About the Author of the Blogsite, Not the Author of the Bible::

About the Author of the Blogsite, Not the Author of the Bible: I was uncertain of how to accomplish this, mindful of Revelation 22:18-19, which says that nobody is to add to, or to take away from what was written in the Bible. After lots of prayerful contemplation, the Lord had it on my heart that I’m not to change the meaning of what is written in the Bible. He has also shown ways to add to people’s understating of that meaning, without altering the meaning, by putting that info within [brackets]. This is primarily accomplished with the KJV Bible and lots of prayers, but at times, BibleGateway.com, Biblehub.com, NIV Bible, Webster Dictionary, and other internet resources, as needed. Debra Seiling

About Understanding the Bible:

Understanding the Bible: After reading Isaiah 28:10 many times over the years and not totally understanding it, it recently became apparent to me that the Lord God has this passage as the means for understanding the Bible. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. Isaiah 28:10 KJV. Being prayerful about this passage, and looking up 'precept' in the Webster's Dictionary, it gave this passage a whole new meaning, once 'commandment' is substituted for 'precept'. Within brackets are additional words the Lord had on my heart to aid in understanding the meaning. For commandment must be [built up] upon commandment; commandment upon commandment; line upon line, line upon line; [developing understanding] here a little, and there a little.

The Table Format:

The Table Format: I was overwhelmed with how to explain the process for determining if someone had leprosy in Leviticus 13, which seemed very complicated. After praying, "Lord, if this is difficult for me to understand after reading it many times, how can this be explained to others?" The thought the Lord God had on my heart was for me to put it into a vertical chart to visually see the process. This made it much easier for me to follow the progression. After doing so, I prayed, "Lord, how can this be conveyed to readers, so that they can understand this process?" The thought the Lord God had on my heart was to put it within the lines of a table. Being a stiff-necked, stubborn person, as it's often called in the Bible, I prayed, asking the Lord God if He's sure that's really what He wanted me to do? I reluctantly put Leviticus 13 into a table format. When I read this difficult leprosy process within a table format, it suddenly became easier for me to understand. That's because it builds line upon line, as explained in the Understanding the Bible section. Shortly after that, the Lord God had it on my heart, to put all of The Books of the Bible in Smaller Chunks within a table format, to aid in understanding, line upon line.

6/25/2023

Judges 11:1-40 Jepthah’s Put in Charge to Battle Against the People of Ammon

 

Jepthah’s Put in Charge to Battle Against the People of Ammon

Judges 11:1-40    The Book of Judges [in Smaller Chunks]

Now, Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valor & was the son of a harlot. And Gilead [fathered] Jephthah. Gilead’s wife [bore] him sons.

[When Gilead’s] wife’s sons grew up, they [drove] out Jephthah & said to him, You shall not inherit [from] our father’s house, [since] you are the son of a strange woman. 

Then, Jephthah fled from his [brothers] & [lived] in the land of Tob & he [joined] with some [worthless] men [who] went out with him. It [happened after some time,] that the children [people] of Ammon made war against Israel. 

[Then, Gileads’] elders went to [get] Jephthah out of the land of Tob & they said to Jephthah, Come & be our captain, [so] we may fight with the children [people] of Ammon. And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn’t you hate me & [drive] me out of my father’s house?

Why [have] you come to me now, when you are in [trouble?] The elders said to Jephthah, We now turn to you, [so] you go with us to fight against the [people] of Ammon & be our [leader] over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the [people] of Ammon & the Lord delivers them before me, shall I be your [leader?] The elders said to Jephthah, [Let] the Lord be a witness between us, if we don’t do according to your words.

Then, Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead & [they] made him the [leader & commander] over them & Jephthah [talked] before the Lord in Mizpeh. And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the [people] of Ammon, saying, What do you have to do with me, that you [have] come against me to fight in my land?

The king of the [people] of Ammon answered, [Jephthah’s] messengers, Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok & to Jordan. Therefore, now restore those lands [peacefully.] 

