Gideon - A Critical Mistake
Judges 8:22-35
Introduction
Thomas Huxley stated in 1902, "A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes."
The battle was over. Gideon and the 300 were triumphant. The enemies of Israel were subdued and they were free to work and worship as they pleased. They could do as they liked.
1. Call for a King - v. 22 - 23
The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.”
The Israelites wanted Gideon to king. They wanted someone to rule over them. Gideon made the perfect choice. He had just delivered them in a miraculous battle ending in the defeat of the enemy. He had the Lord’s ear. They would have a king just like all the other nations around them. It was reasonable and made perfect sense but it was not a godly choice.
But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”
Gideon refused to rule over them. He would not be their king. He would be their judge. He goes further and states that his sons would not rule over them either.
Gideon pointed them in the right direction by saying, "The Lord will rule over you." Scripture tells us that the Lord allowed Saul to be king over Israel only because they rejected their God. 1 Samuel 10:17-19 says,
Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, ‘No, set a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
The truth Gideon spoke was an eternal truth. The nation of Israel was always intended to be a theocracy, rule by God. The Lord was to be their King and their Redeemer forever, but they rejected God eventually.
2. Call for Gold v. 24 - 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.) They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.”
Gideon did have one request of the people, gold. He asked for an earring from each man from their share of the plunder. The Ismaelites and Midianites wore gold earrings, necklace, and other fine jewelry. Gideon wanted a piece from each man.
The men responded with a resounding yes. It was the least they could do for the warrior Gideon. I would imagine the men thought of it as money earned. He had risked everything in his defeat of the enemy.
So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 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 camels’ necks.
The collection for Gideon was piling up. Gold earrings, chains, ornament, etc. were piling up on the garment. The total weight was seventeen hundred shekels which is approximately 50 lbs.
Gideon rejected being their king but he was going to live like one. Unfortunately the payment in gold was the beginning of Gideon’s critical mistake in life.
3. A Critical Mistake - v. 27
Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town.
Gideon took the gold that had been given to him and began to make an ephod. He made a gold ephod and took it to Ophrah and placed it there.
Exodus 32:2 indicates that Aaron began collect gold earrings to fashion the calf while Moses was on the mountain with the Lord.
Remember, the altar to Baal was there originally but it had been replaced with the altar to the LORD as it had been instructed. It is the altar Gideon had sacrificed the seven year old bull to the LORD. Gideon’s first act of obedience was in this spot. It is where Gideon’s faith walk with God began.
Gideon made an ephod. It was not an image of Jehovah God nor was it a golden calf idol like that of Aaron. 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. It was a shoulder dress much like that worn by generals and ranking officers or kings. It may have had jewels with it sewn into the gold and other material used.
It is not certain what Gideon made precisely but only that he did make it. The reason he made it not certain either but it may have been built 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 do know that it is a garment worn only by a priest. It was made from the spoils of war and it was placed in the area Gideon built an altar to the LORD. Gideon should not have made the ephod.
4. The Cycle of Sin v. 27b
All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
What was Israel worshipping? They were worshipping the golden ephod instead of the Lord. Gideon may have set the ephod close to the altar so the people began worshipping the symbol, the idol, instead of the Lord who gave the victory.
Israel’s faithfulness to the LORD was short lived. They willingly went right back into their old ways of worshipping idols. Unfortunately it was the one built by Gideon.
"The germs of Gideon’s error, which became a snare to him and to his house, lie unquestionably deeper than this, namely, in the fact that the high-priesthood had probably lost its worth in the eyes of the people on account of the worthlessness of its representatives, so that they no longer regarded the high priest as the sole or principal medium of divine revelation; and therefore Gideon, to whom the Lord had manifested himself directly, as He had not to any judge or leader of the people since the time of Joshua, might suppose that he was not acting in violation of the law, when he had an ephod made, and thus provided himself with a substratum or vehicle for inquiring the will of the Lord. His sin therefore consisted chiefly in his invading the prerogative of the Aaronic priesthood, drawing away the people from the one legitimate sanctuary, and thereby not only undermining the theocratic unity of Israel, but also giving an impetus to the relapse of the nation into the worship of Baal after his death. This sin became a snare to him and to his house." (Keil & Delitzsch)
Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace 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.
5. Conclusion of a Life v.
Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.
Gideon had fulfilled the prophecy of being the "mighty warrior". He had heard the Lord’s commands. He had his doubts and fears. He asked for signs, had believed and acted. He was a mighty warrior just as the angel of the LORD had said in the well.
Now, the war was over. He had his day and decided to build an ephod to remember the battle and the victory over the enemy. He went home to live but not lead. The people had gone back to idol worship only instead of Baal, it was the golden ephod.
He had a number of wives and concubines of his own. He even knew a concubine in Shechem who bore Abimelech. He died of a ripe old age which means it was a peaceful death, perhaps in his sleep.
The 40 years of peace were also 40 years of sin. The snare had pulled in his family along with al of Israel. They once again sinned in the eyes of the Lord and judgment would soon come.
6. Conclusion
The Lord saw Gideon for who he could become, a "mighty warrior" who could save his people. Gideon’s faith wasn’t the strongest of those in scripture but he took small faith steps as the Lord led. Each step was bigger, more challenging than the last. His faith grew along with his obedience. Ultimately committed his life to the Lord and obeyed.
The Lord does the same for us today. He sees us for who we can become if we follow Him. He leads us to make the first and most important commitment of trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In Christ we are made a new creation, ready to become what the Lord sees for us. We follow in "believer’s baptism", the first act of obedience. We next commit to a local body of believers where our faith can grow as we learn more about our Lord. Small faith steps grow into larger faith steps. We mature into what the Lord has for us.
Do we face dangers like Gideon? Yes, there are all kinds of dangers to be avoided, even idolatry. Though we do not face a pantheon of false gods like the Israelites did, we face pressures from a pantheon of false values--materialism, love of leisure, sensuality, worship of self, security, and many others. The second commandment deals with idols. 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 in our life, all that we have and all that we are, to Him every day in humility. We will become the "mighty something" that the Lord has prepared for us. Now, start the small faith steps, focus everything on the LORD, and let Him fill in the "something"
