Gideon pt 4
Last week we ended with Gideon and his 300 brave soldiers surrounding the Mennonite army of 135,000. They let lamps and blue trumpets and caused the Midianite army to panic and start killing each other and confusion. They also chased them and captured some of their leaders. Along the way, Gideon and his 300 men call out to the surrounding areas to join them in their pursuit. This is where we are today:
Reed Judges 8:1-35
Before we chop it up, any observations?
Judges 8:1-3
- Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously. 2. But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3. God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.
V1 So the main battle is over, and it was all delivered by the Lord. And the first thing we see here is some of the people wanting to get in on the glory. Now that the fighting over there like “hey, why didn’t you let us get in there battle too?”
What should their reaction be to Gideon in his army? Didn’t get in just free their land from their oppressors? Shouldn’t they be grateful to God?
I envision football players, jumping onto the pile of a fight after their sure that no harm is gonna come. They’re like “hold me back man, hold me back…”
How does Gideon respond?
V2-3 He strokes their ego to bring them satisfaction. It like he says “don’t worry, you’re really the tough ones. We’re nothing compared to you…” And this seems to satisfy them.
What does this say about their character?
What does it say about Gideons and management style?
Are there people who volunteer at church like this?
stage set example
Judges 8:4-9
- Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 5. He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6. But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?” 7. Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.” 8. From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. 9. So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”
V4 So Gideon and his man are exhausted, but they’re still keeping up the pursuit. Even though God delivered victory to them they are still exhausted.
What does this say about us and working for God?
i. “If you, dear brethren and sisters, will give yourselves wholly to God’s work, although you will never get tired of it, you will often get tired in it. If a man has never tired himself with working for God, I should think he never has done any work that was worth doing.” (Spurgeon)
V5-6 So Gideon and his men crossed the Jordan and ask for some bread because his people are worn out. But the officials say, basically, “have you already won? No? Well, then we’re not gonna help you.” They weren’t even asked to join in the battle, just to support the troops that are trying to free them. These are also Israeli people that are going to benefit from Gideon’s battle.
What does this show us about doing the Lords work?
Often times we will face resistance, even from the people who are close to us.
V7-9 This seems conflicting to the first few verses of this chapter. The first group of people wanted to “join the battle“ after they knew it was safe and because they wanted to get praise for themselves. The second group of people doesn’t want to touch the battle until it’s totally finished. They don’t want to completely take Gideons side until they can see that he will totally win.
Two different types of people “on the same side.”
Is this is like a picture of America right now.
Then we see Gideon also, with different responses. To the first group, he strokes their ego, but to the second group he vows revenge.
What does it say about Gideon?
Is he getting fed up over time? He is only human after all…
Judges 8:10-12
- Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army. 12. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.
This shows the persistence of Gideon. He fought until the battle was won, and he went after the leaders of the opposition. Basically, he finished them off.
Have you ever started a new project, ben really into it, and then it fizzled out?
Judges 8:13-17
- Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. 14. He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town. 15. Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’ ” 16. He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 17. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
The war is over and Gideon appears to start a tour of revenge for those that did not help him and his army. Apparently Gideon publicly whipped the leaders of the city of Succoth with thorns and briers as a method of public rebuke. The text does not make it clear, but we suppose there was a justification for this severe penalty. Perhaps the people of Penuel were significant supporters of the Midianites and traitors against Israel.
Does this seem harsh? Is it vengence, or is he still serving God?
From a different source, apparently it is ok.
“The punishment inflicted by Gideon upon Succoth and Penuel was well deserved in all respects, and was righteously executed. They had not only acted treacherously against Israel as far as they could, from the most selfish interests, but in their contemptuous treatment of Gideon and his men, they had poured contempt upon the Lord, who had demonstrated and shown before all Israel that Gideon and his men were God’s own soldiers by the victory which was given to him against an innumerable army. Having been called by the Lord to be the deliverer and the judge of Israel, it was Gideon’s duty to punish those faithless cities.”
Judges 8:18-21
- Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.” 19. Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” 20. Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. 21. Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’ ” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.
