Gideon Part 3First a recap from last week.
Recap Part 2 - The Preparation and the Battle
- Gideon was called from the poorest tribe and was the least thought of in his family to save Israel, but he was not like David excited at the prospect of defeating a giant, he was KFC
- God loves to choose the weak, the nerds, the least qualified - so that no-one can boast - stay humble
- Apart from the Lord, you can’t do a thing
- Build to the standard and don’t take shortcuts !
- Be firm and trust the Lord that he will do what he’s called you to
Then Gideon sent for the troops of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh and told them to come and chase and destroy the fleeing army of Midian. Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim summoning troops who seized the fords of the Jordan River at Beth-barah, thus preventing the Midianites from escaping by going across. Oreb and Zeeb, the two generals of Midian, were captured. Oreb was killed at the rock now known by his name, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, as it is now called; and the Israelis took the heads of Oreb and Zeeb across the Jordan to Gideon.
Judges 7:23-25
They killed the generals, it was checkmate of the men at the top - the kings... Rousing music, The End, fade out... Suddenly the words 40 years later appear on the screen...
The Legacy
Do you like those movies such as The Usual Suspects, Slumdog Millionaire or Titanic where the end is at the beginning and then you see how the ending came about in flashbacks.
That is the true account of how Midian was subdued by Israel. Midian never recovered, and the land was at peace for forty years—all during Gideon’s lifetime. He returned home and eventually had seventy sons, for he married many wives. He also had a concubine in Shechem, who presented him with a son named Abimelech.
Judges 8:28-31
Gideon finally died, an old, old man, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father, Joash, in Ophrah, in the land of the Abiezrites. But as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis began to worship the idols Baal and Baal-berith. They no longer considered the Lord as their God, though he had rescued them from all their enemies on every side. Nor did they show any kindness to the family of Gideon despite all he had done for them.
Judges 8:32-35
Just winning that one battle had brought peace in Israel for 40 years, the remainder of Gideon’s lifetime. Letting the Lord be King in our lives brings peace. But the conclusion to Gideon’s story leaves us with a question of why. Despite 40 years of peace after the battle Gideon won over the Midianites, why did the Israelites immediately abandon good for evil. I’m sure our forefathers who fought in World War II would ask the same question of our generation. How can we avoid the next generation going to waste ? What lessons can we learn from Gideon’s story that will help us leave a better legacy.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Proverbs 4:26
Remember in the first week we recalled that in New Zealand we used to give God his due respect In our law, in our culture and at least we tried to keep to his path. Split Enz used to sing -
"Don’t look to the left, don’t look to the right, just follow that straight old line"
That was us in NZ.
Well a wrong turn here or there and by the end of the day we are well off the main track and lost in the bush. Care must be taken to stay on the main track. It can be difficult in places but it is the only way to get to the destination and if we miss a marker or try another way we are putting ourselves in danger, and could end up fighting for survival.
So in this final episode, we start with a flashback to the closing battle scenes with emphatic victory in sight. Everyone wanted a piece of the action, here come the glory boys...
But the tribal leaders of Ephraim were violently angry with Gideon. “Why didn’t you send for us when you first went out to fight the Midianites?” they demanded. But Gideon replied, “God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army of Midian! What have I done in comparison with that? Your actions at the end of the battle were more important than ours at the beginning!” So they calmed down.
Judges 8:1-3
The guys from Ephraim had been practically useless, they did very little to contribute to the victory but they wanted to share in the glory. Sometimes it is wiser to hold your tongue, blow some smoke and play to the gallery otherwise you may jeopardise the whole mission. Gideon leaves them standing there patting themselves on the back.
Gideon now crossed the Jordan River with his three hundred men. They were very tired, but still chasing the enemy. He asked the men of Succoth for food. “We are weary from chasing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian,” he said. But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You haven’t caught them yet! If we feed you and you fail, they’ll return and destroy us.” Then Gideon warned them, “When the Lord has delivered them to us, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.” Then he went up to Penuel and asked for food there, but got the same answer. And he said to them also, “When this is all over, I will return and break down this tower.”
