Thursday
Evening Bible Study
September
29, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
We are watching Israel go through its cycles of trusting God and rebelling.
The time of the judges was a period of 400 years between the time of Moses and
the Kings of Israel. These “judges” were men and women that God used at various
times to get the nation back on track, and then to deliver them from their
enemies.
Gideon was a
man from the tribe of Manasseh, living in the town of Ophrah. He had an encounter with the Angel
of the LORD and God called Gideon to deliver the Israelites from the oppression
of the Midianites. For seven years the Midianites would come swooping in during
harvest time like locusts and steal all the crops that the Israelites had
worked hard growing all year.
Gideon started
by tearing down his father’s altar to Baal. Then he “blew the trumpet” to gather an army. Then he laid out a
“test”, a “fleece” to be sure that God really wanted Gideon to fight the
Midianites.
Judges 7
7:1-25 Gideon’s 300
In 2006 there was a movie about a famous Greek battle with the Persian army
at Thermopylae. King
Leonides and his band of 300 Spartans held off two million advancing Persians
long enough for the rest of Greece to organize and to repel the Persians.
Play “300”
Trailer edited cut
That was in 480
BC.
Nine hundred years earlier, there was another band of 300. And their battle
was not one that brought them eternal glory, but one in which God received
glory.
:1 Then Jerubbaal
(that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early
and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was
on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
:1 Jerubbaal
– “the one who fights with Baal” – this was a nickname that was given to Gideon
by his father when Gideon tore down the altar of Baal (Judg. 6:32).
:1 the well of
Harod – or, the “spring of Harod”. In Hebrew it’s “Ein Harod”. The
name “Harod” means “trembling”
or to be “terrified”. Pretty appropriate place to meet.
:1 hill of Moreh – a hill located north, across the valley of
Jezreel from the well of Harod.
Play
Harod-Moreh map video
Gideon gathers the people to Ein Harod. Ein Harod is about 5 miles east of
Gideon’s hometown of Ophrah. The well is located on the northwestern edge of
the Gilboa mountain ridge. The valley between Ein Harod and the hill of Moreh
is about 4 miles across.
Play “Ein
Harod” video
:2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people
who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into
their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own
hand has saved me.’
:2 lest Israel
claim glory for itself
Gideon was able to gather an army of 32,000 men. He was facing an army of
135,000 men (8:10). Yet God says that Gideon has too many people.
Lesson
God’s glory
Jesus said we ought to be doing our good works so that people will give
glory to God.
(Mt 5:16
NKJV) Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father in heaven.
God tells us Himself that He will not share His glory.
(Is 42:8
NKJV) I am
the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
Why does God want the glory?
Is this because God has some sort of big ego?
No – it’s because God is the only one that really can help
other people, not us.
It’s important that people not come to trust in us with
their problems, but that people come to trust in God Himself.
Wiersbe:
“If you can explain what’s going on in your ministry,” Dr. Bob Cook
used to remind us, “then God didn’t do it.”
I think there’s some truth here.
:3 Now therefore,
proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and
afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two
thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
:3 Whoever is
fearful and afraid
This was actually what God had originally commanded Israel to do before a
battle, to send home those who were fearful.
(Dt 20:8
NKJV) “The
officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who
is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the
heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’
The reason is spelled out. Fear can be contagious.
Lesson
Don’t run away
I came across a quote about this that troubled me. G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “The fearful and
trembling man God cannot use.” As I’ve thought and pondered on this, I’ve come
to the conclusion that there is a sense in which Mr. Morgan is not correct. The
truth is that God uses fearful people all the time. Gideon was a fearful man.
And God will use him.
I think the real issue is not whether you are afraid, the issue is whether you
will take the option of running away.
The point of asking people to go home is that God doesn’t want you running
away in the battle. If you are going to run, you’d better run away before the
battle so you won’t influence anyone else.
Illustration
Gasping For Breath
A senior gas company
training supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters in a suburban
neighborhood. They parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked their
way to the other end. At the last house, a woman in her kitchen window watched
the two men as they checked her gas meter. Having finished the meter checks,
the supervisor challenged
his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck—just to
prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one. As they at last came
running up to the truck, they forgot to check who had won since they both realized the lady from
that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped
immediately and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath, she replied,
“When I saw two man from the gas company running away from my house as hard as
you two were, I figured I’d better run too!”
Did you notice that Gideon didn’t go home? He’s certainly afraid, yet he
didn’t run home.
Just because you are afraid doesn’t mean God can’t use you.
