Judges Part 8

VIII. Judges 8. A. vs. 1-9. 1. In the thick of Gideon’s victorious “evangelism” campaign of converting the Midianites to reduction and death, Gideon must deal with trouble in the church. c/w ACT 14:27-28; 15:1-2. 2. The first grief was from Ephraim who had just had the glory of slaying two princes of Midian. v. 1 c/w JDG 7:24-25. a. This was a peevish reaction born of envy and vainglory. ct/w PHIL 2:3. b. Gideon was of Manasseh (JDG 6:15), Ephraim’s brother and they had a long history of brotherly contention. ISA 9:21. c. Right works are not uncommonly envied (ECC 4:4) and hatred often gained as much by good works as by evil works. d. Gideon wisely gives them a soft answer. vs. 2-3 c/w PRO 15:1; 25:11. e. Gideon didn’t even bring up the fact that Ephraim didn’t successfully block the escape of 15,000 Midianites. v. 10. f. Christ teaches us to absorb slights and consider forbearance, forgiveness. MAT 5:38-42; COL 3:13. Judges 6-26-25 Page 13  3. Gideon and his men did not let faintness stop them. v. 4 c/w 2SAM 23:10; PSA 18:37. a. Reaping will come to well-doers who faint not. GAL 6:9. b. Having a true perspective of our troubles helps us stave off fainting. HEB 12:2-4. c. (PRO 24:10) If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. d. Faithful saints will find that God bears them up through times when they think their strength is gone. ISA 40:31; 2CO 12:9. e. Mind that Gideon was not on a recruiting mission: he was moving ahead with the 300 that God said would be used for deliverance (JDG 7:7). His faith was being proved by his works. JAM 2:18. 4. The men of Succoth and Penuel out of self-interest refused to support this good man in his good venture with sustenance. vs. 5-9 c/w 1SAM 25:10-11. a. They evidently thought that soldiers fighting for the public good should do so of their own charges. c/w 1CO 9:7. b. Those who do not support a godly work with their persons should at least support it with their provisions. PHIL 4:15-16. c. Gideon’s faith is also seen in that he doesn’t say, “...If I come again...” but “...when...” (vs. 7, 9). He has complete faith in God to secure him to victory and return. c/w ACT 2:27; JOH 14:1-3. d. And he wouldn’t spare. c/w 2TH 1:7-9. B. vs. 10-17. 1. Zebah, Zalmunna and the remnant of their host had assumed themselves secure in Karkor. vs. 10-12. a. Karkor means foundation. Be mindful of your foundation. MAT 7:26-27. b. They falsely assumed themselves secure and suddenly found out otherwise. c/w JDG 18:27. c. If the house of God on earth is the gate of heaven (GEN 28:17), the gates of hell (MAT 16:18) might well be false religious systems, especially antichrist systems which pose as secure havens for the persecutors of the true church. Such are the last places for the children of God to find security. REV 18:4. d. We should ever beware of assuming security because our unrepentance has not yet yielded judgment. ECC 8:11 c/w ROM 2:4-6. e. “The security of sinners often proves their ruin, and dangers are most fatal when least feared.” (Matthew Henry) f. Unbelieving Israel has falsely assumed security in their “God’s chosen people” rhetoric and wealth for thousands of years in spite of severe wake- up calls. g. Mind that Gideon and his men, being denied sustenance, still pursued while faint, and cleaned up! v. 12. 2. Chickens came home to roost for Succoth and Penuel. vs. 13-17. a. Gideon severely chastened the men of Succoth and it was very educational. c/w PRO 29:15. b. “Our blessed Saviour, though he was a Son, yet learnt obedience by the things which he suffered, Heb 5:8. Let every pricking brier, and grieving thorn, especially when it becomes a thorn in the flesh, be thus interpreted, thus improved. ‘By this God designs to teach me; what good lesson shall I learn?’ ” (Matthew Henry) c. The men of Penuel sought refuge in the wrong tower (v. 17 ct/w PSA 18:2). Judges 6-26-25 Page 14  There is no threat of sin or judgment in Christ, only when we are out of Christ and in the flesh. 1JO 3:6. C. vs. 18-21. 1. Zebah and Zalmunna must answer for their crimes, which included the slaying of Gideon’s brothers, possibly back in JDG 6:2-3. Tabor means mound. a. “...each one resembled the children of a king.” It should be hoped that if we must suffer in the flesh, that it be because we resembled our King. 1PE 4:15-16. b. For some reason, Gideon said he would not slay them had they not attacked his family. Why? (1) This is bordering on partiality in judgment. God is no respecter of persons. DEU 10:17 c/w 1TI 5:21. (2) It is possible that Gideon was not dealing with them as prisoners of war here but as murderers for which he acted as the avenger of blood. DEU 19:11-12. c. We should mortify all sin in our members, no exceptions, and especially no exceptions for the ones that are personally dear to us. 2. Gideon’s firstborn son was still young and not yet tempered for the role of executioner, so Gideon slew them. a. The church is to set them to judge who are least esteemed, not least wise, fit or experienced. 1CO 6:4. b. The church, being scoffed at by an unbelieving world which sees it as a weak, foolish entity and esteems it lightly, is nonetheless where saints should be resolving small issues of conflict. 1CO 6:5-7. D. vs. 22-23. 1. Israel offered to make Gideon their universal ruler, a prelude to their errant design which happened in Samuel’s day. 1SAM 8:6-7. 2. Gideon refused the power, a rare self-restraint in history similar to the later Cincinnatus or Cromwell (upon whose tomb/coffer was apparently written, “Christ, not man, is King”). E. vs. 24-27. 1. Apparently, the Midianites really pimped out their rides. 2. If you are wondering how much 1700 shekels of gold was, it was 34000 gerahs. EXO 30:13. 3. Gideon slipped in that he made an ephod (priestly vestment which for Israel’s high priest was the holder of the oracle stones, Urim and Thummim, which were used to determine the mind of God). c/w 1SAM 23:9; 30:7. a. Even if Gideon’s intentions were noble, it proved to be a snare for himself and for Israel, likely being used for idolatrous divination as did the heathen. c/w JDG 17:5. b. Even when God once ordered a brass serpent to be made, it later became an object of worship that had to be destroyed. NUM 21:8-9 c/w 2KI 18:4. c. Religious icons, images, etc. are fraught with potential snares of idolatry which is to be fled, not fed. 1CO 10:14. F. vs. 28-35. 1. Midian was subdued and their destruction was celebrated in PSA 83. 2. While Gideon lived, Israel walked uprightly. But when he died, they promptly forgot him, his family, and their God. Such are the ways of those who will only be good while under the eye of a good man. ct/w PHIL 2:12; PRO 6:6-8. Judges 6-26-25 Page 15