Worship Who?

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WORSHIP WHO

Judges 8:22-35

22 The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us — you, your son and your grandson — because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." 23 But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." 24 And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) 25 They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. 27 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. 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. 29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and 34 did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 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.

NIV

Why do men want another man to rule over them, instead of submitting to the rule and authority of the Lord? Gideon was right to reject that position and told them the LORD rules over them. Had they not seen the rule of the LORD when they prostrated themselves, building altars to Baal and had Asherah poles, which Gideon, under the direction of the LORD, smashed the altar, building a proper one from stone to the LORD, and tore down the Asherah pole.  From the perspective of the Israelites, it was Gideon who saved them from the hand of Midian, and they wanted him and his son, and his grandson to rule over them. How is that even possible to know how his grandson would turn out as a man, and be capable of ruling as a fair and honest judge? Men will always change, or do not have the strength of character to always be honest, fair, and impartial in their assessment when ruling or being a judge in the case of this time in the lives of the Israelites. However, the LORD never changes and is constant in his just assessment of all men, for he knows the heart of all men. However, as long as Gideon lived, the land enjoyed peace for forty years.  We wonder why Gideon built that ephod from about forty lbs. of gold, for it was simply a golden image, unless it was supposed to point to the LORD, but the Israelites prostituted themselves to a golden image instead of the LORD. Is it easier to worship something we can see than the invisible God? Once again, anything man can build has no eyes to see, ears to hear, nor a mouth to speak, yet they must not care about their image, instructing their lives as if they would rather give instructions from their own evil thoughts to themselves. We would hope and pray that we do not allow our own concepts of Christianity to be our guide for our lives, or our biases and traditions to forge the meaning of the word of God. We do wonder why so many have been deceived by silver-tongued purveyors of false doctrine that is not centered on Jesus nor looks to lift Jesus up, but rather themselves becoming the center of attention. That Ephod became a snare for Gideon, although he wanted to lift up the LORD, the people lifted up the Ephod. We want to lift up the name of the Lord, and him alone. We can only do that when we understand our frailty, remaining his humble servant, listening to his voice, following the inspiration of the Spirit, and complying with His will. We can see the error of the Israelites easily enough, for as soon as Gideon died, they built more altars to Baal. We must always be aware when we err in some way, following any way of this world, and correct our course. Let us always be in worship of the Lord. Let no one be confused whom we worship.