LEARNING DAILY

 

Judges 8:27, Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

 

I hope you have or will reread how God used Gideon to defeat the Midianites. It is quite a story; it also leaves me with questions. For example, I was not sure what an ephod was; I had to research it. I found that it has two meanings. It can be a vest like garment worn by the priests, along with the Urim and Thurrim; it functioned as part of the way the priests discerned God’s direction. Or, the ephod was a graven image, some kind of idol. If it was a vest, Gideon would have wanted it to be worn by the priest whenever summoned to Gideon. Gideon requested each of his men to throw gold earrings from their plunder into a garment he had laid out. He then used that to make the ephod.

 

The ephod was not authorized by God! It did not glorify Him; instead, it shows the pride Gideon had as a result of how God had used him. Because Gideon did this, it became a “snare for Gideon and his family”. This snare can be extended to all the people as well. Psalm 106:39 describes what happened to Gideon and the people. It is a warning for you and me as well. “Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds.” Gideon adapted his ways to follow the world; the one who had destroyed his father’s altar of Baal (6:25-32), now was building his own idol.

 

The tragedy of this leads to the people of Israel once again turning to “worshipping the Baals and they did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all their enemies on every side” (verse 33-34). “Despite all his achievements, Gideon made no permanent spiritual difference in Israel. His story is inspiring, but his small concessions to evil eventually disgraced himself, his family his people, and Yahweh” (notes from the DJSB). Continue reading about Gideon’s family in chapter 9 to see the consequences that followed.

 

What do you and I need to receive from this? Gideon was a good man. When the angel of the Lord first approached him, he was called “a mighty man of valor”.  Matthew Henry’s commentary states, “Many are led into false ways by one false step of a good man.” I believe it is a mistake to exalt a church or a charismatic pastor. When this happens, it becomes easier to be misled into spiritual corruption. I really enjoy the pastor of the church we attend. I also guard what he says by making sure it aligns with all of God’s Word. I am happy to say he is always a student of the Word presenting it carefully and fully. No other judge of Israel led the people into the worship of idols which eventually caused them to “forget about the Lord” (verse 34). That is the consequence, the result of not knowing the Word of God for ourselves.

 

The people of Israel were a people prone to worship idols. We are still a people prone to do so. You and I must keep our eyes centered on Jesus Christ. To place anything else at the center of our lives, our focus leads to idolatry!  “If He is not the center of our life, every other relationship will suffer” (Pastor Jonathon Moore, Northrock Church).  Think on that!  

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.