Come and Be Our Captain - Judges 11:6

In the book of Judges we learned how, “it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob”, and in chapter eleven and verse six of Judges, we learn how,“they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain” where we read,

And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, 

that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

The verse reads, “And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain,…” The writer began with the words, “and they said unto Jephthah” which means “and they, the elders of Gilead, uttered, declared and proclaimed to Jephthah or Jiphtah whose name means ‘he opens’ and was a son of Gilead and a concubine and the judge who defeated the Ammonites; after the victory because of a vow taken before the battle he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering”, “come, and be our captain” or ”walk, depart, proceed, move and exist as our, the elders of Gilead’s, ruler, commander and magistrate”.  The writer shared how the “elders” from “Gilead” invited “Jephthah” to proceed with them and exist as their commander. 

The verse continues, “… that we may fight with the children of Ammon.” The writer added the words, “that we may fight” which means “so we, the elders and people of Gilead, can wage battle and war” “with the children of Ammon” or “with the offspring and progeny belonging to Ammon whose name means ‘tribal’ and was a people dwelling in Transjordan descended from Lot through Ben-ammi”. The writer shared how “the elders of Gilead” wanted Jephthah to be their commander so they could wage war against the offspring of “Ammon”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we can imagine what it took for the “elders of Gilead” to go to “Jephthah” and what “Jephthah” thought when they arrived. They asked “Jephthah” to become their commander so they could wage war against the offspring of “Ammon”, and we shall see how he answers them in our next verses. God knows the abilities of every person, and He will use us according to His purposes and plans. Even when we have been rejected by others like “Jephthah”, when we yield to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and empower us to use our God given gifts in His Kingdom. (See Romans 11:29)

Next time we learn how, “Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not you hate me, and expel me out of my father's house?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance”.