SYNOPSIS: The story of Gideon’s dramatic rise and precipitous fall in Judges 6-8 is a classic reminder that it is not just a strong start that counts, it is finishing well that is the essential thing in our journey with God. So stay alert to sin. As the Puritan preacher, John Owen put it, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
The Journey// Focus: Judges 8:27
Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.
Conflicted. That is what Gideon was, as we see in Judge 8. Gideon was a conflicted man, at odds with his own beliefs and his calling. But he is not alone, because most leaders are. And so are most people, whether they are believers or not. You see, people live with a persistent sin nature that early and often rises up to tempt them with attitudes and actions that are incongruent with their most deeply held values. Conflicted, that is what we are, hopelessly and helplessly—without daily submission to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Consider Gideon for a moment. In the previous chapters, we find that he was at once humble (Judges 6:15), obedient (Judges 7:8), and dependent on God (Judges 7:15), yet as we see in this chapter, he was prideful, self-sufficient and disobedient.
Gideon went out to fight Midian in the power of the Lord and routed a far superior army in a stunning victory, but he came back a ruthless man (Judges 8:13-21), arrogantly refusing to be Israel’s king yet living like one anyway (Judges 8:22-24, 29-31), and disobedient in making a golden ephod that would lead Israel to worship it as an idol (Judges 8:27). The text say the golden ephod he made, representing his power, his success and his status among the Israelites, became a trap for Gideon and his family (Judges 8:27).
What a quick and disappointing turn around. His impossible victory over Midian was one for the ages. Gideon’s band of three hundred fighting men is being talked about to this day, used as an example of what God can do with a just few who are fully submitted to him. Yet within days of this victory, his base nature was taking over, and it led him to make decisions that set the stage for Israel to not only drift from God under Gideon’s watch by worshiping the golden ephod, but to plunge headlong into national idolatry after he died:
As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god. They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them. Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Gideon, despite all the good he had done for Israel. (Judges 8:33-35)
As we seek to make sense of this jaw-dropping spiritual reversal, Gideon’s story reminds us that the same sin nature that wreaked havoc in his life will mess us up just as quickly if we are not careful. Here are a few sobering lessons coming to us from Gideon’s story that we would do well to keep in mind:
- Charisma will only take you so far; it will be character that keeps you there. Obviously, Gideon had the ability to inspire others to follow him into an impossible battle, but his core values were not such that he could resist the temptations that came his way after the victory. Arguably, the true test of character is success.’
- Character issues that are left unchecked will resurface at some point in our lives, sooner or later. The only way to effectively deal with our sin is to allow the Lord to obliterate it completely. It if is not destroyed, it will come back to damage us. Whatever goes underground will resurface at some point.
- A victory today does not guarantee a victory tomorrow. We cannot rest on our laurels of past accomplishment; submission to God must be a daily victory. That is why Jesus said true discipleship involves taking up your cross daily to follow him. (Luke 9:23)
- Pride is an ever-present enemy of God’s plan to use us mightily for him. Pride is at the core of sin, continually causing issues of godship in our relationship with God. Remember, there is room for only one God on the throne of your life—and it is not you.
- Constant attention to sin is required to run our race strong and finish well. Over and again the Bible calls us to stay alert, to be on guard, and to be ever watchful for the Enemy’s work in our life. Satan never gives up: we can serve him up a devastating defeat by our obedience to God one day, and he will be right back at us the next, tempting us to stray from God.
The story of Gideon in Judges 6-8 is a classic reminder that it is not just a strong start that counts, it is finishing well that is the essential thing in our journey with God. May it be said of us, “they started strong and finished well.”
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