The Ephraimites were late in their response to the
summon that Jephthah had made for assistance in the battle against the
Ammonites. When they arrived, he had already gone ahead into battle and returned
having secured the victory. So, the Ephraimites were upset and rebuked him for
going ahead into the battle without them. They even threatened to burn his
house because their pride was hurt. All of us need to learn to handle our bruised
ego. If we don’t, they would cause us to engage in needless strife. The
Ephraimites should have been more reasonable and understand that they were not
side-lined. It was, in fact, their fault for not arriving on time. Furthermore,
the matter at hand was urgent and needed to be attended to swiftly. If only
they had refused to take offence, their conflict with Jephthah would have been
avoided.
Jephthah tried to explain
to them the situation. He and the people who had already gathered for battle
held on as long as they could for their arrival. The people who had arrived were
already raring to go. The Ephraimites seemed to be delayed. Besides, Jephthah
also misinterpreted the situation. He concluded that the Ephraimites were
reluctant to help. Meanwhile, the situation demanded that they took immediate
action. Hence, with whoever that he had already mustered, he went into battle
with the Ammonites. And with the help of God, Jephthah and the Gileadites were
able to secure the victory over the Ammonites. He did not have any intention to
sideline the Ephraimites and he felt that they on their side shouldn’t have
shown such hostility.
What was worst was the
insult the Ephraimites threw at the Gileadites. They cast a slur saying that they
had no right to go and fight the Ammonites without them. For they were such a
small group of people in comparison with them. The Gileadites were a small
group of people who were located between the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
So, how dare they went ahead without waiting for the arrival of the Ephraimites.
Provoked by the insult, the people of Gilead willingly joined Jephthah and went
against them. In the battle, Jephthah and the Gileadites captured the ford of
the Jordan that was located just opposite where the tribe of Ephraim was. So,
in order to prevent any Ephraimite from crossing over, a person crossing the
ford was required to give a password. The word was “shibboleth” which the
Ephraimites found it hard to pronounce. They couldn’t pronounce the sound of
“Sh.” So, instead, of "Shibboleth" they would say “sibboleth.” Thus
they would give away their identity and be captured and killed. In that
conflict alone, verse 6 tells us that 42,000 Ephraimites were slaughtered in
this needless civil war. In all, Jephthah only judged the people Israel
for a short six years. He died and was buried in one of the cities of
Gilead.
Lessons to take away: firstly, we should learn not to take offence. When
we are not included in any venture, it does not mean that we will not have the
opportunity for a future project. Secondly, we must not operate with a bruised
ego. When we operate with hurt pride, we tend to be irrational and read into a
situation, intentions that were not there in the first place. Thirdly, we
must learn to arrive on time for any project we are participating in. This is
important to prevent needless misunderstanding. Being late will give the wrong
signal that we are not interested in the venture. In God’s work, timing,
understanding and humility are essential. Let’s be helpful participants and not
be a stumbling block to the plan of advancing God’s Kingdom.
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