Judges 11: But I Thought The Lord Didn't Require Human Sacrifice!

What are we to make of the strange, tragic tale of Jephthah and his daughter, who he apparently offered up as a burnt offering to the Lord?

After reading this chapter, some people come away appalled at the thought of human sacrifice being acceptable to God.  Especially after hearing about the similar detestable practices of the Canaanites which were responsible for God's wrathful judgment upon them, one may wonder why the Lord in this case required a human sacrifice.

One parallel we have seen so far in the Bible is God's command for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.  The out-of-the-blue prompting to slay the child of the promise was the only time in scripture where God made such a request.  And, when the moment of truth arrived, God revealed that it was only a test.  He did not truly want Isaac to be sacrificed; He only wanted to see how obedient Abraham was willing to be.

It is important to see what is really happening here in Judges 11.  At no point did God issue the command for Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter.  That was all Jephthah.  In the heat of battle, he rashly and foolishly uttered a vow that he would offer the first thing out of his house upon his return if only the Lord would grant him success (vs. 30-31).  It may have sounded like a good idea at the time to get God's attention and secure His favor.  Unfortunately, upon Jephthah's return home, it is his only child, his little girl, who comes running out to meet her daddy.

Jephthah is clearly the one responsible for making this vow and its terms.  But, one may ask, shouldn't the Lord have somehow let him off the hook?  Should Jephthah have really gone through with it?  Was he in the right to sacrifice his own daughter?

There have been several warnings in the Bible thus far concerning making rash promises and oaths to the Lord that are not kept.  A vow, once made, had to be honored.  Perhaps you would disagree over which law was more important - keeping one's word to the Lord or not offering a human sacrifice.  Either way, Jephthah had put himself into a position of committing a grievous sin.  In the end, he decided to honor his vow and lose his daughter.  The blame for his rash vow lies with Jephthah, not the Lord.