Articles
From Coward to King?
The accounts of the Judges of Israel hold many lessons for us today. We learn that physical power is sometimes coupled with spiritual weakness (Samson). We learn not to be too rash in giving our word (Jephthah). We learn to be careful of sinister people with secrets (Ehud). The account of Gideon is a wealth of important lessons that we can learn, not a few of them dealing with bravery and God’s assurances. However, it is the lessons that we learn after his great victories that can perhaps be the most important.
We can see Gideon becoming strong in his own eyes with each successive victory, even to the point of threatening those who would not support him (Judges 8:4-9) and also making good on his promises (Judges 8:13-17). As with Samson, however, it is his victories that ultimately give him an opportunity for failure.
When Israel requested that Gideon become their king over them, the judge gave a wise answer. “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; YHWH shall rule over you.” (Judges 8:23) O, would that the account stopped there, but alas, his very next words start Gideon on a path that leads to ruin. “I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil.” (Judges 8:24) The account explains that they had conquered Ishmaelites who were known to wear earrings, and thus Gideon collected from the people a tribute (tax) of “1,700 [shekels] of gold” equal to $800,000 in today’s currency. (Judges 8:26)
The Judges account goes on to explain that Gideon went on to use the gold to make an idol “and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household.” (Judges 8:27) All of Gideon’s success had been by the hand of God, but once he was revered and successful, his wealth became an idol. How like us Gideon really is. When we reach success that we never could have imagined, we allow our success to turn us away from God.
Later, we see that Gideon’s pride also led him to have “seventy sons who were his direct descendants, for he had many wives” and to make the point clear, he also had a son with a concubine named Abimelech, which means “my father is king.” (Judges 8:29-31) For all of Gideon’s protests about being king, he acted like one in many ways.
When we serve God and He brings us to places we could never imagine, we need to retain that same humility late into our lives. We cannot allow spectacular victories to become a snare in our hearts, or let our spoils become a snare. Let us make sure that as God blesses us, we are not only humble before Him in speech, but also all of our actions.
