Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him sharply.
But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided.
Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"
Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."
From there, he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.
Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town. Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'" He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"
"Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince."
Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.'" So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.
Judges 8:1-21
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Judges, chapter 7 details how God helped the Israelite army of only 300 men gain victory over the much larger and formidable Midianite forces. You’ll recall how the Lord systematically reduced the size of Gideon’s force to where it would be very obvious that it was He who had given them the victory, not anything they did on their own.
Well, up to this point we have seen a Gideon who was completely submissive and obedient to God, ready to carry out His will without question. But as we see in the opening verses of chapter 8, we unfortunately see a major shift in Israel’s judge, one that finds him obsessed with power and darkly vengeful in his actions.
This all begins in the first few verses as Gideon is confronted by the Ephraimites who criticized him sharply, asking:
"Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?"
Through their words, it was obvious that the men of Ephraim did not take kindly to just finishing up what Gideon and his 300 men had started. They had wanted to be a part of the initial attacking force…the force who would be entitled to all the spoils of victory.
Of interest here, we should note how Ephraim didn’t consult God once about their concerns. If they had, the Lord would have surely explained that the 300 men of Gideon had been prescribed and ordered by Him to go and fight. Further, He probably would have told the Ephraimites that Gideon had not personally made the selections but rather had followed the directions He had given him. In other words, everything that had happened was just the way God wanted it to happen. All this could have been known by Ephraim before they went off the deep end but they ended up so caught up in their pride and greed that they never considered seeking the Lord’s counsel.
Unfortunately, we can too often act like the Ephraimites ourselves as we see others find success or have good things happen to them…and then sit around and covet what they have accomplished, wishing we were in their place and enjoying their spoils.
Indeed, the enemy definitely uses our pride and selfishness against us any chance he can get and so we need to recognize these sinful attitudes when they begin to take root within us and turn to the Lord for strength and guidance to ward them off. For if we do this, the Lord will always lead us to an attitude of satisfaction with what He has given us in life…an attitude of satisfaction that allows us to rejoice over the victories of others vice resenting them.
Back to our passage now where we find Gideon responding to Ephraim’s criticism saying:
"What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?"
In other words, Gideon was letting Ephraim know they were just as successful as he was. The Lord hadn’t just handed the Midianites over to Gideon but to all of Israel. Further, Gideon turned the attention of his critics to the fruits of their grape harvests, trying to get them to see how they too had been richly blessed by God. His words were effective for we read where they took root in the hearts of the Ephraimites, leading to “their resentment against him” subsiding.
Next, having resolved the conflict with Ephraim, “Gideon and his three hundred men”, who were “exhausted” and “yet keeping up the pursuit”, arrived at “the Jordan and crossed it” coming to the town of Succoth. There, Gideon appealed to the “men of Succoth” saying:
"Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
Through his words, we see that Gideon was asking for and expecting hospitality but as we see, he didn’t quite get what he expected. For we read where the “officials of Succoth” replied:
"Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"
Once again, we see Gideon facing conflict but his reaction to the officials of Succoth was far different than with Ephraim. For note how his tone shifted to one of anger and retribution as he said:
“Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."
Of interest, the word “tear” in this verse can also be translated as “thresh” which connects better to the Gideon we were initially introduced to…the Gideon who the Lord found threshing wheat in a winepress under an oak tree (Judges 6:11). Through his tone, we see how Gideon paints a pretty gruesome scene…one of suffering and revenge.
Do we too often act like this, displaying the same sinful attitude that Gideon displays?
For how often do we react in vindictive, retaliatory fashion when someone disrespects or violates us in some way? We might not go as far as vowing to tear someone else’s flesh but any feelings of malice that rise up towards another is not of God but of Satan.
Friends, we need to keep in mind that Jesus clearly taught His followers to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-44) not hate them. And He didn’t just tell them to do it, He did it Himself. For in Christ, we find the clearest model of what forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love looks like, even extended to those who shouted for Him to be crucified. You’ll remember that Jesus didn’t condemn them but rather asked His Father God to forgive them for they didn’t know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).
Indeed, Jesus perfectly practiced what He preached and He did it so we could follow His example.
Going back to Gideon, I’m pretty sure he would have been urged to show forgiveness and grace if he had only consulted God but he didn’t. Not in Succoth nor in Peniel where he went next, once again asking for bread for his 300 men. And after he was rebuffed again there, he responded with yet one more retributional threat, telling the “men of Peniel”:
“When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."
