Judges 8 Gideon's Snare

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Judges 8:22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23 But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

25 They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,(b) not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.​

b. Judges 8:26 That is, about 43 pounds or about 20 kilograms

This is from bibletrack.org.

Israel's pretty tickled that Gideon has delivered them from the Midianites; they roll out the red carpet (metaphorically speaking). They offer him what sounds like a kingship to me, but he refuses. Instead, he asks for the earrings from the captured booty. He then makes a replica of the high priests apron (ephod) and puts it on display in his hometown of Ophrah. Why? Was he trying to compete with Shiloh (where the ark of the covenant was located) as an alternative place of worship? Who knows, but it did become problematic; it seems those Hebrews were willing to worship just about anything. However, Gideon's brave leadership had brought Israel 40 years of peace.​

Oh this is a precious little story. Gideon didn't want to be worshiped. He didn't want to be king or judge. He only wanted to serve God.

IMHO... when Gideon fabricated that ephod.... he was making something to honor the Lord. After all, God had led him into miraculous victories. Gideon knew God was the real hero at those battles... so he made something to honor God.... but those magpie humans turned it into something like Aaron's golden calf.

Those Israelites were magpies. Any shiny new idol had a magnetic pull to them. If God had made Himself out of shiny medal, they would have never strayed..... magpies....

:coffee:
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Just wanted to say thanks for posting scripture every day. I read all your posts. It is like a gift every day. Merry Christmas. :smile:
 

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to say thanks for posting scripture every day. I read all your posts. It is like a gift every day. Merry Christmas. :smile:

Thanks Merry Christmas.... I don't want to get a Gideon head.... so I'll just say... My pleasure... thank you for reading.... it keeps me studying...

:coffee:
 
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