士师记

Meditative Reflection
A Sword for the Lord and for Gideon

“The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, 'A sword for the Lord, and for Gideon'.” (Jdg. 7:20)

The battle against the Midianites and their eastern allies is one of the most precious lessons in the Bible. It is precious especially for these reasons:

(1) It happened at one of the lowest spiritual valleys in the history of God’s people with no Moses or Joshua or their equivalent — men of God whose hearts were in the right place — to lead the people with their lives as well as with their words.

(2) The People of God had turned away to serve other gods for some years (seven, to be exact, according to 6:1).

(3) Such a victory demanded very unusual acts of faith, not only from their leader, Gideon, but from the many who committed to follow him, or rather, God.

The victory of a mere 300 men over 135,000 Midianites well-trained in warfare is certainly a lesson of faith. The way God ordered Gideon to trim his men speaks directly to our gospel ministry today in that God can only use people with a strong sense of mission and a prayerful, watchful walk with the Lord. It is especially sad to see many who answer the call of God to serve Him in His Kingdom today are void of faith, especially when it comes to trusting God to supply all their needs.

However, it is also interesting to note that in an effort to confuse their enemies at night (likely at the midnight watch), they were to shout, “A sword for the Lord, and for Gideon” (7:20). One wonders why they would invoke the name of Gideon, in addition to the Lord’s.

I believe that the entire strategy was of the Lord. Gideon would not have invented such a risky strategy that could easily have cost the lives of all 300 men. It had to be from the Lord, including what they should shout.

For one, to invoke the name of a God-chosen leader was not a new thing, even Joshua’s name was the fear of the land. For God to command the people to invoke the name of Gideon as well, He was affirming His choice so that the people would follow him, and He obviously also knew that Gideon was not a person who hungers for power or recognition (see 8:23).

Furthermore, it is important to note that Gideon’s name was invoked after the Lord’s.

This was just one more incident in which God demanded that we respect and submit to the leader(s) whom He has chosen to lead His people.

Meditative Reflection
The Glory of Victory

“Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” (Jdg. 8:1)

Isn’t it ironic that the Ephraimites complained sharply that they were not being called to battle in the first place, and that they lodged their bitter complaint only after having tasted and gained glory of victory!

The Midianites had oppressed them for seven years to the point that they had to cry out to the Lord for help. And the way the Midianites chose to oppress them was rather unique: Instead of ruling over them, they simply raided them often just after they planted their crops, and as a result they were not only impoverished, they had to live in constant fear which was even worse than being ruled over.

Now, God had seen fit to answer their cry and raised a judge in Gideon. As Gideon called upon the northern tribes to rise up against their enemy, no doubt, the rest of Israel would have learned about it.

And as Gideon proceeded to engage the Midianites, we learn of no action from any of the southern tribes, or those of east of the Jordan. It was only when the Midianites and their eastern allies fled in confusion that the Ephraimites responded to Gideon’s call and joined in the battle.

The question is this: Why didn’t Ephraim and the other tribes join in the battle initially? Did they have to be called? Were the Midianites not their common enemies? Were they not part of Israel?

The denial by the people of Succoth and Peniel fully reflected the attitude or mindset of the rest of Israel. As much as they suffered in the hands of the Midianites, they did not believe that Gideon and his army could defeat the huge army of the Midianites and their eastern allies.

For the Ephraimites, they had to see the hand of God revealed in the victory through the lone 300 men of Gideon which God had intended, “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength saved her.” (7:2)

However, such a miraculous victory obviously gave Gideon and his men great honor among the people and the Ephraimites were jealous. But what were they jealous about? Were they jealous of not being used by God? Or, were they jealous that they did not receive the same honor?

The wise reply by Gideon showed that the real reason for the jealousy was the latter, not the former. How sad it was! But isn’t this the attitude of many Christians today? They appear to long to be used by God greatly, but really not for the glory of God but theirs! How would we know if we are the same? It is when others receive praise while we receive no mention at all; or when others appear to be used in a more miraculous fashion than we have been, and that leaves a little sour taste in our mouths! The truth of the matter is we are no better than the Ephraimites!

