UG 8-10{M. In this chapter we read that the men of Ephraim were displeased with Gideon for not asking them to go and fight against the Midianites; but Gideon said, You have done a greater thing, for God has given the two princes into your hands. And Gideon chased the Midianites, and he and his men were quite faint, and he asked the people of Succoth to give them some bread, but they refused; so Gideon said he would not stop then, but by-and-by he would punish them. And he asked the men of Penuel, and they also refused. Now the two kings were at rest with their armies, and Gideon came upon them and took them, and destroyed their army. And on his way back he took some thorns and briers of the wilderness, and with them he beat the men of Succoth, to teach them not to refuse bread to the people of God. He also threw down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
S. What did he do to the two kings of Midian?
M. He said to them, what kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? And they said, They were like you, just like the children of a king. Then Gideon said, They were my brothers, and if you had saved them alive, I would not have killed you. So Gideon killed those two kings and took away the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Now the men of Israel wanted to make Gideon their king, but he refused. He said, The Lord shall rule over you.
S. Was it right of Gideon to refuse to be made king?
M. Yes, Gideon was quite right in that, but he did something else which was very wrong; for he asked the people to give him the gold earrings that they took from their enemies; so they spread a garment on the ground, and every one threw into it all the ornaments of gold, and the gold chains that were round the camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod of the gold, and he put it in his city Ophrah, and all Israel came to look at it, so that it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
S. Why was it wrong for Gideon to make an ephod?
M. Because it was something to be seen; it was not faith, he had no word from God to make an ephod. It was setting up a thing for man to see; faith is content with what God sees. But God did not let the Midianites annoy the children of Israel any more. And the country was quiet for forty years, while Gideon lived. He had seventy sons, and he died when he was an old man, and he was buried in Ophrah. But the children of Israel went after false gods again, and they forgot the Lord who had put down their enemies on every side of them.
They were also unkind to Gideon's family.
S. Were any of Gideon's sons like him?
M. No. One of his sons, whose name was Abimelech, spoke to some of the people, and asked them whether they thought it better to have one person to rule over them, or to have seventy people. And they all agreed to have only one, and they were inclined to follow Abimelech, so they gave him some money, and he paid some foolish and wicked men to go with him; and he went to his father's house where all his brothers were, and he killed them every one except the youngest, who hid himself. Then all the men of Shechem made Abimelech king.
But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, went up to the top of Mount Gerizim, and spoke in a loud voice to the men of Shechem. And Jotham told them a story or parable, for he said, Once upon a time the trees went out to make a king, and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us! But the olive tree said, Shall I leave my fatness to reign over the trees? So the olive tree would not be king. Then they said to the fig-tree, Come and reign over us; but the fig-tree said, Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit to reign over the trees? Then they asked the vine: but the vine said, Stall I leave my wine to reign over the trees? So when all the trees refused, they asked the bramble; and the bramble said, If you really mean to make me king, come and sit under my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and destroy the cedars of Lebanon.
S. What did that parable mean?
M. It meant that they had chosen a man who was no better than a bramble, to be their king: trees could not sit under the shadow of a bramble, and no more could such a man as Abimelech be any protection or comfort to them. So it proved, for, when he had been king only three years, the men of Shechem turned against him, and God allowed them to punish him for his cruelty to his brothers; and they were also punished, for having made him king, for he went to war with them, and killed a great many. At last while he was trying to take a tower, a woman threw down a stone upon his head to kill him: and he said to his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword and kill me, I do not wish them to say, A woman killed him.
After Abimelech, a man named Tola judged Israel for twenty-three years. And after him came a man called Jair, who judged Israel for twenty-two years. Jair had thirty sons, who used to ride on thirty young asses, and they had thirty cities.
But the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, for they served the gods of the Gentiles and forsook the Lord. And the Lord was very angry and He allowed the Philistines and the children of Ammon to oppress them: for eighteen years they oppressed the two tribes and a half that were on the other side of Jordan; and then they passed over Jordan to fight against the other tribes.
S. Did the two tribes and a half suffer for being on the other side of Jordan?
M. Yes. They were suffering already for making their homes so near the enemies' country. Their rich fields were not much good to them while the Amorites oppressed them. At last they cried to the Lord and confessed their sin. They said, We have sinned, for we have forsaken our God, and we have served false gods. But the Lord answered, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from all these people? God wanted them to see why it was that they oppressed them and He said, You have forsaken me and served other gods, so now I will deliver you no more: go and cry to the false gods you have chosen and see if they will deliver you. When they heard this they were sorry for their sin; and they said to the Lord, We have sinned; do what you like to us, only deliver us, we pray thee: and they put away the strange gods and served the Lord. Then He was grieved when He saw the misery of Israel.
And the children of Ammon came against Israel; and the children of Israel encamped at Mizpeh, and waited for the Lord to send them a leader, and they said, Whoever will begin to fight against the children of Ammon, shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.