Keep Your Faith

Judges 8-9
 
Judges 8:22-23 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler! You and your son and your grandson will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from Midian.” 23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!”
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Judges 8:27 Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.
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Judges 8:29-31 Then Gideon son of Joash returned home. 30 He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives. 31 He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named Abimelech. 
 
MUCH can occur in a few sentences in Scripture! Gideon’s warfare is done. His victories have stirred Israel to desire Gideon and his future generations be kings over them. It may seem a practical solution to Israel’s ongoing miseries with foreign occupation. But what was the true cause of Israel’s oppression? Of course, it was their failure to make God the King of their hearts.
   Did they not remember God was on his earthly throne seated between the Cherubim on the ark in the Tabernacle? (then at Shiloh) The desire for a human king was as telling God, “You’re not enough for us.”  
   They further turned from the LORD as they worshiped the golden ephod Gideon created. What was the purpose of such a thing? Was Gideon trying to meet the pagan desires of his hometown and kinsmen?
   And then it seemed Gideon lived as a king. Even though he wasn’t crowned a king, what king then knew more riches than Gideon in the 40 years he ruled as a Judge? He had 70 sons from numerous wives and a son Abimelech from a concubine. “Abimelech” means “son of a king”. This was also the name of a title to a line of kings Abraham and Isaac encountered in Canaan. Does that reveal Gideon’s heart at this point in his life? Was he pointing this son to become king one day? Indeed, Abimelech would later be the next example in Israel of a violent man attempting to subvert God’s will and rule his nation. He did reign for three years in a king-like rule.
   Sometimes it seems that when a man’s faith work is thought to be done, the faithful servant turns back to the world. Gideon’s battles against the Moabites and others were done. But he neglected to fight the spiritual battles at home. Gideon needed to be a Mighty Warrior to defeat Satan’s temptations toward excess and self-importance. Our personal lives reflect more of who we are than anything we do publicly. What we do at home matters. Let’s be sure we do what matters to God.
 
One More Thought: in the previous lesson I compared Gideon with Peter. One great difference in their lives was Peter’s faith testimony at the end of his life. The apostle struggled with many challenges regarding Jesus’ teachings, but when he knew Jesus’ in the fullness of his resurrection, Peter certainly became a Mighty Warrior for his King.