Meditative Reflection
Parenting Gideon’s Way

“Turning to Jether, his older son, he said, 'Kill them!' But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.” (Jdg. 8:20)

We are all flawed human beings. Gideon was no different.

As much as he had many character traits that we should admire about him—his total trust in God, his humility and more, his family life and especially his parenting skills were sorely lacking.

Later on, we were told that he had many wives and bore some seventy sons. While he was not the only leader of Israel who took many wives (Jacob certainly did also), having more than one wife has never been God’s desire for us. The prophet Malachi is very clear in this respect: “Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.” (Mal. 2:15). Indeed, having many wives in itself is not a godly example and would only lead to conflicts between wives and children. Even David would have to agree with this. And in the case of Gideon, the tragedy of the killing of his 69 sons by the son of his concubine is another case in point.

Here in chapter 8 of Judges, we see how Gideon was trying to “make” his son a warrior like him. Poor Jether was his oldest son, and Gideon was eager that his oldest son would inherit not only his possessions but also his courage and warring skills. So, he tried to force him to learn killing even as a boy. I have no idea what psychological trauma he had inflicted on this little boy, but presumably all his other sons disappointed him also in this respect. Keil and Delitszch point out the naming of the concubine’s son as Abimelech (king’s father) was a “second” name given to Abimelech, which might imply the disappointment Gideon had with the rest of his sons.

Even to these days, many Christian parents have undue expectations on their children, ignoring the fact that God has created each one of us differently. Every child has his or her God-given way or bent (Prov. 22:6). We should steer them towards God’s way and not ours.

Meditative Reflection
Usurping a Role Not Given by God

“All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” (Jdg, 8:27)

For Gideon to turn down the request for him (and his sons) to rule over Israel was really admirable. As much as he was truly a warrior and had been used by God mightily to save the Israelites from the hand of Midian, he demonstrated both his humility and his lack of desire for power and honor:

- He knew full well that it was not by his strength that he could defeat the enemies; it was God and God alone who gave him victory; and

- Not only did he have no desire to be king, but he also recognized that only God should be their king, their ruler!

How rare is such a quality, not only then but even now!

Unfortunately, Gideon appeared to have committed a sin that might be even greater, if not as bad as usurping the role of God as ruler of His people—he usurped the role of the representative of God in His worship!

The role of the priest is clearly that of the tribe and descendants of Levi, and God has imposed clear and straight guidelines in this respect, including the making and wearing of the ephod.

By making the ephod not "according to the pattern shown on the mountain” by the Lord (Exod. 25:40) was already a sin of great disobedience. To usurp the role of the High priest was certainly an act not unlike that of blasphemy, not to mention that he had undermined the office of the existing High Priest of his time.

The result was truly tragic as his ephod led not only the people from worshipping God through the tabernacle, but it also became an idol that caused the Israel to “prostitute” themselves. This is why I said earlier, this might be a sin greater than usurping God’s role as the king of the people! In our zeal to practice “priesthood of all believers” (which originated in Exod. 19:6 and reaffirmed in 1 Pet. 2:9) , I still think that we should be very mindful of the role that God has meant for each one of us in His Kingdom!

Meditative Reflection
A New Low of the Vicious Cycle

“They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.” (Jdg. 8:35)

Reading the chapters in Judges is like listening to a broken record, the vicious cycle of the Israelites’ rebellion against their God of Covenant would begin no sooner than after the death of the judge whom God had raised up to deliver them from their enemies. And so we read in 8:33 that, “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to Baal.”

But this time their vicious cycle took another downward spiral in that the Bible accuses them of three different sins:

(1) Prostitution to Baal: Some scholars would simply translate that Israel now behaved like a whore. Indeed, they did. This time, as they set up Baal-Berith as their god and “Berith” means covenant, in other words, they broke faith with their covenantal God like an unfaithful wife and made Baal their new covenantal lord.

