Adah, Jephthah's Daughter
THE LESSON OF THE DAUGHTER
Let me state in the beginning that the name of Adah does not appear in the Bible, that she is always referred to as Jephthah's daughter, and that "Adah" was the name given her by the founder of our Order, Dr. Robert Morris.
The story of Adah is based upon the tragedy of a race that forgot God. It was in the 12th Century, B.C., that Israel had strayed away from God, had practiced idolatry and in every way showed their contempt for His laws; and for their sins God had delivered them into the hands of their enemies, the Ammonites and the Philistines, who laid waste to their country.
In the midst of this calamity Jephthah, a born organizer and leader, who had been made an outcast in his own country in a family feud, gathered a formidable army of men of a similar social standing (beggars, thieves and outlaws) and by a rigid training brought them under the strictest discipline, and thus became an expert tin the tactics of warfare.
After suffering severe calamities, Israel put away their idols and strange gods, and humbled themselves before the God of heaven and besought Him with prayers and sacrifices to deliver them from the hand of the enemy. And the Lord, whose ear is ever open to the cry of His children, heard them and sent them a deliverer. They had an army, untrained and without a leader, and it was at this crisis that the elders of Israel, some of them even were Jephthah's brothers, went to Jephthah and implored him to be their leader. This was a bitter pill for these brothers to approach an outcast member of their family, but in a case of absolute necessity family feuds must be forgotten and even principles must be reevaluated.
Jephthah himself was greatly surprised, and it required considerable persuasion to secure his assistance, because his prejudices had been deeply grounded, and "the stone which the builders had rejected was become the headstone of the corner," even against the old Jewish law which would have forbidden him to rule the nation because of his lowly birth. And so a solemn compact was entered into whereby if Jephthah should be victorious over their enemies, he was to become the recognized leader of the nation.
Now Jephthah realized that of his own power and strength he could not accomplish the task that lay before him, and so he besought the Lord to help him with prayers and sacrifices. And then a mighty thing happened; the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he no longer attempted to make peace with his enemies by sending messengers back and forth, but he marshaled his forces and passed in triumphant tread to face them in open battle.
And then came this memorable vow. We are impressed with his statement to the Ammonites when he said: "Jehovah, the Judge, be judge this day between children of Israel and the children of Ammon." It was at the altar in Mizpah, it would seem, that he went and made a solemn vow to the Lord and said: "If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whosoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
Now why was this vow made? Did his faith falter at the last moment -- did it seem incredible that God should use him in his deliverance of the Israelites from their enemy? Or was it a mere expression of a grateful heart for blessings received?
The battled followed. The enemy was pursued into the very heart of their country. Twenty cities were conquered, and the whole country completely subdued. But at what price! Jephthah was soon to realize the truth of what the victory would cost him. That vow!
We can well picture him as he returns in triumph to Mizpah. No doubt in a brazen chariot, accompanied by armor-clad warriors, and the streets filled with a joyous and jubilant people.
But how soon a joyous victory was to be returned into grief and distress. True at heart in adversity, he was also true in prosperity, and the vow he had made when he besought the strong arm of the Lord was lost to him when he beheld his beloved daughter, the very core of his heart, his idolized child, rush out to greet him in his triumphant entry, and the vow he had uttered flashed across his mind. Jephthah presents a noble example of fidelity to his word, for he never for one moment entertained the thought of trying to avoid the fulfillment of his vow. We are deeply impressed by the overwhelming grief of Jephthah and the noble self-sacrifice of his daughter Adah, and her courageous resignation to her fate. Jephthah's daughter arose at once to the grandeur of her situation and bade her father keep his promise. She made one humble request: "Let me alone for two months, and I may depart and go down to the mountains, I and my companions," Can you not picture this small group of young women as they spent these days together? What did they talk about? What thoughts rushed through their minds?
At the end of the allotted time they came slowly down the side of the mountain through the narrow passes and gorges to the altar which had been erected. In the dim vista of the past we can almost see that little group of the fairest of the Kingdom as they approached the place where Adah was to give her life as a sacrifice for her father's vow unto the Lord. This she did gladly for the freedom of her country, which she faithfully believed, was in answer to that vow, made in a time of deepest distress and doubt.
According to the Levitical law some sacrifices could be redeemed by the payment of money, but not one made like Jephthah's. Not by the sacrifice of animals; in fact, there seemed to be no exchange. Not even as in the case of Abraham, where God provided a lamb to take the place of Isaac in the sacrifice. Jephthah's case was different; no sacrifice had been required or requested, he had offered it freely of his own accord. Yet when his daughter came to meet him in all the innocent beauty and purity of her young womanhood, what wonder that he exclaimed in anguish, "Alas, my daughter!" But even in all the horror and anguish that smote him he did not hesitate to say: "I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I can not go back." That daughter must have been divinely prepared for her father's statement: at least she seems not to have evinced any surprise. The records do not show it. A worthy daughter of a worthy father. Without even a sigh she flashed back: "My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth."
The daughter was prepared fully. She approached the altar fearlessly. She knew her father, and she freely gave her life into his hands.
Those two months that she had spent in communion with Jehovah prepared her for the great surrender of her life and she met it in the clear light of the day, with her eyes unclouded by the veil of darkness, as was the custom.
Whether right or wrong, Jephthah kept his word, notwithstanding the great sacrifice he was called upon to pay in the loss of his only child -- his beloved daughter.
For hundreds of years the maidens of Israel went yearly to the mountains of Gilead for four days to commemorate the historic sacrifice of the daughter of Jephthah.
But for sweet Adah, weep not, let the word be:
"Joy to the captive, freed from earthly dust,
Joy for one witness more to woman's trust,
And lasting honor, Mizpah be the strain
To her who died in the light without a stain."
Adah Ruth Esther Martha Electa