Introduction: Gideon's Development
Gideon comes across as a very fearful youth. Remember, when he's selected for service, he says, oh, my Lord, chapter 6, verse 15, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. When he's given the task to go and break down the altar of Baal in his hometown of Ophrah in his father's house, we see that he does it.
He obeys the Lord. But he does it under the cover of darkness. Notice in chapter 6 at verse 27. And then Gideon, even though the spirit of the Lord had come upon him in a powerful way, the end of chapter 6 records Gideon seeking not the will of the Lord, but affirmation or confirmation of God's word to Gideon.
Remember, we noted that when he set out the fleas, he was not trying to discover the will of the Lord. The will of the Lord was crystal clear to Gideon. This is what you're supposed to go do. You're supposed to go destroy the Midianites.
So he's not trying to find the will of the Lord. Rather, his faith is weak, and he cries out to the Lord to confirm it and affirm it with those particular signs. So he's a fearful youth in Judges chapter 6. Judges chapter 7, he emerges as a heroic warrior.
Now certainly, he still has some struggles. Remember in chapter 7, beginning in verse 9, God gives him an encouragement by way of a particular dream that was had by a Midianite soldier. And so this fortified Gideon, this caused him to see that in fact this was his calling of the Lord, and then he goes and he engages in that heroic triumph of bringing to bear God's victory upon the Midianites. So fearful youth, to heroic warrior and now he sort of serves as a military judge.
He brings heat and judgment to bear upon his own countrymen who are not assisting in the battle against Midian. And then he serves as something as a blood avenger. He's chasing these two particular kings because they have guilt over killing people in Israel. So Gideon certainly is developing and changing as we move through this particular section of narrative, all the way to the very end where we see that he doesn't necessarily end well.
The making of this ephod, the fact that all Israel had played the harlot with it. This does not bode well. This is not a good thing. Nevertheless, Gideon served the Lord.
He's mentioned in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. And we do have cause to reflect again that the best of men are nevertheless men at best. So
Pursuit of the Midianites
let's look at this particular chapter beginning in verses 1 to 21, the pursuit of the Midianites. Now Gideon's chief nemesis in chapter 6 was Baal because he was told to go in and to destroy the altar of Baal. In chapter 7 his chief enemy was... Midian.
Here he's certainly pursuing Midianite kings. There's still a group of 15,000 soldiers. But in a real sense, his enemy in chapter 8 is Israel itself. He's got a problem with the Ephraimites.
He's got a problem with the city of Sukkot. And he's got a problem with the city of Penuel. These are cities or towns within the people or within the nation of Israel and they give him resistance along the way. So conflict all over and here specifically in the nation of Israel.
Gideon and the Ephraimites
Notice, remember that the Ephraimites were not included in the battle against Midian. Look back at chapter 6 in verse 35. He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali and they came up to meet him.
No mention there whatsoever of Ephraim, the tribe of Ephraim. Look at chapter 7 and verse 23. And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and Almanassah and pursued the Midianites. Again, no reference to Ephraim until verse 24.
Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim saying, come down against the Midianites and seize from them the watering places as far as Bethphara and the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Bethphara and the Jordan. And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb. They killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb, and Zeb they killed at the winepress of Zeb.
They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan." Now notice, with Ephraim in chapter 8, verses 1 to 3, they complain. They whined, they grumbled. Verse 1, the men of Ephraim said to him, why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they reprimanded him sharply.
They were put out. Perhaps it was an affront to their pride. They didn't want to be left out of the consideration of this battle against the Midianites. Notice specifically that they reprimanded him sharply.
They are upset about this. Again, this shows internal division among the nation of Israel. This is what we see continuously in this book of Judges. We see it all ultimately develop through the history of Israel.
Cogency, coherence, fighting together as a unified group, does not seem to be the thing that characterizes Israel. And then notice how Gideon deals with that. If we saw him as a fearful youth and a heroic warrior, now we also see him as a diplomat. Look at how diplomatically he deals with this situation, confronting him via the Ephraimites.