The most important warning about fear is that we don’t let it make us run
away.
Paul told us one of the important principles of spiritual warfare:
(Eph 6:13
NKJV) Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand.
We might be fearful of what’s in front of us, but if we do
what God says to do, we can “stand” and not run away.
:3 depart at once from Mount Gilead
Gilead is typically seen as the region on the other side of the Jordan
River, not where Gideon is right now.
Some suggest that this might be a copyist error (one letter different),
and should read “Gilboa” since that’s where they are.
Keil & Delitzsch – perhaps there was a mountain within the Gilboa
range that was named Gilead, just as
there was a range of mountains named Seir
within Judah (Josh 15:10).
Others suggest the phrase be translated “let him return in haste to
Gilead”.
:3 twenty-two thousand of the people returned
If I were Gideon, I’d be a little discouraged.
:4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people
are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test
them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This
one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you,
‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”
:4 I will test them
– tsaraph – to smelt, refine, test
Lesson
Pop Quiz
What is about to take place would not have seemed to be anything more than
everyone taking a break and getting a drink of water. Yet in reality, it was a
test.
Illustration
Final Exam
This was taken out of Duke
University's Staff newsletter.
At Duke University, there were four
sophomores taking Organic Chemistry. They did so well on all the quizzes,
midterms and labs, etc., that each had an “A” so far for the semester. These
four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to
go up to University of Virginia and party with some friends up there. They had
a great time. However, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and
didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the
final then, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to
him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to UVA for the
weekend with the plan to come to study, but, unfortunately, they had a flat
tire on the way back, didn’t have a spare, and couldn’t get help for a long
time. As a result, they missed the final. The Professor thought it over and
then agreed they could make up the final the following day. The guys were
elated and relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at the
time the professor had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed
each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first
problem, worth 5 points. It was something simple about free radical formation.
“Cool,” they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room, “this is
going to be easy.” Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the
second page was written: (For 95 points): Which tire?
Warren Wiersbe writes, “I heard about one leading minister who always took
a drive with a prospective pastoral staff member in the other
man’s car, just to see if the car was neat and if the man drove
carefully. Whether or not neatness and careful driving habits are always a
guarantee of ministerial success is debatable, but the lesson is worth
considering. More than one prospective employee has ruined his or her chances
for a job while having lunch with the boss, not realizing they were being
evaluated.”
:5 So he brought
the people down to the water. And the Lord
said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog
laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his
knees to drink.”
:6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their
mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their
knees to drink water.
:5 as a dog laps
– laqaq – to lap, lick, lap up
This is one of those words that sounds like what it describes.
The Hebrew word “lapped” (laqaq) sounds like the noise of a dog
lapping up water.
Play “Dogs
Drinking” clip
Some have suggested
that the men weren’t actually lapping the water up with their tongues like
dogs, but possibly the men drank by scooping the water into their mouths with
their hands.
Some have suggested that this was a test for “vigilance”, that the men that
lapped were the ones who had their heads up and looking for the enemy.
The problem I have with this idea is that the whole point of picking this
small group was so that God would get the glory, not the “vigilant” men.
:7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the
three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into
your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”
:7 By the three
hundred
Lesson
It doesn’t take many
If I were Gideon, I’d probably be thinking to myself, “Okay, God is going
to tell me that the group of 9,700 is the group He’s going to use.” Wrong.
Jonathan would learn this same lesson a few hundred years later –
(1 Sa 14:6
NKJV) Then
Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the
garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
Pastor Chuck: “Never worry when God
thins the ranks”.
If God is on your side, that’s all that matters.
:8 So the people
took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the
rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred
men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
I get the feeling that Gideon and his men are up in the hills of Gilboa.
:9 It happened on the same night that the Lord
said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into
your hand.
:10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your
servant,
:11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be
strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his
servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
:9 go down against
the camp
God is going to have Gideon spy on the Midianites. Keep in mind, these are days when there
were no photographs, newspapers, or TVs. Most likely there aren’t very many
people who would be able to recognize Gideon. He doesn’t have to be a master of disguise.
:10 if you are
afraid
God tells Gideon that if it’s too scary to go down alone, then he should
take his servant Purah with him.
NOTE: Gideon takes Purah. He was afraid.
God is trying to give Gideon one last shot in the arm for courage.
:12 Now the
Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley
as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the
sand by the seashore in multitude.
:13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his
companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of
barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it
so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
:14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but
the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has
delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
:13 a loaf of
barley bread
Barley was the poor man’s grain.
