The day was overcast. That didn't prevent the pilot from taking off. It should have. He had no business flying in that kind of weather. He didn't have the training to fly in conditions which prevented him from seeing the horizon. He had three friends with him. They all wanted to get home.

As he climbed from his takeoff he was immersed in clouds. Not being able to see the horizon he became confused and a victim of vertigo. He did not know whether he was heading up, or down, or straight and level. The recorded radio conversation between the pilot and tower, punctuated by his panicked voice, indicated he was in trouble.

Shortly after that radio exchange the plane dove into the ground instantly killing the pilot and the other three people aboard. It was tragic. That tragedy could have been easily avoided. If the pilot hadn't taken off, if he had simply decided to wait until the whether cleared, he and three others would be alive today. That pilot's foolish judgment cost him and his three friends their lives.

The verses we have read this morning detail a similar fatal mistake in judgment. Jephthah's foolish judgment cost the life of his only child, his only daughter. I don't know which is more tragic; the fact that this event happened; or the fact that it didn't have to happen. If Jephthah had only trusted God he could have avoided this catastrophe altogether. He would have had both his daughter and his victory over the Ammonites. What do we learn from this account? What does such a tragic account teach us? Let us begin by understanding two things about Jephthah.

First, Jephthah did the wrong thing. That's why his story is in the book of Judges. He provides an example we're not to follow. You might assume that every example in the Bible is a good example. That's not always the case. There are examples in the Bible that we're not to follow. That's particularly true in the Old Testament narrative books, like Judges. Accounts in this book are often reported without comment. Some of the examples are obviously bad and common sense dictates that one not follow them.

It is very similar to how a journalist should report a story. When a journalist writes a story about a horrible case of child abuse she need not tell you that this was a terrible thing. Common sense informs us that it was terrible. That is how many Old Testament narratives work. In Jephthah's case common sense tells us that sacrificing his daughter was not a good thing. Jephthah's vow is a bad example. First, Jephthah's vow is a bad example. Second, the book of Judges describes a pattern in the life of Israel.

From the beginning of the book a pattern develops. The people of Israel forsake God and begin worshiping other gods and goddesses. As a result God judges them by handing them over to invaders and pestilence. The people realize this as God's judgment, repent and turn again to God. God, in turn, raises up a judge who delivers the people from the invaders. Some years pass and the people again return to their evil ways. The pattern repeats itself. A judge was one who was a temporary leader of the people. The judge would rally the people together, form them into some sort of army, and defeat the invaders. Jephthah was one such judge. The Ammonites invaded Israel and oppressed its people. Together with the Philistines they oppressed the people for eighteen years. God raised up Jephthah to be Israel's judge. Jephthah is a judge in Israel. Yet, he still did something that was very wrong.