Judges 12:1-7 — “There fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand…” 42,000 dead Israelites. Why? What happened to cause this terrible loss of life? This is the final chapter in Jephthah’s story and it’s awful. A small grievance turned into violence and violence into civil war.
As we work through this story, we learn some things about the conflict that occurs in our domestic situations and how it can be avoided. None of us want civil war to break out in our home, in our friendships, or in our church.