The Midianites see it as a picture of the poor Israelites who have been
hiding up in the hills.
It was the food given to animals and the poor. This is going to be
related to the Israelites because they have become so impoverished by the
continual Midianite raids.
The picture is of a huge cake rolling down the hill and flattening the
tents as it rolls over them. The Israelite army was up in the hills, and was
being pictured as rolling down upon the Midianites in the valley.
:14 the sword of
Gideon
This tells us that the Midianites were pretty aware of what was going on in
Israel. Perhaps they had their own spies in the Israelite camp. They had heard
of Gideon.
Gideon had already seen some pretty neat things happen. The angel brought fire
from the rock to consume Gideon’s sacrifice (6:21); then God made the fleece be wet with dew
(6:38), then God made the fleece be dry (6:40).
Yet it seems that these were not enough for Gideon.
Frankly, I don’t blame Gideon. Even with these miraculous things happening,
the fact is that God is now saying that Gideon will defeat 135,000 Midianites
with just a band of 300 men. To me, the reality of those numbers is staggering.
Lesson
God helps our weak faith
God used this man’s dream and its interpretation to show Gideon one more
time that He was at work.
Jesus had been up on a mountain for a few days and came back to find a
mess. His disciples had been faced with a demon-possessed boy whom they were
unable to help. Jesus rebuked His disciples for not having faith and then …
(Mk
9:21–24 NKJV) —21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood.
22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy
him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him,
“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the
father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my
unbelief!”
The man was honest. He knew he lacked complete faith. But
he was willing to ask Jesus to help his faith.
And Jesus went on to heal his child.
It’s okay to ask God to increase your faith.
But don’t use that as an excuse for not doing anything.
Instead, be prepared to have God answer that prayer.
Be prepared for God to expect you to then step out in faith.
:15 And so it
was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he
worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian
into your hand.”
:15 worshiped
– shachah – to bow down, prostrate
oneself
Lesson
Seeing God’s hand
Gideon followed God’s instructions
He had torn down his father’s altar to Baal
He had gathered an army
He had shrunk the army to the size God wanted.
Now Gideon has gotten a peek at what was going on in the enemy camp, and
Gideon finds out that while he has been doing all his things with the
Israelites, God had also been work at the same time in the hearts of the
Midianites.
He responds in worship.
:16 Then he divided
the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into
every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.
:16 three companies
With Gideon dividing the army into three groups, they will appear to the
Midianites to have surrounded them.
:16 torches inside
the pitchers
The torches
will be burning inside the empty pitchers, and when the pitchers are broken, then the light will
seem to appear suddenly to the Midianites.
:17 And he said
to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the
camp you shall do as I do:
:17 Look at me
Even though God is the one who is actually going to be doing a marvelous
work, there still needs to be a human leader on the ground.
Gideon is setting the example that the others will follow.
:18 When I blow
the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets
on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”
:18 The sword of
the Lord and of Gideon!
The Midianites were thinking about the “sword of Gideon”, but here it’s all
going to be clarified and put in correct order. It’s the sword “of the LORD” and
Gideon.
The Midianites will know that it is Yahweh who is fighting for the
Israelites.
:18 blow the trumpets
on every side
The typical thing
for an army would be to have one man in each group blowing a trumpet to give
the army instructions to advance, attack, or retreat. With each of the three
hundred men all blowing trumpets from all directions, it will give the Midianites the idea that
they are surrounded by a huge army.
:19 So Gideon
and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at
the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they
blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
:19 the middle
watch
Somewhere around 10pm.
The first watch was between 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.. The middle watch was
from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. The morning watch was from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. The
attack then comes somewhere around 10 p.m.
In the confusion that occurs, it is possible that some of the guards
that are going to bed for the night are being mistaken for Israeli soldiers.
:20 Then the
three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches
in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they
cried, “The sword of the Lord and
of Gideon!”
:21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole
army ran and cried out and fled.
:21 the whole army
ran
The Midianites
all wake up, confused, and think they are surrounded by a huge army.
They all start fleeing from the trumpets and torches, and the entire
Midianite army collapses on itself.
Armies didn’t
have uniforms in those days. It’s probably not too easy to tell a Midianite
apart from an Israelite. Let
alone at night.
When one group of Midianites from the west side of the camp run into
another group coming from the opposite direction from the east side of the
camp, both groups think the other is the Israelites, and they start killing
each other.
:22 When the
three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord
set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the
army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah,
by Tabbath.
:22 Abel Meholah
The Midianites flee towards the Jordan River (red line) . Show map.
