Passage: Judges 8-9

On Friday, March 30, 2012 (Last Updated on 3/30/2013), Yujin wrote,

But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you! However, I do have one request—that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.) (Judges 8:23, 24 NLT)

Gideon demonstrates spiritual maturity, wisdom and humility in his response to the people: "I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you!" But he goes on and says, "However, I do have one request..." It was like an afterthought.

Achan too had an afterthought. After he and the armies of Israel defeated Jericho in obedience to God, he saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins and a bar of gold. And he thought to himself, surely no one would miss this small treasure if I took this for myself. But his sin threatened the destruction of all of Israel and destroyed him and his family. You can read the account in Joshua 7.

Lot's wife had an afterthought. When the angels delivered Lot and his wife from the destruction of Sodom, where they lived, Lot's wife turned to look back at the destruction. And she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

King Saul had an afterthought. After completely destroying the Amalekites in obedience to God, he decided to keep some of the best animals alive. God took away his kingship. You can read the account in 1 Samuel 15.

When Elisha healed Naaman, the captain of the Aramean army, of leprosy, Elisha refused the treasures Naaman offered to him. But Elisha's servant, Gehazi, had an afterthought. He followed Naaman and requested seventy pounds of silver and two sets of clothing. As a result, Gehazi and his descendants were cursed with a perpetual leprosy.

Friends, when we obey the LORD, when we honor Him, when we commit ourselves to Him, let us not have any afterthoughts. Let us not think of our former way of life. Let us not think that we can serve both God and ourselves. Instead, let us take this instruction from Hebrews to heart:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while,the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith.But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved. (Hebrews 10:36-39 NLT)

Let us persevere in singular faithfulness to the Lord without any afterthoughts about this world or this life. Let us not get caught up with career success, personal pleasures, or even family planning. As Paul also instructed,

What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31 NIV)

What is he saying? He is saying the same thing as John:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them... The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15, 17 NIV)

The Lord also taught us this:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23 NIV)

The other day, as I met with some friends to share the Scriptures, I was reminded that I need to be more alert and prayerful because I am just as susceptible as anyone, if not more so, to fall into sin. This is why Paul also wrote,

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:12, 13 NIV)

In other words, it is not a foregone conclusion that we will sin every time or that we will forget the Lord with these afterthoughts. No, we are called to be alert and persevere in godliness. Therefore, dear friends, join with me in battling our sinful natures, persevering in the pursuit of holiness, and entrusting ourselves to the grace that will finally free us from our bondage and fight.

Passage: Judges 8-9

On Thursday, March 31, 2011, Unmi wrote,

As I read chapters 8-9, I thought that the story about the trees was interesting...and this is my understanding:

When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’ “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ (Judges 9:7-15)

The olive tree, fig tree and vine are three different trees that produce three different fruit, each fruit having its own special purpose. These trees understand what their primary role is in serving "both gods and humans" and decide not to give up their position in order to become "king of the trees." These trees represent people who understand and acknowledge the role God that has given them in this life and produce "fruit" abundantly for the benefit of man and to please God. In this story, Gideon represents one of these good trees. He understood his role in this life as a servant of the Lord and refused to become king over the Israelites. “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.” (Judges 8:22-23)

The thornbush is different. Instead of produce good fruit, it only produces useless thorns. It is interesting that the thornbush tells the trees to come take refuge in his shade for a thornbush doesn't produce any shade, it is too small. The trees would have to sink themselves very low to the ground to get any shade from it. The only mighty thing that a thornbush can do is produce destructive fire. Even the great cedars of Lebanon can be destroyed by destructive wildfire from thornbushes. In this story, Abimelek represents the thornbush. Those who took refuge in him, the Shechemites, were destroyed by him. It is prophetic that the Shechemites were destroyed by a fire caused by branches that Abimelek cut down from trees. On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, “Quick! Do what you have seen me do!” So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died. (Judges 9:46-49)

As Christians, we each have God-given talents and abilities and should serve one another by bearing good fruit. Jesus himself, the King of Kings, said that He came to serve not to be served. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

Let us each examine the impact of our lives...Are people around us enjoying the fruits of our labor or are they being hurt by the "fire" we cause?

Passage: Judges 8-9

On Wednesday, March 30, 2011, Stephen wrote,

We see how disastrous it was when the Israelites departed from God. They first worshipped idol, and became self-asserted and then resulted in hatred and violence.

The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

After the miraculous victory over the Midianites, the Israelites were impressed with Gideon's leadership and want to make Gideon their king. But Gideon shows act of godly man by refusing to replace their true King, Adonai, with himself,

“I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”

However, right after he said above, he asks for the gold earrings from the plunder and has an ephod fabricated and publicly placed in his town, which becomes a stumbling block for the Israelites. As we already know how those priestly articles are supposed to be made according to Mosaic Law, God gave very detailed instructions what they are supposed to be made of and how to be made in Exodus 28:6-14:

Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of skilled hands. ⁷ It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be fastened. ⁸ Its skillfully woven waistband is to be like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen.
⁹ “Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel ¹⁰ in the order of their birth—six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other. ¹¹ Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings ¹² and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD. ¹³ Make gold filigree settings ¹⁴ and two braided chains of pure gold, like a rope, and attach the chains to the settings.

Gideon's word didn't align with hid action. The result was devastating. The Israelites prostituted themselves to the golden ephod, Baal, and eventually had no regard for Gideon's family. Even Gideon himself acted like a king and even took a Canaanite woman as a concubine whose son ended up killing 69 of his legitimate sons. Brothers and sisters! Let us heed God's instructions not to fall into the same snare by reading and meditating on His Word diligently. Let us ask for the spirit of discernment so that we may keep ourselves pure in His sight!

Passage: Judges 8-9

On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Matt wrote,

Upon Gideon's death the Israelites resort back to idol worship. This reminds me of how easy it is to base our decisions on our circumstance and less on our belief. Even with a leader who has a zeal for serving God and who holds the Israelites accountable, it appears they actually came to rely on Gideon and not God (nor their belief). This is purely a issue of self and not necessarily the leader. If we are not focused on growing closer to God and there is no spiritual growth we are in danger of exactly what happened and continues to happen to the Israelites. When the time comes for our self-accountability the decision made may be no different than like that of the Israelites when they resorted back to idolatry. Ultimately I am also reminded that the more we base our decisions on God's absolute truth (and not our circumstances) the more he is glorified and pleased by us.