It seems to me when I read this that there’s a lot going on here. I searched and searched and searched, and could not find a great explanation for any of this. I found some commentary that says this goes back to hiding in the caves that we learned in judges 6, but I couldn’t really make sense of that.
It is thought that Gideon knows these guys killed his brothers, but he asks them so they can confess. He wanted it known before he executed them.
Then I tried to figure out why he asks his son to do it, but his son refuses. I found some commentary that he was trying to teach his son how to be a ruler.
Then the two prisoners ask Gideon to do it themselves. I found some commentary that this would be more honorable to them, but also because it would be quicker and less pain to have Gideon, a warrior do it than a boy with little strength.
Judges 8:22-23
- 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.”
At this point Israel has not had a king, but they want one. God is their ruler, but men always fight the culture. In this time, peoples in the world were ruled by kings. The desire for a human king over Israel started early in the nation’s history. Hundreds of years later (in the days of Samuel the prophet and judge), God gave Israel the king they asked for… Saul…
V23 – This was a good response from Gideon. He understood that it was not his place to take the throne over Israel, and that the LORD God was king over Israel.
“That is the true attitude of all those whom God raised up to lead and deliver His people. Their leadership must ever stop short of sovereignty. Their business is never that of superseding the Divine rule; but of interpreting it, and of leading the people to recognition of it, and submission to it.
How is this significant for us as believers? How about Travis as a preacher?
This is true, not only of kings, but also of priests, prophets, and preachers.” (Morgan)
Judges 8:24-26
- 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.) 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 camels’ necks.
This didn’t seem like much to ask for, yet when it was added up, it came to more than 50 pounds (22 kilograms) of gold. This was quite a fortune.
b. We will gladly give them: The people were happy to give this, and it is hard to say that Gideon did not deserve this huge fortune. At the same time it was inappropriate, because it lifted him far above the level of the people he would lead, and it was at their expense.
How much should a preacher make today?
How do the really rich preachers explain this?
i. A general rule of thumb is that Christian leaders who make their living from the gifts of God’s people should live at the level of their own people – not below or above.
Judges 8:27
- 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.
What is your imeadiate thought here?
An ephod is a piece of jewelry that is worn by the priests of Israel. He took all that gold, and made a really big one and put it in his hometown.
As soon as you read this, something starts to not sound right. It doesn’t seem like this is God‘s path anymore. The people that he is rescuing were worshiping idols from the culture around them. And it seems like Gideon is feeding into that again.
The big war is over, and now they’re getting back into every day life. What is this say about great godly things versus just daily living?
Gideon was remarkably obedient and filled with faith in the extreme moment of battle. The routine of daily living seems to have been a greater test of his character. This is true for many, and the challenges of daily living are more difficult than those of the extreme moment.
Judges 8:28-30
- Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. 29. Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.
a. Thus Midian was subdued: Regarding the security of the nation, Gideon’s rule as a judge over Israel was a success. Yet in many ways he was a spiritual failure.
b. For he had many wives: A harem was not only a reflection of a man’s inability to control his sexual lust, it was also a way for him to proudly express his wealth, by saying “Look at all the wives and children I can support.”
i. The Old Testament never directly condemns polygamy (though the New Testament does in Matthew 19:4-6 and 1 Timothy 3:2). Yet the Old Testament shows the bitter fruit of polygamy. The stories of polygamous families in the Old Testament (such as with Jacob or David) are the stories of conflict and crisis.
Judges 8:31-32
- 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.
The name Abimelech means, “My father, a king.” It is the kind of name that a king himself would bear. It seems that Gideon intended that his son would become the leader of Israel after Gideon himself was gone.
Judges 8:33-35
- 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.
Here we have come full circle: The Isrealites we’re living in bondage, because they had turned away from God. God rises up a profit to turn them back to God and bring them out of oppression. Gideon follows Gods instructions, and is a great leader during the war. After the big, “godly event” is over, for the next 40 years, Gideon rules, but he goes further and further from God, the whole time. And now at the end of Gideon’s life, the Israelites are right back to where they began worshiping false gods.
What is the big take away that we have from the life of Gideon?
Deuteronomy 30:2-3
- and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3. then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
1 Corinthians 1:25
- For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
2 Corinthians 12:9
- But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
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