:23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all
Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
:23 Naphtali, Asher, and all
Manasseh
These are the tribes in the
immediate vicinity of the battle. See map – green lines.
:24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim,
saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering
places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim
gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the
Jordan.
:24 Ephraim
The hill country further south. See map – blue lines. The Ephraimites are
to cut off the Midianite escape as they try to cross the Jordan River.
:25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They
killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb.
They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the
other side of the Jordan.
:25 Oreb … Zeeb
This victory would be one of the classic victories in the mind of Israel –
Asaph wrote a song asking God for help against their enemies:
(Ps 83:11
NKJV) Make their
nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah
and Zalmunna,
We’ll get to Zebah and Zalmunna in a minute (8:10)
Isaiah also wrote about these victories (Is. 9:4; 10:26)
(Is 9:4 NKJV) —4 For You have broken
the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
(Is 10:26 NKJV) —26 And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge
for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was
on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.
:19 broke the
pitchers
Lesson
Light through brokenness
Part of God’s strategy was for the 300 to break the clay pitchers that held
their torches.
The light couldn’t be seen until the pitchers were broken.
This paints an interesting picture for us.
The apostle Paul talks to the Corinthians about light, clay pots, and
brokenness. You could almost think that Paul had this battle of Gideon’s in
mind when he writes,
(2 Co 4:3–12 NKJV) —3 But even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded,
who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God
who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of
God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet
not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that
the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is
working in us, but life in you. 13 And
since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I
believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14
knowing that He who raised up the Lord
Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15
For all things are for your sakes,
that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to
the glory of God. 16 Therefore
we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man
is being renewed day by day. 17 For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
God
has put the treasure of the gospel into us, fragile clay pots.
God wants people to see this light.
They
don’t see the light unless the pots get broken, cracked.
God wants to work through our brokenness.
8:1-35 The Battle
Continues
:1 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not
calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded
him sharply.
:1 Why have you
done this to us
The men of Ephraim were upset that they had not known of the battle in the
first place.
Lesson
Some people are never satisfied
It seems that no matter what you do, there will always be people who will
find fault in what you are doing.
Illustration
From a human perspective, the Ephraimites
have a good point. Couldn’t Gideon have been better “organized”? Couldn’t he
have done a better job at trying to include more people into his battle plan?
The truth is, God had been the one leading Gideon, and God didn’t want a
lot of people involved at the beginning of this battle. God wanted it clear
that He was the one doing the work.
:2 So he said
to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the
gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
:3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb.
And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him
subsided when he said that.
:2 Ephraim …
Abiezer
Gideon is smoothing things over with the Ephraimites by saying that the
best his lowly family could ever do was not nearly as good as the worst that
the Ephraimites could do.
On top of that, they were the ones who got Oreb and Zeeb.
Lesson
Humble words
Gideon has the heart of a peacemaker.
(Pr 15:1
NKJV) A soft
answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
You can choose to use words that will work towards resolving an argument,
or you can use words that will stir up anger. Gideon chose to calm them down.
Paul wrote,
(Php 2:3 NKJV) —3 Let nothing be done
through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than himself.
Gideon chose to take the “lower seat”, choosing to give honor to
Ephraim.
:4 When Gideon
came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him
crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.
Notice that Gideon still has his original 300 with him.
:5 Then he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the
people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and
Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
:5 Succoth
– “booths” – a town on the eastern side of the Jordan River. See map.
Gideon is looking for a little help with food for his troops. It seems that
they’ve gone further than he ever expected. I guess you could say he’s outrun
his supply lines.
:6 And the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and
Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
:6 the leaders of Succoth said
The people of Succoth think that Gideon is in over his head. They are
afraid that if they help Gideon, then Zebah and Zalmunna will come back and
hurt them.
These people of Succoth seem to
have two problems in regards to helping Gideon –
First, they have this idea that
Gideon has bitten off a little more than he can chew. They don’t think he could
do anything to hurt Zebah and Zalmunna.
Second, they live pretty close to
the Midianites. If they help Gideon, and he fails, then they are going to be in
BIG trouble.
As a result, they don’t want to
risk getting involved.
:7 So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I
will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!”
:7 I will tear your
flesh
Pretty cruel stuff.
Quite a contrast with what Gideon says to Ephraim. Where’s those “peaceful”
words?
We might just look at this and think that Gideon is tired, hungry, and
cranky.
But I think that there’s a time to be a peacemaker, and there’s a time to
be firm with people.
The people of Ephraim had been helping with the battle, these people want
to sit on the sidelines.
