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Judges 8

¹And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.

²And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

³God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

⁴And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.

⁵And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

⁶And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?

⁷And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

⁸And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.

⁹And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.

¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure.

¹²And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.

¹³And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,

¹⁴And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.

¹⁵And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?

¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

¹⁷And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.

¹⁹And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

²⁰And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

²²Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

²³And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

²⁴And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.

²⁷And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

²⁸Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

³⁰And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

³¹And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

³²And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.

³⁴And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:

³⁵Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

on Judges 8

Win The War, Lose The Victory

Be careful where you travel for business or vacation.

You might pick a place that’s dangerous. According to an article in the June 25, 1993 issue of Pulse, there are fifty-six nations that have serious problems with land mines. Angola has 20 million mines waiting to maim or kill, Afghanistan 10 million, and Cambodia 4. million, and the expense of removing them is more than these nations can handle. The wars may be over, but the dangers haven’t vanished.

The saintly Scottish Presbyterian pastor Andrew Bonar wasn’t thinking particularly about land mines when he said it, but what he said is good counsel for all of us: “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” That was the counsel Gideon needed after he’d routed the Midianites, because his problems still weren’t over. He discovered some “mines” that were ready to explode.

Thus far in our study of Gideon’s life, we’ve seen his responses to the Lord’s call to defeat the enemy. At first Gideon was full of questions and doubts; but then he grew in his faith, believed God’s promises, and led his army to victory. In Judges 3, the account focuses on Gideon’s responses to various people after he had won the battle, and it tells us how he handled some difficult situations.

The chronology in chapter 8 seems to be as follows: Gideon’s pursuit of the two kings (vv. 4–12); his disciplining of the defiant Jews on his journey home (vv. 13–17); the protest of the Ephraimites after he arrived home (vv. 1–3); the slaying of the kings (vv. 18–21); and Gideon’s “retirement” (vv. 22–35). Each of these events presented a new challenge to Gideon, and he responded differently to each one.

1. A soft answer for his critics

Why this paragraph is placed here is somewhat of a puzzle. It’s not likely that the men of Ephraim would complain to Gideon while they were capturing Oreb and Zeeb (7:24–25) and while he was pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna (8:12). Fighting the enemy would have consumed all their energy and attention, and Gideon’s reply in verse 3 indicates that the men of Ephraim had already captured and killed Oreb and Zeeb. Perhaps a delegation from the tribe waited on Gideon when the spoils of war were being distributed after he returned home, and that’s when they complained.

Knowing that they were a large and important tribe, second only to Judah, the Ephraimites were a proud people. Gideon was from Manasseh, the “brother” tribe to Ephraim and Ephraim was insulted because he didn’t call them to the battle. But why would such an important tribe want to follow a farmer into battle? They had assisted Ehud (3:26–29) and Deborah and Barak (5:13–14), but that was no guarantee they would help Gideon.

When you reflect on the way the attack on Midian was handled, it was wisdom on Gideon’s part that he hadn’t called for volunteers from Ephraim. This proud tribe would have been incensed if Gideon had told the frightened men to go home, and their volunteers would not have tolerated his thinning out the ranks to only 300 soldiers! If Gideon had called them and then sent most of them back, they would have created a far worse problem before the battle than they did afterward. Ephraim was on hand to help in the “mopping up” operations, and that’s what really counted.

Ephraim, however, missed out on acquiring some valuable spoils of war from over 100,000 soldiers, and this may have been what irritated them. (Usually when people criticize something you’ve done, there’s a personal reason behind their criticism, and you may never find out what the real reason was.) Since David’s unselfish law governing the dividing of the spoils of war hadn’t been established yet (1 Sam. 30:21–25), those who didn’t participate in the battle didn’t share in the loot. When the men of Ephraim should have been thanking Gideon for delivering the nation, they were criticizing him and adding to his burdens.

As a victorious general, a national hero, and the people’s first choice for king, Gideon might have used his authority and popularity to put the tribe of Ephraim in its place, but he chose to use a better approach. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov. 15: nkjv). Perhaps Gideon’s immediate feelings weren’t that cordial, but he controlled himself and treated his brothers with kindness. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (16: nkjv). Gideon proved that he could control not only an army, but also his temper and tongue.

It’s sad when brothers declare war on each other after they’ve stood together to defeat the enemy. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). It didn’t cost Gideon much to swallow his pride and compliment the men of Ephraim. He told them that their capturing Oreb and Zeeb was a greater feat than anything the men had done from his hometown of Abiezer. Peace was restored and Gideon returned to the more important tasks at hand.

In Poor Richard’s Almanack (1734), Benjamin Franklin wrote:

Take this remark from Richard, poor and lame, Whate’er’s begun in anger ends in shame.

And King Solomon wrote, “The beginning of strife is like releasing water; therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts” (Prov. 17: nkjv).

