Today's reading concludes Gideon's fight against the Midianites with his army of only 300 men. The Israelites wish to make Gideon their king but he refuses and also refuses to allow anyone in his family be named king. He lives another 40 years, and Israel enjoys peace during that time. Unfortunately, as soon as Gideon dies, the people begin worshiping Baal and forgot about the Lord. One of Gideon's sons, Abimelech, kills his 70 brothers and starts a rebellion that costs many lives. In the end of chapter 9, Abimelech is killed and the fighting is over.
One part definitely stood out to me. In Judges 8:24-27, after Gideon turns down the kingship, he requests that everyone give him an earring from their share of the plunder. He uses the gold from the earrings to make an ephod that he placed in his town. Then the second part of verse 27 says: "All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family."
Yesterday we read that Gideon was instructed by the angel of the Lord to tear down his father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole. Then he was to replace it with an altar to the Lord. Gideon was told to get rid of the sin in his life and replace it with an altar used to worship the one true God. If Gideon was already instructed to get rid of all things that got in the way of worshiping God, then why did he build something that became a snare for him and his whole family?! It is a reminder of how easy it is to be deceived and fall into the trap of sin. The angel of the Lord called Gideon a mighty warrior, but even mighty warriors become ensnared by sin when they take their eyes off the Lord and don't follow His ways. If Gideon, who had just won a major battle with God on his side, could so quickly go back to the ways of his former self, then how easy could it be for all of us to fall in the same trap?
Yesterday, Ruth called us mighty warriors and said the battle we are fighting is against sin. It is definitely appropriate to call our relationship with sin a battle. Even if we win one fight, there could still be another one waiting for us. And then another one and then another one and then another one. I encourage you to remember Gideon, that just because one fight is over doesn't mean there is not another one waiting for you. Don't lose sight of God's ways and don't give in to the temptation of going back to your former self. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
On a totally unrelated note, I think anyone who says reading the Bible is boring has obviously never read Judges 9:50-54. A woman dropped a milestone on Abimelech's head. In the last moments of his life, he was more concerned about possible ridicule for being killed by a woman than the fact that we was DYING!!! That part definitely made me laugh out loud!
No comments:
Post a Comment