(2) They did not remember the Lord their God: What they did was intentional and it was an insult to the Lord who, not long ago again, forgave them and relented and delivered them from the oppression of the Midianites. But this was not the first time God chose to remember them. The Bible adds that God had “rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side” (8:34). In other words, the Bible is asking, “How could they not remember!”

(3) They failed to show kindness to the family of Gideon for all the good things he had done for them: You might ask, “How did they fail to show kindness to Gideon’s family?” The answer is obvious: Upon the slaying of the 69 sons of Gideon by Abimelech, the whole of Israel should be so outraged that they should have risen up as one man to avenge the blood of Gideon’s family. Yet, not a single tribe, not even one person rose to confront Abimelech, except the lonely voice of Jotham, the lone survivor of the massacre. In other words, Israel had not only sunk into spiritual apathy, but had also lost the most basic of human dignity! They had sunk to the level of animals—a world wherein only the fittest would survive and everyone looks out for his own interest!

This time the punishment that followed was not the destruction by any external enemies, but fittingly, self-destruction!

Meditative Reflection
A Family True to Their Father’s Course

“But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?’.” (Jdg. 9:13)

We have considered one of the admirable traits of Gideon and that was his lack of ambition for power and that was shown by his refusal to be crowned king by the Israelites. And such an attitude was grounded in his recognition that only the Lord should be their king to rule over them (8:23).

However through the parable of Jotham, we can see that this attitude or recognition was adopted by all his 70 sons as well.

For whatever reason, the Israelites appeared to be bent on following the pattern of the neighboring nations, not only in their worship of idols, but also in having a king to rule over them. The death of Gideon certainly created a void in the position of a judge, and the people would naturally look to his sons for leadership. But it appeared none of the son wanted to negate the legacy of their father, except of course the bastard son, Abimelech.

In refuting the crime of Abimelech, Jotham used a parable of several kinds of trees to speak to the attitude of all of Gideon’s sons who refused to be crowned king. The replies of the trees have one thing in common and that is they hold on to their assigned role:

(1) The olive tree’s role is to produce oil to honor God and men;

(2) The fig tree’s role is to produce fruit so good and sweet; and

(3) The vine’s role is to give wine that cheers both God and men.

I believe the trees refer to the various sons of Gideon who might have been approached to rule over Israel as the descendants of Gideon, but all the sons remained faithful to the course of their father. None wished to usurp the place that belonged only to God. You cannot help but admire Gideon’s influence over his sons.

Meditative Reflection
Who Has the Last Laugh?

“Surely you place them on slippery ground and cast them down to ruin.” (Ps. 73:18)

As we read the murderous action of Abimelech and the treachery of the citizens of Shechem, we could not help but say with the psalmist, “my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Ps. 73:2-3).

If that is how we feel, Jotham must have felt worse—he lost all 69 of his brothers and he had to flee for his life. Yes, it was probably the Holy Spirit which inspired him to prophesy against Abimelech and the people of Shechem, foretelling their eventual demise. But nothing happened in the ensuing three years. Those three years must have felt like a lifetime to him!

But God was faithful. He always is.

Just as Abimelech thought everything was going well for him, he might have said in his heart, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?" (Ps. 73:11). It was God who sent an evil spirit to pitch the Shechemites against Abimelech. In the end, they fell into the pit that they themselves had dug. The Shechemites were burnt alive by Abimelech. They tasted of the same dose of medicine that they administered to the sons of Gideon.

And Abimelech, in the heat of the battle and just as he thought he was invincible, was killed by a woman’s millstone—she was not even a warrior!

Indeed, the worldly success and prosperity that they had gained through their treachery was like a slippery slope that sent them down to ruin—even eternal ruin!

Who had the last laugh? God and the righteous! It is always the case; it is just a matter of time.