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GIDEON:  A JUDGE AND MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR

 

The Priestly Ephod Made by Gideon

Judges 8:24-27

Lesson #20

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.     After Gideon told Israel that he would not become their leader, he made a request of them.

 

B.      They honored his request.

 

C.     The end of Gideon’s actions was not good.  The last half of Judges 8:27 reads:  “…and all Israel went thither a whoring after it:  which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.”

 

D.     The “thing” was a golden ephod.  Let’s look at this section, entitled:  “The Priestly Ephod Made by Gideon” (Judges 8:24-27).

 

I.                    THE REQUEST MADE BY GIDEON (Judge 8:24)

 

A.     The Prey’s Earrings (Jud. 8:24a)

 

And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey…

 

1.       Until this point in time, Gideon had not taken many of the spoils of battle for himself.

2.       Now, however, he requests the earrings of the Midianites.

3.       These rings were worn in both the ears and the noses of both men and women.

a.       Different cultures had different styles of dress and accessories that were worn.

b.      At the foot of Mt. Sinai, Aaron formed the golden calf from the earrings of the people of Israel (Exo. 32:1-3).

 

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this man Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.  and Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.  And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

 

B.      The Practice of the Ishmaelites (Jud. 8:24b)

 

…(For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

 

1.       Again, cultures practice many different forms of dress.

2.       The Ishmaelites were known for their golden earrings.

a.       We are used to smaller earrings.

b.      Some cultures have very large, weighty ornaments that are worn (Ex., part of the traditional accessories of the Mali women in Africa were large, golden earrings).

 

 

 

 

A person wearing a mask and holding a pumpkin

Description automatically generated with low confidence     STOCK IMAGE, , 11258589, 01B4U1E5 , DeAgostini - Search Stock Photos,  Images, Pictures, Photography at Diomedia

 

3.       Note that the Midianites are now called Ishmaelites in this verse.

1.       “Ishmaelites is the general name for the nomad tribes of Arabia, to whom the Midianites also belonged” (K&D, e-sword).

a.       Ishmael the son of Abraham through Hagar.

b.      Midian was the son of Abraham through Keturah (Gen. 25:2).

c.       Since the sons of Ishmael were very prominent in the region, and since the Midianites were kin to Ishmael, they took on the name Ishmaelites in a general way because of the area wherein their lived.

2.       Another example of the dual usage is found in Genesis 27:27-28, 36.

 

Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites…Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver:  and they brought Joseph into Egypt…And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

 

II.                 THE RENDERING OF THE EARRINGS (Judges 8:25)

 

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

 

A.     The spoils that were recovered from the Midianites was probably quite large:  weapons, horses, clothing, jewelry, tents, personal items, food, etc.

 

B.      This was an extremely small cost to render to the one who had delivered them from the hand of the Midianites. 

 

C.     Thus, they “willingly” gave them.

 

D.     Their free-will offering was cast onto a garment that had been spread to collect the earrings. 

1.       The garment could have been a mantle, an outer cloak that was worn over a robe and tied around the waist. 

2.       They were larger than other items of clothing and usually fell almost to the ankle of the person who wore it.

 

III.              THE RECORD OF THE ITEMS POSSESSED (Judges 8:26)

 

1.       The Poundage of the Earrings (Jud. 8:26a)

 

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold…

 

a.       The weight of just the earrings was 1,700 shekels of gold.

b.      unitconverters.net

1)      1 shekel:  0.0251326979 lbs

2)      1 pound of shekels:  37.78804386 shekels

3)      1700 shekels divided by 37.8 equals 42.8211587 pounds of gold

4)      42.81211587 times $1,708.07 equals $73,141.54 in today’s dollars.

 

2.       The Plunder of Other Jewelry (Jud. 8:26b)

 

…beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about the camels’ necks.

 

a.       We read that Gideon had taken the ornaments that were on the necks of the kings’ camels (Jgs. 8:21).

b.      He also took ornaments and raiment that the two kings personally wore. 

1)      That gold and silver may have amounted to a fair sum of money.

2)      However, Gideon did not become a wealthy man by slaughtering the Midianites. 

3)      He certainly did not take advantage of his position and the other men who waged war against Midian.

4)      Gideon was not covetous.  He was a very modest man.  Qualities that continue to commend him to us.

