Judges | Chapter 8

Judges 8:1-35

“The bigger battle”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 1-3 The battle of disunity
  3. Vs. 4-17 The battle of dysfunction
  4. Vs. 18-21 The battle of distraction
  5. Vs. 22-35 A king by any other name  

Intro

    In 2 Chron. 14:11 king Asa prayed as he faced over a million Ethiopians, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” But the battle is far from over after the victory as it switches to maintaining the victory. Andrew Bonar gave wise council when he said, “Let us be as watchful after the victory as we were before the battle.” Gideon who at first was full of doubts, discouragement and despair became a man of faith and power in the presence of God now becomes full of himself in the 9th chapter.


    Vs. 1-3 The battle of disunity

      Vs. 1-3 In 7:24-25 the tribe of Ephraim was held up in the hills out of fear of the Midianites when Gideon sent messengers to come and join the fight and they did so taking the water holes from the enemy as well as the two princes Oreb and Zeeb. They had been invited to clean up and got to participate in the victory but now are complaining that they weren’t called earlier. Instead of the Midianites, Gideon faces the battle of “disunity” as the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was the 2nd largest tribe numerically and thought of themselves as the most important of Gods tribes because:

      • The tabernacle of God was located in Shiloh which was on their land.
      • They had the 2nd greatest leader of all time as a relative as Joshua was from this tribe.

      The truth of the matter was that though Ephraim was the largest tribe when the trumpet  sounded 32,000 joined the battle and not one of them was from Ephraim. Their complaint amounted to nothing more than wounded pride and a bruised ego. Rather than rejoicing in the great victory that God had done they complain about the strategy employed. It’s a sad day when brothers declare war on each other after they have stood together to defeat the enemy.  Ronald Reagan placed these words in the oval office to keep him grounded, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”. Apparently this applied to the quote it’s self as the 33rd president Harry Truman and CEO of Coca Cola have both been accredited with being the author. Instead of spontaneous joy and celebration at the greatness of God and the victory he had given all of God’s people they came with a complaint. 

      Hey dear ones have you noticed that it is often easier to “weep with those that weep” than it is to “rejoice with those rejoice”? It is a sad reality of the fallen flesh that oft times we would rather lose than to see God win through someone else! How do we handle such pride and self centeredness? Well, take a lesson from Gideon’s humility as he said in verse 2 “What have I done compared to you?” As far as Gideon was concerned there was something far greater than who gets to take credit for the victory and that was completing the task at hand! Satan is a master at getting Christians in thinking that our enemy is each other instead of him.

                  Far too often I have taken the opportunity to deal with Ephraimites by blasting them for their petty pride and in so doing succeeded in making a mountain out of the “Mole Hill”. What you must not do is defend yourself or attack the other instead take the high road and boast in God’s great work in others! Someone once said that “Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have it your way”. Gideon got them to let God have it His way!  There are two lessons we can learn from Gideon’s diplomacy:

      1. The unity of God’s people is greater than personal recognition and pride: It was more important for the nation to continue on task unified than for Gideon to be vindicated and recognized as being great. It’s better to be personally wronged than to divide the body.
      2. Second Gideon diplomacy teaches us that we must never take our eyes off the enemy: Far too often God’s people have become defeated because they first were deflected from God’s call. Gideon treated Ephraim’s problem as Ephraim’s problem and never made it his. Those who find the time to complain about other people do so because they have no sense of call in their own lives and thereby believe they are called to complain.

      Although Gideon does not lose sight of His call neither did he take the time to point his brethren to the One person who could get them off themselves, the LORD.


      Vs. 4-17 The battle of dysfunction

         Vs. 4-9 Another tactic of the enemy is “dysfunction” where we make the wrong priorities the priority. Gideon chased the Midianites across the Jordan in pursuit of 15,000 men having already killed 120,000. In light of verse 19 this seems to have been a personal vendetta. It is in this pursuit that we see a different Gideon in the three stories before us.  When Gideon and the guys should up at Succoth (which means Booths and was east of the Jordan) asking for some substance to continue the pursuit they said, “Not so fast, if the victory isn’t secure yet then we don’t want to get involved.” What’s got into Gideon?

        • At Succoth Gideon says that he is going to spank them for their refusal to help
        • At Penuel (Vision of God, where Jacob wrestled with the Lord) Gideon tells them that he is going to come back and tear down their tower.

