The Subject of Smiles and the Christian Lady

What is a smile?  It is very common these days to see celebrities who smile on demand, looking this way and that, wherever the camera is.  But for most of them, it seems to be part of the job, and they smile with their mouth but not with their eyes.  It is also common to watch television news and see the journalists with this same smile, with their mouth but not with their eyes.  I often wonder if this constant smiling is part of the job description.

There are many types of smiles, a pet dog’s goofy, toothy grin (any dog owner will attest to the fact that their dog does indeed smile.)  There is a child’s innocent, joyful smile; or the sad smile of a person who might be depressed, or who has learned of a betrayal or a family tragedy, where the mouth is smiling, but the eyes tell a different story.  There is the brave smile that one sees when a person who has been through a natural disaster is interviewed, in this case the eyes have a resigned or shocked appearance while the mouth smiles, depending on how long ago the disaster happened.  There is the deceptive smile of a flatterer.  I know a flatterer and to see this smile is to see a deceitful, subtle and somewhat evil expression in the eyes.  Notice that in most of these examples, there is a difference between the eyes and the mouth when smiling.

I would like to post about a subject that is rather difficult to put into words, but it has been on my heart for years, that being the subject of the smile and the Christian lady who believes it is necessary for her to smile all the time.  I say lady because I have never seen Christian men be part of this seeming need.

Bible Women: Jephthah's Daughter

This bible story of Jephthah's daughter is a tragic story, but it has a valuable lesson concerning the foolishness of vows.

Jephthah's Daughter

Judges Chapter 11:1-40

It is important to remember, in the events that follow, that in the time of the judges, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25)  This book is filled with the consequences of people who did not look to the LORD in all their decisions.  Thankfully, now we have these words to live by: Proverbs 3:5-6  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and  he shall direct thy paths."

In Judges Chapter 11, we have the tragic story of Jephthah and his beloved daughter, whose name we are not told.

Judges 11 opens with the first mention of Jephthah.  V1 "Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah". So we know that Jephthah was born with a strike against him, he was not the son of his father's  wife, and indeed in V2-3 we learn that in the passage of time, "Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.  Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob..."  But then V4-6 "And it came to pass in the process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel and it was so that.....the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob. And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain that we may fight with the children of Ammon." And remembering that these are the same ones who drove him out and now come to ask his help with the enemy, Jephthah asks for glory for himself, even knowing that a victory would come from the LORD. V9 "If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?"   So Jephthah is given a place of honor and respect, V10-11 "And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, the LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.  Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh"

And so V15-23 Jephthah sends word to the king of the Ammonites, relating the events leading up to the possession of the land by Israel: Israel coming out of the land of Egypt, walking through the wilderness and the crossing of the Red Sea, all the peoples the LORD had delivered into Israel's hand, and saying V23 "So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossess the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? 

But in Verse 24 Jephthah makes a rather strange remark "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?  So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess."   Jephthah seems to be saying that they believe that their god is powerful enough to give them what they now possess. It seems as if he is contrasting him with  the LORD, a very foolish thing to do.  He would have done well to remember the words of Deuteronomy 6:16 “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God…..”