When to Break a Vow to God

Judges 10:6-18; Judges 11:1-40
INTRODUCTION: This is the fifth oppression and deliverance in the book of Judges and things keep getting worse.
 Israel served the gods of those surrounding them and forsook the true God (Judges 10:6).
 The Lord initially refused to send help, telling them to get help from the gods they served (Judges 10:13-14).
 The deliverer was not of noble birth (as Othniel), or even the least of his family (as Gideon). The deliverer was the son of a harlot who had been rejected by his own family (Judges 11:1-3).
 The victory was tainted by the offering of Jephthah’s daughter (Judges 11:31, 39).
 Jephthah judged Israel for only six years (Judges 12:7). Compare this to the forty years of Gideon (Judges 8:28).

Time is short (see 2 Kings 10:32). The application is clear. How long can we play games with God and get by with it? He is gracious, but at some point, His grace ends.