then God must give me a happy life, free from suffering and other hardships. This is manipulation. It is manipulation that doesn’t work. Your good works cannot force God to look the other way. Your good works cannot buy God’s silence. Your good works do not earn you the right to be accepted by God. Your good works cannot buy you “blessings” from God. Your good works cannot give you a life that is free from suffering any more than being perfect brought Jesus a life free from suffering. We think that if we do good we deserve to get good in return. But here’s the thing, if you’re doing good things because you want to get something in return your works are not truly good to begin with. They’re selfish. If you do this you’re like the man who wines and dines a woman – not because he loves her – but because of what he hopes to get from her as a result. You’re not doing good to serve God or to serve others, you’re doing good to serve yourself. But Yahweh is not naïve. God will not be mocked. He will not be manipulated by your goodness even when you call it religion or Christianity. To attempt to do so is to commit idolatry. It is to offer pagan worship.
God will also not be manipulated by your vows and promises. Some of us try to control God by bartering with him like he’s a used car salesman waiting to wheel and deal with us. We make these offers to God on our own terms: if you do this for me then I’ll do that for you. I imagine that every one of us has done this at least once and some of us are doing it regularly, some of us are doing it right now. Lord, I know I shouldn’t have had sex with this person outside of marriage. But if you just make sure that she doesn’t get pregnant – if you just make sure that I don’t get pregnant – I promise I’ll never have sex outside of marriage again. Sound familiar? When this bargain didn’t work some of you have tried to make similar bargains from the abortion table. Lord, if you just let me live through this I will never, ever, ever, do this again. We do this in all types of situations. God, if you heal me of this disease – if you heal my loved one of this disease – I will serve you with all my heart. Lord, if you just make sure that no one finds out about what I said or what I did, I will do exactly what you want me to do. Father, if you just help me to get this job then I’ll be a more generous person. If you make sure I don’t go to jail, if you make sure I don’t lose my job, if you make sure that this person marries me, if you help me get this car, if you help me get this house, if you help me lose this weight, if you give me this and give me that then I will do whatever you ask of me. These are not only despicable attempts at manipulation they reveal a supreme arrogance on the part of those who say these things. The person who tries to bargain with God puts themselves on the same level as God. As though God is sitting on his throne unable to act because you just haven’t said the right words yet. As if God is sitting on his throne saying, “Oh no, what am I going to do? If only Cole would serve me with his whole heart then all my dreams would come true. I would give him whatever he asked if only he would promise to do something for me.” God is not like you. He does not need you or anything you have to offer, which means there is no bargain you can make that would be a good deal for him. On top of that, though, God is also not selfish. He does not decide what he will or will not do based on what does or does not benefit him. He is not a pagan god, he is not a god created in your image. He is Yahweh, the only True God. And to worship him in a pagan way is to commit idolatry.
Unfortunately, it’s not just individuals who do this. It’s not just religious people and irreligious people that try to manipulate the True God. Churches that call themselves Christian are often guilty of perpetuating this false worship of the True God. Christian churches are often guilty of treating Jesus like a genie in a bottle, or a used car salesman, or your average pagan god. They teach us to manipulate God through tithes and offerings. Oh, they don’t call it manipulation but that’s what it is. They tell us to give to God’s church so that God will give to us. Tithe so that God will bless your finances. Tithe so that God will bless your work. Tithe so that God will bless your health. Tithe so that God will bless your family. And yet that is the exact opposite of what the New Testament tells us to do. The New Testament tells us to give because of what we’ve already been given in Jesus. You can give all the money you want to God’s church but if you are giving it so that you can be “blessed” you are not worshiping Jesus, you are worshiping yourself. But our churches teach us to manipulate God in this way. Our churches also teach us to manipulate God through our service. They tell us to give our time and our energy volunteering in the church so that God will bless us. But again, this is the exact opposite of what the New Testament tells us to do. We don’t serve because of what we might get, we serve because of what we already have in Jesus. To serve for any other reason is to commit idolatry, it is to worship something other than Jesus, it is to attempt to manipulate God. Some of our churches teach us to manipulate God with our faith. If you have enough faith, then God will heal you. If you have enough faith, then God will answer your prayers. If you have enough faith, then God will save your loved ones. They tell us that God is just sitting, waiting, with his arms outstretched to respond to us just as soon as we muster up enough faith. But, again, this is the exact opposite of what the New Testament teaches us. The New Testament teaches us that God does whatever he wants, however he wants, whenever he wants, with whomever he wants and that any faith that you have is a gift from him. You can’t muster it up, you can’t create it, and you