Freddo » Jesus was a human sacrifice.
Yes he was. But those who sacrificed Him were some of the most wicked people on the earth. And Judas, the apostle who turned Him over to the Jews, was called the "son of perdition." The Jews also were quite unaware that they were sacrificing Him. But Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He had the free agency to bail out at any time and He was never forced in any way.
He prayed to the Father to remove the "bitter cup," but nevertheless He always had the option of doing it or not doing it. Fortunately, for us, He went through with it.
In the case of Jepthah, there are two possibilities. One, he was an apostate who didn't understand the Law of Moses and he ignorantly went through with his presumptuous oath to maintain his honor. Two, he was a righteous man who understood the Torah and that human sacrifice was a pagan and abominable practice detested by God. Under the Law, human sacrifice was specifically condemned, as was offering any unclean animal. So had an unclean animal rushed out, offering it also would have been an affront to God.
The scriptures indicate Jepthah was a decent man and a man of God. They say the Spirit of God came upon him, which would not have happened had he been wicked. Japthah also was not a Levite and could not have offered his daughter by his own authority, and I doubt he could have found one who would have. King Saul, while waiting for Samuel, became impatient and offered the sacrifices himself. Although he'd just been installed, the prophet was furious. Though he was king, Saul did not have priesthood authority. And his presumptuousness cost him his throne.
So Jepthah kept his oath as was justified by the Law. Though his hasty words cost him posterity through the lifelong service and virginity of his daughter, it was her virginity she bewailed, not her life. And her virginity affected Jepthah negatively in that it stopped his posterity, and in that culture that's significant. Of course dying would accomplish the same thing but if he had sacrificed his daughter, he would have been under a divine curse.
