Judges 8:18-35.  First, if you read the Judges 7:15-35 post you might note I made a mistake about Gideon’s original army.  He had members of three tribes to the north of his tribe in the original army.  That post has been corrected.  Today’s part of the story adds some very interesting information.  Also, we see the cycle of sin begin to move more away from God.  Yesterday we saw the end of the battle with the invading army but not the end of the larger battle.  The one for the hearts of the Israelites.  Gideon had just beaten some of his fellow countrymen and killed others.  Now he turns to the last two kings from the opposing forces.  He wants to know about some men they had killed while they were occupying the the land.  Their answer is very flattering.  But it doesn’t help, evidently the men in question were Gideon’s blood brothers.  Gideon is out for vengeance.  He orders his son to kill them and he refuses, he’s young and afraid.  The two kings then challenge Gideon to do his own dirty work and he kills them.  More taking matters into his own hands, more personal rage.  He then takes the gold ornaments from their camels.  These ornaments were symbols of their royalty.  At this point the people ask him to rule over them.  Although they do not use the Hebrew word for king (“Malak”) that certainly seems to be their idea, they are offering him a dynasty at least through his grandson.  Gideon tells them neither he nor his son shall rule them, God is their ruler.

Later in the history of Israel we meet a man named Samuel.  His story is just after the time of the Judges and some see him as the last judge.  In 1 Samuel 8:1-7 Samuel has just appointed his sons to be the next judges but the people reject them and ask for a king (malak).  Samuel doesn’t want to but God instructs him to do it.  God indicates that it is He whom they have rejected and He also instructs Samuel to warn them about how “kings like the nations” have acted.  This is actually the first time we see God actually refer to Himself as king.  Earlier though in the history of Israel we see God actually acting as king, protecting and providing for the Isrealites as they leave Egypt and eventually take the promised land (For more on this story see “The Old Testament Connection“).

So it seems that Gideon is back on track,or is he?  In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 we see that God knew before hand that the Israelites would not live with Him as their only king.  In preparation for the time when they would reject Him as king God gave these verses as the rules for a king.  God had to choose the king (v. 15).  The king could not be a foreigner (v. 15).  He is not to have an army or make alliances with Egypt (that is probably the idea behind the horses in v. 16).  He is not to have a bunch of wives (v. 17)  He is not to make himself rich (v.17).  He is supposed to make a personal copy of the Law and read it each day.  He is supposed to be careful to obey the Law.  (vv. 19-20).  He is not supposed to think that he is better than the people he is ruling over (v. 20).

Right away Gideon starts acting like a king however.  Not a Godly king like in Deuteronomy 17 but like the kings he has just killed.  First, he asks the soldiers for some of the booty they have taken.  This was a way that soldiers in that day showed that they were  subjects of their king.  By the way in “The Old Testament Connection” I mentioned that Ishmael would be trouble for Israel later in their existence.  Here we see that some of the invading armies were Ishmaelites.  Second, the amount of gold that they gave him was about 43 pounds.  Also he had the gold ornaments from the camels.  So he has placed himself above his fellow Israelites and started getting a bunch of money.  He also takes the purple robes that had belonged to Zebah and Zalmunna.  Purple robes were another symbol of royalty in those days.  Third, he violates a part of the Law by making an idol (Exodus 20:4, the second of the ten commandments).  The ephod was a garment that high priests of a religion wore.  In some ancient languages it also would refer to a piece of cloth draped over an idol.  In this case it probably is a reference to both the idol and it’s covering.  That it was an idol is seen in what Gideon does with it.  He puts it in his home town and “all Israel” came and cheated on God by worshipping it.  Fourth. he gets a lot of wives. Fifth, he had a concubine (sort of a second class wife) who was from Shechem which was a Canaanite city at that time.  So he violated Deuteronomy 7:4 which told the Israelites not to intermarry with the Canaanites.

Finally, Gideon dies and is buried in his father’s tomb.  This is the first time a judge’s death is stated this way.  This is the first person since Joshua back at the beginning of Judges that the author has included this kind of information about.  This kind of information was also included in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles about the various kings of Israel and Judah.  So although Gideon talked the talk it doesn’t seem like he really lived it.  He seemed to have lived like a king.  As we will see tomorrow his son by the concubine even tries to start a dynasty.   It is interesting in the story that Gideon is referred to as Jerubbaal in verse 29.  That was the Canaanite name given to him by his idol worshipping father.  And that name is used when we are told that he went and lived in his own house and had many wives and children.  It looks like Gideon fell completely into the trap that God warned about in Deuteronomy 7.  He had followed the ways of the nations around him.  But the story is about Gideon the little loaf that God used.  In reality it’s about God using imperfect self-centered people to accomplish His work in the world.  It seems kind of sad that it was Jerubbaal that went and lived out his final years and not Gideon though.  Gideon may have been a man of faith (Hebrews 11) in the battle but in his personal life it looks like he was in a battle where “Baal was fighting for himself” and winning.  In the end it’s not about what we do for God but what He wants to do for us.  Yes, we need to live for God each day.  But we need to remember that we can only live for Him because He is helping us.  It’s not “the sword of God and Myron” it’s just “the sword of God”.

Lord, help me realize our relationship starts and ends with you.  You are the power in it.  I thank you for having me.  Help me give you all of the honor each day.