With that, we read where Gideon leaves Peniel and attacked the “unsuspecting army of “Zebah and Zalmunna…a force of about fifteen thousand men” who were encamped at Karkor. Gideon and his men routed the army of Zebah and Zalmunna and when the two kings tried to flee, they were pursued and eventually captured. Gideon then took the captured kings with him as he returned to exact his promised judgment on Succoth and Peniel.
While on his way to Succoth, Gideon questioned a young man who “wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town”. Gideon then called the officials together and showed them the two captured Midianite kings saying:
“Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'"
Gideon then continued to show his dark side…a side that was torturous and unmerciful…a side that “took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers”…a side that not only “pulled down the tower of Peniel” but then “killed the men of the town”, far more damage than what had been promised at first. .
Through all this, we see a very troubling, evil side to Gideon which gets worse as this passage continues. For after exacting punishment on Succoth and Peniel, he turned his attention to the two captured kings asking them:
"What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"
To which they replied:
"Men like you, each one with the bearing of a prince."
The two kings said this not knowing that they had actually murdered Gideon’s brothers at Mount Tabor, a wicked action that would now cost them their lives as we find Gideon angrily proclaim the following:
“Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you."
Unfortunately, the two kings didn’t spare the lives of Gideon’s brothers and so now Gideon would gain his revenge.
Again, we should note once more how the Lord isn’t consulted at all. Gideon isn’t interested in what God wanted done. Rather, we find him solely driven solely by blind rage…a rage that can easily come upon anyone who allows hatred to overcome love and forgiveness. The Lord could have helped Gideon through this difficult time but Gideon wasn’t interested in Him. Rather, he was centered on what he wanted…on what he saw as justice, even if it meant taking the lives of others.
What happened next must have come as a bit of a surprise to all, for instead of killing the kings himself, we find Gideon turn to “Jether, his oldest son”, commanding him to “Kill them!" But the scriptures tell us that Jether wouldn’t “draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid”.
Amazingly, we find the two captured kings essentially mocking Gideon. Encouraging him to just do the job himself because…“As is the man, so is his strength", Gideon takes them up on the offer, stepping forward and killing the Midianite kings, taking their “ornaments off their camels' necks” afterwards.
As we finish this passage, we’re reminded yet again how so many Old Testament figures, some very famous, were just as flawed as you and me. And although they were often hand-selected by God to carry out His purposes, they were still sinners and just as prone to failing and failing as anyone else. When they did, there was usually one common denominator. They decided to turn away from God so to do their own thing, getting so caught up in their own needs and desires that the Lord becomes secondary.
And it’s this that gets them into trouble.
My brothers and sisters, when it comes right down to it, we can opt to be as good or as bad as we want to be. Or putting it in spiritual terms, we can be as sinful or as holy as we want to be. In the end, it’s essentially about choice.
When we decide to follow God and always seek His guidance, then we willingly side with what is good and holy and righteous and just.
Conversely, when we willfully turn away from God and His counsel, then we can end up like Gideon…resentful, vengeful, hateful, and overall evil.
Ultimately, love becomes the key factor here between these two competing choices. A steadfast, committed, devoted love for the Lord will always lead us to relate and commune with Him. This is what leads us to a love attitude toward others, even those who do us wrong, because we’re not trying to love based on what we think but rather on what God wants.
This isn’t what Satan wants at all. For he would like nothing more than for us to go the Gideon way, choosing an eye-for-an-eye instead of showing grace and forgiveness. And it becomes easy for him when we decide to shut God out of our lives because it gives our enemy the chance to enter into our hearts and minds and souls so to lead us toward wronging others just as they have wronged us.
When it comes right down to it, the devil wants to pull us as far away from love as possible...far away from what the Lord wants when it comes to relating to one another properly. Frankly, we can’t afford to let that happen.
So what do we gain from all this today?
My hope is that we see the way clear to love everyone at all times…just as our Lord does and we can only reach that goal if we strive to be like our God in every way. To get to that point, we need to be totally committed to live for the Lord 24/7, 365 days of the year. To that end, let us all strive toward this goal, knowing we serve a Lord who is ever ready to guide us in the right and righteous ways…now and forever.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment