He did everything right. His motives were pure his heart was in the right place, and just one little detail led him to be totally wrong in the end.
When we consider what God has done through Gideon it’s astounding. He has gone from a fearful farmer to a courageous, unrelenting mighty warrior.
He has eradicated the idolatrous worship of Baal and Asherah throughout his family. Through faith, and obedience to the Lord, Gideon has extinguished the Midianite army and executed its evil leaders.
Imagine what his countrymen think of him now! In contemporary speech, they might say, “Gideon, you’re the Man!”
He did everything right. His motives were pure his heart was in the right place, and just one little detail led him to be totally wrong in the end.
Vs 22-23 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”
The Israelites saw Gideon as their savior; Gideon saw the Lord as Savior, and to his credit, humbly points them to God.
Gideon here made a perfect choice. The nation of Israel was always intended to be a theocracy, ruled by God. God was to be their King and their Redeemer forever, but we know in 1 Samuel they eventually rejected God.
Vs24-26 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) 25 They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camel’s necks.
Gideon did have one request of the people. He asked for an earring from each man from their share of the plunder. The men responded with a resounding yes. It was the least they could do for the warrior Gideon. DEJA-VU
Review Exodus 32:2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
The collection for Gideon was piling up. The total weight was seventeen hundred shekels which is approximately 43 lbs. Unfortunately, the payment in gold was the beginning of a critical mistake in Gideon’s life.
VS27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in his hometown. And it became a snare to all of Israel, Gideon, and his family. They prostituted themselves to it.
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…
An ephod is an outer garment generally worn by the high priest when making an inquiry of the Lord. It rests upon the shoulders of the priest. (Ex. 28)
I ask myself did Gideon intentionally make an idol? I don’t believe Gideon intended to create an idol; Remember it was Gideon who tore down the Canaanite idols to Baal and Asherah in his hometown: 6:28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! But, there’s no denying the golden ephod he created becomes a stumbling block.
He may have made it as a reminder of the Lord’s defeat of the Midianite army. Gideon may have wanted to remind the people that he was the one who led them in the defeat of the enemy. We don’t know.
We do know It was made from the spoils of war and it was placed in the area Gideon built an altar to the LORD. Gideon should have never made the ephod.
The ironic twist to Gideon’s story is that the deliverer himself creates a stumbling block that ensnares his family and all of Israel. He was the source of their deliverance. He also inadvertently becomes the source of their deception.
Israel’s faithfulness to the LORD was short-lived. They willingly went right back into their old ways of worshiping idols. Unfortunately, it was the one built by Gideon.
Vs 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace for forty years.
Gideon’s triumph over the Midianites was complete. Their army was so decimated that they could no longer bother Israel. There would be 40 years of peace for Israel. But the peace they had was only with the other nations, not with God.
Conclusion of Gideon’s life. Vs 29-35, Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34 and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.
Do we face dangers like Gideon? Yes, there are all kinds of dangers to be avoided, including idolatry. Things like–materialism, love of leisure, sensuality, worship of self, and many others. This may be something that most of us can’t relate to–unless we include life goals that revolve around something other than God Himself.
What is the object of our affections, our efforts, and our attention? Where does the majority of our time go? On what do we spend the greatest amount of our resources?
Ultimately we must learn to trust the Lord at His word. We give our life, all of our life, all that we have and all that we are, to Him every day in humility.
Humor me….Let’s just try to imagine how the story might have turned out if Gideon had been totally obedient to God …
What if, instead of making a golden ephod and hanging it in Ophrah, Gideon had said, “Let’s take all of this bounty to Shiloh, to the tabernacle of the Lord, and present it to the Lord as an offering.
What if Gideon had said, “Let us go to the holy place of the Lord and make sacrifices to the Lord and worship Him there.”
What if Gideon had said, “Let us renew our vows to the Lord to worship and serve Him alone all the days of our lives.”
What if Gideon had done that? What would we be reading in the book of Judges now? A great story with an awesome ending..Instead it’s a great story with a very sad ending!
Do you know the story of our lives that is being written now? What would they be like to read thousands of years from now?
God wants us to learn something here: 1 peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Gideon’s legacy ends with sadness. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could end Gideon’s saga on the upswing, and if I could, would it be accurate?
Did Gideon ever repent of his sins? He must have since he has an honorable mention in Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets…
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