He truly understands Proverbs 15. A soft answer turns away wrath. He doesn't bark at them. He doesn't yell at them.
He doesn't reprove them for their pride. he actually minimizes his role in comparison to theirs. Verse 2, he said to them, what have I done now in comparison with you? In other words, what you've done in getting the heads of Orb and Z far outweigh anything that I've done. And then he cites a proverb to show, or sort of, it almost sounds like a bit of a flattery, or at least an encouragement of this particular tribe.
He goes on in verse 2 to say, is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? And then he highlights again their role in this particular situation. God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb, and Zeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?
He speaks as a diplomat. He speaks with wisdom. He speaks with prudence. And he speaks with care.
And then we find that their anger toward him subsided when he said that. And as we move through the particular narrative, you'll say, why does he deal so harshly with Sukkoth and Penuel? Why does Ephraim get off with encouragement and just a word of how great they were in relation to him? Weren't they whining?
Weren't they grumbling? Theirs was an evidence, or theirs was a demonstration of pride, but their hearts were in the mission. They did cut off the heads of Oreb and Zee. They did support Gideon.
When Gideon told them to go seize those waterways, they actually went into business and they did it. What we find in Sukkoth and Pehuel is actually treason. Some say that he was very harsh in his treatment of these particular men. that he went from fearful youth to heroic warrior to bloodthirsty savage or to Canaanite type man. So I thought through this though, he is a military officer, he is leading an army to combat the Midianites and in a combat situation when people within that particular country do not support the mission, that's treason.
That is a crime. That is not righteous whatsoever. So while Ephraim may have whined and had their noses bent because of their pride being hurt, Sukkoth and Penuel were not assisting the troops that were giving pursuit of the Midianites so that they could destroy that enemy. So there is a big difference going on between these two parties.
Sukkoth and Penuel Refuse Aid
Note verse 4 when he comes to Sukkoth. I love the way verse 4 reads, when Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the 300 men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. I think I heard a preacher one time preach that particular clause, exhausted but still in pursuit. Now, we could say, isn't that the Christian life?
Isn't it? I don't want to psychologize it. I don't want to get all weird and odd. I don't want to rip it out of its text.
But isn't that a FITNAP description of what we are? We're exhausted, but we're still in pursuit. We're in the battle. We're in the war.
It rages on, but we persevere by the grace of God. We don't give up. We don't give in. This is a great paradigm or a great example for us.
While we may be exhausted, we nevertheless are still to be in pursuit. My friend Richard Barcelos, when asked sometimes, says, I'm tired in the work, but I'm not tired of the work. There are instances and seasons where men of God, where every single one of us get tired in the particulars of what we're engaged in, but we're not tired of the work, so we continue in the pursuit. This is a great example in these 300 men.
Again, just a sideline no. We don't want to make too much out of that. That's the point of the author here, is to try to paint for us how we ought to persevere in the Christian life. But they come to the Jordan.
He and the 300 men who are with him, they cross over. They're exhausted, but still in pursuit. He says to the men of Sukkoth, please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted. And I am pursuing Ziba and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
And essentially, the kings or leaders of Sukkoth, rather, said no. Where are the palms of these particular men? Do you have their palms? In other words, have you dismembered them, and can you prove that they are, in fact, immobilized?
Probably what is driving these men is not the fear or not the pride of the Ephraimites, but rather it is the fear of being done in by these particular kings. Because you see, if Gideon and his 300 men fail, what does that mean? It means that Ziba and Zalmuna and the 15,000 remaining troops of the peoples of the East are going to converge on Sukkot and start cutting off heads and ripping out intestines. And so the leaders of Sukkot say, are the hands or are the palms of Ziba and Zalmuna now in your hand that we should give bread to your army?
So what does Gideon do? Gideon says that they will be paid back. For this cause, verse 7, when the Lord has delivered Ziba and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. The idea is probably he will thrash them.
He will beat them. He will hurt them, not actually take or pull their skin off with the briars of the land. It's probably a physical chastisement that's in view. So that's the response in Sukkoth.
