Jdg 11:27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

                                                                                                                                                                       

We have here an account of Jephthah's negotiations with the king of the Ammonites. The subject of quarrel was a claim of right advanced by the Ammonite monarch to some lands which the Israelites were occupying.

The king of the Ammonites took the lands from Israel. He claimed that they, the Ammonites, were the rightful owners of those lands. He said that when Israel came up out of Egypt, they had taken away their lands from the Arnon to the Jabbok (on the north), and to the Jordan (on the west), and demanded that they should now restore those lands in peace.

Jephthah's reply was clear, decisive, and unanswerable. First, he said those lands were not in the possession of the Ammonites when his countrymen got them; they had acquired them by right of conquest from the Amorites (verse 21). Second, the Israelites had occupied those lands ever since then, for over three hundred years (verse 22). Third, it was their God Jehovah that disposed the Amorites and gave them that piece of land (verse 23). And fourth, they were entitled to maintain their right on the same principle that guided the Ammonites in receiving from their god Chemosh the territories they now occupied [verse 24].

The judgement is clear: “So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess” (verse 24). The words mean: “You take what your idol gave you. We are taking back what our God has given to us.”

His argument was clear, and his demand reasonable. Unfortunately, the king of Ammon did not agree with his reasoning. And more unfortunate is that there are many like him living today.

Many have the idea that faith and reason are in conflict. To them, faith is a leap in the dark. It means believing in the unknown and unknowable. They said: “Faith takes over where reason leaves off.” But the Christian faith is reasonable.

The Bible itself tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The phrase “hoped for” does not imply a mere wishful thinking as in “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” Rather, the Greek word (ελπιζω, elpizo) indicates a confident expectation. Hence, the Biblical faith is the kind of confidence we have when we have a good reason to believe something. It is the act of believing in something unseen for which we do have a good reason.

For example, we did not see the creation of the universe. But logic demands that everything made must have a maker. It also demands that intelligence and morals must come from another intelligent and moral Being. The Law of Biogenesis states that life must come from life and so that leaves the big bang theory out regarding the origin of life. The only reasonable theory is that a super intelligent and moral Being created the universe and life on this earth: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).

We do not see God but we see evidences of His existence. It is more reasonable to believe in God than in evolution. Peter mentions about “a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). The Christian hope is reasonable and can be defended: “be ready always to give an answer” (1 Peter 3:15).

The choice lies with every human being – to be reasonable or unreasonable. What is your choice? 

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

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