The End of the Saga of Gideon

We played Balderdash as our game this week. Everyone is told some obscure word and has to write down a definition for it. We then read all the definitions, including the correct one, then everyone picks whichever they think it true. You get points if people guess your false definition or if you guess the correct one. We do the same this with a weird law too.
This week the weird law was: In South Carolina, it is illegal to crawl... Here are some possible answers:

1. in a cave.
2. under your neighbor's house.
3. down the sidewalk at night.
4. in a public sewer without government approval.
5. across the road.
6. under clothes racks in department stores.

Can you guess the correct one?


And then on to Judges... If you recall, at the end of chapter 7, Gideon had called upon the men of Ephriam to help him fight and they had cut off the heads of two Midiainite leaders.

Read verses 1-3: Ephriam is upset but Gideon appeases them with smooth words. He strokes their ego by making what they did seem much more important than everything else that had happened.
Read verse 4:  "exhausted yet pursuing" How often do you feel that way?
Read verses 5-9: Gideon asks the people of two different towns for bread for his men. Both respond negatively (possibly trying to stay neutral in case Gideon doesn't win?). Either way, but not helping, they become part of the problem. Gideon promises that once he wins, he'll be back for revenge.

Read verse 10-12: Zebah & Zalmunna (two Midianite kings) are captured.
Read verses 13-17: Now it gets a little weird. Gideon takes captive a kid from Succoth and questions him to get information about the leaders. He then exacts the revenge he promised, but seems to be much harsher than previously stated.
Read verses 18-21:  Gideon questions Zebah & Zalmunna. Then he tells his teenage son, Jether, to kill them. (This would've been a great honor for such a young guy and therefore also humiliating for the two kings.) However, Jether is a bit scared (wonder who he learned that from) and doesn't kill them; Gideon kills them instead.

Read verse 22: So without specifically saying it, the people ask Gideon to be their king. God told the Israelites that He would be there ruler and that unlike pagan nations, they would not need a king. However, if they decide they need a king, God is to be the one to choose it for them (Deut 17:14-15).
Read verse 23: Gideon says no he won't rule over them. However, he still makes some major mistakes. First, in verse 22 the people say Gideon delivered them from Midian. Gideon doesn't disagree with them. WHAT?! Remember all the tests and crazy plans God made just so that the people would recognize He delivered them? Well somehow they overlooked that and Gideon doesn't point out that it was God not him either. Luckily we have other biblical examples of men who deflected the glory from themselves and back to God. (John the Baptist in Jn 1:15 and Paul in 1 Cor 2:1-5). We'll see more mistakes in the remainder of the chapter.

Read verses 24-25: So Gideon says no I won't be your king but them immediately asks them for some gold from their spoil (like a tax or tithe). This shows Gideon is acting like their king, but also the people are pledging their loyalty to him, not God. Bad news!
But the problem starts before that. The people were allowed to take the spoils from their enemies (Deut 20:13-14, so that's not a problem. However, they should not have had earrings. Back in Exodus 32-33 when Aaron made the golden calf with the people's gold, it had been earrings that were used. So God had told them not to have earrings (Ex 33:5-6).
Read verses 26-27: So they give Gideon a ton of gold (not literally a ton, more like 40ish pounds) and he takes it and makes an ephod.
What in the world is an ephod? Glad you asked. It was a metal chest plate looking thing that the high priest was to wear. It was made with precious metal an decorated with precious stones. It was a way that the high priest could hear from the Lord. Gideon, who is not a high priest, had no business making one. It just ends up leading the people astray because really it is an idol.
Read verse 28: The verse is a nice little recap of what has happened in the cycle of the judges in the last few chapters. Israel is delivered and the land is at rest for 40 years.

Read verses 29-32: (Remember Jerrubbal is another name for Gideon.) Gideon dies and leaves behind 70 sons. And verse 31 which seems a bit random, giving us the name of one of his many sons seems a bit superfluous, but is actually significant. First, he's the main character in chapter 9, but second, and more importantly, his name means "my father is king."
Now a guy who has 70 sons needs a huge house. A guy who has 70 sons must have many wives/concubines/etc. A guy with a big house, lots of wives, children, and concubines, and a son named "my father is king" clearly is living like he's the king even without the title!

Read verses 33-35: The people forget God and start sinning (cycle of the judges is starting again). They also forget Gideon's family.

Application:

• Don't let old sins regain footholds. Stop them as soon as you see any hint of their return. If the people hadn't kept earrings, they wouldn't have been able to give them to Gideon and things may have turned out differently.
• Don't ditch God when life seems to be going in your favor. When Gideon was scared, he was in constant communication with God. Soon as he felt in control, beating the Midianites, he stops talking to God which leads him to make poor decisions.
• Don't say "God is King" but then live like you are! It's easy to shake our heads at Gideon and think he was such a fool. But we do the same thing. We say God is in control of our life but then don't act like it. We make decisions without ever praying about it. We read the Bible, but don't do what it says. We are no different that Gideon. Remember, your walk talks louder than your talk talks. (The teens made fun of me cause that phrase sounds confusing. After I explained what it means, they said it would be easier to just say, "Actions speak louder than words." However, I think by saying it in a way that caused discussion, they're more likely to remember it than if I had just said, "Actions speak louder than words.")

**All Scripture is quotes from the New American Standard.
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I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.