:8 Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way.
And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
:8 Penuel – “facing God”
A little farther
up the Jabbok valley. See map.
The same place where Jacob wrestled
with an angel (Gen. 32:30).
The men of Penuel give Gideon the same kind of answer that the men of
Succoth gave him.
:9 So he also
spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come back in peace, I will tear
down this tower!”
:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with
them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people
of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had
fallen.
:10 Karkor – a town on the eastern side of the Jordan, about
even with Dead Sea (not on map).
:10 fifteen
thousand
Here’s where we get the size
of the Midianite army. 120,000 have already been killed, and there are only
15,000 left.
:11 Then Gideon
went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and
Jogbehah; and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure.
:11 while the camp felt secure
The Midianite army wasn’t expecting them. They thought they had got away.
:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two
kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.
:12 routed the
whole army
Just in case you were thinking that the only victory Gideon has had was
when the Midianites turned and killed each other, keep in mind that this band of 300 has now taken
on face to face an army of 15,000.
:13 Then Gideon
the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres.
:13 Heres – cherec
– “sun”
The Old King James makes is sound
as if Gideon finished this whole battle before the sun came up. Might be better to think of this as a place
instead of a time.
:14 And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him;
and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven
men.
:15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and
Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah
and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ”
:16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and
briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
:16 he taught the
men of Succoth
Not a pleasant way to learn a lesson.
Sometimes it’s better to step out and trust people like Gideon.
:17 Then he tore
down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
Gideon follows through on his
earlier threat.
:18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they
whom you killed at Tabor?” So they answered, “As you are, so were
they; each one resembled the son of a king.”
:18 the son of a
king
Zebah and Zalmunna are suggesting that Gideon is similar to a king, and the men they slew
looked a lot like Gideon.
Gideon finds out that among other things, these Midianites had been the
ones who had killed part of his own family, a fact we don’t learn until this
point.
:19 Then he said,
“They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I
would not kill you.”
:20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth
would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a
youth.
:20 Rise, kill them
Apparently, this was a type of
honor that Gideon is offering to his son, to execute these enemies of Israel
and the ones who killed their relatives. Jether doesn’t seem up to it.
:21 So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is,
so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and
took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
:21 crescent
ornaments
These were amulets
that were put on the camels as a charm against evil or injury. They were
probably made of gold and had little moons, full or crescent, engraved on
them—most likely in honor of the moonfaced goddess Astarte. Taking away those
ornaments would thus be to remove idolatrous objects.
:22 Then the men
of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your
grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
:23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son
rule over you; the Lord shall
rule over you.”
:22 Rule over us
The Israelites are overwhelmed with gratitude towards Gideon for the
deliverance he has brought. They offer to make him king.
Gideon is smart enough to know that even though God had called him to lead
a battle, God had not called him to be a king.
Lesson
Know your calling.
It’s not uncommon for people to try and egg people in to positions that
they are not called to do.
Illustration
“Salesman At the Circus”
“Following the 1929 stock market crash, an out-of-work bond salesman
finally landed at the winter quarters of the circus in Peru Indiana, and asked the manager if
he had any jobs. The manager said, “We have only one job and I don’t think
you’d be interested in it.” The salesman said he’d take anything...he was so
hungry. “Well”, said the manager, “we’re looking for someone to wear Nelly’s
skin, and I don’t think that would interest you.” “What are you talking
about?”, asked the bond salesman. Nelly”, replied the manager, “was our pet
Gorilla and our most popular attraction. After Nelly died we tried to buy
another gorilla, but none are available - so we finally skinned Nelly and want
someone to put on her skin and take her place in the cage.” “How much does that
job pay?” asked the salesman. “$25 a week and board”, was the reply. “Mister,
we’re wasting a lot of time... Where’s the skin?” Well, it turns out that the salesman made a better
gorilla than even old Nelly. He hopped all around the cage, rattled the bars,
beat his chest...so that people who saw him went away and said, “Have you seen
Nelly?” More people came, and before long it was the most popular concession in
the Circus. At which point the manager came along and said to the salesman,
“Boy, you’re doing such a swell job that I’m going to raise your salary to $35
a week and board”. Well, this really got the salesman all excited and he hopped
around the cage as he had never hopped before, In fact, he hopped so much that
he hit the trap door down at the end of the cage, and fell through into the
next cage. As the door clanged behind him he looked over at the corner, and
there lay a great big lion.
As the lion opened his eyes and blinked, the salesman scrambled up the side of
the cage to sit on that little trap seat up there, hanging on for dear life.
