Judges 8:22-35
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. 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.
29 Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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-Berith their god. 34 Thus 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; 35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
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. 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.
29 Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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-Berith their god. 34 Thus 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; 35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
After Gideon was used as the LORD’s instrument of His mighty hand to deliver Israel from Midian, the people begged him to rule over them as king. Gideon made it clear that he would not nor his son (due to Gideon’s age), but that the LORD their God ruled over them. The question and issue was whether to be ruled by a man or by the LORD. Gideon then asked for gold from their booty and crafted it into an ephod, which rightly should have been a breastplate worn by a priest to represent the twelve tribes and used while discerning God’s will. Instead it became a golden idol of worship which dragged them away from their Master over time yet again. We can be carried away so easily from God when we compromise and begin worshiping anything or any man more than our Lord; it is our fallen natural man who runs after or crawls toward the shining objects, forgetting who is in heaven and rules over us all in heaven above or earth below (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 4:39). Such is the definition and folly of idols we place before the Lord God. We see in spite of this in this passage that the country had peace for forty years and Gideon himself prospered until his death. God’s good grace was with him in spite of the errors, not that the Lord honors sin but that He is long-suffering and gracious in His dealings with us. But right after Gideon died, the people went directly to other false gods and put the LORD who delivered and ruled over them far behind. They even refused to treat their deliverer’s descendants with respect or honor for all Gideon did for them to set them free. How easily some even now come to salvation, deliverance from the enemy and sin, and then choose to wallow in the mud again by putting the Lord far from the forefront of their consideration and out of sight of their own idolatrous pursuits. Idols and other so-called gods come in many forms, often shiny like the golden ephod, and the attraction of other desires and the pride of life (1 Hohn 2:15-17) can lead us to be as rebellious as Israel was if we do not learn from these examples given us (Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11) such as this. Who rules us?
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