June 13, 2010 (Judges 6-9)

Chapter 6 starts with the tale of Gideon, but before I even got to that I noticed that it wasn't until the Israelites were at the point of starvation that they cried out to God.

^6:5 These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. ⁶ So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

Why didn't they cry out to the Lord for help as soon as the enemy hordes arrived? Why did they wait until the land was stripped bare?

Chapters 6-8 tell the story of Gideon - the man who was a chicken, but whom God called a Mighty Hero. Gideon was hiding out, threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress when God came to him and said "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you". To which Gideon replied, "Thank you for noticing how brave I am!" - Not - He basically said, "How can I rescue Israel? I'm the weakest person there is!" God told him that He would be with him, and that he would destroy the Midianites. Gideon still had a hard time believing that God had really chosen him, so he gave God some 'tests' to see if it was really true. And God obliged by answering him. So finally, Gideon got up and got his army ready, only to have God tell him he had too many warriors. He ended up with 300 instead of 32,000. The bottom line of this story is that God can/will do anything He wants to do. What He wants from us is a willingness to trust Him and to acknowledge that it is really Him that is fighting for us.

After Gideon and his army defeat the Midianites and their allied armies, Gideon makes a crucial error - I think in his heart he took the credit for what God did through him. Here's the story:

^8:22 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! ²⁴ However, I do have one request—that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)

²⁵ “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings was forty-three pounds, not including the royal ornaments and pendants, the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, or the chains around the necks of their camels.

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.

His 'one little request' became a trap for him. He didn't ask for much - just one earring from all the many objects they confiscated, but it turned out to be his downfall.

As soon as Gideon died, the people reverted to their corrupt ways:

³ As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them. ³⁵ Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Gideon, despite all the good he had done for Israel.