Notice it's the same thing in Penuel. Then he went up from there to Penuel, verse 8, and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered. So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, when I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower.
So you see, within Israel itself, they should have been giving him assistance. Remember, In chapter 7, it says, or at the end of chapter 6, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. When he makes that appeal to the various tribes, they follow him. They follow him into the battle.
In this particular instance, however, his own townspeople, or the people in the towns, rather, in Israel, are afraid to give him assistance. I just want to read a quote from Ralph Davis. He says, one can partly understand their refusal. If the leaders of Sukkoth or Penuel give aid to Gideon's army, and if Gideon, for whatever reason, should fail to eradicate the Midianite menace, they would invite reprisals on themselves as soon as the Midianites were able to recoup.
And unlike the Western tribes, now Sukkoth and Penuel are on the east side of the Jordan. Remember, they've crossed the Jordan now. Now there's a natural boundary that no longer exists. He says, and unlike the Western tribes, Sukkoth and Penuel have no Jordan Valley to provide at least a partial buffer from swift attack.
These towns were directly exposed to Midianite attack. Prudence, so they held, dictated their opposition to Gideon. He says, or was it faithlessness? I think this is perceptive here.
Sometimes we might think something's prudent, but it could be the case that it's faithlessness. And he highlights, it can be difficult to distinguish the two. Must our safety always be the ultimate consideration? Could Sukkoth and Penuel not see that God had granted a signal victory and that they could assist in completing it?
The story is ironic. The towns avoid Midian's wrath, but suffer under Gideon's wrath. Since they sided with Israel's enemies, they were treated as Israel's enemies. So you see, it didn't do them any good to rebuff, to resist, and to reject Gideon.
So Gideon had threatened upon them that when he captured these kings, and he spoke with certainty and confidence, when I capture them, when we move back through your particular towns, there will be a price to pay for this particular situation. So then he does this very thing.
Victory Over the Midianite Army
Notice, verse 10, Ziba and Zalmuna were at Karkur and their armies were with them. About 15,000 all were left of all the army of the people of the east. For 120,000 men who drew the sword had fallen. What does that number indicate to us?
That the total amount of Midianite troops was 135,000. How many troops did Israel bring to that particular battle? 300. What do we learn from this? Not that those 300 troops are excellent, but that God is powerful, that God is glorious.
They did it without any weapons, remember? They had no weapons whatsoever. They went in, they broke their particular cisterns, they got their torches out, and they said, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Some suggest that Gideon attaching his name there. probably wasn't the most prudent thing for him to do.
It was the sword of the Lord that brought delivery. But 135,000 troops ultimately fall to an army of 300 men who do not have military weaponry, who do not have advanced strategy. They don't have tanks. They don't have fighter jets.
They don't have AR-15s. They have nothing save the sovereignty and the power of God Almighty. Remember what the Lord is demonstrating in this particular section. is that his strength is made perfect through our weakness. Yes, Roger?
And they're hungry, too. And they're hungry, absolutely. They can't even get bread in Sukkot. They're tired, they're hungry, but they are still in pursuit.
So God the Lord does not need all of the things that we think that we need. In other words, when God tells us to do a specific thing, We are to do it in the manner and with the means that he has ordained. When he says preaching and prayer and the basic functions within the life and context of the church is how he will advance his kingdom, then we need to understand that and we need to be compliant with that. We need not to reinvent the wheel or to try to make things better or to try and improve upon God's particular methodology.
Our task is to be faithful to the Lord, as we saw on the Lord's Day with reference to the conduct of the man of God. We need to faithfully serve him, we need to pursue as he says, and we need to understand that the battles that we wage and the warfare that we're engaged in is ultimately God's. And he will get the victory. We have the sure promise of our Lord in Matthew 16 that he will build his church.
The gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it. Again, we don't need to improve upon it. We don't need to be innovators. We don't need to be creative.
We need to be faithful and obedient. And that's what we learn from these 300 men. Giving pursuit, hungry with their bellies, exhausted, but nevertheless God is for them and delivers the enemy into their hands. So notice, they pursue.