Judges 8:4-9
Still just the valiant 301. Gideon took note.
Often there are just a few fighting the great battles, we have some in our Church at PCC fighting here in Papatoetoe, in South Auckland, in New Zealand and in the Pacific Islands. They need support. As Jesus said to those he sent on a Mission;
The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit later. These were his instructions to them: “Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers to help you, for the harvest is so plentiful and the workers so few. Luke 10:1-2
Completing the Mission is so much easier with more workers, this is something Jesus said to plead about, if we want to leave a legacy, we don’t want to leave unfinished business. When we go to Brittany this time, its my hope we will be an answer to some Breton Christians prayers !
By this time King Zebah and King Zalmunna with a remnant of fifteen thousand troops were in Karkor. That was all that was left of the allied armies of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand had already been killed. Then Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, striking at the Midianite army in surprise raids. The two kings fled, but Gideon chased and captured them, routing their entire force.
Judges 8:10-12
Armageddon. All the enemy dead, except the 2 kings who were now captured.
Later, Gideon returned by way of Heres Pass. There he captured a young fellow from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven political and religious leaders of the city. He then returned to Succoth. “You taunted me that I would never catch King Zebah and King Zalmunna, and you refused to give us food when we were tired and hungry,” he said. “Well, here they are!” Then he took the leaders of the city and scraped them to death with wild thorns and briars. He also went to Penuel and knocked down the city tower and killed the entire male population. Judges 8:13-17
You cannot sit on a fence watching a war. Choose you this day.
Then Gideon asked King Zebah and King Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?” They replied, “They were dressed just like you—like sons of kings!” “They must have been my brothers!” Gideon exclaimed. “I swear that if you hadn’t killed them I wouldn’t kill you.” Then, turning to Jether, his oldest son, he instructed him to kill them. But the boy was only a lad and was afraid to. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “You do it; we’d rather be killed by a man!” So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments from their camels’ necks.
Judges 8:18-21
There’s only so much a leader can delegate. Some times you need the Executive Decision to finish the job. Gideon’s Mission had been a complete triumph, all the Midianite army including their leadership was wiped out. 300 trumpets were ready to announce a new king.
Now the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Be our king! You and your sons and all your descendants shall be our rulers, for you have saved us from Midian.” But Gideon replied, “I will not be your king, nor shall my son; the Lord is your King!
Judges 8:22-23
Israel had not had a central leader since Joshua. Gideon had mobilised Israel to defeat the enemy and was the obvious candidate. When the people wanted to make him King, Gideon declined saying that the Lord is King.
This for me is the key moment in the story. Gideon was not ambitious for power, he preferred to stay in the background. It’s true, he probably didn’t want the pressure of leading the country and he was wise to say the Lord is King. Gideon recognised that it was not him who had won the battle and he maintained his humility. Never forget that our success comes from the Lord, it is not us who does it !
So Gideon made a good choice to choose the family life over wealth and power. Some time ago, I read one of the Man in the Mirror books where Patrick Morley drew a chart. On one scale was wealth and the other family. They were mutually exclusive. The more you pursued the wealth, the less time for family and vice versa. It says in Proverbs;
If you must choose, take a good name rather than great riches; for to be held in loving esteem is better than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:1
Many Christians take the low road and decline opportunities of worldly influence. Power is an aphrodisiac and a trap for many. In the film Amazing Grace, William Wilberforce is an MP who becomes a Christian and decides to leave politics to study theology. His friend the future Prime Minister William Pitt persuades William Wilberforce to continue in Parliament to bring about the abolition of Slavery and thank God he did.
