But Jephthah seemed to have possessed a much sweeter disposition than his brethren. His faith seems to have been anchored to God, and, as is usually the case, when all else forsook him then the Lord took him up, and, trusting in Jehovah, he lived to have a glorious revenge upon his unkind people by bringing them a blessing instead of the curse that they had given him. We have a little touch of his character in the name he gave his new home. He called it the land of Tob. Tob means “good,” and this is but a little straw to tell how the wind blew in Jephthah’s life. And so the day came when Jephthah’s brothers were glad to send for him to be their deliverer, and Jephthah had the high honor of returning good for evil, and saving the people that once despised him. He consented to become their leader on the condition, which was solemnly ratified before the Lord in Mizpah, that in the event of his success against the Ammonitish king he should still remain as their acknowledged head. This is the way that God loves to vindicate us, to make us a blessing to those that hated us and wronged us. His promise is, “I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” When Jephthah responded to their appeal, and came for their help, we see in his very words and acts the spirit of godliness and a lofty faith. We are told explicitly that all his words to his own people were “before the Lord.” He spoke as in Jehovah’s presence. He also went against his adversaries in the name of Jehovah God. The battle was not his, but the Lord’s, and such faith never can be confounded. It was not long before Jephthah returned in triumph from the slaughter of his enemies. His country was delivered, his claims vindicated, and his enemies were destroyed. But now we come to the great trial in Jephthah’s life, which shows not only the loftiest faith, but the sublimest faithfulness. In the hour of peril he had vowed a vow unto Jehovah, pledging that when he returned in victory the first object that he met should be dedicated to the Lord, an offering to Him. As he came back amid the acclamations of universal triumph, the first who met him when he approached his home was his beautiful daughter, and as he realized all that his vow had meant, he was overwhelmed for a moment with the deepest emotion. But not for an instant did he hesitate in his firm and high purpose, nor once did that dear child shrink back from the sacrifice imposed upon her, but stood nobly with her father, demanding that he should fulfill his vow to the utmost.