Verse 11, then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Noba and Jogbea, and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure. Again, the idea is that they were in a state of sleep, a state of security, safety. They thought nothing of an enemy invader. When Ziba and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Ziba and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.
So this is precisely what he had purposed to do. Now notice
Gideon Punishes the Traitors
he goes back through Sukkoth and Penuel, and he does precisely what he promised to do. Verse 13, And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the ascent of Harris, he got a young man of the men of Sukkoth, and interrogated him. He wrote down for him the leaders of Sukkoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. Then he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, Here are Ziba and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, Are the hands of Ziba and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?
What do you think the elders of Sukkoth thought when they saw these men. They probably thought, uh-oh, they probably thought it would have been more preferable to fall into the hands of Ziba and Zalmuna than Gideon, the servant and warrior of the God of Israel, because all that the Midianites would have done would be to destroy. What God is going to do is even worse through his servant Gideon. So verse 16, he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he taught the men of Sukkot.
What's the ESV render that? He taught the men. OK, taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson. Yeah, the idea is probably that he beat them, is what the text probably means there.
It was a physical chastisement. And then notice, then he tore down the city of Penuel, verse 17. And then this is hardcore, and he killed the men of the city. That's just, yeah, that's pretty amazing.
Again, the category I place it into is that these peoples were engaged in treason. I think any nation, any country at war has a law put into place that an act of treason most certainly invites the death penalty. And that's probably what is going on in this particular instance.
Death of the Midianite Kings
And then that brings us to the death of these Midianite kings. Note the amplification of Midian's wickedness. Remember their particular strategy, according to chapter 6, verses 1 to 10. It indicates what the Midianites and the Amalekites and the peoples of the East did.
They'd sweep through Israel at harvest time or at planting time, and they would desecrate the crops. They decimated the food supply of Israel. For seven long years, the Israelites were going hungry. For seven long years, the Israelites had to hide in caves.
They had to find a place to escape from these Midianites. But notice what verse 18 tells us. It wasn't just crop destruction that the Midianites were engaged in. They were engaged in killing as well.
And he said to Ziba and Zalmuna, what kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? So the Midianites weren't there just to hinder crop production. They were there to destroy Israelites. This is something we need to put into perspective because sometimes we can read these Old Testament narratives and we see things that surprise us.
We see Gideon, we see men of God, we see armies of the Lord going in and utterly decimating a people group. What we often fail to see is that this is an act of justice and an act of righteousness for the fact that these people oppressed them severely. Seven years is what the Midianites had in terms of oppression over these people. And so what we find here is that they were wretched, they were bad, and as a result, God the Lord brought to bear upon them these 300 men to destroy them.
Notice in verse 18, so they answered, as you are, so were they. Each one resembled the son of a king. Then he said, they were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.
Now notice, he tells his son Jether. He says to his firstborn, rise, kill them. But the youth would not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. So there might be something here.
This is Gideon before. This is the way Gideon looked. few chapters back. He was a Jether that was afraid and didn't want to take the sword to a Ziba and a Zalmunna. And in stark contrast, now we have a Gideon who's going to take his sword and he's going to end Ziba and Zalmunna.
It's almost as if Ziba and Zalmuna want to have a bit of a philosophical debate, or not a debate, but they want to wax philosophically in verse 21. So Ziba and Zalmuna said, rise yourself and kill us, for as a man is, so is his strength. They want to make this all poetic. The author wants nothing to do with that.
So Gideon arose and killed them. That's it. It's almost like that scene in the Indiana Jones when the guy's swinging his sword and Indy just takes out his gun and shoots him. It's done.
It's over. We're not doing poetry. We're not getting involved in philosophy. What happens is Gideon arose and killed Ziba and Zalmunna and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camel's necks.
So the Midianites have been decimated. The Midianites' backs have been broken. Verse 28 tells us that Midian was subdued before the children of Israel so that they lifted their heads no more and the country was quiet for 40 years in the days of Gideon.
Gideon's Final Days: Ephod and Death
And that brings us to consider his final days, his ephod and his death. Some interesting stuff in this particular section. Notice in verse 22,
Israel's Request for a King
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. They are asking him to be a king. They don't use the word king, but rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also. That's a dynastic kingly rule.
The people are asking, they are requesting, they are seeking out a king. As well, the people are doing precisely what God said they would do in chapter 7 at verse 2. 7-2, the Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against me, saying, my own hand has saved me. Now certainly, God the Lord uses the human instrumentality of Gideon. But who brought victory?
It was God, right? 300 against 135,000. There is no military commander that savvy, that strategically aware. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, the great military commanders in the history of the world could not possibly carry out a 300 versus 135,000.
There is no mention of God whatsoever in verse 22. Rule over us both you and your son and your grandson also for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. And what's most disconcerting is that Gideon does not correct that. He doesn't say, no, I didn't do this, but it was God.
It wasn't me, it was Yahweh of Israel. So notice, something interesting is going on here in verses 23 to 27. I'm not sure I fully understand the whole picture, but this much I suspect. They want him to rule over them as a king.
He formally refuses this particular request. Notice verse 23, but Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you. But from 24 to 27, he assumes royal status.
From 24 to 27, he conducts himself as a king. So perhaps he formally refuses. He wants them to phrase it in the form that God does rule over, but he'll rule through the monarch, Joshua. So he nevertheless, at least it appears, that he informally accepts this particular request.
Because this series of events that follows indicate something that is more akin to royalty than to a judge in Israel or to the common citizenry. Notice, he does not correct their mistake in ascribing salvation to him. He formally refuses their request to make him a king. He says, the Lord shall rule over you.
All of that sounds really good. But I suggest that he informally accepts the offer. What's the first thing that he does? Verse 24, I would like to make a request of you that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder, for they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites.
The submission of vassals paying tribute to their particular king. Now, also, he amasses quite a royal treasuring. This is about 43 pounds of gold. The ephod did not weigh 43 pounds of gold.
The ephod probably didn't weigh that much at all. So what he's done is he has these people pay a form of tribute. I know the language isn't there, but certainly the concept is there. They pay tribute as vassal.
He takes the gold. He has this royal treasury. Notice dropping down in verse 29. Gideon had 70 sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.
This is the practice of royalty. This is the practice of kings. While forbidden in Deuteronomy 17, nevertheless, the kings of Israel engaged in this particular practice. And then it's interesting at what he names his son, Abimelech.
Do you know what Abimelech means? It means my father is a king. No, it could be Abimelech, meaning my father God is a king, or it could be Abimelech, my father Gideon is a king. So it really seems to at least appear that while the formal rejection is made, informally everything true of royalty is being carried out by Gideon in this particular situation.
Kind of an interesting situation in my estimation.
The Ephod and Its Dangers
Notice the ephod. The ephod, verse 27, then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
What's an ephod? Yeah, it was sort of a thing that the priest wore on his chest. It was made from gold, this particular one. And yes, when the priest had the ephod on, there was a breastplate.
And in that breastplate, there was the urim and the thumi. That was the thing that the priest used in certain instances to try and discern the will of the Lord. Now, this verse, verse 27, doesn't tell us a lot, does it? It doesn't tell us why an ephod, it doesn't tell us the function of the ephod, it doesn't tell us the thrust, the point, the purpose, or whatever.
It simply says that Gideon made it into an ephod, he set it up in his city Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. So, How did it function? Two, at least that I saw, two thoughts or views on this particular ephod.
Davis says it was with the intention of seeking to discern the will of the Lord. The priest would have had an ephod. But here Gideon, as a royal figure, would have an ephod as well with the attempt of being a channel by which God would communicate his will to the people of Israel. Davis suggests that Gideon wanted to become a channel of Yahweh's direct guidance in addition to the priest and ephod Yahweh had already provided.
