Judges 12:1 – 7 “Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”
But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”
Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives (renegades) in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,” they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed. Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
Jephthah and his people are Gileadites living on the east side of the Jordan River in an area corresponding to modern northwestern Jordan. The Gileadites have settled in that area with the permission of Moses because they have extensive herds and flocks and there is good grazing. Jephthah has conquered the Ammonites; however, now he has a new problem. Evidently, when Jephthah was going out to fight the Ammonites, he messaged the men of Ephraim for assistance and they ignored him. Now that the Ammonites have been defeated, the Ephraimites have suddenly realized that they have missed an opportunity for LOOT, so they cross the River Jordan and begin threatening Jephthah and his family. To add insult to injury, the Ephraimites also claim that the Gileadites are renegades who as such have no claim to any land in Israel at all.
Jephthah has no choice; either he fights the Ephraimites or they will murder him and his family. The Gileadites join Jephthah and capture the fords of the Jordan so that the Ephraimites can’t retreat into their own territory. To determine who is an Ephraimite, Jephthah’s men apply a simple test. The Ephraimites evidently have no “sh” sound in their dialect, so the men of Gilead demand that anybody attempting to ford the Jordan pronounce the word “shibboleth,” which means an ear, as in an ear of corn. Those who cannot pronounce the word correctly die. 42,000 Ephraimites pay with their lives for their inability to pronounce a single word correctly as well as for their arrogant presumption.
APPLICATION: This is a very sad story. Why? These are Israelites fighting against Israelites – something that should never have happened in the first place. Moses required those tribes that remained on the east side of the Jordan to swear that they would cross the Jordan to help their brothers conquer the land over there and that they would be prepared to come to the aid of the other Israelites whenever necessary. When Jephthah asked the Ephraimites to help him in the beginning, he was only acting according to the provisions of the covenant. But the Ephraimites conveniently forgot their part of the covenant until it came time to divide the spoils. Suddenly, the Ephraimites showed up making all kinds of accusations. Ultimately the Ephraimites paid with their lives for their greed and their failure to honor the covenant.
We read these accounts and feel superior; certainly WE would never renege on a major agreement. But in in fact, covenants are broken regularly. Recent current events have served to illustrate that entire nations may regard covenants as disposable when inconvenient.
What lessons can we draw from this story?
1. Keep your promises. Don’t go back on your word; you may pay with your life for doing so.
2. Remember your allies. The Ephraimites failed because they convinced themselves that the Gileadites really didn’t count as a people.
3. Teach your children the ways of God. This whole mess came about because the Israelites neglected to teach their children the ways of God and His commandments. Without any moral compass, the Israelites were doing whatever they felt like; chaos was the result.
PRAYER: Father God, help us to teach our children Your ways. Help us to study Your Word for ourselves so that we will not wind up fighting the very people we should be helping. Help us to follow hard after You all days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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