Judges 11:12

Judges 11:12 says, And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?  Jephthah didn't immediately engage in war against the people of Ammon, but first sent a messenger to the king of Ammon, who is not identified, asking him why he was coming to fight against Israel in their land.  We should be quicker to reason with those who are against us as followers of Christ today and slower to go to war with them.  We will never reach the lost for Jesus Christ if we only want to destroy them.  Verse thirteen adds, And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.  The king of Ammon sent a reply saying he was coming to fight against Israel because they had taken away his land.  The lost people of the world today may believe that by our following Christ in our everyday life that if He blesses us with material success that we are somehow taking something from them, but this not the truth.  Whatever God blesses us with was His to start with.  Verse fourteen states, And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:  After receiving the reply from the king of Ammon, which was not the truth, Jephthah again sent messengers to him.  Jephthah may have been known as a wild man, but he was willing to continue to discuss the situation with the king of Ammon.  I believe this is because he was relying on God for guidance.  This is what we as Christians should do today as well.  Verse fifteen adds, And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:  Jephthah told the king of Ammon that the people of Israel did not take away any land from the people of Moab or Ammon.  If we are accused of taking away something that belongs to someone else as followers of Christ, we need to first make sure that isn't true, and then discuss things with them if at all possible.  Verse sixteen continues, But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;  Then, Jephthah told the king of Ammon what had really happened when the people of Israel left Egypt and came into the Promised Land.  If we are in conflict with someone today because thay feel that our relationship with God has somehow taken something from them, we can only share the truth of the gospel with them.  Verse seventeen says, Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.  Jephthah said that during the exodus that the people of Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom and the king of Moab asking for the right to pass through, and they denied them that right, so the people of Israel abode at Kadesh.  They never demanded passage, but followed God's instructions concerning these nations.  However we react to those who seem to stand between what we want and us, we need to first make sure that God is leading us in how we act in the situation.  Verse eighteen adds, Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.  Jephthah said that the people of Israel at that time went around the land of the Edom and Moab.