Regardless of How You Started: Finish Well

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