Double Honour for your Shame

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Shame and honour are two words that are totally opposite in meaning; honour is the opposite of a loss of respect or esteem resulting from a shameful act and we see these two words clearly portrayed in the life of Jephthah, by reason of the circumstance of his birth and the events that took place later in his life.
Jephthah was a mighty warrior but his brothers drove him out of their father’s house and cut him off from their father’s inheritance because he was an illegitimate child- the son of a harlot. Though they grew up together, they never accepted him as one of them- his offence and stigma came from being the son of a harlot. After he was thrown out of his father’s house, we were told he fled from his brothers not because of cowardice; remember he was a mighty warrior (which is an honourable feat), but he was also a wise man who knew how to choose his battles. In that instance, running away was the most viable option.
When he left Gilead to settle in the land of Tob, we were told, worthless men banded, in essence, joined themselves to him. He must have felt worthless (without esteem or honour) and acted like one in order for worthless men to have banded up with him. Remember the laws of attraction- like attract like. His self-worth, though he was a mighty warrior, came from the stigma of being the son of a harlot, who was rejected by his blood brothers, and the elders of his clan who did nothing to stop his eviction.
This so called worthless person was the same person the elders turned to for help, when they were confronted with war by the people of Ammon. They sort him out and asked him to be their commander. In the end, he became the head not just over his brother or father’s family, but over the whole inhabitant of Gilead.
Talk about shame turning to double honour, this I must say is a classic example and God is still in the business of giving us double honour for every areas of our lives, where we have known shame. When Jephthah left his father’s house that faithful day, never in his wildest imagination, would he have conceived the idea of becoming the head of his people nor God using him to subdue and silent the enemies of his people. But God did both for him, he became the head and the deliverer- double honour.
Jephthah lived in a far distant age and he is long gone, but his name lives on in the annals of the men of faith listed in the book of Hebrews. The same God who did it for Jephthah is still very much in control of the times and season, and he will do same for you.

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