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 Previous Return to Gideon

GIDEON:  A JUDGE AND MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR

 

The Passing of Gideon

Judges 8:32-35

Lesson #22

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.     The only mistake about which we learn regarding Gideon’s life involved the production of the golden ephod.  Most likely, this mistake was accidental.  It turned into something that Gideon never intended.

 

B.      In Gideon, we have seen faithful man of God.

In Gideon, we have seen a mighty man of valor.

In Gideon, we have seen a true leader.

In Gideon, we have seen a deliverer.

In Gideon, we have seen a man of humility.

In Gideon, we have seen a man of spiritual understanding.

 

C.     As with all men, however, Gideon’s life finally came to an end.

1.       Psalm 89:48a

 

What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?...

 

2.       Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a

 

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die…

 

3.       Ecclesiastes 3:20

 

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

 

4.       Hebrews 9:27

 

And as it is appointed unto men once to die…

 

D.     In Judges 8:32-35, we read about “The Passing of Gideon.”

 

I.                    THE REMAINS OF GIDEON (Judges 8:32)

 

A.     The Stillness of Death (Jud. 8:32a)

 

And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age…

 

1.       Gideon died in “a good old age.”

a.       We are not told how old this judge was at his passing.

b.      Abraham was also said to have died in a good old age, 175 years old (Gen. 25:7-8).

 

And these are the days of Abraham life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years.  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

 

2.       LESSON:  Isn’t this the desire of all mankind, that is, to live a full life and die in a good old age.  If a person dies young, we often feel as though the individual was cheated in some way.  We will often say:  “He/she died far too young.”

 

B.      The Site of Resting (Jud. 8:32b)

 

…in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

 

1.       The sepulchre of his father

a.       Sepulchres were above ground tombs or caves.

b.      Sepulchres were constructed or purchased.

c.       Often more than one individual in a family would be placed in the sepulchre (Ex., Abraham and the cave of Macpelah, Gen. 49:29-32).

2.       The city of Ophrah of the Abiezrites

 

II.                 THE REBELLION OF ISRAEL (Judges 8:33-34)

 

A.     The Swiftness of the Departure (Jud. 8:33a)

 

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead…

 

1.       Israel returned to their sinful ways almost before the body of Gideon could turn cold.

2.       It was as if they were waiting for Gideon to die.

3.       LESSON:  Evil wastes no time in returning once the obstacles opposing it have been removed (Matt. 12:43-35).

 

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, and garnished.  Then goeth he, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there:  and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

 

B.      The Sins Committed by Israel (Jud. 8:33b).

 

…that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

 

1.       Turned again

a.       Strong (7725): 

1)      to turn back, to return again to a starting point

2)      Often adverbally, “again.”  This was not the first time this had been done by the children of God.

b.      BDB:  to turn back (from God), apostatized

2.       Went a whoring after Baalim

a.       Strong (2181):  to commit fornication, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah, See Jer. 3:14)

b.      BDB:  to commit fornication, to be a harlot, to play the harlot, to be unfaithful to God

c.       They returned to Baalim

1)      Gideon destroyed his altar before the battle with the Midianites (Jud. 6:25-27).

2)      QUESTION:  Why would Israel want to go back to a false god?  What did this god offer them?

a)      Most of the time the worship of these gods involved the satisfying of fleshly lusts.

b)      Too, there were less restrictions placed on their lives.

3.       And made Baal-berith their god

a.       The name means “Baal of the covenant” or “Baal with whom they had made a covenant” (Keil & Delitzsch, e-sword).  NOTE:  This would put them in direct opposition to the true God with whom they had also entered a covenant (Exo. 19:5-6).

b.      This was a god of the Philistines, an enemy nation of Israel.

 

C.     Their Savior Forgotten (Jud. 8:34)

 

And 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.

 

1.       It was God who had fought for Israel in order to release them from the affliction and slavery of the Midianites.

2.       It had only been forty years since their delivery was made a reality.

3.       In that short period of time, they “remembered not the Lord their God.”

a.       This was an intentional forgetting. 

b.      The children of Israel just chose not to think about what God had done for them.

c.       Jeremiah 2:32

 

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?  yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

 

4.       LESSON:  There have been some Christians who have forgotten what God has done for them spiritually in less time than it took for Israel to forget God’s deliverance from the Midianites.

a.       They are not faithful.

b.      They practice idolatry, including the worship of self.

c.       They engage in sin and iniquity.

d.      They violate their covenant with the Almighty.

 

III.              THE RUTHLESSNESS DONE TO GIDEON’S HOUSE (Judges 8:35)

 

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

 

A.     Israel refused to show kindness to the house of Gideon

 

B.      Kindness

1.       Definitions:

a.       Strong (2617):  kindness

b.      BDB:  goodness, kindness, faithfulness

2.       Gideon had shown great kindness to his nation in taking the lead and delivering them from the Midianites. 

a.       Kindness usually begets kindness.

b.      However, it appears that the children of were not thankful for all Gideon had done for them.

c.       Perhaps out of respect or fear they did not return to their idolatry during the life of Gideon, but their hearts do not seem to have ever been truly penitent.

 

C.     If they did not show kindness to Gideon’s house, the only other alternative is to display acts of hatred and evil toward them.  In the next chapter, we see some of the evil committed against Gideon’s household.

 

D.     LESSON:  There are some people who are not appreciative of the kindness that is displayed toward them. 

1.       Their hearts are hardened toward another’s kindness.

2.       Too, they yearn to please self and practice sin instead of faithfully serving the Lord.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.     Gideon has long been in the grave, but his influence continues to live on to this day.

1.       We need to follow in the footsteps of his faith.

2.       Leaders need to learn some of the leadership skills of this mighty man of valor.

 

B.      Some had tried to find a type of Christ in the judge Gideon.

1.       There are some likenesses:  faith in God, humility, and the deliverance.

2.       Most, however, do not believe that he is a type of Christ in the true sense of the word.

 

C.     It is our prayer that we will learn and apply the lessons that Gideon provides for us.  Too, we need to learn the lessons that the evil nation of Israel did not seem to be able to learn and that cause them to turn from God to their idols.