April 2nd

Today's reading from the One Year Chronological Reading Plan is Judges 7-9:21.

Commentaries on today's passage from Bible.org
When Less is More (Judges 6:36-7:23)
When More is Less (Judges 7:23-8:32)
When Government is God's Judgement (Judges 8:33-9:21)

Though it took a long time, I learned a lot from reading through those commentaries. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just don't make the connections between different historical landmarks mentioned in the Bible - maybe because the names are so strange. The significance of such things as the number 70, Mount Gerizim and the oak tree are explored for some interesting reading.

Anyway, the passage starts with Gideon, after needing some major convincing to lead his army, having to whittle down what he thinks is an already small army. God wants to make sure that no one can take the glory for the victory that is to come. He uses only 300 men and, again, some interesting weapons of choice (torches, jars and trumpets?!) - there is no doubt that the glory is God's alone.

However, instead of setting the Ephraimites straight about why so few men were sent to fight, Gideon turns politician and smooths things over - and in fact asks for men to join in the fight, though God made it clear that there were to be very few men fighting this battle. He also seems to turn into a man of revenge and we later find out the reason why - he is revenging the deaths of his brothers (8:19).

He then declines the kingship verbally, but he then acts as king - he asks for gifts, sets up an idol (a stark contrast to when he previously destroyed the Baal altar and Asherah pole to build a new altar to the Lord in 6:27), develops an enormous harem and names one of his sons Abimilech which means "my father is king".

What went wrong? What happened to Gideon?

Victory and vengeance.

Satan's attacks often come after a victory. It is hard for humans to handle success - our pride can be a terrible thing. We are quick to give ourselves the credit instead of God. We cannot focus on both ourselves and God at the same time. You can only serve one master.

Bitterness and vengeance is like a cancer in the soul. It crowds out any good that is there. Allowing bitterness to gain a foothold in your life is a mistake, that foothold will soon become a stronghold, taking root in your soul.

As one of the above commentaries stated, Gideon started out like a Moses (doubting himself and having to trust in God alone for strength) and ended up like an Aaron (buildling an idol). What a reminder that our present and future success is not guaranteed by our past successes. God is not looking for "one hit wonders". He's looking for faithful followers. If we fail, we need to acknowledge or failure in repentence and then pick ourselves up and get back in the fight. We need to continue to run the race, continue to strive to finish well. So that in the end we can hear "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Tomorrow's passage: Judges 9:22-11:28