What a Woman
Monday, March 24
What a Woman
Judges 11:36-37
And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”
I’ve pleaded with the LORD to shine some little ray of light through this dense, dark fog, some thread of hope to break through the deep, sweltering darkness of this ordeal, some semblance through the frowning atmosphere that there’s a heavenly smile hovering overhead, just above it all, some silver strand of gospel light shimmering on the edges of these hard words, and my heart is even now warming as I write.
It's one thing for a battle-hardened warrior to swing a sword or an ox-goad or a sling over fierce enemies, but it’s another thing for a simple saint to sacrifice her future and dreams of marriage and perhaps even her life without complaint. In this chronicle that recounts the deeds of empowered strong men who take on hundreds of seasoned soldiers by unimaginable feats of strength, Jephthah’s teenage daughter demonstrates the far more outstanding virtue of constancy. Whether she now faces a life of celibacy in tabernacle service as some scholars suggest or a tragic death as others assert, between the linguistic nuances and grammatical vagaries where that answer lies, there stands a precious little lamb of God, innocent of any crime, asked to give up herself in performance of a vow, and she does so willingly. To my astonishment, somehow, even after hearing that the rug of her hopes and dreams have been ripped out from under her feet, instead of spitting and cursing at her father for ruining her life, she reaches down to him, places her hands on his agonized face, looks into his weeping, shame-filled eyes, and says without any hint of bitterness, “Father, I forgive you.”
Oh friend, can’t you see Christ’s light luminating her silhouette here in Judges 11:36-37?! Don’t you feel the warmth of God’s countenance smiling up at you through her forgiving words?! What a precious and exquisite treasure a godly woman is in a world of godless men.