        Gideon is going after the men who killed his brothers (verse 19) and is going to take down any and everybody in his way. Their pursuit left them depleted so when they reached the Jewish settlement of Succoth they popped in for some bread but the leaders decline to supply the need. These folks were “disloyal” to what God had done and were “disinterested” in being a part of it now. And according to verse 15 they not only don’t help Gideon they mock him. This disloyalty cut deep into Gideon and he didn’t handle it well, as he declares his intentions to come back and give them a public spanking. Then a few miles down the road the scene is repeated at Peniel as Gideon promises to come back and tear down their watch tower a critical part of their cites self defense. James 1:20 reminds us that “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Saint’s It’s a great thing to be single minded in our service of the Lord as we read in verse 12 that “He pursued them…and routed the whole army”. The motivation of why Gideon stayed in the battle was revenge which meant that there were other casualties.   

        Vs. 10-17 “Those leaders were influencing their city by trying to keep one foot on the world and one foot with God”, perhaps Gideon thought. He allowed himself to become “distracted” to God’s ways because as he “took it personally”! Gideon and the nation had “beaten the odds” but maintaining victory is always more difficult attaining victory. Though these two cities needed to be disciplined or the victory would be short lived but the severity of the discipline suggests that Gideon had another motive other than the Lord’s. 


        Vs. 18-21 The battle of distraction

          Vs. 18-21 The two Midianite kings were asked by Gideon if they were the responsible for killing his brothers and causing him to hang out in a wine press they said yes. And wanting to give his son an opportunity to avenge the death of his relatives but the boy was too young. In questioning the two kings we find out that the pursuit was not God given or spiritual it was fueled by hate and revenge. This wasn’t about the liberation of God’s people any more, it was about getting even! The way Gideon attempted to kill these two kings by his son’s hands shows that he was making it personal. Saints, the most dangerous time we face is not prior to the battle or during the battle but after the battle my friends.


          Vs. 22-35 A king by any other name

          Vs. 22-23 The final 14 verses supply the last chapter of Gideon’s life a life that has been categorized by one of the greatest victories ever recorded and ends with one of the greatest defeats, his own. If only Gideon’s story ended in verse 23 with his words “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”

                      God knew the hearts of his people and refused to allow Israel to defeat the enemy with 32,000 men because they would say, “My own hand has saved me”, now in the 22nd verse say that it was Gideon that has saved them. They gave Gideon credit for what only God had done! This is the high point of Gideon’s life the defeat of his inner flesh and it’s ever seeking quest for prestige and power, unfortunately his actions didn’t match his words.  

          Vs. 24-28 Gideon had one request that netted him almost 50 pounds of gold which was equivalent to 150 years of wages as well as taking the clothing and personal jewelry of the Midianite kings (verse 26). He claimed the wages and dress as king all the while verbally rejecting the position. The gold was not for himself it was for a religious garment that was to be put on display, which became a shrine to how God had spoken to him.  As beautiful as this ephod (a vest like garment worn by the High Priest and in the pocket was the Urim and Thumim which the priest would used to determine the will of God) was it didn’t aid in worship it hindered it. There is a great warning to God’s servants here not to erect monuments to their achievements in God’s service as they will become a snare to the people and lead to your own down fall. “The best way not to fall off a pedestal is too never set one up in which you would be tempted to climb in the first place!”     

          Vs. 29-35 The man who had refused the throne nonetheless adopted a royal lifestyle which included:

          1. Vs. 30 A royal harem: Polygamy was practice almost exclusively by rulers as they were the only ones that could afford it. But not only did he practice polygamy he went further as he also had a mistress in another city.
          2. As already noted he also amassed tremendous wealth: This from a man who in 6:15 declared himself the weakest in Manasseh.
          3. Vs. 31 A royal title: The final evidence that he lived like a king is to be found in the naming of his son by way of his concubine which he names him “My father is king”. Every time his son spoke his name he gave the title that Gideon had verbally refused.

          Gideon didn’t become a king but he sure started acting like one! The man who needed sign after sign when God had made it clear in His word that He had called him now struggles with over confidence. When you are finished with the story of Gideon you come to the conclusion that Gideon was no “super hero” he was a guy who was quite ordinary who at a specific time and season answered the call of God upon his life and trusted in an extraordinary God who used him in spite of himself. Saints we tend to honor the person who in a moment of crisis stands up courageously and then basks in the limelight instead of honoring a person who has consistently stood the halls of time in everyday life, which requires a far greater amount kind of courage.



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