What does the Lord say for this time?
The Lord has not forgotten you! The Lord has a destiny for you! And He wants you to fulfill that destiny, no matter what has happened in your past, or no matter how terrible your past may be!
We are going to look at the life and ministry of someone called Jephthah in the Book of Judges. Here, we'll see that the Lord remembered him and has a destiny for him, despite his broken past or upbringing.
Judges 11:1-2 (NKJV) says, 'Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to Jephthah, "You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman."'
You see over here that Jephthah was being driven out from his own household. Why? Simply because his half-brothers didn't accept him due to him being a son of a harlot. In other words, he was considered by his half-brothers as illegitimate child. They were judging Jephthah based on his background, even though this wasn't even his fault!
But I tell you what, beloved, the Lord your God doesn't judge you based on all these! The Lord your God understands everything that you have gone through. He understands your background. He understands whatever trauma, trouble, or shame that you may have gone through in your past. And He is here to deliver you and set you free!
So today is a day of deliverance for you! Today is a day you are being set free!
By the way, interestingly, the name 'Jephthah', which is 'Yif-tawkh' in Hebrew, means 'He will open, or He will release.' This shows that the Lord your God can open a way for you in spite of your broken past, whatever your past may be. Maybe it's a broken family. Maybe it's a broken childhood. Maybe rejection from people. Maybe it's a past mistake or mistakes that you have made. Maybe it's a past regret. Whatever it may be, none of these will be able to hinder the Lord from opening a way for your life, and to show you His kindness and goodness!
So, will you surrender your situation before the Lord? Whatever your situation may be! Nothing is impossible to Him. He can turn things around for you. Remember this today: The Lord has not forgotten you! The Lord remembers you! And the Lord is here to deliver you, set you free, and open a way for you! Now, that's what 'Jephthah' means!
Back to the meaning of 'Jephthah' here. Not only will the Lord open a way for you, the Lord will also release you and set you free! This name 'Jephthah' also shows that the Lord your God can release you from your past bondage, past shame, or even past trauma in your life! He can give you a new lease of life! And He can give you the victory and breakthrough in your life! Your part is to look to Him and trust in Him.
There's nothing that is accidental in the Bible. Everything that's written in the Bible, there's a reason that God puts it there. And over here, you see that 'Jephthah' means 'He will open, or He will release.' Now it is the same with you. He will open a way for you. He will release you and set you free from your past, whatever your past may be. And this is your God! This is a God who is kind and who is good to you. You've got to remember this always. You've got to believe, and you shall receive, that the Lord is kind, and the Lord is good to you. Amen!
And you can see here in Judges 11:3 (NKJV) that says, 'Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob.' Now, interestingly, the word 'Tob' means 'Good'. It means the Lord wanted to show a way for Jephthah, and the Lord wanted to show goodness and kindness to him. In other words, the Lord was in the process of preparing something good for him! Now, of course geographically speaking, Tob was actually a real place at the east side of the Jordan River. But 'Tob' means 'Good' too!
So you see, the Lord will know how to lead you into something good, even though you may not initially understand why certain things happened in your life, especially those not-so-good things.
I continue with Judges 11:3 (NKJV), 'And worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.' Now, a lot of people interpret this part as Jephthah mixing with gangsters and doing all those gangsters' work. I don't think so. So, who were these 'worthless men'? If you study the original word for this word 'worthless' here, you would see that these men were not necessarily criminals, bandits, or robbers. They were simply a group of outcast and worthless people in the eyes of the world. But to God, Jephthah and these people were not worthless. They might be poor or without much possessions; but they were not necessarily criminals. In fact, they were probably fighting against invaders into that land, or protecting some families in that land.
Judges 11:4-5 (NKJV) then says, 'It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.'
In other words, when the people were in trouble those days, only then they thought of Jephthah and looked for Jephthah. Remember, these were the very people who rejected Jephthah in the past.
For some of you, maybe you too have been rejected, shunned, or despised before in the past. Take heart. Surrender your situation to the Lord. Forgive yourself. Forgive those who have rejected you, shunned you, or despised you. Look to the Lord. The Lord has a plan for you. The Lord has a destiny for you. And the Lord remembers you. He is going to cause everything to turn out for good to you.
And that's exactly what happened for Jephthah.
Judges 11:6 (NKJV) says, 'Then they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon."' What a turnaround! They even invited Jephthah to be their leader! Maybe because they were desperate, and they knew no one could help them and deliver them the way Jephthah could.
Let's look at Jephthah's answer. Judges 11:7 (NKJV) says, 'So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and expel me from my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"' Here, Jephthah was just saying the fact.
Did Jephthah forgive them and accept this offer?
Let's read further.
Judges 11:11 (NKJV) says, 'Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them...'
So the answer is Yes. Jephthah forgave them, and he went on to be their leader. I mean he could have continued in his bitterness and this was a chance for him to exact revenge against the very people who rejected him earlier. But you see here, Jephthah has a big heart, and he has a heart for God. He wanted to see his people being delivered from the enemies.
You see here that there was actually a proper closure. There was a forgiveness. There was a release. And the Lord gave Jephthah a new lease of life. This was also a time when Jephthah was about to be raised up by the Lord to be a deliverer for the whole nation. He was rejected by his own people, but now the Lord raised him up to be the deliverer of the very people who rejected him in the past!
And you know what? The rest is history. The Spirit of the Lord was with Jephthah, and he (and the people of the Lord those days) went on to defeat the people of Ammon!
Hallelujah!
People of God, in the name of Jesus, there's a release of anointing right now to set you free from whatever that has caused you to be in a bondage, or whatever that has oppressed you or suppressed you. Be set free! Be released to walk in your God-given destiny, going forward!
And this year, you are going to walk in His destiny for your life! This is a year of a fresh new start in your life! This is a year you are going to advance and move forward in your life! I declare this upon you, in the name of Jesus!
Let us pray:
"O Lord God, we do not want to be bound by the past brokenness and bitterness. We receive Your anointing right now to advance and to move forward in life. We receive Your anointing right now to have a fresh new start. Like Jephthah in the Scripture, we can forgive and we can let go, whatever happened in our past. This year is a year of destiny for us. This year is a year to advance and to move forward. And of course this year is a year of victory and breakthrough for us. In the name of Jesus. Amen."
