Foolish vows

“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: ‘If You give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’” Judges 11:30-31
We all know the outcome of the story of Jephthah (if you don’t, just read on in Judges 11). He did indeed return home victorious from the battle, and it was his daughter, an only child, who came out of the house to meet him in celebration. He lamented this but kept his vow (Judg. 11:39). Commentators are divided as to what this means: did he sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering? Surely God would have excused him from keeping his vow if that was the case (as He did for Abraham, Gen. 22:12). Or did his initial vow mean, ‘whatever comes out of the door of my house... will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice (something else as) a burnt offering’? That is, he devoted his daughter to the Lord – hence the lamenting that she would never marry and bear him children – and made a burnt offering from his flocks.
Either way, Jephthah made his vow foolishly, and in desperation. He did not stop to think about the consequences. Jesus tells us not to swear at all, but to let our yes be yes and our no be no (Matt. 5:37). When we get in a sticky situation, it’s easy to say, “God, if you get me out of this, I’ll...”. But this is not what God wants – He just wants us to trust Him. He’ll get us out because He loves us, not because we’ve made a foolish vow.