Judges 9:1-57 - Abimelek

Abimelek had an eye for the main chance, and sought to be the only ruler after Gideon's death. Abimelek sought to rule like kings of other nations. He was ruthless and even murdered all but one of his brothers. 

Jotham escaped and then told the nation in parabolic style what they had done. Then he confronted the nation with its sin. All peoples have a habit of choosing bad leaders. Most notoriously in the 1930's the Germans chose Hitler, but even in democracies we have a habit of choosing those who make the nicest sounding promises. When things go wrong it is not just the leaders who are responsible, we all have a degree of responsibility. Jotham then fled the country for his own safety.

Abimelek's reign did not have peace for long. A regime founded on intrigue and treachery will fall victim to intrigue and treachery, and Abimelek was killed

Judges 8:1-35 - Further events in Gideon's life

Before we look at this chapter, let's consider what has just happened and apply it to our own lives. For several years the nation had been under oppression from the Midianites. This had happened because of the nation's sin. Nothing seemed to be happening to change the situation. Gideon himself was, as far as he was concerned, a nobody. His father worshipped idols along with the rest of the nation. Then things suddenly changed. Similarly, there can be (almost certainly are!) situations in our life where there seems to be little or no progress. Things can change very quickly. Just because it seems that God is doing nothing, does not mean that He has forgotten about you or some situation.

The Ephraimites had apparently been left out of the battle, and took offence at this. Given that the original thirty two thousand were whittled down to just three hundred, they wouldn't have had a great part to play anyway. However, Gideon answered them with kind words. There is a proverb that says a gentle word turns away wrath. We do well to heed these words.

Then we see quite a different reaction. The officials of Sukkoth failed to be helpful and took a rather arrogant attitude. So Gideon vowed to take over the lands. The same thing happened with Penie. He was successful in doing so.

So Gideon did indeed become a might warrior. However, there was then a downfall in his character. The Israelites wanted him to rule over them. At first Gideon responds well, declaring that it is the Lord who should rule over them, but then he asks for gifts of gold. He then made an ephod out of the gold, and the nation prostituted themselves before it, ie they worshipped it. Money very easily becomes a snare.

The nation failed to learn anything. As soon as Gideon was dead they went back to worshipping Baals, and showed no respect to Gideon's family either.

Judges 7:1-25 - Victory

We now come to the famous incident where the Lord reduces the size of Gideon's army from over thirty thousand down to three hundred. The men were not feeling overly confident at the outset, yet the Lord reduced the size of the army drastically. Victory does not depend upon numbers, but upon the Lord. Moreover, the people needed to realise that it was the Lord who gave them victory. We have a terrible habit of claiming we have achieved things purely by our own efforts.

The first lot to go were any who were full of fear, and this accounted for about a two-thirds of the army. This was still too many, so they were further whittled down to 300. This time the criterion was how they drank the water.If they lapped it up with their hands they were in. This indicated that they were always ready for action. So now the army was chosen.

During the night God took Gideon down to the enemy camp. He knew that fear probably still resided in Gideon, and He took account of this. He showed Gideon that the Midianites were even more scared of Israel. The enemy knew that defeat was inevitable. In the same way the devil knows that in Christ we can defeat him every time.

So Gideon was encouraged and was ready to lead the men in battle. To be good leaders we need to be convinced of the victory ourselves, only then can we effectively lead others. And victory was theirs.

Judges 6:25-40 - Baals, poles and fleeces

Now Gideon gets his first task to do. The eventual mission, to set Israel free from the Midianites, is massive, but God builds up to this step-by-step. God may give you a big vision, but there will be many steps along the way. We need to learn from this in two ways. First, we should not be overawed by the vision. Even if it seems impossible, God will lead us gradually towards it. Secondly, we should not get impatient. There may be preparation steps that seem to have nothing to do with the final goal. Whatever God gives us to do we should do it faithfully.

There were idols in Gideon's family, and Gideon had to tear these down. In its place he had to build a proper alter and offer a right sacrifice upon it. When we come to know the Lord there will almost certainly be things we need to put right in our families.

Gideon did this, but did so at night, because he was afraid of his family. See how like you and me Gideon is. He has the same fears and timidity that we have, but God still used him.

Despite his efforts, Gideon was still identified as the one who had pulled down the idols. The townspeople wanted to punish Gideon, but Gideon's father, Joash, defended him. We may fear what our families might think of us, but sometimes we may be pleasantly surprised.

Gideon is now called to the real battle. In the process he still looks for further assurance, putting out his fleece. We should be careful how we interpret this incident. We should not take it as a pattern that we should always follow. Gideon did this because of his doubts. At the same time, we should know that the Lord is fully aware of how weak we are and is amazingly tolerant of our failings.

Judges 6:15-24 - Miracle offering

God had just told Gideon to go and save Israel. Gideon could not see how this was possible, he was from the weakest clan, and his, at least in his eyes, was the weakest family. God sees the possibilities in us that we do not see ourselves. And note that God told him to go in the strength that he had, He was not asking Gideon to do the impossible. The difference was that God would be with him. This is what we need most of all, we need to be with the Lord, and we need the Lord to be with us. When this is so anything is possible.

Gideon needed more convincing, so he goes away to get a goat to use as an offering. The Lord then set fire to the offering in a miraculous manner, and Gideon knew something special was happening.

Gideon thought he was going to die for he had seen the Lord, but the Angel of the Lord tells him to be at peace. Gideon then made an alter to the Lord in that place.

See how patient the Lord is. He is prepared to put up with Gideon's doubts and insecurities, and we will see more of this later. 

Judges 6:1-14 - Gideon

We now come to one of the best known characters from Judges, Gideon. After the peace gained under Deborah the people did evil again and were subjected to the Midianites for seven years. The oppression was so great that the people made hideouts for themselves in the mountains. They could never harvest much of a crop for the surrounding nations attacked and plundered them. The livestock too were ruined. Things became so severe that the people cried out to God.

The Lord sent them a prophet who told them the truth. The people needed to come to terms with their sin. They were responsible for the position they were in. 

Then the Lord sent an angel to Gideon. So the Lord did two things. He sent a prophet to bring them to terms with their sin, and raised up a man to rescue them. The angel appeared to Gideon and announced "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior". This was news to Gideon! He did not see himself as a mighty warrior, and was not too convinced that the Lord was with him.

Gideon objected, taking "you" as referring to the whole nation. In this case there seemed to be precious little evidence of the Lord being with them. However, what the Lord meant was that He was with Gideon, and He was sending Gideon. He told Gideon to go in the strength that he had. This was not much, but we have to use the strength that we do have, then the Lord will do the rest.

Judges 5 - Dare to be different

Songs were often written to commemorate great events in the Lord's dealing with Israel. 

Things happen when God's people, both the leaders and the people as a whole, willingly offer themselves to the Lord's service.

When this happens the rest of the world needs to take notice, for things are going to change. The Lord works through men and women who are willing to obey and trust Him. Every action of the Lord in the Bible, save from creation itself, happened when one or more people were willing to offer themselves to the Lord.

In this part of Scripture it was Deborah's willingness that was the catalyst for the Lord's action. Before that time the land was oppressed, no one was willing or able to take up arms to defend the nation. Things changed when one person was willing to be different.