A stern warning for the skeptics

Gideon and his men were pursuing two of the Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, knowing that if they captured and killed them, the enemy’s power would be crippled and eventually broken. The army crossed over the Jordan to Succoth in Gad, hoping to find some nourishment, but the men of Succoth wouldn’t help their own brothers. The two and a half tribes that occupied the land east of the Jordan didn’t feel as close to the other tribes as they should have, and Gad had sent no soldiers to help either Deborah and Barak (5:17) or Gideon. While others were risking their lives, the people of Gad were doing nothing.

The Ammonites and Moabites, relatives of the Jews through Lot, failed to help Israel with food, and God declared war on them (Deut. 23:3–6). Hospitality is one of the basic laws of the East, and custom demands that the people meet the needs of strangers as well as relatives. Hospitality was also an important ministry in the early church, for there were no hotels where guests might stay, and in times of persecution, many visitors were fleeing. (See Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 5:10; Heb. 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9.) Indeed, helping a hungry brother is an opportunity to help the Lord Jesus (Matt. 25:34–40).

The men of Succoth were skeptical of Gideon’s ability to defeat the fleeing Midianite army and capture the two kings. If Succoth helped Gideon and Gideon failed, then the Midianites would visit Succoth and retaliate. The men of Succoth didn’t think feeding a hungry brother was an opportunity to show love but was a risk they didn’t want to take, and they were rather impudent in the way they spoke to Gideon. Since Gideon received the same response from the men at Peniel (Penuel), he warned both cities that he would return and discipline them.

God gave Gideon and his men victory over the fleeing Midianite hosts and enabled him to capture the two enemy kings. Triumphantly he retraced his steps and kept his promise to the men of Succoth and Peniel. Providentially, he found a young man who was able to give him the names of the seventy-seven leaders in Succoth who had refused to help him and his army. He showed them the two kings whom the elders had said Gideon would never capture, and then he chastised them, apparently by beating them with thorny branches. He then went to Peniel and wrecked their tower, killing the men who had opposed him.

Why didn’t Gideon show to the people of Succoth and Peniel the same kindness that he showed to the Ephraimites and simply forgive them their offenses? For one thing, their offenses were not alike. The pride of Ephraim was nothing compared to the rebellion of Succoth and Peniel. Ephraim was protecting their tribal pride, a sin but not a costly one, but Succoth and Peniel were rebelling against God’s chosen leader and assisting the enemy at the same time. Theirs was the sin of hardness of heart toward their brethren and treason against the God of heaven. Of what good was it for Gideon and his men to risk their lives to deliver Israel if they had traitors right in their own nation?

Leaders must have discernment or they will make wrong decisions as they deal with different situations. Personal insults are one thing, but rebellion against the Lord and His people is quite something else.

A solemn question for his enemies

When Gideon arrived back home at Ophrah, leading Zebah and Zalmunna captive, the procession must have been as exciting as a ticker-tape parade. Gideon was a true hero. With only 300 men, he had routed the enemy camp and then pursued the fleeing soldiers across the Jordan and as far south as Karkor. He had brought his royal prisoners back, plus whatever spoils the men had gathered along the way.

Gideon had a personal matter to settle with these two kings because they had been guilty of killing his brothers at Tabor. The text doesn’t tell us when this wicked act took place, but it must have occurred during one of the previous annual Midianite raids. How Gideon’s brothers became involved and why they were killed isn’t explained to us, but the suggestion is that the act was a unconscionable one.

According to Mosaic law, the family was to avenge crimes like this by killing those responsible for the murder. There was no police system in the land, and each family was expected to track down and punish those who had murdered their relatives, provided the culprit was guilty (see Num. 35:9–34). In the case of Zebah and Zalmunna, the culprits were not only murderers but also enemies of Israel.

The two kings were shrewd in the way they answered Gideon, flattering him by comparing him and his brothers to princes. Someone has said that flattery is a good thing to taste but a bad thing to swallow, and Gideon didn’t swallow it. How could he spare these two evil men who had taken food from the mouths of Jewish women and children and had brutally killed Jewish men?

In those days, how a soldier died was important to his reputation. Abimelech didn’t want to die at the hand of a woman (9:53–54), and King Saul didn’t want to fall into the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:1–6). For a child to kill a king would be the ultimate in humiliation thus Gideon told his young son Jether to execute the two criminals. By doing so, Jether would not only uphold the law of the land and humiliate the two kings, but he would also bring honor to himself. For the rest of his life, he would be known as the boy who executed Zebah and Zalmunna.

But the lad wasn’t ready for either the responsibility or the honor. Even when people are guilty, enforcing justice in the land is a serious thing and must not be put into the hands of children. Because of his fear, Jether hesitated in avenging the murders of his uncles, so the two kings told Gideon to do it.

There seems to be a bit of sarcasm in their words, which may be paraphrased, “You kill us, Gideon. Let’s see what kind of a man you are—or are you also just a child?” Zebah and Zalmunna didn’t want the inexperienced Jether to execute them because he would have muddled the whole thing and made their deaths much more painful. The kings deliberately aroused Gideon’s anger, knowing that he was a good swordsman and would dispatch them quickly, and that’s exactly what he did.

A puzzling reply for his friends

The narrative focuses on two requests, one from the people to Gideon and the other from Gideon to the people.

