Gideon and the Ephod

Judges chapter 8 Most of us have a view of Gideon, the young humble man who thought that he was not worthy eking out a living until the Lord called him to lead Isreal. Even then he found that difficult to believe and he tested Gods word by using the fleece and asking God to do things that went against the normal law of nature. God was Kind to him and did this. If you were to get a tardis and go back in time to meet me, do you think the person you met would be me as you know me now, or someone very different? I think there are things that would be recognisable. However there would be things that are very different. Like Gideon, I would not have the confidence I have now. God takes us as we are, and then causes us to grow in confidence in him. We are not to take the example of laying of the fleece as typical. God expects us to believe him. Gideon needed confidence and God graciously allowed this. In this chapter, Gideon is the person God made him. A confident leader. A man of discipline. He learned to commit himself to the lord and trust him. In this chapter, we can see how he has become a diplomat. The men of Ephraim were angry with him for not calling on them when he went to fight against Midian It was not a polite discussion for verse one says, “AND THEY CONTENDED WITH HIM VIGOROUSLY”. He reminded them of what they already had. Is not the cleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vitage of Abe-ezer? God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger subdued. Note in the reply, he pointed out what God had done and we still see in that reply the humility he had at the beginning. Evidently this character trait had remained with him. Also note that he went with 300 men, against 15,000 Even this was a reduced number of 120,000 were already dead I think that this harps back to the time when God cut down the number of men with him, and God told him to let men go home who were afraid and also to let men go home who lapped water. God wanted Gideon to know in his heart that it was he the lord who fought for them and not the sheer number of men who brought about the victory. Here we see that Gideon has remembered that lesson, and is in pursuit with only 300 men. His trust in God has come from experience. There is an expression “An Army Marches on its stomach.” The 300 men who followed Gideon needed bread and Gideon asked the men of Succoth and Penuel to give him bread and they refused. What a contrast to the people of Ephraim who were angry at Gideon for he did not ask them to go with him, here he only asked for support by being given bread to eat. They were not asked to fight. They were being asked to support what God was doing and refused. They would not have seen it that way, and it would not have occurred to them that in refusing God was angry with them. To Succoth he said that when he returned he would thrash them with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. To Penuel he said that when he returned he would tear down the tower. Both of these things happened. Israel asked Gideon to rule over them and his descendants. Gideon was still as focused on God as he had been in the begging. He went on and on trusting in God, and he refused to rule over isreal, for God was the ruler. They thought that it was Gideon who delivered them. If only Gideon and his family rule over us, then we will always have victory. How wrong they were, for Abimelech Gideons son was not like his father and he did seek power to rule over them and it was a disastour We need to trust in the lord, not in people or things or techniques. V24. Gideon had known the blessing and favour of God, and yet even he made an enormous mistake. He asked for the Gold earings V24, note the word YET He asked them to give them their Gold ear rings. WE are told they had them for they were Ishmaelites. You will recall that Ishmeal came about because Abraham and sarah were trying to fulfill for themselves what God had promised that they would have a son and they were told that he was not the son of promise He was given the gold. Gideon made and ephod. Now there was nothing wrong with that in its self as an ephod had been used to seek Gods guidance. However it became an idol. We are told that Israel played the Harlot with it. A prostitute, Unfaithful. What I think Gideon had intended as a blessing became a curse and a snare to Gideon and his household. An ephod was a priestly garment. It appears that it was kept in his house. Presumably for Gideon to use. Yet I remind you that scripture says it became a snare to Gideon and his household. The land knew peace for forty years in the lifetime of Gideon. What sort of influence to our families and to others are we. Do we have things we have passed on to them with good intentions, but have not considered the true conseqeunses of our actions and like that ephod, will it become a snare to us? No matter how long we have walked with the lord, we are still fallible. We get things wrong, and we should not be so over confident that we forget it. God did not tell Gideon to make the ephod. We are not told why he made it, but perhaps he thought it was just a good idea that went wrong. Let it not be said of us that we created something that became a snare. Gideon gave the right answer, but his actions were like that of a ruler. Somehow the people thought that he should rule and they did get their request, his son did rule over them and it was wrong. God had to be the author and perfector of our faith. Let us not have an Ephod. We know how we should live for God has provided the bible for us. Let us live in accordance with it.