When Jephthah took the lead, he first tried to approach the Ammonites through diplomatic negotiation. He sent representatives to check with the Ammonites wanting to know why they came up against the Israelites. The king of Amon accused the Israelites saying, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan….” He then demanded that the land be returned to them peacefully.
Jephthah then sent a second group of representatives to them and explained to the king how the land became theirs. He first gave them the historical fact about how the land fell into their hands. When they came out of Egypt, they wanted to peacefully pass through the land of Edon. So they sought permission to pass through the land of Edom but was turned down the same took place at Moab. They also sought permission from the king of Moab to let them pass through their territory but was turned down again. So, they skirted both Edom and Moab and came and came to Arnon which was controlled by the Amorites. They sought permission from the king of Sihon and the Amorites, who were in control of the land to let them pass through their territory. Again, they were turned down. And King Sihon went even further. He assembled his armies and came up against the people of Israel. It was then that the Jehovah the LORD gave Sihon and his people into the hand of the Israelites. This was how Israel came to possess the land of the Amorites which the king Ammon now wanted them to return.
In verses 1 23-24, Jephthah went further by citing the theological reason from how the land became theirs. It was Jehovah the LORD who had driven the Amorites and given them the land how could they now not claim for themselves. If Chemosh, their god could give them the land, why then couldn’t Israel have the land that the LORD Jehovah gave to them. In verses, 25-26 Jephthah cited the third reason. He said that even Barak the king of Moab never claimed the right to the land to the land in the days of Moses. Neither did the king of Ammon ever wrangled concerning Israel’s claim to the land in the 300 years they had lived there.
As far as Jephthah was concerned, Israel did not sin against the Ammon. It must be left to Jehovah God to determine who should have the land. Since the king of the Ammonites could not accept and settle peacefully, a war was anticipated. It shows us here that though the Lord had given them the land, they needed to stake their ultimate claim. For the enemy would not give up the land so readily. Isn’t this the same as Christian life? God has given us the right to possess out being. Our life is God’s promised land to us. We still need to deal with the negative forces of life such as anger, lust, jealousy, rage and, etc. We need to incrementally control those areas with the help of God until we control our whole being for His glory.
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