St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-05-20
"A VOW OF JEPHTHAH
i Is Cited as a Warning Against
Parental Heedlessness.
DR.. Talmage Lodges . Protest
AEainst the Sacri1ce Of the
Young on the Altar Of
Worldly Ambition.

Copyright. 1891 Washington.
In his sermon to-day DR.. Talmage
lodges a protest against the parental
heedlessness and worldly ambition
which are threatening the sacrifice Of
many American children; text, Judges
1896: MY father, if thou has opened
.hy mouth unto the Lord, do to me ac-
cording to that which hath proceeded
out of thy mouth
Jephthah was freebooter. Early
to have been cared for. he consorted
with rough men and went forth to earn
his living as best he could. In those
times il was considered right for man
10 go out on Independent military ex.
petitions. Jephthah was a good man
according to the light of his dark age
but through a wandering and preda.
tory life he became reckless and precipi-
tate. The grace of God changes a mans
heart, but never reycrscs his natural
temperament. The Israelites wanted
the Ammonites driven out of their
Jephthah. asking him to become com
mander-in-chief of all the forces. He
might have said, You drove me out
when you had no use for me, and now
you are in trouble you want me back, >
but he did not say that. He takes COM
mand of the army, sends messengers ia
the .Ammonites to tell them to vacate
the country. and, getting no favorable
response, marshals his troops for battle.
Before going out to war Jephthah
makes very solemn VOW that if the
Lord will give him the victory then,
on his return home, whatsoever first
comes out of his doorway he will offer
in sacrifice as burnt Offering. The
battle opens. 1t was no skirmishing
on the edges of dangers, no unlimber-
ing of batteries two miles away, but
the hurting of men on the point of
swords and spears until the ground
could no more drink the blood and the
horses reared to leap over the pile Of
bodies of the slain. In those old times
opposing forces would fight until their
swords were broken and then each one
would throttle his man until they both
fell, teeth to teeth, grip to grip. death
stare to death stare, until the plain was
one tumbled mass of corpses from
which the last trace of manhood had
been dashed out.
Jephthah wins the day. Twenty
cities lay captured at his feet. Sound
the victory all through the mountains
Of Gilcad. Let the trumpeters call up
the survivors. ~IIomeward to your wives
and children. Homeward with your
glittering treasures. Homeward to have
the applause of an admiring nation.
Build triumphal arches. Swing out
flags all over NTizpah. Open all your
doors to receive the captured treasures.
Through every hall spread the banquet.
Pile up the viands. Fill high the tank
ards. The nation is redeemed, the in
vaders are routed and the national hon
or is vindicated.
Huzza for Jephthah, the conqreror!
Jephthah, seated en- a prancing steed.
advances amid the acclaining multi
tudes, but his eye is not on the excited
populace. Remembering that he had
made a solemn VOW that, returning
from victorious battle, whatsoever first
came out of the doorway of his home
that should be sacrificed as a burnt
Offering. he has his anxious look upon
the door. wonder what spotless lamb,
what brace of doves, will be thrown
upon the fires of the burnt offering!
Oh, horrors. Paleness of death
blanches his check. Despair seizes his
heart. His daughter, his only child,
rushesou the doorway to throw herself
in her fathers arms and shower upon
him more kisses than there were
wounds on his breast or dents on his
shield. All the triumpkal splendor van
ishes. Holding back this child from his
hcaving breast and pushing the locks
back from the fair brow and looking
into the eyes of incytinguishable af-
lection, with chokcd utterance he says:
would to God lay stark OH the bloody
plain. My daughter, my only child.
joy of my home, life of my life, thou are
the sacrifce!"
The whole matter was explained to
her. This was no whining hollow
hearted girl into whose eyes the father
looked. All the glory of sword and
shield vanished in the presence of the
>alor of that girl. There may have been
a tremor of the lip. as rose leaf trem-
bles in the sough of the south wind:
there may have been the starting of a
tear like raindrop shaken from the
antl,cr Of water lily. But with self
sacrifice that man may not reach and
only woman's heart can compass she
herself to lire and to death.
She cries out in the words of my text,
MY father, If thou hast opened thy
mouth unto the Lord, 60 unto me what
soever hath proceeded from thy
mouth"
She bows to the knife. and the blood.
which so often at the fathers voice had
rushed to the crimson cheek. smokes in
the fires of the burnt offering. No one
can tell us her name. There is no need
that we know her name. The garlands
that Mizpah twisted for Jephthah the
warrior have gone into the dust. but
all ages are twisting this girls chapiet.
II is well that her name came not to
us, for no one can wear it. They may
take the name Of Deborah or Abigail or
Miriam, but no one in all the ages shall
have the title of this daughter OF sacri-
fee. 49,
OF course this offering was not pleas
ing to the Lord, especially as pro-
vision was made in the law for such
and Jephthah might have
redeemed his daughter by the payment
OF 50 sheckles of silver. But before you
hurl your denunciations at Jephthah's
cruelty remember that in olden times.
when vows were made, men thought
they must execute them. perform them.
they were wicked or good.
There were twu wrong things about
Jephthah's vow. First, he ought never
to have made It. Next, having made i,
it were better broken than kept. But
20 not take on pretentious airs and say:
Il could not have done as Jephthah
did" If in. former days you had been
on the hanks of the Ganges
and you had been born in India. You
MIGHT have thrown v0ur children to