Judges 12:1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
All of us like getting credit for doing the things that we do. We like to be appreciated. We like to get credit for accomplishing things, but there is a limit to that. There is a limit as to how far and how well that can motivate us because getting honor from other people is something that they choose to do. Deciding to help and be useful is something that we choose to do. If I only do the right thing when I get credit for it, there will be many times when I do not do the right thing.
The people of Ephraim did not seem to be happy people. On numbers of occasions we find them wishing they had more than they had or wanting to take credit for something they did not do. In Judges 12 Jephthah, a man of humble means who made a name for himself by accomplishing things in service to the people of Israel, had been given a victory by God. Instead of rejoicing in the victory that God had given Israel, the people of Ephraim chided Jephthah that he had not called them to the battle. In short, they felt as if they had been cheated out of some credit. They weren’t worried that they hadn’t been a help. They were worried that they hadn’t received credit. Their concern had nothing to do with what they had given and everything to do with what someone had given them.
Verse 1 says, “And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine house upon thee with fire.” Wow! These were happy people! Instead of defeating the enemy, they wanted to defeat the man who defeated the enemy but who just hadn’t called them.
Jephthah actually replies to them by saying, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.” Apparently Ephraim had been called, but they just hadn’t come. But, when there was a victory, they jumped on the bandwagon. People that are simply seeking to gain attention and not give help are bandwagon-jumpers. They see a bandwagon and if everyone is going that way, they want to be a part of it, but if it is not popular or something for which they will get credit, they are not interested.
These were the same men that in Judges 8 had chided Gideon for not calling them to the battle when God had given Gideon a great victory. Gideon very diplomatically said, “Who am I in comparison to you? You are great people. I am nothing. God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian…” He was very deferential to them.
Well, they had taken that for granted because that wasn’t enough. They wanted credit. In this story some years later, Jephthah would have none of it. The Bible says he gathered together all the men of Gilead, whom the Ephraimites considered inferior outcasts of a lesser race, and smote the Ephraimites. There was a civil war going on here.
Ephraim viewed Gilead as outcasts. They viewed this son of Gilead, Jephthah, as an outcast. Everything they did was about them. It was about building their name, their credibility, and their credit. It was nothing about helping other people, and they suffered for it.
If you read Psalm 78, eventually God cast out Ephraim who had looked at others as outcasts. God removed them from the place of service they had once possessed. There is a lot more to the story of Ephraim, but I do know they were a people that missed out on future opportunities because they did not take advantage of the opportunities they already had.
Today, you cannot always be in control of how much credit you receive, but you can be in control of how much help you give. By God’s grace those who seek to be a help, to give and be givers, will enjoy life much more than those who are simply seeking to find what they can get.