8

The record of the Lord's dealing with Gideon has been both challenging and inspiring. Each succeeding study has taken us ever higher. We could well anticipate the most exciting climax.

We have observed Gideon as he learned to humbly listen to the Lord. Developing the ability to patiently walk with the Lord. Demonstrating with ever increasing effectiveness what it means to both trust and obey the Lord.

The Lord had so graciously led his servant. Both guiding and correcting him. Teaching and training him. Through each of the succeeding experiences, He had moulded and equipped His servant. He made him a true leader according to His will and plan.

Thus Gideon became the man whom the Lord could use. Effectively! Powerfully.

The end result was victory! The Midianites were totally defeated and driven out of the land. The victory which the Lord had given His servant was complete and most decisive.

As the result of that resounding rout of the enemy, the people of Israel wanted to make Gideon their ruler. In fact, they asked Gideon to set his family up as the ruling dynasty for succeeding generations.

Gideon responded to this approach with true wisdom. "The LORD shall rule over you!" Not me! Not my sons! Not any mere man. "The LORD!"

It is at this point that we see Gideon at his greatest. Here he is revealed as a man who is genuinely worthy of our admiration. Fully deserving of praise. He is shown to be that kind of true leader who so definitely deserved the sincere acknowledgement of his people.

Here is a: Man! - as only God can make a man! Even here, all of the glory, all of the praise, all of the credit belongs to the Lord.

We must not focus too much on Gideon. Rather we must focus on the Lord who made Gideon what he was, at this moment.

If we focus on the man, rather than the Lord who made the man, we will inevitably be hurt! Especially, as we experience the unexpected events which were to follow.

Should we omit any reference to the tragic events which followed this moment? Should we be content to leave Gideon bathed in the glory of the victories won?

The events which followed are recorded in the Word of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit. We must realize that He reveals the following developments: for our benefit.

"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall!" (1 Corinthians 10: 11 - 12).

The People of Israel wanted to reward Gideon for his faithful service. They were convinced that he deserved significant acknowledgement. So, they offered him the position of being their ruler.

Gideon declined that honor. He knew that it belonged to the Lord, and only to Him.

It is at this point that we see Gideon at the peak of his personal and spiritual growth.

Gideon obviously believed that he did deserve some recognition and reward for all that he had done.

"And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites)."

This was Gideon's method of giving the Israelites the opportunity to express their gratitude.

The spoils of war were claimed by the victors. In this case, as the result of the total victory of the Israelites, those spoils would have been most extensive.

It was the cultural custom of the Midianities to wear golden earings. This was common among the nomadic deserts tribes, who were commonly referred to as Ishmaelites.

These earings would be only a very small part of the total amount of the spoils claimed. Thus, as the people were obviously so grateful, this request was insignificant. The actual cost to the people would be quite small.

Surely no one would ever have faulted Gideon for making this "reasonable" request!

It may have seemed that way. Yet that request held within it the seeds of tragic disaster! Both for Gideon and his family. Also, for the nation.

It is most important that, as Christians, we do understand the principles which were at work at this particular time.

It is not at all uncommon for people to handle the big challenges very well indeed. Gideon certainly did. Both in dealing with the threat of the Midianites. But also, when the people wanted him be to their ruler.

Both of those incidents were very significant tests. Especially of his loyalty to the Lord. He passed each test with flying colors.

But what happens when such big tests are followed by less significant tests? All too often the very people who triumphed in the big test, fail the lesser test!

The fact is, seemingly unimportant things can so easily trip us up and bring us down in failure!

We see this fact so dramatically illustrated in the following developments.

"And they answered, We will willingly give them! And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earings of his prey."

Thus we see how the people of Israel quite willingly, and freely responded to Gideon's request. They proceeded to spread a cloak on the ground. Everyone of them contributed all of the earings which they had taken.

This was the opportunity they had sought to express their appreciation to Gideon. They responded so very generously.

"And the weight of the golden earings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about the camels necks!"

The great enthusiasm of the people ensured a most dramatic result. The heap of gold earings proved to be much greater than we could have anticipated.

With the ever increasing growth of that heap of gold there was the ever increasing threat of a great catastrophe! It did not take very long for a most positive outcome to become dangerously negative!

How very accurately these events speak to human experience. There may be every evidence of a most positive situation. Then something is interjected which in itself appears insignificant and harmless. Yet, before you know what is happening, things begin to get out of control.

The forces of evil are always alert as they persistently seek to turn our victories into defeats! They urgently watch every development as they seek to find a point of weakness and vulnerability.

When they find that crucial point, they press their advantage to the utmost.

