Gideon - Part 11

Gideon's legacy

Judges 8v28-35

18^th September 2015

For 9 weeks, we studied Judges 6v1-8v21, which tell us about God's call to Gideon to rise up and fight the Midianite invaders, and the great military victory God achieved through him. Last time, we looked at Judges 8v22-27, when Gideon resisted the temptation to become king of Israel, because he knew that God is Israel's king, but succumbed to the temptation to make a golden idol. The Bible describes the rest of his life is just a few words:

Judges 8v28-32
Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land had peace forty years. Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.
Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon had only one achievement to his name, but it was a magnificent achievement. Because of his faith and obedience, Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. The Midianite oppression was over. Of course, the victory was God's really, but Gideon had a role to play and, despite his humble beginnings, lack of self-confidence and difficulty in trusting God, he did what he was called to do, leading the Israelite army into battle. Because of his obedience, the land had peace forty years. Gideon's victory is an example for us, who may also have a rather shaky faith in God. Gideon achieved what he did because he used such faith as he had, he prayed when he wasn't sure, and he asked God for reassurance when he needed it, even if we might think he shouldn't have needed it.

All we're told about the next 40 years is that the land had peace at that time. It may be that Gideon had other achievements but the Bible doesn't tell us about them. It seems that the rest of Gideon's live were rather uneventful, apart from the idol worship at the shrine he'd set up in his home town of Ophrah. The military defeat of the Midianite army was the defining moment of his career.

Those among us who have not achieved nearly so much as Gideon should hesitate to judge him, but the only other thing the book of Judges tells us about those years is that he went back home to live and had many wives who gave him seventy sons and a concubine who gave him another. We get the impression that this was his main preoccupation, but other Old Testament heroes had several wives and many children. We don't know how big David's family became but we're told that "After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons were born to him" (2 Samuel 5v13) almost as if the writer of 2 Samuel couldn't be bothered to count them all, but David brought the ark back to Jerusalem, brought a new emphasis to tabernacle worship, and extended Israelite rule over neighbouring territories. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and still found the time to rule an empire, sit as a judge, develop a reputation for great wisdom, amass a huge fortune and build the temple in Jerusalem.

Eventually, after what appear to have been 40 wasted and idolatrous years, Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. As soon as he was buried, Israel reverted to wickedness. Gideon, the deliverer of Israel under God, had set them a bad example by setting up his ephod for them to worship. They followed his example, and descended further into idolatry:

Judges 8v33-35
No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.

The first duty of a Christian leader is to set a good example to his followers. We should heed Jesus's words in Mark 9v42, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck". In 1 Corinthians 4v16, Paul says, "I urge you to imitate me". He was confident his example was a good one. No matter how much we achieve in our lifetime, it will be undone if we teach our followers to behave in ungodly ways.

As well as turning away from God, the Israelites failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them. By encouraging the people to worship an idol, he'd contributed to the perverting of their hearts, and their perverseness worked against his own family.

Worse was to follow. We can read in Judges 9 that Abimelech, the son Gideon had with his concubine, murdered Gideon's 70 legitimate sons and claimed the leadership of Israel for himself. Three years later, Abimelech waskilled when the people rebelled against him.

We can never know what would have happened had we acted differently, but Gideon's legacy would surely have been enormously better had he refused to mix his godly deeds with idolatry and sexual indulgence. May God give us courage and repentance to continue to live godly lives for the sake of God's people and our own families.