The people request a king (vv. 22–23, 29–32). So popular was Gideon that the people asked him to set up a dynasty, something altogether new for the nation of Israel. This was one way they could reward Gideon for what he had done for them. But it was also somewhat of a guarantee that there would be a measure of unity among the tribes as well as the kind of leadership that would mobilize them against possible future invaders.

Their request was a confession of unbelief, for as Gideon reminded them, God was their king. Gideon rejected their generous offer purely on theological grounds: He would not take the place of Jehovah God. Every Jew should have known that the mercy seat in the tabernacle was the throne of God from which He ruled in the midst of His people. “You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth” (Ps. 80: niv). “The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake” (99: niv). To set up a rival throne would be to dethrone the Lord.

Moses warned that Israel would one day want a king like the other nations and forget that they were a unique nation, unlike the Gentiles (Deut. 4:5–8; 14:2; 17:14–20; Ex. 19:4–5) What other nation had the Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth, as their king?

What Gideon said was commendable, but what he did later on was very puzzling. After rejecting the throne, he lived like a king! Judges 8:29–32 describes the lifestyle of a monarch, not that of a judge or a retired army officer. Gideon was quite wealthy, partly from the spoils of battle and partly from the gifts of the people, and he had many wives and at least one concubine. His wives bore him seventy sons, his concubine bore him one. In fact, he named the son of the concubine Abimelech, which means “my father is a king,” and this son later tried to live up to his name and become ruler over all the land. Gideon also seems to have assumed priestly duties for he made his own ephod and probably consulted it on behalf of the people.

Nobody would deny that this courageous soldierjudge deserved honor and rewards, but his “retirement plan” seemed a bit extravagant.

Gideon requests gold (vv. 24–28). The people were only too eager to share their spoils with Gideon. After all, he had brought peace to the land (v. 28) and had refused to become their king. Therefore, it was only right that he receive something for his labors. The Midianites wore gold crescents, either on the ear or the nose (Gen. 24:47), and the Israelite soldiers would have quickly taken these valuable items as they gathered the spoils. Gideon ended up with over forty pounds of gold, plus the wealth he took from Zebah and Zalmunna. No wonder he was able to live like a king!

At this point the man of faith led the people into idolatry, for Gideon made an ephod, and the people “played the harlot” with it (v. 27 nkjv). This meant that they stopped giving their true devotion to the Lord and used the ephod for an idol. In Scripture, idolatry is looked upon as prostitution (Isa. 50:1–3; 54:6–8; Jer. 2:1–3; 3:1ff.; Hos. 2; James 4:4; Rev. 2:4). Gideon may have made the ephod as a representation of Jehovah, to “help the people” in their worship, but a good motive can never compensate for a bad action. He knew it was wrong to make an idol (Ex. 20:4–6).

Whether this ephod was an embellished version of the garment used by the high priest (28:6), or some kind of standing idol (see Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17), we can’t tell, but it was used in worship and became a snare to Gideon and the people (Ps. 106:36). Perhaps Gideon used it to determine the will of God and help the people with their problems. If the ephod was indeed a copy of the high priest’s garment, then Gideon was definitely out of God’s will in duplicating it and using it, because Gideon wasn’t a priest. If it was a standing idol, Gideon was disobeying God’s law (Ex. 20:4–6) and corrupting the people as well. It was just a short step from worshipping the ephod to worshipping Baal (Judg. 8:33).

Gideon missed a great opportunity to bring reformation and perhaps revival to the land. He had torn down his father’s idols, but there were many households in Israel that were still devoted to Baal, and those idols needed to be destroyed as well. The great victory over Midian gave Gideon good reason to call the nation back to the Lord and obedience to His law. But instead of using the occasion for God’s glory, he used it for his own profit, and the nation eventually lapsed into sin once again.

With his vast wealth and his great national reputation, Gideon probably thought that his children were well provided for, but just the opposite proved true. Sixty-nine of his seventy sons were killed by their halfbrother who himself was slain by a woman dropping a stone on his head. There is no security apart from the will of God. Had Gideon practiced Matthew 6:33, subsequent events might have been radically different.

What caused Gideon’s spiritual decline? I think it was pride. Before the battle against Midian, Gideon humbly depended on the Lord. During the “mopping up” operations, however, he became authoritative and even vindictive. When he refused the kingship, he sounded pious (“the Lord shall rule over you”), but I have a suspicion that he had a hidden agenda in his heart. You don’t find Gideon honoring the Lord or calling the people together to make a new covenant to obey the Lord. Gideon started out as a servant, but now he was an important celebrity. The result was decline for him, his family, and his nation.

It’s interesting and instructive to contrast Abraham and Gideon in the decisions they made after their respective victories (Gen. 14). Abraham took nothing for himself but made sure that others received their share of the spoils (Gen. 14:22–24). He especially refused to take anything from the heathen king of Sodom (Gen. 14:17, 21). Instead, Abraham fellowshipped with Melchizedek, King of Salem, a type of our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 7—8); and in all that he said and did, Abraham gave glory to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Andrew Bonar was right: “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” After all, there may still be some land mines scattered around!