Judges 8-9
An Overview of Chapter 8
The warriors of Ephraim were jealous that Gideon had been successful in fighting Midian and complained to Gideon because he didn’t invite them to the war. Gideon told them they would be more famous than him because they captured the two kings, Oreb and Zeeb. Gideon and his 300 men continued to chase the Midianites and as they passed through the towns of Succoth and Penuel the leaders of those towns refused to feed Gideon’s army. Gideon promised to harm them after he finished off Midian. Gideon destroyed the rest of the Midianite army then returned to the two cities that had refused to help him. He tortured and killed them.
After all of Gideon’s success the men of Israel asked Gideon to be their king, but he refused. Gideon took some of the spoil of the war and made a golden ephod (like tank top) and placed it in the city of Ophrah. Unfortunately the people began to worship the tank top. Gideon had many wives who bore him 70 sons and also a concubine who bore him a son named Abimelech. There was peace in Israel for 40 years, but as soon as Gideon died the people again worshipped the Baals.
An Overview of Chapter 9
Abimelech decided he didn’t want to compete with his half brothers to be king of Israel, so he made a deal with the people of Shechem and killed all of them except Jotham - Gideon’s youngest son. After Abimelech was made king, Jotham spoke a curse over the men of Shechem saying that if they had not acted with integrity in appointing Abimelech they would be destroyed by fire.
After Abimelech had reigned for three years, the Lord caused strife between the people of Shechem and Abimelech. A man named Gaal got drunk at a party and cursed Abimelech. Wanting to cause trouble the ruler of Shechem sent a message to Abimelech that Gaal was trying to get Shechem to overthrow Abimelech. Abimelech raised his army and destroyed Shechem and killed the leaders of Shechem in a fire (see curse of Jotham).
Abimelech then captured the city of Thebez, and many people hid in a tower. When Abimelech approached the tower a woman dropped a millstone on his head. Abimelech did not want to die at the hands of a woman so he had his servant finish him off.
Reflection
What silly things do you worship, or allow to take you away from God (TV, internet, friends, etc.)?
For Further Study
Shechem: Genesis 12:6, Genesis 33:18, Genesis 34:24-27, Joshua 21:20-21, Joshua 24:25, Psalm 108:7, Acts 7:16.
The warriors of Ephraim were jealous that Gideon had been successful in fighting Midian and complained to Gideon because he didn’t invite them to the war. Gideon told them they would be more famous than him because they captured the two kings, Oreb and Zeeb. Gideon and his 300 men continued to chase the Midianites and as they passed through the towns of Succoth and Penuel the leaders of those towns refused to feed Gideon’s army. Gideon promised to harm them after he finished off Midian. Gideon destroyed the rest of the Midianite army then returned to the two cities that had refused to help him. He tortured and killed them.
After all of Gideon’s success the men of Israel asked Gideon to be their king, but he refused. Gideon took some of the spoil of the war and made a golden ephod (like tank top) and placed it in the city of Ophrah. Unfortunately the people began to worship the tank top. Gideon had many wives who bore him 70 sons and also a concubine who bore him a son named Abimelech. There was peace in Israel for 40 years, but as soon as Gideon died the people again worshipped the Baals.
An Overview of Chapter 9
Abimelech decided he didn’t want to compete with his half brothers to be king of Israel, so he made a deal with the people of Shechem and killed all of them except Jotham - Gideon’s youngest son. After Abimelech was made king, Jotham spoke a curse over the men of Shechem saying that if they had not acted with integrity in appointing Abimelech they would be destroyed by fire.
After Abimelech had reigned for three years, the Lord caused strife between the people of Shechem and Abimelech. A man named Gaal got drunk at a party and cursed Abimelech. Wanting to cause trouble the ruler of Shechem sent a message to Abimelech that Gaal was trying to get Shechem to overthrow Abimelech. Abimelech raised his army and destroyed Shechem and killed the leaders of Shechem in a fire (see curse of Jotham).
Abimelech then captured the city of Thebez, and many people hid in a tower. When Abimelech approached the tower a woman dropped a millstone on his head. Abimelech did not want to die at the hands of a woman so he had his servant finish him off.
Reflection
What silly things do you worship, or allow to take you away from God (TV, internet, friends, etc.)?
For Further Study
Shechem: Genesis 12:6, Genesis 33:18, Genesis 34:24-27, Joshua 21:20-21, Joshua 24:25, Psalm 108:7, Acts 7:16.
posted by Shaun Sells | 9:10 AM
4 Comments:
Pastor, it mentions that the ephod "became a snare to Gideon and his household"... do you have a moment to share what this might mean?
Thanks,
Michael
The NAS says that "all Israel played the harlot with it." It would seem then that they were worshipping it as they did with the Golden Calf. My guess is this was a source of pride for Gideon which took his focus off of the Lord the remaining years of his life. Perhaps, if he had been focused on God, he would not have had a child with his concubine who later slaughtered his whole family. This is pure speculation, but parents are instructed to teach their children and obviously Gideon's son Abimelech was not one who followed the ten commandments.
I would also direct you to an excellent interpretation given by Matthew Henry:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1143132107-9256.html
It should also be noted that the name Abimelech means "my father is king" and Gideon himself choose that name for him even though Gideon refused to be the king of Israel in Judges 8:22.
Thank you for answering and your faithfulness!
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