Have you noticed how
different stories in the Bible jump out at you at different stages of
life? As I recently read through the
book of Judges, reviewing some of the stories that didn’t make the Sunday
School cut, I ran across a sad chapter in the life of Gideon.
Judges 8:22-27 NKJV
22 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.”
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.” 24 Then Gideon said to
them, “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.
25 So
they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a
garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. 26 Now
the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven
hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and
purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains
that were around their camels’ necks. 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.
You remember Gideon,
even though his faith and obedience were not as exemplary as, let’s say,
Abraham, he did make the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. Even though he was, at best, a reluctant
leader, he allowed himself to be used by God to defeat the Midianites and bring
relative peace to Israel for several years.
Even as the passage
begins, Gideon deflects the call to be named king with this insightful
statement: “I will not rule over you…
the Lord shall rule over you.” Way to go
Gideon! Now, walk away, go home and
thank God for using you in such a great way! But no, he had one last request and
one final project: he asked a modest
request – the gold earrings from their plunder.
As it turned out, that produced a large amount of gold with which he
made an ephod – a type of a monument – and set it up in his home town.
Bob Deffinbaugh in his
article entitled “When More is Less -
Or - What Happened to Gideon?” (which
appears on www.Bible.org) made several interesting observations about this
episode in Gideon’s life as perhaps the culmination of several smaller steps in
the wrong directions. Regarding the
ephod he wrote: “Gideon’s ‘ephod’ becomes an idol that the Israelites worship.
Ironically, this ephod is set up in Gideon’s home town of Ophrah, the very
place where Gideon had torn down the altar of Baal and the sacred Asherah
pole.” He basically exchanged one
form of idolatry for another form of idolatry!
Citing R.L. Klein in
the article he points out that “The coward has become confident;
he directs far-flung mopping up operations which are effectively carried out.
But the voice of the LORD is stilled, not to be heard for the balance of
Gideon’s narrative. And the spirit of the LORD, which brought the courage to
fight a far greater military force, seems to slip from Gideon’s shoulders in
the process.”
These words should
make us all take a moment to reflect on our own lives and ministries: “Gideon
reminds us how easy it is to stumble and to fall, and few there are who truly
“finish well.” That is what makes me so sad when I read about Gideon – he did
not finish well. And we should be warned when we realize that many of those who
once did well did not finish well.”
Unfortunately, Gideon
did not finish well and that reality “became a snare” to Gideon, his family and
to all of Israel for several generations.
Gentlemen, let’s finish well for
our sake, for our family and for our people!
- Russell Johnson, FBBF Chairman
On Monday, October 14th, IBB Church of Miami will
be hosting our pastors for 3 ½ hours.
Our time together will be packed full of information and resources that
deal with evangelism, outreach and social justice, PLUS reports from our church
planter in Port St. Lucie and Baptist Bible College in Springfield.
Posts