That happened in Gideon's case. It happens far too often today.

"And the weight of the golden earings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold."

That gold was, according to today's prices, in value in excess of three hundred thousand dollars!

"Besides ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks!"

The people gave in a way which can justly be described as: extravagant! What an expression of their great personal gratitude!

Was this more than Gideon had anticipated? Could this be the reason for the most unexpected turn of events?

Gideon had effectively resisted the temptation to grasp the political power when it was offered to him.

Was he unable to deal with the temptation of such great wealth? Especially as it was thrust on him so suddenly?

We really are not given the answers to that question. We do see that something took place in Gideon's heart and mind which had the most drastic results.

"And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing become a snare unto Gideon, and to his house."

What triggered this? It involved a most drastic change in Gideon's personal attitude. It had a very dramatic effect on his standard of values. It turned his priorities upside down!

What had happened to his once very vigilant attitude? The concern which was always alert to ensure that he was listening to the Word of the Lord. Even while he was intently watching for danger!

Something had effectively dulled his hearing. Blinded his eyes. Severely diminished his spiritual sensibilities.

He had permitted himself and his life to become so dangerously vulnerable! Not only him. But to his family also. The nation as well!

What happened to Gideon still happens to Christians today. It happens even with Christians who have been both greatly blessed and used by the Lord. Why?

A variety of things which cause a change in attitudes and the sense of values. In priorities and standards.

Those things, involvements, compromises, disobedience, apathy, whatever! They cause Christians to no longer see as clearly as they once did. Thus, their awareness of the approach of danger has lost its vital vigilance.

Their alertness to the voice of the Lord has lost its once keen edge.

The spiritual fires have been allowed to die out. The once strong sense of great urgency has given place to carelessness and indifference.

There should stir a feeling of great concern in the very realization that this happens. When we are aware of the danger being real, surely we will be committed to stay alert and vigilant.

Surely, more than anything else, we will daily renew our consecration to the Lord and His will. Refusing to entertain the idea of lowered standards. Giving no place to changing values or priorities.

In a very real sense it is true that the gold was not the real problem. Rather Gideon's attitude to it and his use of it.

The ephod had most obvious religious significance. It was normally part of the very special clothing worn by the priests.

As far as the Israelites were concerned, the ephod and its use was strictly governed by the law which the Lord gave to Moses. The law was most specific. The impact was: Gideon had no right to make an ephod!

Gideon chose to ignore: the Word of God! To set aside: the clear will of God! This is a most unexpected and insidious development. It is such a drastic departure of his attitude and conduct up until this time.

Why? We really do not know. We are not told. What we do see so very clearly is that this is what he did.

What a strong and clear warning this should be to us today. If Gideon can fall so far so fast, could we?

It has happened to so many. It has happened so often. Even to some after they have given years of obedient and devoted service. People who have made the same tragic mistakes.

They have believed that they could get away with disregarding the Word of the Lord at some point. Who have stepped out of His will. Who have lost the closeness of what was once a humble and happy walk with the Lord.

Could it be that this was nothing more than a harmless whim on Gideon's part? Some want to excuse their attitudes and conduct by such reasoning. The results reveal that it was not, it is not, harmless. It was and is most harmful.

It was the irresponsible intrusion into an area in which he had no right to participate. The unwarranted and unjustifiable grasping of a privilege to which he had no claim.

God had so greatly honored Gideon. He had blessed him in so many ways. But now, His Word and His will were so callously set aside. His servant attempted to overthrow His order.

You see, Gideon was attempting to bring about the illegitimate union of the sacred and the secular.

Attempting to claim a sacred role and responsibility which God in His wisdom had withheld from him.

Like so many before him, and since, he was attempting to unite as one the spiritual and the worldly. Such is the ultimate expression of unacceptable compromise. The Lord cannot, He will not, honor that attitude and conduct.

This problem was not, is not, unique to Gideon. So many others who once ran well have fallen flat on their faces into this very trap.

In 2 Chronicles 26: 1 - 23 we have the record of his reign. He started out so well. "He did that which was right in the sight of the LORD!" (verse 4). "He sought God, . . . God made him to prosper!" (Verse 5). "God helped him!" (verse 7). Everything was so full of promise.

But! "When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God!"(verse 16).

He was king. He was so greatly blessed by God. But the time came when he wanted more. When he demanded more. He also attempted to usurp spiritual leadership and authority. It was not his to take!

He also paid a very high price for that foolish attempt to force that illegitimate compromise.

"Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death!"(Verse 21).

What a high price to pay for such self-centered foolishness!

