More guidance on areas of work

This afternoon was a good four hour class on spiritual development which unfortunately tried to cover far more ground than there was time for. The first part was reading the bible, and studying the context that a passage takes place within. One possible reference is various texts that talk about the history of the time (various books cover either the old testament or new testament). Some focus even narrow on sections, such as the life of Paul, or the gospels.

However, I still can't shake the feeling that I'm missing out on quite a bit of significance as I read the chapters (especially when reading one-a-day style of read the bible in X days/months/years). For instance, we studied Acts chapter 10 a little while back, and our pastor provided some background that made the last part particularly significant:

Acts 10:19-23 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Now, normally, I would have read that last part and thought nothing of it. But in Acts 10, Peter is being ripped from his prior believe of sanctity and kosherness (as a Jew), and being told that all things are of God which has declared all of creation clean and acceptable for consumption. But besides food, the Jewish faith had definite rules about association, and in taking that last step of inviting Gentiles into his house, he was internalizing this revelation and reaching out to unclean people (which God had also made clean and acceptable, as Jesus brought salvation for all people).

Ok, this was very interesting to learn, but reading this chapter on my own, I would have missed it completely. I'm just not very good at connecting the dots (I made a very lousy detective and lawyer back in high school mock trial). If its not there up front, I'm probably going to miss it. I guess what I really need is a study guide that gives an overview for the book, some more information for the chapter, and then highlights important points for each "section" (usually 15-20 verses covering a particular part of the story or lesson). Until I find that, i'm going to be reading through not quite comprehending the true significance of what's going on. Of course things are at least better now than the last time I was reading through the bible, which was back during high school. In my immaturity then, I probably missed 90% of what was going on, though even now, my attitudes trip me up when studying chapter like Judges 11.

Judges 11:30-31 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 11:34-40 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."
"My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD . Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry." "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
From this comes the Israelite custom that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

This passage is disturbing on many levels. Primarily that Jephthah offers a human sacrifice up to the Lord, something he's not very keen on:

Deuteronomy 12:31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

And there are more references to God being plenty unhappy with his people doing evil, such as in 2 Chronicles 33:6. In fact the only other time something like this is going on is when God tests Abraham by commanding him to take his only son Isaac into the mountains and sacrifice him (Genesis 22:1-19). Of course at the last minute God told him not to go through with it, and provided him with a ram instead.

So I read about Jephthah and just scratch my head. Did he just screw up and make a bad pledge, or is there some positive lesson in this story. After discussing it with Don, his best spin on it is that it shows Jephthah's obedience to God and to his word, and more importantly his daughter obedience to him and his tragic promise. But I still don't get why the Israelites developed a custom around this to commemorate it.