The fourth stage of Jephthah's career puts him in a very different role. The illegitimate outcast and desert gang leader is now negotiating with an enemy king. A few days have brought him a very long way! Jephthah is not a tentative leader. He is a fighting man, and we might expect him to strike first and ask questions later. Yet that is not the route he chooses to go. Before he draws up battle lines, Jephthah sends messengers to the king of Ammon asking the obvious question, ″Why are you invading us?″ (Judges 11:12, paraphrased). Ammon, however, counters with a claim that Israel had stolen Ammon's land earlier and that he is simply asserting his rightful claim over the land (v. 13).

Jephthah turns out to be a forceful and strong-minded negotiator who displays a strong grasp of historical realities. Convinced that the story of Israel is a story of what God has done, he gets straight to the point. ″Check your history,″ he is in effect saying, ″We captured the land from Sihon, the king of the Amorites, not the Ammonites″ (vv. 15-22).

″Next, check your theology. The Lord God of Israel gave us this land, and we cannot surrender His gift. Go back and live in the land your god Chemosh has given you″ (vv. 23-25, paraphrased). At this point Jephthah makes two mistakes. The first is that Chemosh was the god of the Moabites, not of the Ammonites, who worshipped Milcom. More seriously, he seems to be reducing Yahweh to just another god among many by his argument that Chemosh had given them their land while Israel's God had given His people theirs. This is a huge mistake and shows how much paganism has corrupted his thinking.

″Finally, check your logic. For 300 years we have held the land, and you have done nothing to recapture it. You can't start reclaiming it now!″ (vv. 26-27, paraphrased).

The significant thing is that Jephthah's answer is grounded in the truths of history. He does not argue about probability or dispute possibility, but merely stands firmly on fact. That is where a Christian should always stand. The early Christians did not set their world aflame by expressing opinions or exchanging experiences, but by insisting upon the truth of who Jesus is and what He did.

Our calling is the same. We do not go into the world merely telling people of our experience, but proclaiming Jesus Christ, telling people who He is, what He has done, and what He requires of us.