Whatever else can be said, the center of the matter seems to be that Gideon hankered after more than what God had given for declaring his will. And Israel loved it with a godless passion. And then he pursues that line of thought and makes a Christian application. How many of us are hankering after something additional to God's revelation of His will?
We have an ephod for this, we have a holy horseshoe for that, we've got a three-leaf clover for that. We need to be content with the Word. We need to be content with prayer. We need to be content with the means that God has given us.
The latest craze, the latest phase, the latest path, whatever it may be, if it promises to us the will of the Lord, we ought to be very suspicious. We ought to reject anything that disagrees with Scripture, and we ought to settle our hearts solely and alone upon the Word of God. So that's one particular view. Daniel Bloch says it was simply an idol. the ephod would have been something that you would put on the sacred image.
So the existence of the ephod assumes or presupposes the sacred image. Now, Daniel Bloch has some textual evidence to suggest that this was, in fact, the case. Ophrah was no stranger to Baal worship. Remember it was sort of localized in that particular clan in chapter 6.
It was in Joash's house. And the people of Ophrah would come and worship. But they were idolaters. They were bowing to Baal in the land.
That's why God said to destroy this particular altar. So, if this is the case, and Gideon makes this particular ephod, and it goes over this particular sacred image, we can understand why all Israel played the harlot with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house. Now, either way we go, we know this. It was bad.
Okay, that's the Jim Butler version. It was bad. because the children of Israel went a-whoring after it. That's what the text says. All Israel played the harlot with it there.
It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. It was not a good thing. In other words, when we look at the history of various kings and various persons in the Bible, we see that they don't always end well, right? You've been doing a study in the kings of Judah, specifically.
Are there certain men that for the most part were good, but perhaps didn't have the best end. Can you name a couple of those? Joash. Joash.
Who else? Asa. Asa. Very good.
Who else? Put him on the spot. But you've seen that pattern. You've read your Bibles.
You've seen. You'll see it. We see it in the book of Judges here. We see it with this particular man.
Not every man who starts off well or who does well necessarily ends well. And as I've said over and over again, I think one of the points of the book of Judges and the entire history of Israel is to point us forward to that one who doesn't fail, to that one who doesn't end poorly but ends perfectly. It points us forward to the Redeemer King, the Lord Jesus Christ, the champion who would save his people from their sins and he would do it Through his perfect life of obedience to the law, he would never make an ephod. He would never cause Israel to play the harlot.
He would never trouble his home in this sort of a way or in this sort of a matter. Davis, again, says this shadow of inconsistency and of disappointment frequently hangs over God's servants. It does. I mean, when you see David, king of Israel, and he goes into Bathsheba, and then he orders the murder of Uriah, doesn't your heart break a little bit for that?
Or when you're reading about Solomon, the man who reigned in peace, the man who extended Israel's borders, and then you see him marrying all these women, and they turn his heart to other gods. Don't you want to just grab him by the collar and say, don't do that, Solomon. When you see an Esau, when you see various persons or men in the scriptures, you want to reach down there and you want to say, wait a minute, stop. And then you look in the mirror, you look at your own life, or you look at your own reflection, you say, but that's the way I live, and that's the way I function.
Again, the Bible is teaching us through and through that there's only one hero. There's only one worthy of worship. There's only one worthy of emulation and imitation and adoration, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is being taught in this book or this period of Judges.
They're being taught during the monarchy. They're being taught in the exile. They're being taught in the post-exilic period to look for the Lord Jesus Christ. We read these books so that we can be taught just how important and essential faith in the Lord Christ is.
He goes on to say, Gideon was hardly a rare exception. He says, this is not to excuse the sins or errors of the leaders of God's people, but let it temper our expectations. Let it cushion our despair. and let it lift our gaze to the leader of God's elect, who does not disappoint, in whom is no sin, and against whom no charges can be brought. We will never find perfection of office except in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Realizing this can save us from cynicism that may come from disappointing servants of Christ. Amen a thousand times Every single human being that you will ever meet is going to let you down Every single person that you ever meet will always prove to be a sinner Every single human being that you bump shoulders with is going to be proved to be less than perfect. I know it's shocking. I'm sure you're surprised.