The lion got up slowly and took a couple of steps toward him, then crouched
like he was going to spring. The gorilla was shaking in fear so much the bars
were rattling, and he closed his eyes because he thought this was it. But then
the lion said, “What are you so scared about big boy? Do you think you’re the
only bond salesman in this Circus?”
A mark of maturity is learning to be comfortable in your own skin. It’s
learning to know what you are called to do and not to do.
:24 Then Gideon
said to them, “I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would
give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, because
they were Ishmaelites.
:24 give me the earrings
The Bible says the workman is worthy of his wage (Mat. 10:10), so in a sense,
there’s probably nothing wrong with Gideon’s request initially.
Gideon gets to thinking that even
though he wasn’t going to be king, it would be nice to have a reward. The
Israelite soldiers have acquired a huge amount of booty from their slain enemy.
All Gideon asks is for one gold earring from each of the slain enemy soldiers.
:25 So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread
out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder.
:26 Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand
seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants,
and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the
chains that were around their camels’ necks.
:26 one thousand
seven hundred shekels of gold
The New Living Translation says “forty three pounds of gold”. Even though Gideon is only receiving a single earring from each
of the slain Midianites, keep in mind there could have been something up to
135,000 earrings!
: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.
:27 an ephod
– ‘ephowd – ephod; priestly garment, shoulder-cape or mantle, outer garment.
Some think it would have been something like a “breast plate”.
Though Gideon may have done this as a way of commemorating the victory and
remembering God, the people ended up worshipping this thing.
Gill: The Jewish commentators generally understand this ephod to be
made as a memorial of the great salvation God had wrought by His hands for
Israel, and of the wonderful things done by Him.
The way this is described, it doesn’t seem that Gideon is at fault
here. The problem wasn’t in Gideon making the ephod, the problem came with the
importance that the people put on it. Apparently, somewhere along the way, the
people looked at this ephod in an unhealthy way.
Lesson
Finish well
It’s not just important that we face the big crises and battles well by
trusting in the Lord. It’s important that we continue to walk with the Lord,
day in and day out.
(1 Co
9:24–27 NKJV) —24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one
receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone
who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it
to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run
thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body
and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself
should become disqualified.
Illustration
“The Race Track”
Charlie was a regular visitor at the racetrack. One afternoon he
noticed an unusual sight. Right before the first race, a Catholic priest
visited one of the horses in the stable area and gave it a blessing. Charlie
watched the horse race very carefully, and sure enough the blessed horse came
in first! Charlie followed the priest before the next race, and again he went
to the stables and performed a similar procedure. Charlie played hunch and put
a couple of dollars on the blessed horse. Sure enough the blessed horse came in
by two lengths and Charlie won close to fifty bucks! The priest continued the
same procedure through the next few races and Charlie won each time. He was now
ahead $1000, so between races Charlie left the track and went to the bank and withdraw
his life’s savings $20,000. The biggest race of the day was the last one.
Charlie followed the priest and watched carefully which horse he blessed. He
then went to the betting window and put his whole $21,000 bundle of cash on
that horse to win. Then Charlie went out to watch the horses race. Down the
stretch they came, and as they crossed the finish line, the horse Charlie’s
fortune was bet on was dead last! Charlie was crushed. He located the priest
and told him that he had been watching him bless the horses all day, and they
all became winners except the last horse on which he had bet his life savings.
Charlie then asked, “What happened to the last horse which you blessed? Why
didn’t it win like the others?” “That’s the trouble with you Protestants,”
sighed the priest. “You can never tell the difference between a blessing and
the Last Rites.”
Charlie started well, but he didn’t finish well!
:28 Thus Midian
was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no
more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.
:28 quiet for forty
years
This will be the last time of peace that Israel will experience in the book
of Judges. The following two judges (Jephthah, Samson) did not bring a period
of peace.
:29 Then Jerubbaal
the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
:30 Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many
wives.
:31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose
name he called Abimelech.
:31 Abimelech
– “my father is king”
Apparently, Gideon had 70 “legitimate” children from his many wives. But
because Abimelech was the son of a “concubine” (Josephus says her name was
“Drumah”), he wouldn’t have had the full status of a son of one of Gideon’s
wives. We’ll see Abimelech in the next chapter.
:32 Now Gideon
the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash
his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
:33 So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel
again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god.
:33 Baalberith – Ba‘al B@riyth
– “lord of the covenant; a god of the Philistines
:34 Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them
from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
:35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in
accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Once again, the cycle starts all over again.