"Gifts You Can't Buy at the Store: Time" Luke 1: 39-45; 56

From the beginning of Advent until Epiphany Sunday (January 6), I will be preaching on "Gifts You Can't Buy at the Store." The first week focuses on the gift of time.

1.  I've been reflecting on three different wyas we cna utlize time:

   a. For personal helath/growth -- a study fo 2K students who text noted that they have very little time for reflecting because they are texting immediate repsonses

   b.  To develop relationships -- i.e fmaily time or developing friendships; I can think of no person who when they are talking to me as their death approaches wish they had spent more time at work.  usually, they talk about wishing they had spent more time with their family, aprticularly when their kids were young; th same study of student texters mentioned above also found that students texted because they coudl pass on information in as little time as possible -- texting creates the sharing fo information, but maybe not the development of relationships

   c.  to imagine new possibilities -- I heard a great story told by Rick Pohlhamus of Christian Peacemaking Teams. He tells the story of Israeli soldiers tear gassing a Palestinian school as punishment for the kids throwing rocks at the soldiers. Kids are hanging out the windows begging for help and sucking in fresh air. Israeli soldier in charge has the principal at gunpoint near a narrow exit blocking them from leaving. Rick sees the danger of what happens if the gun goes off on purpose or accidentally. He feared it would set off all the soldiers surrounding the school and many kids would be killed. Rick moves in between the gun barrel and the principal. As he is trying to figure out what to do next, his cell phone rings. He answers (it's a friend calling), and then he says to the soldier, 'it's your mother.” “no, it's not.” 'yes, it is.” “no, it's not.” “if it were your mother, what would you tell her you were doing?” “It's not my mother.” “I know, but if it were, what would you tell her you were doing right now?” Solider abruptly turns and calls the soldiers off and they leave. Polhamus describes how he tries to give space in the violence for something else to happen. Later, he learns that the solider leaves the army and joins a group of former soldiers working for peace. Polhamus also learns later that the soldier's mother was an elementary school teacher. Polhamus likes this to Jesus drawing in the sand when the crowd gathers to stone the adulterous woman. A distraction that gives space for grace to work.  It has me thinking about taking the time to break away from our routines to envision new possibilities

2.  “Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.” Will Rogers

3. Mary is forced to step away from her normal routines when she becomes pregnant.  She takes advantage of that by going to visit her cousin Elizabeth.   Notice Mary stayed with her cousin for three months.  She prepared for the coming of the Christ-child, her child, by taking a time out.

4.  One of our members reminded me of the verse James 1: 17 -- "Every good and perfect gift is from God."  

5. The Israelites were in the wilderness forty years.  What did they do with their time?

6.  How do we utilize our time on earth?

Reflections on "Here Comes the Judge" Judges 21: 1-5; 15-25; John 18: 33-37

This sermon tied together the end of the sermon series on Judges and Christ the King Sunday.  I had this sermon planned for a long time (at least the general idea), but it never quite gelled.  Ironically, both the Judges text and the John text had terrific places to jump off for a sermon:  another oath that gets the Israelites in trouble; saving Benjamin by violating other people; Judges ending with everyone doing their own thing; Jesus saying "for this I was born and for this I came into the world;" Pilate asking, "What is truth?"  If I had chosen one of those to focus on, it probably would have been a better sermon.  Instead, I attempted to incorporate them into the general idea with which I started.

I also had a fun sermon illustration that I had chosen early in the brainstorming process.  It turns out that it didn't really fit, which took the fun out of the illustration and created an awkward moment in the sermon.  Should have cut it, instead of clinging to it.   I actually tried a different segue into it at the Sanctuary service, but it still did not work.  

For me, it was a disappointing finish to a preaching series I have really enjoyed. 

“Here Comes the Judge” November , 2012; FPC, Troy, Judges 21: 1-5; 15-25; John 18: 33-37; conclusion to the Judges series

Introduction: Which Judge did you like the most

Othniel – the one you never heard of before and maybe won't again! He was actually

Samson

Deborah

Ehud

Jephthah

Gideon

Great stories; not so great judges.

Move 1: the run of judges ends in failure.

a. the judges cannot get out of their own way.

1. their egos undermine them.
2. Or their unfaithfulness undoes their successes.
3. Their sinfulness overwhelms them.