You're probably shattered. But this is true, and it's accurate. The best of men are men at best, and the Book of Judges displays that to us in all of its vivid detail.
Midian Subdued; Forty Years of Peace
Notice verse 28, thus Midian was subdued. It's an interesting use of the theological passive. You see, while Israel ascribes victory to Gideon, and while Gideon does not deflect that from himself, the author will simply not let that fly. Thus, Midian was subdued.
The attentive reader, or even the half-hearted reader by this time, knows Midian was subdued by the virtue and the power and the excellence and the glory of Yahweh of Israel. So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel so that they lifted their heads no more. They were broke. They were decimated.
They were done. And the country was quiet for 40 years in the days of Gideon. That means no more war, no more skirmishes, no more rape, no more pillage. no more famine because of these Midianites for 40 years. This was good.
This was a long stretch. This was blessed and beautiful. It's been stated previously. Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5.
However, this is the last time in the book that such a statement will be given in the Book of Judges. The country was quiet for 40 years in the days of Gideon." Now notice, we've seen his ephod. In the final days, we see his death in verses 29 to 32.
Gideon's Household and Death
His house, Jeroboam, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house. Gideon had 70 sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem, that's a bad sign right there, pagan. His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son whose name he called Abimelech.
Now Abimelech is certainly not the child of the year. He is not the honor roll student that you put your bumper sticker on your car and boast about. Abimelech is a particularly nasty fellow, and God willing, we'll look at him in two weeks' time. And then verse 32, now Gideon, the son of Joash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash's father in Ophrah of the Abizrites.
So Gideon is dead, and that brings us to the state of Israel after his death.
Israel After Gideon's Death
Now, however Gideon ended, and the ephod is certainly a testimony to not the best end, however he ended, he did exercise a restraining influence on Israel. Look at what happens, verse 33. So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals and made Baal, Berit, their god. This is particularly disturbing.
Berit is the Hebrew word for covenant. Yahweh is their covenant god. Now they've entered into worshiping Baal-Berith, the god of the covenant, but it's Baal. Truly a bad description of the people here.
So they played the harlot with the Baals and made Baal-Berith their god. Notice their forgetfulness, verse 34. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God. Does that mean they had no concept whatsoever of Yahweh?
Does that mean that they didn't know their catechism? Does that mean they forgot Deuteronomy 6.4? Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. It doesn't mean that.
They had him up here cognitively. but they didn't have them experientially. It's the same thing we saw in chapter 2, verse 10. They did not know the Lord, and as a result, they did evil. They forsook God, they went after Baals, they went after the Ashtoreth.
The same thing is going on here. The children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. I mean, they just got delivered from Midianite oppression. They had 40 years in which to praise and worship and celebrate the living and true God.
But in that 40 years of peace, in that 40 years of quiet upon the earth, what do they do? They forget God. You see, herein lies the danger of prosperity. Herein lies the danger of living in an affluent society.
Herein lies the danger of having everything we want. The tendency and the temptation is to forget God. Remember, this was told in the book of Deuteronomy, when you go into the land, make sure you are thankful. It is prosperity that will hinder and hurt you in the land of Canaan, in the book of Proverbs, what's the wise man say?
Give me what? Give me neither poverty nor riches. What's my temptation if I have poverty? To go out and steal and dishonor my God.
What's the temptation if I have riches? To forget my God. You see, they had a 40-year period where they should have worshipped, praised, and adored, but what happens instead? They forget the Lord altogether.
Beware of prosperity. I like what C.S. Lewis says. He says sometimes a young man will say he's making his way in the world when he doesn't realize that the world is making a way in his own heart.
Now Paul does not command Timothy to command those who are rich to get rid of everything. He doesn't say get rid of all that you have and go live under a bridge and eat puppy chow. He doesn't say that, but he has specific instructions, Timothy to the rich in the church in Ephesus. He says, command those who are rich not to be proud, not to be haughty, but to be generous, to share with those who have need, and to be thankful to the true and living God.
