Judges 8: Gideon - Confidence in the calling
The story of Gideon reminds us that God has given us a new name as His followers. When we are “adopted into sonship” as God’s child, we have a new name and a new identity. So far in Gideon’s story we’ve seen that God has called Gideon a warrior, even though Gideon called himself “the least in my family.” God then continued to graciously give him confirmation in his calling, through the angel of the Lord (Jesus himself) and through others (the guy that had a dream about Gideon’s strength) when he felt himself beginning to waiver. Then God did a miracle through Gideon and a small army of 300 men, and the Midianite army went into confusion and was running scared. The 300 kept chasing the enemy, and Gideon ordered the tribe of Ephraim to cut them off at the river and kill them all. They took down 120,000 Midianites in all - those that were brutally oppressing them for years. Now at this point – getting into chapter 8 – they are catching their breath, and the Tribe of Ephraim has some words for Gideon. At this point in the story, we see a new Gideon that truly owns his calling. He's seasoned, and he’s confident in who God has made him to be. Let’s get into it.
Judges 1-3
1 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.
There’s a principle here that I quickly want to address - Even when you are directly following God's call on your life, there will be people that doubt your calling and call it into question. Remember, Gideon was following direct orders from God Himself, yet people on his own team (the Ephraimites) were doubting his plans. It’s unfortunate that this is common within the Church as well. People that should be working towards the same goal end up letting their egos divert their effectiveness for God’s Kingdom. Gideon’s example of a wise, calm response is something that we should learn from and apply in our own lives when we feel questioned in our callings.
The enemy (satan) could have used this to poke at Gideon’s insecurities. But what do you notice about his response?
Judges 8:4-7
4 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.”
The officials of Sukkoth have a choice here: they either feed the army of 300, trusting that they'll win, or they reject giving them food out of fear that the Midianites will win. They didn't have faith in Israel or Gideon’s God – and there would be consequences. In this case, the consequence is just a whoopin’ with thorns.
Judges 8:8-9
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.”
Same thing for the officials of Peniel, but their consequences would be more severe (spoiler).
Notice the bold faith that Gideon has as he rebukes his enemies. This mature version of Gideon exercises spiritual authority confidently, as he should. He doesn’t question whether the leaders are right or wrong, he doesn’t have ‘imposter syndrome’ anymore, instead he declares – and later executes – God's judgment on them for their lack of faith
Application: There are life and death type decisions that we make every day. Who we choose to associate with, and who – and what – we have faith in, determines our fate. If we fail to choose Christ as our sole source of life and place our faith in Him, there will be consequences, in both a temporal sense, and in an eternal sense.
Judges 8:10-17
10 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. 13 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.
Again, Gideon the doubter has now turned into the decision-maker that God designed for him to be. He knows that God has equipped him for this role of judgment (literally, the title of Judge), and he boldly owns God’s anointing at this point in his life.
Application: 1. As the apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” The leaders of Succoth and Peniel sowed faith in the enemy, and reaped their rewards as well - death. From their vantage point, it reminds us as Christian readers to be careful of what we sow into.
2. From the vantage point of Gideon, this passage shows the importance of spiritual authority in God’s process of exercising judgment and discipline in the world. Gideon needed to own God’s power in his life so that God’s will could be done. For many Christians today, they have a call by God to do something great for the Kingdom, but lack the faith to own their spiritual authority. On the flip side, there are also many Christians that believe they have spiritual authority, but do not. Those types of people need to watch out. The consistent story in the Bible is that God raises up the humble to positions of spiritual authority. If we remain humble, God will raise us up (1 Peter 5:6) in the ways that He sees fit.
Can you recall a time in your life when a switch flipped in your mind, and you became extremely confident in God's call?
Judges 8:18-21
18 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.
These evil dudes’ responses are interesting. The “bearing of a prince” seems to denote a spiritual authority that even the enemy noticed - which makes them even more guilty. Gideon attempts to shape his son's life as a warrior, but it wasn't his time yet. As God intended, Gideon was the man for the job, whether he liked it or not. This final blow to the enemy was the fulfillment of God’s judgment to the Midianites.
The word there for ‘ornaments’ is more accurately translated as ‘crescent ornaments’. There is a long history of the occult symbolism of a crescent, and worship of the moon. You see it everywhere today in eastern mysticism, ‘wellness centers’, and even as a symbol of Islamic nations. Islam – which is a false, demonic religion – embraces that they are descendents of Ishmael, or Ishmaelites, which the following verses identify these people as (v24). These ‘nomads’ (what “Arab” literally means) that embraced cultic moon symbols are what developed into the nation of Islam. Let’s just say that the ancestors of Jews and Muslims have been fighting for a long time.
Judges 8:22-27
22 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.” 24 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,[b] 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. 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.
Gideon wisely rejects the offer to become Israel’s first king, because he wants God to remain the authority in Israel. But then He follows the wise decision with a foolish one – He wanted some plunder; a keepsake – a trophy – as a concession for all his work. If you look closely, you’ll notice the sneaky way that idolatry got back into Israel: through one man’s keepsake. The victory plunder became something that they worshiped!
How can this happen to us? What's an example of a victory of God becoming an idol?
This whole issue is why Protestant Christians generally oppose ephods and symbolic items. We understand the snare (v27) that they can often become. In the Church, you see buildings and systems commonly prioritized rather than the hearts of people. As God’s people, we need to be on guard against all kinds of greed and idolatry. (Luke 12:15)
Judges 8:28-35
28 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. 31 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. 33 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.
Again, because of good leadership, there was peace in the land for 40 years. I have thought and studied a lot about the concept of good leadership. In my opinion, I don’t believe that any amount of accountability, training, or system can create good leaders - only God can. We don’t need any more seminars or hired hands, we simply need more good leaders. We need more people of God that are called, (of which there are many) to rise up, obey, and assume the spiritual authority that they have been given.
The ending of chapter 8 sounds depressingly familiar. We see that sin becomes rampant again and rules the land, instead of God. Even God’s servant Gideon ends on a bad note, getting entangled in sin, which paved the way for Israel’s future idolatry. Gideon’s polygamy was also about to have drastic consequences that are written about in the next chapters. Although Gideon’s actions and faith were admirable in battle, this quick account of his sinful action at the end of chapter 8, reminds us that Gideon is not the hero of the story, God is. Thank God for His grace on us!