4. Unfaithfulness would rear its ugly head.
5. The individual judges may have been helpful in the short-term, but they always fall back into their sinful ways.

6. Every story seems to lead to the fateful words: “then the Israelites did was was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

b. Even as we point fingers at the Israelites and their judges, we recognize our shared humanity.

1. WE know that cycle – crying out to God for help.
2. Having God rescue us in the moment, or send us in a new direction.
3. A period of getting it right and drawing closer to God.
4. Then we forget, or we begin to think we can handle it on our own, or we get tired of working to be faithful, and we turn away from God.
   c. The last chapter of Judges provides one more example of how the Israelites just do not get it.
   1. It is kind of complicated story.
   2. Bottom line – the other eleven tribes of Israel get mad at the tribe of Benjamin, so they make a vow (they apparently did not learn from Jephthah's story the dangers of making a vow) that they will not provide any wives for the tribe of Benjamin.
   3. But, then they begin to worry about how Benjamin can continue to stay alive if there are no wives.
   4. they cannot break the vow, so they come up with a plan. At one of the festivals when the women of Shiloh come down to their area, Benjamin can kidnap women to be their wives.
   5. The tribe of Benjamin can be saved, but to make that happen, other people have to be violated.
   6. one more example of how salvation coming from the hands of sinful humans does not look much like salvation.

d. After this story, the book of Judges fittingly concludes: "In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit."
1. A picture of chaos – everyone doing whatever they want.
2. And the argument for a king.
3. The futility of the Judges leads to the stage being set for Israel to have a king.
4. Earthly kings arrive, and they do not solve the sinfulness of the Israelites.
5. Much like the judges, some kings are better than other; no king gets it absolutely right.

Earthly Judges are not the right answer; earthly kings are not the right answer.

Who can save Israel?

Move 2: No one, but Christ, the Son of God.

a. Christ comes and redefines what it means to be a judge.

1. The Israelites judges get in trouble because of their egos; Jesus pours himself out for others.
2. The Israelites judges could get it right for the moment, but would return to their sinful ways; Christ lives a sinless life.
3. The Israelite judges evoke power and might and conquer the enemy through battle and killing; Christ does not lift the sword as he submits to earthly powers and dies on the cross.
4. The Israelite judges save Israel for the moment, but do not have lasting power; Jesus saves the world for eternity.

b. Christ comes to define God's saving grace.

1. After a long two-week criminal trial in a high profile bank robbery case, the jury finally ended its 14 hours of deliberations and entered the courtroom to deliver its verdict to the judge. The judge turns to the jury foreman and asks, "Has the jury reached a verdict in this case?"

"Yes, your honor," the foreman responded.

"Would you please pass it to me,"

The judge declared, as he motioned for the bailiff to retrieve the verdict slip from the foreman and deliver it to him. After the judge reads the verdict himself, he delivers the verdict
slip back to his bailiff to be returned to the foreman and instructs the foreman, "Please read your verdict to the court."

"We find the defendant NOT GUILTY of all four counts of bank robbery," stated the foreman.

The family and friends of the defendant jump for joy at the sound of the "not guilty" verdict and hug each other as they shout expressions of divine gratitude. The defendant's attorney turns to his client and asks, "So, what do you think about that?"

The defendant looks around the courtroom slowly with a bewildered look on his face and then turns to his defense attorney and says, "I'm real confused here. Does this mean that I have to return the money?"

2. God's saving grace is hard to imagine because we know that we are guilty, that we are sinners.
3. But Christ comes to save us anyway.
   Move 3: God sent Christ on purpose.

a. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,”

1.  Christ utters these words as he stands before Pilate knowing he was about to be condemned on false charges.

2.  And Christ wants Pilate and the world to know that God has done this on purpose.

b. When we read the stories of the judges, we get the sense that the judges stumble into their role of saving Israel for the moment.

    1. The judges reluctantly go out and save Israel.

   2. Christ’s coming was not an accident.

3. It was the intentional act of the God whose love for us knows no bounds.

4. Christ came to save us at any cost.

Conclusion: Pilate asks Jesus, “What is the truth?”

We know and proclaim this truth:  the run of the judges will end; the reign of the kings will end.

But Christ the king, the judge who comes to save us and redeem the world, will reign in power forever.

