The flow of the scriptures in Judges 8 is amazing! God goes before Gideon and gives him a glorious victory for Israel to the point that the Israelites come to Gideon and what to make him king, 8:22, he refuses. Gideon rejects their offer for him and his sons to rule over Israel and tells them that "the LORD will rule over you." Then it seems that in the same breath Gideon makes an unusual request, he asks for one gold earring from each Israelite. What does Gideon do with these earrings? Jdges 8:26-27 Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. My first thought was "are you insane Gideon?" "What in the world are you doing." The guy was just used in an incredible way by God and you don't even get to turn the page before he does something that is a snare to him and his family.
Speculation alert...Warning I am getting ready to speculate!
What was the purpose of the ephod in the tabernacle and eventually the temple?
Prior to the Babylonian exile, the ephod served as a means of revelation from God, especially concerning military operations. Abiathar the priest brought the ephod into David’s camp on one occasion for consulting the Lord (1 Sm 23:6–9; 30:7). [The priest wore the ephod while, seeking counsel from the Lord by means of the Urim and Thummim.]
During the period of the judges, the ephod was often misused, as by Gideon (Jgs 8:27), Micah (17:5), and Jonathan, grandson of Moses (18:30; cf. vv 14, 17, 20). Either the garment itself or an image that represented God, on which the garment was placed, was worshiped as the people sought revelation in a manner condemned by God. Household idols (teraphim) were also associated with this ungodly practice (17:5; Hos 3:4). Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (437). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
It was a sin, but it makes sense now...[speculation] Gideon wanted to make sure that he would continue to receive revelation from God that would help them against their enemies. For some reason he thought he needed an ephod for this to happen. FIRST notice that this was a snare to Gideon and his family and I believe that this opened the door to further sin after Gideon's death. We see in Judges 8:33-34 that "as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. 34 Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side." Among other things this included sexual immorality and human sacrifice, latter the Israelites would offer their children to Baal.
BAAL (Idol) Name of the most prominent Canaanite deity. As the god of fertility in the Canaanite pantheon (roster of gods), Baal’s sphere of influence included agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality. The word Baal occurs in the OT in combination with other terms, such as place-names (Baal-peor, Hos 9:10; Baal-hermon, Jgs 3:3), or with other adjuncts as in Baal-berith (Baal of the covenant, Jgs 8:33). Use of the name in connection with a local place-name may indicate a local cult of Baal worship.
Baal worship became prominent in the northern kingdom of Israel during the days of King Ahab (ninth century bc) when he married Jezebel of Tyre, a city in Phoenicia (1 Kgs 16:29–33; 18:19–40). It later infiltrated the kingdom of Judah when Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married King Jehoram of Judah (2 Kgs 8:17–18, 24–26). Places for worship of Baal were often high places in the hills consisting of an altar and a sacred tree, stone, or pillar (2 Kgs 23:5). The predominantly urban Phoenicians built temples to Baal; while Athaliah was queen of Judah, even Jerusalem had one (2 Chr 23:12–17).
In the Ugaritic epic material, Baal is pictured as descending into the netherworld, the domain of the god Mot. That descent was evidently part of a cycle intended to coincide with the cycle of seasons. In order to bring Baal up from the realm of Mot and thus ensure initiation of the fertile rainy season, the Canaanites engaged in orgiastic worship that included human sacrifice as well as sexual rites (Jer 7:31; 19:4–6). Sacred prostitutes evidently participated in the autumnal religious ritual. The worship of Baal was strongly condemned in the OT (Jgs 2:12–14; 3:7–8; Jer 19).
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (135). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
NOW what it that Gideon did? He was simply seeking revelation from God, right? Right...but he was seeking revelation from God in a manner that was sinful. Mark...why are you making a big deal about this? PLEASE LET THIS SINK IN, I CONFESS I AM STILL TRYING TO TURLY UNDERSTAND...LET ME COME AT IT THIS WAY...in our Psalm today in verse 8 the scriptures teach us that "You were a God who forgave them, but punished their misdeeds." YES WE ARE LIVING IN THE CHURCH AGE, WE ARE LIVING IN A TIME OF GRACE, PRAISE GOD, BUT TODAY THERE ARE STILL CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR SINS, WE ARE FORGIVEN, BUT YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE LAW OF THE HARVEST...YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW, GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!
Mark...what are you trying to say...spit is out man! Gideon thought he was seeking God by making an ephod...what have you made to seek God, who are you looking to, who am I looking to for revelation? Dr. Phil, Oprah, the Wall Street Journal and on and on. Maybe you are looking to a preacher, a Christian author...be careful, do not look to any man do not look to any book, but the bible. This is going to sound strange, but you even have to be careful with the bible! DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME...you don't have to be careful with it's content, but you must be careful with the way you seek to understand God's word. CONTEXT IS KING AND YOU ALWAYS INTERPRET THE OBSCURE PASSAGE IN THE LIGHT OF THE CLEAR! Meaning you don't make an orthodox teaching out of an obscure difficult passage.
BOTTOM LINE...SEEK GOD IN THE MANNER HE TEACHES!
Deut 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
1 Chron 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Deut 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deut 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deut 30:6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Matt 22:37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
Luke 10:27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus words today to us are profound and always true..."Why are you looking for the living among the dead?"
Father in heaven,
Forgive me for the countless times I have looked to others, to other things for direction and for the times I have looked to YOUR Word with a wrong heart attitude...forgive me! Father please enable me to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, to look to HIM, to behold HIS face in YOUR precious Word and be conformed to HIS image. Father please work this in a way that brings YOU glory and allows me to enter, walk in and live in the JOY of my Master. Fill me today with YOUR Holy Spirit, return unto me the JOY of YOUR salvation, enable me by YOUR spirit to delight myself in the LORD. YOU have promised that if I delight myself in the LORD YOU will give me the desires of my heart...thank YOU for allowing me to KNOW that when I delight in YOU, YOUR Spirit reveals that YOU and YOU alone CAN SATISFY THE DESIRES OF MY HEART...it is in delighting in YOU that I realize that nothing else can satisfy...as I delight in YOU I SEE AND BEHOLD THAT YOU ARE THE DESIRE OF MY HEART...THAT IS WHAT MY HEART AND EVERY HUMAN HEART WAS CREATED FOR...TO ENJOY YOU, TO DELIGHT IN YOU!
I long to live, breath, drink and spend my life in YOUR presence...help me!
love,
m