Does God like it when we attempt to bargain with Him?

Recently a friend of mine posed a question to me regarding the outcome of a deal they felt they had struck with God.    

We’ve probably all done it at some time in our life.  In dire circumstances, we try to negotiate with God.

 

“God if you will do this for me, then I will do this other thing for you.”  “God if you’ll get me off the I hook I promise to go to church every Sunday.”  “God if you save me from the enemy I promise I will serve you forever.”  

 

We seem to always choose something to bargain with that we perceive as having significant value to Him because it comes at some great sacrifice on our part . . . or so we think. It’s also interesting that what we offer as a bargaining chip is likely something that God already wants us to do.  

 

Do we actually have the power to negotiate with God?  Is there really anything in our possession or realm of influence that can be used as a bargaining tool?   Is God impressed by our deals?  I’m guessing that God knows our hearts completely and knows we can’t keep those kinds of promises perfectly. 

 

You might say, but didn’t Lot try to bargain with God to delay the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Lot was not trying to use something of his own to bargain with God, rather he had hopes that he could find enough good men that it would not be necessary to destroy these two cities.

 

Didn’t Jesus try to change His own fate in the garden of Gethsemane? Jesus was submissive to the will of the Father and he was not trying to negotiate anything.  In His humanness He was verbalizing the dread of what He knew lay ahead in the coming hours.  There is no doubt that he was committed to our deliverance.

 

Look here though. Try this one on for size.   Consider the fate of one mighty warrior named Jephthah.  Jephthah lived during the desolate times of the Judges of Israel. You’ll find his story in Judges chapter 11.  He was the son of a prostitute.   His father was Hebrew from the region of Gilead. Jephthah upbringing was not one of the more pleasant times of his life.  His legitimate brothers had made him an outcast.  He was banned from the region.  On his own, he gathered a band of followers and gained a reputation of being a mighty warrior.  Eventually, when those in his homeland found themselves in crisis, he was invited back to be their warrior and leader to fight the Ammonites.

 

There’s nothing in his history up to that point to indicate that he was a mighty man of God.  There is however evidence in the text that he was no stranger to the heritage and history of the nation of Israel since he was half Jewish. Until he became the military leader of the Gileadites, he does not appear to have been one who practiced the Jewish faith. 

 

In verse 29, it all changed.

 

“Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” So, Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. (Judges 11:29-32 ESV)

 

What a great example! Jephthah bargained with the Lord and He and the Israelites won!  Hurray!  The war is over! Everybody gets to go home!

 

Let’s freeze the story for a moment.  Verse 29 tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.  Most likely that was the anointing needed to win the war.  Yet he made a vow to the Lord, Why?  Just to be doubly sure that the Lord was going to be on his side?  I’m at a loss as to why he thought he needed to do that.

 

So, let’s pick up the story in verse 34 when Jephthah returns home victoriously - spirits running high and so ready to be reunited with his family.  He was probably remembering the vow he made days or weeks earlier and was now looking forward to the great time of worship they would have as he fulfilled his vow and offered a sheep or a goat or a calf as a burnt offering.   “Whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me .  .  . shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”    Jephthah was expecting a whatever not a whoever!   Oh . . .  what an absolutely horrible feeling it must have been when he saw his daughter, an only child come running out the door to meet him.

 

We could get into some great theological discussions here about the character and nature of God.  The one thing we must make abundantly clear is that no where did it say that God required a sacrifice to make Jephthah victorious in battle.  It was not God who authored “the deal”.   As you can see from Jephthah’s tragedy, he himself brought calamity to his house by leaving himself open to chance. 

 

When God is the one who offers the conditional “if” we have the opportunity benefit greatly. Because of his loving-kindness, it is the nature of God to offer favorable deals with His people to deliver them from their own curses and consequences as they repent and follow His commands.

 

Do we really want to try bargaining with God?  As I look at the story of Jephthah I am reminded that I may not be smart enough to do myself any good by doing that.  It might be better to simply ask, or beg, or plea, or petition the Most High God of the universe, who knows me by name and holds me in his very hands at every moment and loves me enough to send His own son to die for me.  Isn’t that enough of a relationship that I don’t have to bargain for his favor?