Walt Woodbridge

How does Gideon influence Israel during his life? (8:28-35) What is the positive continuing effect of his leadership as judge? His leadership as a judge brought about peace in the nation for 40 years. In spite of his personal failure, God used him nonetheless. Many of us like Gideon, have not always led the ideal Christian life, but through the grace of God, we have been able to rise above the sin and guilt of the past and move onward and upward in service for the kingdom.

Why is spiritual unfaithfulness looked at as prostitution or adultery? (8:24-27) What is the concept of God's relationship to his people which underlies this analogy? What kinds of temptations to spiritual adultery do you face today. (This is not a place to dump on denominations or sects, but to examine your own personal temptations to spiritual adultery.) It is simply a matter of turning away from the one who has loved us and redeemed us. God is a jealous God, and wants our total devotion. We cannot serve both God and mammon. We have a daily choice as to what is going to get our attention. My biggest problem is getting so involved in my "projects" that the things that matter most get sidelined.

What is a snare? In what way does Gideon's ephod ensnare his family and the people of Israel? (8:24-27) How can something be a sin if we don't see it as a sin? What was the essence of the sin the Israelites committed? What is the essence of Gideon's sin? A snare is anything that prevents us from following after God with our whole heart. The ephod that Gideon created became the object of worship rather than the true God Jehovah. They exchanged worshipping a living God for an inanimate object that could neither hear or see. The precepts that God has proclaimed for mankind cannot be violated, regardless of our perceptions of right and wrong. Ignorance of what God demands cannot excuse our lack of obedience. The Israelites, like many today, turned away from the path of right living, to follow false gods. Gideon's sin lies in his failure as a leader to be faithful to the true paths of life and righteousness.

What is an ephod? (8:24-27) What might the gold ephod have looked like? An ephod was commonly known as a vestment for priests, generally made of linen. The ephod of Gideon was one enhanced with gold; perhaps interwoven. This would make it a "cadillac" version of the basic model.

What does Gideon ask for his reward? (8:24-27) Was Gideon wrong to take a reward? Where did the sin begin? A share in the plunder, which was a reasonable request. What he did with it was the source of the sin it led to. He created something that became an object of worship, which led to idolotry.

Why does Gideon refuse to be king over Israel? (8:22-23) In what sense would becoming king be treason? Why didn't the Israelites see bestowing kingship as treason? Gideon was totally aware that while he was being perceived as a "savior" of his people, he was not worthy to be placed in a kingly position. Only God himself was to be the "savior" and leader of the nation. Undoubtedly, they felt something of an obligation to reward Gideon for his valiant work of delivering them from their enemies. He was their "hero", so why not make him a king?

Why does Gideon slay Zebah and Zalmunna? Is he unjust or fulfilling his just obligation? (Numbers 35:16) Why does Romans 12:19 prohibit Christians from taking vengeance? To fulfil an obligation to exact retribution for the death of his two brothers, by the hands of the two kings of Midian, according to the custom of the day. According to the law, he was justified in so doing. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Under the new covenant of grace, we are not to respond in like kind, but be confident that God, and God alone will bring about recompence to those who offend us.

Why do the cities of Succoth and Peniel refuse aid to Gideon's army? (8:4-9) Why does Gideon punish these cities later? What is their sin? Is Gideon just? Can you think of a circumstance when a Christian might be guilty of the sin of Succoth and Peniel? They are afraid of reprisal from the Miidianites, if they are no completely destroyed. They are fellow Israelites and are shirking their responsibility to support the efforts of Gideon and his men to destroy the common enemy. Their sin would be the sin of omission, or failure to carry out their responsibilities as brothers in the time of crisis. Vindictive response is not the right spirit. "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Christians are also guilty of the sin when they allow prejudice to keep them from responding to the needs of fellow Christians that are of a different race or religion.

Why must Gideon vanquish the Midianite force of 15,000 men in Karkor? What danger do we face when we deal with problems only half-way? Half a victory is not a total victory. To claim a complete victory, we must route the enemy entirely. Half an answer to our problem is not a satisfying solution. The situations we face in life cannot be dealt with by half measure efforts.

What does Gideon ask the Ephraimites to do? Why are they so angry? Who do you learn from Gideon's approach to the Ephraimites' arrogance? (7:24-8:3) Gideon calls for help from the Ephraimites from the South, and they respond and help in the pursuit of the fleeing Midianite army. and ended up slaying two captains of the Midianites, and brought their heads to Gideon to prove it. The Ephramites were upset that Gideon had not solicited their help sooner, plus they wanted to share in the glory and the booty from the battles. Gideon refuses to argue and debate the issues at hand, but simply compliments them on their part in the defeat of the Midianites. We also need to chose our battles.

Why does Gideon divided into three companies? What is the strategy with the trumpets, the empty jars, and the torches? (7:16-20) What was the result of this strategy? Why did this strategy work? (7:21-22) To project to the enemy that they were being attacked from all sides. While Gideon was relying on God's help, he utilized every available tools to confuse the enemy. In the dark of the midnight hours, the phenomina of lights and sounds, would be magnified and thus interpreted differently than in daylight hours. Confusing the enemy was the basic strategy, and it worked.

What does the rolling barley loaf mean in the Midianite's dream? Why does the Lord show Gideon this dream? (7:13-14) Bread baked in a circular shape could easily roll down a hillside. In the dream, I believe it represents the "smallness" of man's effort against the might of the enemy, but when empowered by the Spirit of God, it becomes a mighty force. The song says it well, " Little is much when God is in it." I believe it was used to confirm Gideon's faith and ready obedience.

The kneelers were in a more favorable position to respond to attack from the rear. Lappers would be in a precarious position to respond in a similar situation.

Q4. Why do we demand that God's directions make sense to us before we'll follow them? What's the spiritual danger here? We're afraid of being -- or being perceived as -- religious kooks. How can we balance blind obedience with getting confirmation through spiritual people whose discernment we trust? Being rational beings, it is only natural that we be able to comprehend the task before us. While Christians have the advantage of a "spiritual dimension" that the world knows nothing about, we are still dealing with basic human nature. We are in the world, but not of the world. The danger comes when we rely only on our perceptions. My Bible says, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God." A vital prayer life is vital to "walking in the Spirit".

Why did God feel Gideon's army was too large? Why was shrinking the army's size to a tiny band essential in restoring Israel's faith and allegiance? What kinds of pressures would Gideon be feeling NOT to obey God in shrinking his army? How was Gideon able to obey God fully in this? Basically, if Gideon were to win the battle with a large army, Gideon would get the glory rather than God. Winning the battle against such great odds would prove it had to be God's doing rather then mere men. People would be looking for Gideon to be their hero, and facing the enemy with reduced numbers might bring them to question his obedience to the "silly idea" of thinning out the army. "That's not the way to win battles," they might be saying. Gideon had such confidence in his God, that he knew the battle was the Lord's anyway, no matter what the odds might be. "If God be for us, who can be against us."