We must take God seriously. Even though we may have given many long years of sacrificial service. The danger never diminishes. The threat is always so very real.

We are never either strong enough or wise enough to be able, safely, to modify the Word of God. We never can be. We must never imagine that we can take the things of the world and make them one with the things of the Spirit.

Many still try to do so. Such attempts are always most dangerous. Even as they are doomed to fail.

Yet so often the materialistic attitudes of the age have replaced the things of the Spirit. Pleasure has so successfully displaced spiritual principle.

God is not pleased. That is the one reality in this very situation which we can be absolutely sure about. God is not pleased!

One step out of the will of God and away from the Word of God will be followed by another. This inevitably leads to:

The spiritual impact of Gideon's actions were so far- reaching. The results can only be described as being so utterly sad and so completely degrading.

We see this in the way in which Gideon himself was caught up in this vile trap. "Which thing became a snare unto Gideon!"

The Lord had given quite clear instructions through Moses to the Israelites. Instructions which contained a decisive warning about insidious dangers which they would face.

Focusing on the pagan people who already lived in the land He said, "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, not with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee" (Exodus 23: 32, 33).

"A snare!" The kind of spiritual and personal snare which would "make thee sin against Me!"

It is that very problem which we see Gideon creating for himself. He was caught in this snare of his own making.

It is true, he did not intend that this thing should become a snare. He never imagined that he would be trapped by this thing.

How long did it take for Gideon to become to tightly and inextricably entangled? When did he finally become aware that the inevitable result of the ephod he made was: sin? That it was sin against the Lord?

Could it be that he was so fully trapped in this snare that he was incapable of seeing the sin?

These are questions which the Scriptures do not answer. Yet they are vital questions, in the light of these developments. Vital, not so much to our understanding of Gideon's situation. But vital to our continuing walk with the Lord!

What an awesome warning this situation brings to us. Reminding us of the danger of becoming complacent or careless. Self-satisfied self-confidence is a snare which will trip us up and bring us down.

We must never forget that the spiritual conflict in which we are involved is so very serious. It can be so deadly!

The Word of God speaks so decisively to warn us about, "The wiles of the devil!" "His devices!" That, as Peter reminds us, he goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (see 1 Peter 5: 8).

Remember, the enemy is totally and continually committed, to catch you. Snare you. Bring you down.

When we are so clearly and repeatedly warned, how sad it is that we help the devil by making a snare for our own feet. We so foolishly prepare the trap which the devil then uses against us.

Christians, carelessly, foolishly, cooperating in bringing to stark effectiveness the aims and objectives of the devil! While all the while choosing to remain blindly unaware of the self-induced peril.

This is happening so often today. People who once walked in close personal fellowship with the Lord. But now, obviously caught in a snare. A snare which they themselves provided. To thus sin against the Lord!

Every Christian needs to humbly, continually remind themselves about the words of Paul: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Corinthians 9: 27).

We must always treat that warning as being most urgent. Most vital. He knew the reality of this great danger. He took it very seriously. So must we.

The profound infiltration of that vile evil went far beyond Gideon himself. He was not the only one to be caught in this snare which he had made.

Think of it! As the direct result of his influence and actions. The consequence of his leadership. His entire family was caught in this same snare!

When we consider the earlier events, we see how incredibly sad this was. How inexcusable.

When the Lord first called him, the Lord required him to "throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath!" (Judges 6: 25).

To faithfully obey the Lord he had to take a clear and strong stand against: his father's idolatry!

His own father had lead his family into idolatry. Involved them in all of the vile heathen practices which were part of such practices.

Yet, now Gideon himself was actually leading his own family back into that very same spiritual darkness!

Had he forgotten so soon? What had clouded his spiritual vision? What had numbed his spiritual sensitivity?

Are we really as strong for the Lord as we once were? Or, have we also forgotten those vital lessons which the Lord has taught us? Has your spiritual vision become clouded? Our spiritual sensitivity become numbed?

And, as the result of that, are we leading our families into the very things which the Lord called us to leave? Involving our loved ones in compromise? Lowered standards? Lesser commitment to true faithfulness to the Lord?

It is happening in so many homes! It only aggravates the problem when we attempt to pretend that it is not happening. The loss can be, will be, so incredibly extensive. What might have been!

"No man lives to himself!" That warning should be coming through with increased insistence and urgency. Will we take the warnings seriously?

Gideon had been so clearly called by the Lord. The commission which he had received from the Lord was unmistakably decisive.

"Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee."

"Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man" (Judges 6: 14, 16).