certainly can’t manipulate him with it because he gave it to you. These churches also teach us to manipulate God with our prayers and our words. They tell us that for certain things to happen we have to pray the right prayer in the right way. If you pray in the morning you’ll have a good day. If you don’t pray in the morning you’ll have a bad day. If you say these words in this way then God will deliver you but if you don’t then he won’t. They even teach us to manipulate God in our worship. They say things like, “When praises go up, blessings come down.” They say things like, “I don’t know about you but I’m going to praise God so that I don’t miss my blessing.” This produces people who engage in acts of worship not because of what Jesus has already done but because of how it makes them feel or what they think they can get out of it. When we do this we are worshiping ourselves and not Jesus. These churches teach us that we can get God to come into the room by singing songs and shouting praises. They teach us that we can get into God’s presence through our worship. This produces people who think that music, a certain type of music, has the power to lead us into worship or to bring us closer to God. But the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He’s the only one who draws us into worship and he’s the only one who takes us into the presence of God. So much of what we hear in some of our “Christian churches” is manipulative. It explicitly and directly contradicts the Bible. But you know what it doesn’t contradict? It doesn’t contradict pagan worship. In fact, it’s exactly like pagan worship. Pagans have always tried to move God through music, and singing, and ritual, and sacrifices, and offerings, and specific prayers. Many of our “Christian churches” are doing the same thing. They are teaching us to worship the True God in the wrong way. They are treating Jesus no differently than Baal, or Zeus, or any other pagan god or goddess. But remember what Yahweh said in Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.”
Jesus the Only True Sacrifice
What’s amazing, though, is that God knew that we would. God knew that we would worship false gods. God knew that those of us who call ourselves Christians would worship the True God in the wrong way. God knew that we would be idolaters. And if Yahweh were anything like the pagan god we treat him as he would have turned his back on us forever. He would have withheld every possible blessing from us. He would have lashed out on us in anger and wrath. But Yahweh did the exact opposite. Though we turned our back on him he refused to turn his back on us. He continued to pursue us, and chase after us, and woo us, and invite us to himself. He continued to bless us though we had done nothing to deserve a single blessing. And he took the curse that we were under for worshiping other gods, he took the anger that we deserve for making ourselves gods, and he took the wrath that we deserve to swallow in full and he poured it all out on himself. Instead of turning his back on us, he turned it on his own Son, Jesus. He placed our curse on his own Son, Jesus. He directed his anger with us toward his own Son Jesus. He took his wrath that belongs upon us and he poured it out in full on his own Son, Jesus, who absorbed every drop. He did this so that you and I – idolaters, and pagans, and spiritual whores – could finally be reconciled to him, could finally be in a proper relationship with our True Creator. The gods of the pagans require that you make a sacrifice to them to get back in their good graces. The gods of other religions require that you sacrifice yourself for them to be accepted by them. The god of some “Christian” churches requires that you make sacrifices for him so that you can receive his favor. But the God of the Bible, Yahweh, does no such thing. The God of the Bible made your sacrifice for you. He sacrificed himself in your place and accepts you and shows you favor, not because of anything you’ve done, but because of everything he’s done in Jesus Christ.
You see you can’t manipulate the True God. The True God is entirely self-sufficient. He does not need you and he does not need anything from you. According to the Scriptures your righteousness is as useless to him as a used menstrual cloth, a filthy rag. Not only are you unable to manipulate him, but the good news is, you don’t have to. Because he has given you everything you could ever need in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone you are reconciled to the living God now and forever. Through Jesus Christ who has reconciled you to the Creator you are also being reconciled to everyone and everything that he has created. Through Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, you are always in the presence of God…always. And Ephesians 1:3 reminds us that through Jesus Christ you presently possess, you presently possess, every spiritual blessing…every spiritual blessing. So you have no need to manipulate God because there is nothing that you need that he has not already given you in Jesus Christ.
To say that your righteousness is capable of earning you any favor with God is to say that the death of Jesus Christ is insufficient and ultimately meaningless. To say that there is something you need that has not already been provided in Jesus Christ is to say that there is something in this world more valuable and more meaningful than God himself. Which is to say that God is not God and something else is. The truth is, Jesus is God and he has made you an offer that you ought not refuse. He has offered you himself. He has offered you himself and all that he has. So the question is this: will you accept this offer of God coming to you in Jesus? Or will you reject his offer and continue to worship yourself in his place and call it religion, or irreligion, or even Christianity?
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