We need to learn from this situation. It's on the heels of 40 years of peace and quiet that they forget the Lord. It's on the heels of 40 years of God's blessing in their lives that they forget the Lord. It is the case, at times, trials, difficulties and issues in our lives generally and typically will send us to our knees and cause us to acknowledge our dependence upon the Lord.
I'm not saying go out and find trouble. Go out and put your finger into a light socket. Go out and lose an arm. Go do something to really make your life miserable, because then you'll be holy.
But just beware the tendency and the temptation associated with prosperity, especially when we live in a country like we do. And then notice, this is interesting, verse 35, nor did they show kindness to the house of Jeroboam or Gideon in accordance with the good he had done for Israel. Yes, he made an ephod. Yes, Israel went and played the harlot.
Yes, it was a snare to Gideon and his house. But he broke the back of 135,000 Midianites that wanted to keep you from eating. You ought to be thankful that God raised up Gideon. You ought to be thankful to Gideon, and you ought to show that appreciation to his household.
Isn't that intriguing? They forget the Lord, and they don't engage in the basic common courtesy of gratitude. Again, Davis says, not only did Israel forget God, They forgot Gideon, too. Had they treasured Gideon and his work, they would have dealt loyally with Gideon's family.
The writer places much emphasis on Israel's ingratitude toward Gideon, alluding to it in this introduction, in Jotham's address in chapter 9, verses 16 to 20, and in the theological explanations given in chapter 9, 23 and 24, and then 56 and 57. And this is what Davis says. When we ignore the instruments of God's grace, we demean the giver of that grace. It's very perceptive.
When we ignore the instruments of God's grace, we demean the giver of that grace. Now, when I first read Dr. Davis's commentary on judges, he uses this particular instance to give an illustration. He says there's an author that has benefited me and I've read his works for years and I've profited from it a lot and I thought I should probably say my thanks to him.
So he did, he sent a letter to this fellow and said thanks. Well, that caused me to write a letter to Dr. Davis and say, thank you for your work, because this is what happens in the people of God. Nor did they show kindness to the house of Jeroboam or Gideon in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
It is not wrong to bless and praise and thank God, and to express your appreciation to others who have been of benefit to you. I think it's legitimate for children to thank their parents when their parents spend the time to teach them Bible lessons. It is legitimate when a friend or a brother encourages you to thank them for that. It is legitimate to show that appreciation and that gratitude to others.
And this is highlighted not only here, But in chapter 9 as well, Gideon did glorious things for Israel, 40 years of rest. And you're not even going to say thank you? That is an indicator of base in gratitude. So it's intriguing, idolatry, forgetfulness of God, and a lack of gratitude toward human agents that God used to do them good.
Well, that's the chapter. Again, we see in all of this the amazing grace of God. It is the Lord who raised up Gideon. It is the Lord who used these 300 men to go in and utterly destroy Midianites.
We see as well in this particular narrative the inconsistency of his human servants. Yes, Gideon had some trouble there at the end. Yes, the ephod was a bad thing. Yes, there were some issues involved in the life of Gideon that If he had to do over again, I'm sure he wouldn't do it that way.
But Gideon is in Hebrews 11. Gideon is commended for his faith in the living God and engaging in obedience to the Lord in terms of rooting out these Midianites. And then, as we've already quoted, Davis, it shows the necessity for the Lord Jesus Christ as the one alone who ultimately delivers Israel from oppression. Not the oppression of Midianites, not the oppression of Amalekites, not even the oppression of the Philistines, but the oppression of sin itself and the devil and all things that keep the people in bondage.
It's Christ who breaks the back of those things and saves His people from their sins. That's what Judges is about. Well, let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for Your amazing grace displayed in this book. I pray that you would encourage our hearts and strengthen us with these thoughts of you and help us to go from this place rejoicing in our God. Help us not to be forgetful of you and help us not to lack gratitude toward those who benefit us and those who help us and those who encourage us. Make us to be a thankful people, Lord God, and we pray through Christ your Son and our Lord.
Amen.