 

IV.              THE REPRODUCTION OF THE EPHOD (Judges 8:27a)

 

And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah…

 

A.     An ephod

1.       When the Lord called Moses up into Mt. Sinai, he told him to take up a free-will offering of the Israelites in order to complete all things needed to build and sustain the tabernacle.  This included all of the clothing to be worn by the high priest and priests.

2.       One of the articles of the high priest was an ephod.  The first time we read of it is in Exodus 25:7.

 

Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.

 

3.       Aaron’s ephod was very unique. 

a.       It is described for us in Exodus 28:4-12.

b.      The ephod was like unto a shirt.  The breastplate of the high priest was attached to it by chains. 

4.       When Hannah took Samuel to the temple to serve there, he was clad in a “linen ephod” (1 Sam. 2:18).

5.       The replica of the ephod that Gideon made was of pure gold. 

6.       It was placed in his hometown of Ophrah.

 

B.      We have a question:  Why did Gideon make this ephod?

1.       He was not commanded by God to make it.

2.       Was it designed to commemorate the victory that Israel had over the Midianites?

3.       Did Gideon have it made thinking that he would be able to wear it in order to inquire of the Lord since he had been designed as the deliverer of Israel?

4.       Could it have been a result of some pride of heart that cause Gideon to desire such an item to be made?

5.       NOTE:  All of our thoughts are speculative.  The Bible does not tell us the motive of Gideon, nor are we told “how” the ephod was used after it was made.

 

V.                 THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THE EPHOD (Judges 8:27b)

 

…and all Israel went thither a whoring after it:  which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

 

A.     The Practice of Spiritual Adultery (Jud. 8:27b-27c)

1.       A whoring

a.       Strong (2181):  to commit adultery

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

2.       In some manner, Israel worshiped this ephod that Gideon had made. 

a.       In so doing, they turned from their covenant relationship with God.  God looked upon this as spiritual adultery. 

b.      Verses:  Jeremiah 3:20; Isaiah 1:21; 57:8; Ezekiel 16:30

 

Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

 

3.       This was not the first time some type of an object had been used by Israel in the worship of God. 

a.       Moses had been commanded by God on one occasion to form a brazen serpent and put it on a pole.  When the Israelites looked upon it, they could be healed from the snake bites they received for violating God’s will (Num. 21:8-9).

b.      In 2 Kings 18:4, we learn that king Hezekiah broke this brazen serpent into pieces because Israel burned incense to it.

 

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made:  for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it:  and he called it Nehushtan.  (a thing of brass)

 

4.       We learn some things about Israel in this action.

a.       Their hearts were still corrupt even after their delivery from the Midianites.

b.      For some reason, man yearns for something physical toward which to direct his worship instead of worshiping God alone.

c.       Man has a difficult time being a spiritual being instead of giving way to the fleshly, carnal, physical side.

 

B.      The Problem for Gideon and His Family (Jud. 8:27c)

 

…which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

 

1.       Snare

a.       Strong (4170):  a noose for catching animals, a hook for the nose

b.      BDB:  bait, lure, snare

2.       There are several ways this could have become a snare.

a.       They knew the worship of the ephod was wrong and they were the cause of it. 

b.      They were not able to destroy the ephod for fear of the people (See Jud. 6:27).

c.       They may have been tempted to worship the ephod themselves.

d.      If some in Gideon’s family worshiped the ephod, even though he did not, this would be snare unto him.

3.       LESSONS

a.       Whether it was intended or not, the ephod became an evil thing.

b.      If God does not authorize something, we engage in the act to our peril.

c.       One’s personal actions do not just impact himself, they can have a tremendous impact on others, including his own family.

d.      Images, crosses, pictures, instrumental music, and even our buildings can become objects of homage and reverence in our minds.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.     Until Gideon made this decision, we held him in very high esteem.

 

B.      Perhaps his intentions were not evil in making the ephod.

1.       He may have thought that it would be a memorial of his victory over the enemy.

2.       Example: 

a.       When David defeated Goliath, he took the spoils of victory (1 Sam. 17:54).

 

And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 

 

b.      When David fled to Nob, Ahimelech gave David the sword of Goliath (1 Sam. 21:9).

 

And the priest said, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod:  if thou wilt take that, take it:  for there is no other save that here.  And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

 

C.     Sadly, men can take innocent things and turn them into things that are evil.

 

D.     Too, there have been good men like Gideon who have been lifted up with pride enough that they transgressed the commandment of God (See Exo. 20:4-5).

 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:  for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.