"Here Comes the Judge" John 18: 33-37; Judges 21: 1-5; 15-25

We finish the Judges series on  Christ the King Sunday, which allows me to segue from the human, fallible judges of the Israelite people to Christ, who lives out his humanity perfectly, but judges us with grace.

Judges finishes with one more debacle as the Israelites make a dreadful pledge (shades of Jephthah's story). which leads to the slaughter and a silly story of getting wives for the tribe of Benjamin.  Judges concludes wiht "In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit." Thus, the futility of the Judges leads to the stage being set for Israel to have a king.

Earthly kings arrive, and they do not solve the sinfulness of the Israelites.  Much like the judges, some kings are better than other; no king gets it absolutely right.  But then Christ comes.  The king who does not look like a king.  The perfect one who dies for our imperfection.  the judge who has the authority (both given by God and earned by his life  to judge harshly, and instead he offers mercy.

Is that a redefining of what it means to be a judge?  Or is it the defining of God's mercy?  Maybe both?

Not sure if it will make the sermon, but I am reminded of a poem comparing Christ and Alexander the Great, both of whom died at age 33:

Jesus and Alexander died at 33; 
One lived and died for self; the other for you and me. 

The Greek died upon a throne, the Jew died upon a cross, 

One’s life triumph seemed, the other's but a loss. 

One walked with mighty men and the other walked alone. 

One shed the whole world's blood, the other gave his own. 

Jesus and Alexander died at 33. 

The Greek died at Babylon, the Jew at Calvary. 

One made himself go, but the one who was God made himself loss. 

One lived but to blast, the other but to bless. 

When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords, 

But Jesus died and was raised by God, to live forever, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Guest preacher

I will not be preaching this week as we welcome Rev. Jeff Cheadle to our pulpit.  Rev. Cheadle was ordained in this congregation in 1977, and return this Sunday to help us celebrate our Bicentennial.

Reflections on "Not Quite Christ" Judges 16: 18-31

Admittedly, preaching on the judges has been difficult at times, but it has also been a lot of fun for me.  Such great narrative stories.  It has also made me appreciate those who taught me Sunday school because most of the stories I remember from being taught in my childhood.  As I spoke with the young disciples during their time in the service, it became apparent that they did not know the story of Samson.  They were perhaps too young to have been in a setting where it had been taught, but it reminded me of the importance of our kids being in Church School and of parents reading the Bible to their children.  

In fact, one of the reasons I spent time in sermons going over the biblical story is because I assume that most of us who gather for the sermon do not know the stories well.  That seems to be a growing reality among those of us who are in church, but it also is a challenge for all of us to find more ways to be engaged by the biblical text.  We profess to be guided by God's Word, which suggests that we need to know God's Word!

As the sermon indicates, I have also been thinking about how differently we read these stories when we grow up.  Samson, the childhood hero, becomes Samson, the greatly flawed judge.

I think the point about what it means that the line of judges has ended has powerful implications.  The consequences may have been a bit exaggerated to make the point in the sermon, but it was a huge shift in how the Israelites understood themselves and how God was at work.  I think that speaks to us in our context as we contemplate how God is at work.

I was also reminded how hard it is to do justice to the biblical stories in one sermon.  With three chapters in Judges dedicated to the Samson's story, and at least one different event (and perhaps woman) for each chapter, one sermon was not nearly enough.

“Not Quite Christ” November 11, 2012; FPC, Troy, Judges 16; Judges series

Introduction: Almost done, but before finishing Judges, we have to visit the story of arguably the most famous judge – Samson.

How many remember.

Move 1: What do you remember about Samson?

a. think about when you first heard this story as a child.

1. Mighty man – he is on the road and gets attacked by a lion and kills the lion with his bare hands.
2. Powerful man – he can swing the jaw bone of a donkey and slaughter the enemy.
3. Told riddles. You probably did not understand them, but it was pretty cool that he had riddles.
4. Fascination with long hair.
5. Image of Samson, blinded, pulling down the pillars and bringing down the enemy with him.
6. As a boy, I doubt you thought much about the women in the story. Girls had cuddies and were kind of yucky anyway, so maybe I thought about staying away from them, but that would have been expected.
7. Young girl – maybe you thought boys were big and strong and got angry and be bullies, so Samson might fit. But, he still came across as a larger than life hero.
8. Maybe your Sunday School teacher made an allusion to Christ, as in Samson gave his life to save God's people and Christ did that too.
9. Bottom line – Samson was something of a super hero.
10. Not quite Christ, but maybe in the ballpark.

b. Read about Samson as you get a bit older – maybe high school or college.