There is another side to Gideon’s story. What if he had risked it all and not taken the early retirement. Even though the Midianites were defeated, there were still the other occupiers like the Philistines. There were still parts of the Promised Land to be won. Gideon was the Mighty Warrior, he could have done it and left a greater legacy. It’s interesting to consider what would have happened if Gideon had accepted the opportunity, he would have created a new dynasty from him and his sons that would have changed the course of history to this day. No Saul, no David. So perhaps this is why it couldn’t happen. Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh, where as the Messiah was prophesied to come from Judah.
So the Lord’s hand was over the situation and despite our weaknesses and failures to grasp opportunities the Lord sends, the Lord is very patient and gracious and will bring about his purposes.
However, I have one request. Give me all the earrings collected from your fallen foes”—for the troops of Midian, being Ishmtaelites, all wore gold earrings. “Gladly!” they replied, and spread out a sheet for everyone to throw in the gold earrings he had gathered. Their value was estimated at $25,000, not including the crescents and pendants, or the royal clothing of the kings, or the chains around the camels’ necks.
Judges 8:24-26
The Midianites were descendants of Ishmael the older brother of Isaac. What a strange army they were with their gold earrings and gold chains around their camels necks. The bling bling army who were just a bunch of pretty boy bullies. When their enemy fought back, they ran away in terror to the sound of their rattling gold chains and earrings.
Gideon made an ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But all Israel soon began worshiping it, so it became an evil deed that Gideon and his family did.
Judges 8:27
The ephod was something the priest wore and had a prescribed design and purpose as given in the Lord’s instruction to Moses. The priests were from the tribe of Levi, Gideon was from Manasseh, he had no business with a gold ephod. The Lord had not told Gideon to make a gold ephod, why did Gideon do it ? The people of his hometown had been worshipping idols so placing a gold ephod in the town was akin to building a bar at the home of an alcoholic. It was simply a bad idea. This was the very sin that had led to God’s judgment in the first place and sadly became part of his legacy.
Gideon’s motivation was also dubious. We need to be careful about building monuments to our successes. We need to be more like John the Baptist if we want the next generation to succeed, preparing them for the handover;
John replied, “God in heaven appoints each man’s work. My work is to prepare the way for that man so that everyone will go to him. You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him—that is all. The crowds will naturally go to the main attraction —the bride will go where the bridegroom is! A bridegroom’s friends rejoice with him. I am the Bridegroom’s friend, and I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
John 3:27-30
We have arrived at the place where we began, 40 years pass peacefully;
Gideon won a great victory and he obtained hero status and had many wives and sons and they loved in peace for 40 years. But our happy ever after is waiting when we die, we can endure a little hardship now. Gideon still had a good 40 years left. Why rest on our laurels when there is a greater legacy we can leave behind. Don’t take the early retirement ! Our greatest victory will be to prepare the next generation to carry on the Lord’s work. It’s not about us.
But the godly shall flourish like palm trees and grow tall as the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord’s own garden and are under his personal care. Even in old age they will still produce fruit and be vital and green. This honors the Lord and exhibits his faithful care. He is my shelter. There is nothing but goodness in him!
Psalm 92:12-15
To finish, I’d like to share one legacy, the kind we’d all like to leave behind 😊 Jonathan Edwards the great preacher during the First Awakening of the 1700’s was married to Sara. The Edwards were blessed with 11 kids. Every night Mr. Edwards was home, he would sit in his chair for one hour with his kids. Every night, the Edwards gave their children a small devotion, had conversation and prayed blessing over their children. In 1900, A.E. Winsup tracked down 400 descendants of Mr. & Mrs. Edwards to find:
- 285 college graduates
- 300 preachers
- 13 noted authors
- 13 college presidents
- 65 professors
- 100 lawyers
- 1 dean of a law school
- 30 judges
- 56 doctors
- 1 dean of a medical school
- 80 holders of office
- 3 U.S. Senators
- 1 Vice-President of the U.S
- 1 Controller for the U.S. Treasury