With the enabling and through the sufficiency of the Lord, Gideon did it! He did it all! Exactly as the Lord had commanded him.

Israel was liberated. Saved! Able to serve the Lord as His redeemed people.

But he then made the ephod from the gold earings which the Israelites had given to him as their expression of gratitude.

They had offered him the position of remaining their leader by becoming their ruler.

What a leader! What an example! He made this ephod. He was the one they looked to for spiritual leadership. Depending on him to be a godly example. He saved them - to then lead them into this!

What kind of leadership is this! The effect of his influence now led the people into: spiritual prostitution!

This man whom God had used to bring them salvation. He was the one who provided the means for this new insidious idolatry which so greatly degraded the people! This highly respected leader. Who was so greatly loved. So esteemed! He led them into that!

Under those circumstances, it would be foolish to imagine that the result could have been different. Either then, or now.

As soon as Gideon began to carelessly drift away from true loyalty to the Lord, this end result was inevitable. In the very moment in which he began to disregard the Word of the Lord no other conclusion could possibly be reached.

Leadership has that impact. The man who is highly respected and greatly esteemed will lead. His influence will draw people higher. Or, drag them lower.

We see that in the Church. Strong spiritual leadership leads others higher. The influence of uncommitted compromising people is to lead people to ever lower levels of Christian experience.

Enthusiasm for the Lord and His holiness inspires others to be enthusiastic about the Lord and His holiness. Apathy and indifference are equally contagious.

Thus, whenever the invasion of the spiritual by the world is justified, the effect is inevitable. The more prominent and respected the leader concerned, the more that the people who follow will be led down into deadly ruin. Spiritual ruin.

All compromise is always that deadly! It always extracts the highest price. Not only to those who are initially involved. But to a great many other who are influenced by such compromising leadership.

The Word of God does not hesitate to call that condition what it really is: "Spiritual prostitution!"

That is exactly what it was in Gideon's day. It is exactly that today.

We get a clearer view as the eighth chapter of Judges comes to a close. First, the people went a whoring after that ephod. Then:

"As soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side" (Judges 8: 33, 34).

It was Gideon who had re-introduced them to spiritual compromise. At his death they decided that they might as well go all the way. So they gave themselves completely to the total vileness of idolatry.

The Lord was totally rejected. All that He had done for them was willfully forgotten. They gave themselves completely to spiritual adultery. To spiritual prostitution.

They willfully reverted to the condition which they were in prior to the Lord's call to Gideon. To the condition which caused the Lord to withdraw both His presence and blessing. Which invited the invasion of the Midianites.

We thoughtlessly take that first step out of the position of loyalty to the Lord. But the cost of such a step is beyond estimation. Do we believe that?

We foolishly attempt to justify some form of compromise. The effects are so far reaching. Do we believe that?

We do have influence on others. Far more than we realize. That is inevitable.

When we in any way suggest that the Word of God can be set aside or disregarded. Others are watching. They follow the example we give them. They point to our attitude and actions as their justification!

We take one step away from loyalty to the Word of God. They take two, maybe three, or more! We are their excuse!

When will we realize that we are having this effect on others?

When will we realize that God will hold us accountable for our example and the effect it has on others? When will we acknowledge the truth that God is concerned about the influence which we have?

"But whoso shall offend (cause to stumble) one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18: 6).

Yet everywhere today we see widespread compromise. The clear evidence that such spiritual prostitution is condoned, and even encouraged.

Too many Churches have lost the spiritual vitality which they once had. They continue to merely exist. They have no true spiritual power or effectiveness.

Compromise has robbed them of their spiritual life. They no longer enjoy the real spiritual relationship which they once had with the Lord.

There are so many so-called leaders who no longer lead people closer to the Lord. This includes pastors and preachers, evangelists and teachers, deacons, and so many others.

Such people go through the motions. But their is no power. No life. Spiritual compromise has robbed them. They are nothing but the empty shell of what they once were.

Multitudes are following leadership which is leading them away from the Lord.

It is time we humbly faced the facts. It is time we came back in genuine repentance and confession. It is time we got right with the Lord once again.

Gideon! The Lord saw him as a person who had great potential. Gideon began to reveal the reality of that potential as he learned to humbly walk with the Lord.

Or, if that is what we choose: potential for shameful defeats!

Potential to really help others. Or, potential to really hurt others!

It depends on just one thing. Will we continue to be totally loyal to the Lord? Will we persevere in being devoted to His Word and His will?

His total resources are completely committed to us. To enable us to continue to humbly walk with Him. To be all that He wills us to be. To accomplish all of the vital service which He has called us to do.