Key Verse: Verse 6 – “And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
Key Words: Come, and be our captain
Jephthah was an illegitimate son of Gilead. Because of this, he was rejected by his brothers and banished from his father’s house. Jephthah took up residence at Tob, a district of Syria. Here he became the leader of a marauding party and when war broke out between Israel and the Ammonites, his brothers had to eat crow and come begging for his help. Jephthah consented on one condition: if he led Israel to victory, he automatically became their leader, which they willingly agreed to.
Now the moral of the story is this: be careful how you treat others for one day they may have the opportunity to get even.
“Some fellows were stationed in Korea during the Korean War. While there, they hired a local boy to cook and clean for them. Being a bunch of jokesters, these guys soon took advantage of the boy’s seeming naivete. They’d smear Vaseline on the stove handles so that when he’d turn the stove on in the morning he’d get grease all over his fingers. They’d put little water buckets over the door so that he’d get deluged when he opened the door. They’d even nail his shoes to the floor during the night. Day after day the little fella took the brunt of their practical jokes without saying anything. No blame, no self-pity, no temper tantrums.
“Finally the men felt guilty about what they were doing, so they sat down with the young Korean and said, ‘Look, we know these pranks aren’t funny anymore, and we’re sorry. We’re never gonna take advantage of you again.’
“It seemed too good to be true to the houseboy. ‘No more sticky on stove?’ he asked.
“’Nope.’
“’No more water on door?’
“’No.’
“’No more nail shoes to floor?’
“’Nope, never again.’
“’Okay,’ the boy said with a smile, ‘no more spit in soup.’”
What to do:
✞ Treat people with kindness. You never know when and where you’ll see them again.
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