Judges 12:1

Judges 12:1 says, And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.  The men of Ephraim were angry that Jephthah did not call on them to go with him to fight the Ammonites.  They threatened to burn his house down with him in it, even though he had successfully defeated the Ammonites without them with God's help.  They had not sought God's guidance in this, but had simply had their egos hurt and were reacting to that.  We cannot allow our egos to guide us today, but must look to God for guidance as Christians.  We certainly shouldn't be angry because other Christians are being successful without our help.  Verse two adds, And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.  Jephthah replied that when he and his people were in grat distress he called on the people of Ephraim and they did not help them.  Verse three continues, And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?  Jephthah then said that when the people of Ephraim did not deliver him, he took matters into his own hands and by the power of God he was victorious over the Ammonites, and he then asked them why they were now coming up to fight against him.  We need to realize that when God gives a victory to other Christians, especially in a fight we choose not to participate in, that we need to celebrate with them and never need to be angry with them.  Verse four states, Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.  The men of Gilead then fought with the men of Ephraim, and were victorious.  This occurred in part because the men of Ephraim were declaring the men of Gilead to be less than they were and to be looked on with contempt.  Sometimes, Christians can allow their ego to cause them to look on other people the same way today.  Verse five adds, And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;  After defeating the Ephraimites and taking control of the passage over the Jordan, some Ephraimites were still attempting to escape that way, and the Gileadites would ask if they were Ephraimites, and they would say no naturally.  They may have come with prideful threats against the Gileadites, but now they were reduced to lying about even being from Ephraim.  If we are confronted with a life or death situation as followers of Christ, would we deny being one?  Verse six continues, Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.  The Gileadites would ask the man to pronounce a particular word, which the Ephraimites were unable to pronounce successfully.   We might say that their accent got them killed.  Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed.  Verse seven concludes, And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of he cities of Gilead.  Jephthah, though maybe not called by a devine proclamation, was the judge of Israel for six years, then he died.  God calls people by various ways to serve in their role in the church today, but in order to be successful, they must be called by Him and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.