“Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.”
~ Judges 8:27
Hi James and Ellen,
There was about 2150 years ago a judge. The judge’s name was Gideon. Gideon was a judge in the land of Canaan. Canaan was the land that God gave to the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids were God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids. Gideon’s home was in or near Ophrah. Ophrah was a small town that was located in a land area which the clan of Issachar – via lot, ended up getting as their share of the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . when God called Gideon to be a judge, God’s specially chosen guys and gals had lived for about 350 years in the land that God . . . when Joshua died – which was about twenty-five years after he led the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids through the Jordon River into the land that God . . . there was no one guy in place to assume leadership over the twelve tribal clans that made up the Israelite people group’s gals, guys and kids. After Joshua died, the leadership roles at different times in different regions of the land that God . . . ended in the hands of guys and a gal who were referred to as judges. Over the next 325 years before God providentially called Gideon – as Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press, to step up to do something, the land area that God . . . was being marauded and God’s specially chosen guys and gals were being harried by guys from neighboring people groups. One of the neighboring people group’s guys were Midianites. The Midianite people group’s guys lived on the Jordon River’s east side – which was quite a ways away from where Gideon lived. After seven years or so of having Midianite guys beleaguering God’s specially chosen guys and gals, Gideon got the message from God to do something. Gideon sent word to tribesmen who were living near Ophrah that he was ready to take on the Midianite interlopers and that he needed their help to fight them. An army force at this time of about 135,000 Midianite soldiers was harassing and killing God’s specially chosen guys and gals in the land that God gave to them to always to have as their very own land to live in if . . . Gideon had about 32,000 guys volunteer to help him fight against the Midianite soldiers. Apparently God was not okay with 32,000 untrained tribesmen going into battle against the 135,000 Midianite soldiers leading to God divinely culling 300 guys out of the 32,000 guys to have these 300 guys rid the enemy bad guys from the land that God . . .
Judges 8 recounts what took place after God caused the Midianite army to become so disorientated that about 120,000 Midianite soldiers ended up being killed by their fellow soldiers. The remaining 15,000 Midianite enemy soldiers who were not killed in all the confusion plus their two leaders – Zebah and Zalmunna, took off for their homes in Midian’s land area with Gideon and his gang of 300 guys pursing them. By the time that Gideon and his gang of 300 guys were able to cross the Jordon River and make it to Succoth, they were exhausted and very hungry. When the Succoth officials refused to give Gideon and his gang of 300 guys food to eat, Gideon told the officials that he would be back. This also happened in Peniel. Gideon and his gang of 300 guys were finally able to in Karkor catch up with Zebah and Zalmunna and the remaining 15,000 enemy bad guys. Zebah and Zalmunna were captured and the remainder of the Midianite army was completely beaten and routed. On his way back to Ophrah, Gideon and his gang of 300 guys stopped long enough in Peniel to tear down a tower that was in Peniel along with killing all the guys who lived in Peniel. They then stopped in Succoth – where they used desert thorns and briars to beat up the seventy-seven officials who lived there. When Zebah and Zalmunna told Gideon that they were the guys who had killed the leaders in Tabor – a town that was located not far from Ophrah, and when Gideon realized that it had been Zebah and Zalmunna who were the guys who had killed his own bros, Gideon executed Zebah and Zalmunna.
As a judge, Gideon for forty years kept the peace in the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . Gideon was a good guy who wanted to do what was right but . . . after taking a portion of the gold booty or plunder that had been taken off the dead Midianite soldiers, Gideon decided to make an ephod out of the gold. Gideon had about 1700 shekels or about 42 ½ pounds of gold to work with to make the ephod. Verse 27 says, “Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” Do you do something to remember a supernatural thing that God has done for you? A supernatural incident would be something that belies coincidence in having happened. A supernatural occurrence would be a God thing. What God did through Gideon in ridding the Midianite soldiers from the land that He gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have as their very own land to live if . . . was a supernatural instance. Your grandpaa thinks that Gideon wanted to remember the supernatural act that God did when he used him and a gang of 300 guys to rid the land that God . . . of the Midianite army – which had Gideon make a gold ephod as a special reminder for himself, his family and all his friends of what God had done in such a supernatural way. Instead of the gold ephod being just a reminder of God’s supernatural power, the gold ephod became a reminder to Gideon, his family, and his friends of what he and what his gang of 300 guys did. Taking credit for something supernatural that God did for you can be easy to do but very wrong to do. It is important to always remember to give God all the credit for whatever happens.
Judges 8 (221)