Gideon's
success was astounding. Moving from fearful farmer to mighty warrior,
he brought an end to pagan worship in Israel and defeated the
Midianite army but his story does not have a happy ending.
"No
sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted
themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did
not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands
of all their enemies on every side. 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." (Judges
8:33-35)
Gideon
fell into the recognition trap. He took the gold earrings and had an
ephod (a ceremonial garment) made as a memorial for this high
achievement in life. He did not want to be forgotten.
In
Genesis we learn of a group who wanted to be remembered. They tried
to build a monument but God confused their language and scattered
them. God does not share His glory!
Gideon
demonstration that he had more money than he needed by commissioning
this ephod made from the spoils of war. Some will use acts of
conspicuous consumption for recognition – expensive cars, homes,
jewelry. Some people will go into debt to show pretend wealth.
He
was a hometown hero and put the ephod on the altar he built to the
LORD. There
are no stories of Gideon beyond this point. He
would settle
into a life of comfort and bask
in the memories of
past victories.
The
choices Gideon made following his victory deviated from God's path
only a little bit but the deviation put Israel on a path that took
them far from God and, 40 years later, they had forgotten Gideon and
his family.
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