1. you're at a point in life where you've dated a few different people. You read about Samson's first wife nagging him until he tells you the answer to the riddle or Delilah cajoling Samson until he tells her the secret of his power, and you think, yeah, sometimes being a relationship makes you do some things you might not ordinarily do.
2. You might read the story of Samson's birth and see connections between his birth narrative and others like Samuel, or John the baptist, or Jesus.
3. But you might also notice that Samson seems almost egotistical or dumb, and he like to fight.

Not quite Christ – but he did take down the Philistines, the spirit of the Lord was on him.

Move 2: What do you think of Samson now as we read his story in the context of the series on Judges

a. If we go back to the beginning of the Samson story, we discover that Israel has done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

1. No surprise.
2. This has been happening throughout judges.
3. In fact, we might be willing to admit that it continues to happen in our lives and our world today.
   b. When I was in seminary, one of my favorite professors taught OT.
   1. One week he told us he was going to be preaching in the Presbyterian church he attended.
   2. I decided to go hear him preach.
   3. His sermon title was “The Biggest Fool.”
   4. He began the sermon by announcing that since it was April Fool's Day, he was going to peach on the biggest fool in the Bible.
   5. I figured he would probably pick on OT figure since that was his area of expertise, but I was a little surprised to discover that he picked Samson.
   6. The hero from my childhood disappeared a bit that day.

b. When we analyze Samson from the perspective that he is as flawed as the other judges, or perhaps even more flawed since I have argued that each judge gets successively worse, he does not seem like much of a hero.

100. He comes across as rather dumb.
     1. Not once, but twice he cannot keep his mouth shut when women in his life pester him to reveal his secrets.
     2. His dealings with his father-in-law and with his enemies lacks cunning and guile.
     3. He seems to be all brawn and no brain.

500. Samson clearly had some anger management issues.
     1. anger fuels his actions.
     2. He wants to get back at others, repay them for what they have done for him.
     3. He is a magnet for violence.
     4. he may defeat the enemy, but you know that there is always one more enemy waiting.
     5. There is no sense that lasting peace can ever be achieved by this violent judge.

500. Driven by ego.
     1. He may be filled by the Spirit of the Lord, but he responds out of his own desires, rather than seeking to be an instrument of God.
     2. even as Samson prepares for his last act of taking down the Philistines and sacrificing himself, he does not make it about saving God's people people, but avenging himself.

Move 3: We also put Samson's story in the context of all the judges.

a. Samson is the end of the line.

1. When Samson dies with the Philistines, it also symbolizes the end of
   2. There will be no more judges after him.

b. End of an understanding of how God worked in the world.

1. The rising up of judges within tribes or regions spoke to how Israelites understood how God was at work.
   2. In fact, part what distinguished the Israelites from the other nations was that Israel did not have kings.

3. Israel did not have one person in whom all the power was vested; nor only one person through whom God would work.
4. The Israelites did not need a king, because God could and would find judges, particular people at particular times to lead God's people.
c. But that is about to end.
1. Judges were going by the wayside, in part because they ended up like Samson, ego driven people who seemed to care more about their interests than serving God.
2. And with them went the understanding that God worked through a variety of people.
3. Soon the king would be seen as God's person.
   d. Leave us the question – how do we understand God at work in our world.
   1. Do we look for that other person, that king so to speak, to connect us to God.
   2. Or do we look around and see people whom God chooses to call into leadership with their particular gifts at particular times.
   3. I often ask you to think about those persons who have impacted your lives of faith. Generally, we think about those people who have nurtured us. But think about those people who have challenged you.
   4. Or remember that time when there was a critical issue in the life of the church and the exact person with the needed skills stepped forward into leadership.
   5. Or when someone felt called to a new initiative and made it happen.
   3. Look around the pews. Maybe it is someone sitting next to you.
   4. Or look in the mirror. Maybe it was you.
   5. The stories of the judges reminds us that God works through particular people at particular times.
   6. Maybe even through you or me?

c. God will not be thwarted.

1. Amazing that God works through someone like Samson.

1. A love-struck guy who falls for a girl and will tell her anything, not just once, but twice, who has anger management issues and lets his ego guide him.
   
   2. that not only can God can work through Jephthah, or Gideon, or Deborah, or Jael, or Othniel, or lots of other flawed people , but God will do so.
   3. And God will not stop until all the world has been redeemed.
   4. notice that even Samson gets one more change. His hair grows back. Regardless of what we think of how he handled his chance, God gave him another opportunity.
   5. Ultimately, Samson serves as a powerful reminder of how God will be at work despite our many flaws.
   Conclusion: Samson – not quite Christ; not even close.
   But the God who sent Christ worked through Samson and desires to work through each of us.

"Not Quite Christ" Judges 16: 18-22, 23-31

Tidbits from Samson's story:

1. Perhaps we tells Samson's story and see it as a fun story because it touches on issues we think of as humorous.

   a.  A love-struck guy who falls for a girl and will tell her anything (he does this twice)
   b.  Having his strength tied to his long hair seems rather silly.
   c. His acts of prowess make him seem like a big, overgrown boy.

2.  My Old Testament professor preached a April Fool's Day sermon about who he thought was the biggest fool in the Bible -- Samson.

3. Samson does not seem driven by desire to serve God, but by his own wants and desires.

4. Samson seems to have no self-control.

5.  The final image of Samson bringing down the pillars to kill the Philistines and himself is sometimes treated as a Christ-like story of self-sacrifice.  John Milton penned Samson Agonistes (1671) in which he portrayed Samson as the hero (in the Greek tragedy sense) who willingly and nobly sacrificed his life for the sake of the divine mission.  Also, Samson's birth story reads a bit like Christ's birth story.

6. Samson, like Jephthah, is listed in Hebrews as one of the heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11:32).

7.  When Samson dies with the Philistines (at his request), it also symbolizes the end of the line for the judges.  Samson is the last judge.

What do you remember and like about the Samson story?
 

Reflections on "Undoing the Victory" Judges 11: 29-40; Hebrews 10: 1-18

I was very direct in this sermon, in part because we had communion and a baptism, so I felt a little bit of time pressure.  I went straight to preaching against that text, or at least lifting up the text as a counter example for us.  I think that is fair to the text, but I am still troubled that in Hebrews Jephthah is considered a hero of the faith.  I can't figure out why he gets that distinction.

At one point, I thought about expanding the sermon to include a conversation about Jephthah's daughter and her willingness to be sacrificed.  I could have criticized Jephthah like I did, but then noted his daughter's faithfulness in allowing herself to be sacrificed (but also noted that her death was still not what God desired).

“Undoing the Victory” November 4, 2012; FPC, Troy, Judges 11: 29-40; Hebrews 10: 1-18; Judges series

Introduction: Another victorious judge.

The Spirit of the Lord has descended on Jephthah. He has defeated the Ammonites. One day, he author of the Letter to the Hebrews will declare Jephthah to be a hero of the faith.

And all I can say for Jephthah is that he is a shining example of what judge ought not to be. That his story is there for the reader to see as the counter-example.

Move 1: Jephthah does not understand that God desires salvation not death.

a. before Jephthah goes into battle he makes a vow to God that he will sacrifice the first person (actually in the Hebrew it could be first thing) who comes out of his door he will sacrifice to God.

1. Maybe he's thinking about his dog rushing out to meet him, but given that he has a wife and one child, a daughter, that seems like a pretty risky vow.

2. We are not told why he made the vow.

2. There seems to have been no request from God for the vow.
3. It reads like Jephthah is negotiating with God like he negotiated with the other kings.

c. I find it ironic that he opens negotiations with God just after the Spirit of the Lord had come to him.

1. Did he not trust God?
2. It's as if Jephthah thinks, “the Spirit of the Lord is with me,” but I”m going to hedge my bets.

2. Maybe Jephthah has an ego and he's trying to gain some of the credit for himself?

3. Perhaps Jephthah has a win at all costs attitude and if he has to sacrifice someone or something to ensure victory, than that is just the cost of doing business.
   
   
   d. He defeats the Ammonites.
   1.But in fact his daughter races out from the house to celebrate upon his return.
   2. She must be sacrificed to fulfill the vow.
   3. And so she is.
   A great victory undone by Jephthah's vow.
   
   
   Move 2: Bottom line – Jephthah Jephthah believes that God is like all the other gods.

a. If you were an Ammonite, sacrificing a child in burnt offering to the your god Molech would have been common practice.

1. So Jephthah's actions indicate he does not see the difference.
2. Somehow he thinks Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God one who rescued Israel from bondage in Egypt and led Israel through the wilderness and to the Promised Land, that this God is like any other of the foreign gods.
3. A god needing to be appeased by sacrifices, even human sacrifices.
   b. Jephthah does not know the character of God who desires salvation not sacrifice.
   1. In fact, even in the Old Testament world in which Jephthah lived there were ways to avoid an inappropriate sacrifice.
   2. Leviticus 27: 1-8 describes the process for redeeming a sacrifice. In other words, there was a price Jephthah could have paid to keep his daughter from being a sacrifice.
   3. He either did not know or did not care.
   b. But we know.
   1. We know the God who saves.
   2. We know the God that the author of Hebrews writes about – the God who sent Christ to be the sacrifice for us
   3. The God who turned the practice of sacrifice upside down by giving Christ to die for us.
   4. The God who does not demand sacrifices, but extends and desires love.
   
   
   Conclusion: the composer Handel's may be best known for his work the Messiah, but he also composed an oratorio entitled Jephtha. In that oratorio, an angel intercedes before Jephthah sacrifices his daughter. The angels sings "no vow can disannul the law of God, nor such was its intent." (The New Interpreter's Bible Vol. 2, 834).
   We know the God of whom Handel speaks.
   WE come to our Lord's Table knowing what Jephthah did not – the saving grace of God

"Undoing the Victory" Judges 11: 12-40; Hebrews 10: 1-18:

1. Jephthah saves Israel by defeating the Ammonites.  One problem -- before he goes into battle he makes a vow to God that he will sacrifice the first person he sees when he returns home from battle.  That becomes a problem because the first person he sees is his virgin daughter.

2.  We are not told why he made the vow.  There seems to have been no request from God for the vow.  It appears that Jephthah is negotiating with God like he negotiated with the other kings.  I find it ironic that he opens negotiations with God just after the Spirit of the Lord had come to him.  Did he not trust God?  Was the trying to gain some of the credit for himself? Does Jephthah adopt a win at all costs and consider the sacrifice of his daughter just part of the cost of his success?

3.  To further complicate the story, his daughter agrees to be sacrificed, but first she wants two months to spend with her friends.  He grants her the two month reprieve, and then she is sacrificed.

4.  I have paired this passage with a portion of the 10th Chapter of Hebrews in which the sacrifice of Jesus is lifted up as the final sacrifice for humanity and for our sins.  Ironically, Hebrews lifts Jephthah up as one of the heroes of the faith.  Not sure I would agree with that determination.

5.  Note that Jephthah's daughter celebrates his victory as she receives her death sentence.  She is innocent; Jephthah is ignorant.  In fact, Leviticus 27: 1-8 describes the process for redeeming a sacrifice.  In other words, there was a price Jephthah could have paid to keep his daughter from being a sacrifice.

6. One of my favorite quotes I've never used:  "The trouble with living sacrifices," observed a leader in the

Salvation Army, "Is that they always want to crawl off the altar."  Not sure if it fits since Jephthah's daughter willingly goes to be sacrificed, but maybe it works its way in somewhere.

7. I find myself hearing the words of Isaiah, "Have you not seen? Have you not heard?"  and wanting to shake Jephthah and ask him, "Have you not seen? have you not heard?" about the God who would never ask you to sacrifice you daughter.  

8.  Maybe being a father of three daughters makes Jephthah seem particularly bad.

9. Interestingly, in Handels oratorio entitled Jephtha, and angel intercedes (like what happens in Genesis just before Abraham is to sacrifice his son Isaac) before Jephthah sacrifices his daughter. The angels sings "no vow can disannul the law of God, nor such was its intent" and the sacrifice becomes his daughter remaining a virgin.  

10.  In biblical literature, the offering up of children as burnt offerings to the gods was views as an abhorrent practice of the pagan worshippers.  This practice was most associated with the Molech, the god of the Ammonites, the very people against whom Jephthah was fighting. (The New Interpreter's BibleVol. 2, 834).