Jephthah sent messengers [back] to the king of Ammon & said, Jephthah says [this,] Israel [didn’t] take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the [people] of Ammon.

But when Israel came up from Egypt & walked through the wilderness into the Red Sea & came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I pray [that] you let me pass through your land.

But the king of Edom wouldn’t [listen to it.] [Also,] they sent to the king of Moab, in [similar] manner, but he wouldn’t [agree] [to let them pass through the land] & Israel [stayed] in Kadesh.

Then, they went through the wilderness [around the outside borders of the lands] of Edom & Moab & came by the east side of Moab & pitched [tents] on the other side of Arnon, but [didn’t go inside] the border of Moab, [because] Arnon was the border of Moab.

Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the [Amorite’s] king, the king of Heshbon & [asked,] We pray [that] you, let us pass through your land [on the way to the Israelite’s land.]

But Sihon [didn’t] trust Israel to pass through [its] coast, but Sihon gathered all his people together & pitched [tents] in Jahaz & fought against [the Israelites.] The Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon & all his people into the [hands] of Israel & they [defeated] them.

So, Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. They possessed all the [coastal territory] of the Amorites from Jabbok & the wilderness, [all the way] to [the] Jordan [River.]

So now, the Lord God of Israel has [driven out] the Amorites before His people, Israel. [What right do you have to take it over?] [Why] not possess [what] Chemosh, your god gives you to possess?

We shall possess [land of whomever] the Lord our God [drives] out before us. Are you better than Balak, [Zippor’s] son, king of Moab? Did he ever [quarrel] or fight against Israel?

While Israel [still] dwelt in Heshbon & Arorer & [their] towns & all the cities along the [coastal borders] of Arnon [for] 300 years, why didn’t you recover them within that time? 

[For this reason,] I haven’t sinned against you, but you have done wrong by [fighting] against me. [Let] the Lord, the Judge, [decide & judge] this day between the [people] of Israel & the [people] of Ammon.

[But] the king of Ammon [didn’t pay attention] to the word of Jephthah, [that] he sent [to] him. Then, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah & he passed [through the land of] Gilead & Manasseh & [from] Mizpeh of Gilead he [crossed over] to the [people] of Ammon.

Jephthah [made] a vow [promise] to the Lord & said, If You shall deliver the [people] of Ammon into [my hands] without fail, then [whatever] comes [out] of the doors of my house to [greet] me, when I return in peace from the [people] of Ammon, I shall surely offer it up for a burnt offering, [which] surely shall be the Lord’s. 

So, Jephthah [crossed] over to the [people] of Ammon to fight against them & the Lord delivered them into his hands & he [defeated] them [from] Aroer, even [until] you come to Minnith, 20 cities, even to the [plains near] the vineyards [a.k.a. Abel-Keramim,] with a very [large] slaughter. 

[Like this,] the [people] of Ammon were [defeated] before the [people] of Israel. [When] Jephthah came to his house in Mizpeh, [he saw] his daughter, his only child, came out to [greet] him with [tambourines] & dances.

It [happened,] when he saw her, he [tore] his clothes & said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low & [I am troubled, because of you,] for I opened my mouth [in a vow] to the Lord & I can’t go [against it.] [Genesis 37:34 And Jacob [tore] his clothes & put sackcloth on his [waist] & mourned for his son many days.]

And she said to him, My father, if you opened your mouth to the Lord [to make a vow,] do to me according to what [you promised; because] the Lord has taken vengeance against your enemies, the [people] of Ammon, for you.

She [asked] her father, Let this thing be done for me & let me be alone [for] two months, [so] I may go up & down upon the mountains with my [friends to lament] my virginity. He said, Go. And he sent her away for two months with her [friends to lament] her virginity upon the mountains.

[After] two months, she returned & [hadn’t been intimate with a man.] He did with her, [as] he had vowed. And it [became] the custom that the daughters of Israel [& they would commemorate] the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, 4 days each year.