Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 75
11:10-26
J u dges
63
“The Lord is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him
their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the
Lord, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have
you come out to fight against my land?”
The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Isra
elites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the
Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land
peaceably.”
Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:
“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab
or Ammon. When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their
journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea, they sent messengers
to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land.
But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for
similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So
the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.
“Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness.
They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other
side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River
into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
“Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who
ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land
to get to their destination. But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass
through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked
them. But the Lord, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over
King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who
lived in that region, from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and
from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.
“So you see, it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who took away
the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should
we give it back to you? You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives
you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us. Are
you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try
to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war
against them?
“Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and
its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements,