leo

Gideon was both a military and a spiritual leader for the Israelites. He was a huge influence for the people both in terms of military presence for their enemy to fear and respect and as a spiritual leader to bring the people closer to the Lord and to keep them close.

The ephod became a trap for Gideon, his family, and the rest of the Israelites. Though the intention for creating the ephod was to create a symbol to celebrate their victory, the people became too focused on celebrating and worshipping the ephod that they lost their focus on the Lord. Therefore, even though they claim to still worship the Lord, they are in fact worshipping the ephod instead. This attitude is still very much in practice today. I guess the Lord wouldn't have prohibitted us from creating images and symbols if the Lord knew that we wouldn't lose our focus on worshipping Him. But since we see that people nowadays still have a tendency to shift their focus of worship to the image (flower and candle offerings, extravagant dresses, fragrances, parades, and so on and so forth...), we now see that the Lord was right in prohibitting this kind of act.

An ephod is a garment worn by the high priest. A garment that controversial must have been very wonderful to look at. But it became a double-edged sword for them. Its beauty took the people's focus from the Lord to the priests, and that caused them to sin.

To ask for a share of the plunder to compensate for the time and the effort and the resources that he used is not a sin. It was only a means of compensation. But when Gideon created an ephod out of what was given him, no matter how well Gideon's intention was, was the beginning of sin. It marked an opening for the devil to capitalize on the Israelites's tendency to worship idols.

Gideon knew that only the Lord could really be King and that only the Lord could really deliver them from their enemies. If he placed himself as king over the Israelites, all the glory would go to him instead of to the Lord. Gideon knew that to become the king would only cause the Israelites more harm than good. The Israelites are looking for a king that they could see physically because they have conditioned by that way of thinking. During their time, almost all if not every other group around them have some sort of a "King" that they look up to and fear. They got the idea that they will earn the respect of the people around them only if they have someone that their enemies will fear and respect. Which is why they too wanted to see someone who will physically lead them to victory.

Gideon liven in a time when a person can exact vengeance on people who killed some of his family members by taking their own lives. And this is exactly what Gideon did. But nowadays, the Lord forbids us from taking vengeance on people because the Lord will exact vengeance and justice for us.

The people of Succoth and Peniel refused to help because of the fear. The seemingly vast number of their enemy created fear in them. I think they thought of Gideon's success as just a stroke of luck. Gideon just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Their refusal to help their brethren and their allies at their time of need convinced Gideon to punish them. Gidoen punished them not just for turning their backs to Gideon but also for turning their backs on their brethren, their friends, their allies, and the Lord. I'm positively sure that the Lord gave Gideon the green light later to punish them for what they did. We too as Christians can be guilty of the same sin by becoming "fair weather friends" to people. When we offer our presence, friendship and assistance to people only at times when we know that they are not going through a great deal of trials and suffering and yet turn our backs on them when we know that they do, we are committing the same sin that the people of Succoth and Peniel committed. And we should beware because we might just be punished by the Lord in the same way.

He needed to wipe out the enemy or face that possibility that they will return with their allies and with vengeance on their minds. In the same way, we shouldn't try to cure a disease and then stop halfway because we might suffer from a relapse where it'll be harder to recover and cure the disease because it's already immune to the medicine that we used to take.

Gideon asked them to help capture and destroy the remainder of the enemy. The Ephraimites were angry because Gideon didn't ask for their assistance when he drove out the enemies and now he's asking them to help his army mop up the rest. Their pride has been hurt and the task seems too absurd compared to what Gideon has accomplished earlier. But Gideon wisely placates them by appealing to that aspect which has hurt the Ephraimites the most...their pride. He tells them that he has accomplished practically nothing. He just made the first move by driving out the enemies, that's all. He didn't capture anybody nor did he kill anyone. Between the two of them, the glory of the battle will still belong to the Ephraimites because they will still be the one to capture the leaders of the enemy. All he did was to make the job easier. And, fortunately, that seemed to work.

I agree with the point that the army was divided and that they used the torches to create confusion among their enemies. In fact, I think that Gideon's small army was divided to create the illusion that they were in fact a bigger and more numerous army than they really are. This was also done to create the illusion that they were comming from different directions thus giving the illusion that they had allies who came to help destroy the enemy. The jars and the torches were used to capitalize on the one element that will help them win...surprise. Imagine yourself camping outside, sleeping peacefully when suddenly you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of jars breaking and torches waving all around you. I think anybody would be confused as to what's happening if they're suddenly in that situation. That's what the Lord planned to help His people win the almost impossible situation that His people were facing at the time.

God wanted to give a message to His people that will not seem to grand that they will feel that the Lord will deliver them even if they don't lift a single finger to help. But the Lord didn't want to give a message that will seem too feeble that the people will still doubt the Lord's ability to deliver them from their enemies. So the Lord gave the people a message where He used a simple object that the people are familiar with their everyday lives overrunning and destroying something as grand as the army that they are about to face. It's like showing a Volkswagen beetle colliding head-on with a ten-wheeler truck and coming out unscathed. It may seem comedic and absurd but when the message comes from the Lord regarding our enemies, it should give us enough courage to face whatever is ahead of us.

Well, I really don't have a definite answer for this one other than what has already been said but I what I can do is relate this to our modern day lives. God wants us to be prepared and to be alert. We shouldn't be too preoccupied with life that we are like the "kneelers" who seem to be so preoccupied with what they are doing. In the same way, we should go and do whatever we are supposed to do in our lives but we should also keep our heads up in case the devil decides to attack us, especially in our most vulnerable state. We should always be prepared for anything because we have no idea when the devil will decide to try and bring us down.

In the same way that we're afraid to walk anywhere in complete darkness because we don't see what's ahead, we try to make sure that what th Lord wants from us makes sense because we have no idea what's in store for us in the future. In other words, this is mostly about fear. Fear is a normal human reaction when we are unsure of what's ahead. But I think this reaction can be overridden just by completely trusting the Lord. But then again, I know that this is easier said than done. Even I haven't completely overcome that fear. But I do hope that, God willing, I will be able to in the near future.

We have a tendency to become blinded by fame and success. As was stated in the lesson, we tend to take credit for everything we accomplish. A part of why this happens is because we love to bask in the attention that we receive from our admirers. And because we are so blinded by the glory and the attention that the movie and tv stars receive, some people would give (and show to the public) anything just to become part of that "elite" crowd. This is what the Lord prevented from happening. As was stated in the lesson, the Lord made sure that the victory that they will accomplish will be nothing short of a miracle. Thus, the people's worship will not be directed to the army but to the Lord. But even though this is the case, we can assume that the level of the army's zeal was slowly going down when they saw their numbers were slowly but surely shrinking. At least one of those that were left were thinking that the probability of them winning the war went down for every person that was sent home. And Gideon must have, in one way or another, felt the same way. Gideon must have also seen the reluctant compliance of those who were sent home. Some of the soldiers must've also made some not-too-friendly side comments about Gideon's decision to send most of them home and I'm quite sure Gideon heard at least some of them. This must've pressured Gideon not to obey the Lord. Fortunately, his trust in the Lord was greater than his trust in his men. Because had he not obeyed and trusted in the Lord, I personally think that they would really have been decimated by the enemy. Before I end this, here's a little food for thought. Here in the Philippines, we have a term for the people who worship those movie stars. We add the suffix "-ian" or "-nian" to the first name of the star. So the followers of movie star named Nora becomes Noranians and followers of a star named Vilma becomes Vilmanians and so on and so forth. Thus being the case, as Christians, shouldn't we give the Lord the same zeal and attention that those people give to the person they "worship"?

While it is not wrong to ask the Lord for some signs (Gideon has alsready proven this fact), we should take care not to ask Him to give a sign to test Him and not ourselves. We should always remember that Gideon tested not the Lord but himself. It was for his sake and not the Lord's. He made that clear from the very beginning. This is the danger of asking for signs. It may come to a point where we are already testing the Lord instead of the other way around.

The difference between Gideon and the way a lot of people "test" the Lord is the fact that Gideon was not doubting the Lord's capability to deliver him and his army from their enemy but rather he was doubting his capability to deliver for the Lord. He completely believed and trusted the Lord but he feared he will screw it up somehow. This is very different from the kinds of testing that the scripture warns against. Those kinds of testing stem from unbelief. Some of the people who use these kinds of tests doubt or does not believe the existence of the Lord. Other people feel that their problems or sins are too great for the Lord to handle and/or forgive them and so they need some physical proof that the Lord is still there and hasn't turned His back on them. No matter what the reason is, the main underlying thought for these tests is: "I need some proof before I believe." This is very dangerous because Satan's forces will capitalize on this unbelief by continuously feeding lies and half-truths to further drag these people deeper into their problems. The deeper they sink the more they will feel that the Lord has either completely abandoned them or did not really exist in the first place. Thus, the more they sink, the more they doubt. And the more they doubt, the deeper they sink. And so it becomes a vicious cycle of hurt and pain and anger.

I think Joash was the kind of leader or person who had a religion for convenience's sake. I think he did not truly believe in any god but rather, he had a religion because everybody had one. And the fact is, we still see this attitude today. People worshipping and going to church not because they really believed in their hearts that there is a God who loves them and wants to develop a personal relationship with them but because their parents and friends and everybody else are doing it. They are not really worshipping the Lord, they go to services and conferences and meetings because their crush and/or their friends are there and so they end up socializing with those people, not with the Lord. Joash was a leader but he was only a leader on the outside because for him to say that he did it because he did not any better than the rest of them is not an excuse. Ignorance is never an excuse. This all changed when he learned that his own son tore down the altars to Baal and Asherah. He saw his son acting with conviction and determination to fulfill the task that was given to him by the Lord. We could assume that at first he was furious at his son for destroying the altars and he was greatly terrified at the consequences that will happen on account of the broken and "desecrated" altars. But as he explained later to the people, he saw that the gods that those altars represent were powerless to stop Gideon from desecrating their altars. So maybe he came up with the idea that either those gods didn't exist at all or they were inferior to the God that his son represented. This made him believe the might and glory of the Lord and thus he later made it a point to protect his son from the people. Joash became a follower of Yahweh. We could also assume that Gideon did consider the impact of his actions on his father. But is was consider the consequences from his father's point of view if he did it (beat him up, banishment, maybe even hand him over to the people to be sacrificed for atonement) or consider the consequences from the Father if he didn't do it (the Lord's eternal wrath, eternal damnation along with everybody else including his father). I guess we know what he chose, huh?

Yes, unfortunately, we can become disobedient disciples. We must admit that at some point in our lives, we have been disobedient somehow. And sometimes it doesn't take too much temptation to get us going. So there's no oxymoron here. In a utopic setting, a disobedient disciple, should be non-existent but since we are facing reality here, we've also got to face the fact that we do sin once in a while. But we do have a choice. Even the mistakes and sins that we have committed are all about making choices. Gideon could have opted not to tear down the altars without his father's permission or he could have tried to convince his father to worship the Lord in the hope that his father will tear down the altars himself, he could even have opted not to do it at all...he could have done lots of things. And we could only guess what would've happened if he did. But in the end, Gideon chose to serve the Lord. And that's all that we need to know.

We should honor our parents but not to the point where we will tolerate them if we know for a fact that they are disobeying the Lord's commandments. For Gideon to allow those altars to exist would mean that he also tolerates the worship of other gods. We should honor and respect our parents but we should always honor and respect the Lord more. The Lord will protect and provide for us if parents turn their backs on their children because of their faith in Him. But can we say the same of our parents once we turn our back on the Lord and face His wrath on His second coming?

The Lord tells Gideon to tear down the altars to make a point -- a point that Gideon's father clearly mentions while he was defending his son -- that no matter what you do to those altars, the gods that they represent couldn't care less...mainly because they do not exist. Which is also the main difference between their pagan gods and the God of Gideon. This is a way for God to show His people that He is willing to help them with their problems but only if they will give Him their undivided attention and devotion. But even if that's the case, the story shows us the fact that we should not be too hasty and careless. Gideon tore down the altars in the middle of the night not because it was a sign of weakness but because he knew that if he did it during the day, the worshippers of Baal and Asherah would have killed him the moment they saw him tearing down their altar. God understood the fact that for Gideon to fulfill his deed, some care was needed to be exercised rather than risk the life of his servant unneccessarily. In fact, for Gideon to even consider doing this already shows his great faith in the Lord for he knew that even though he is greatly outnumbered by the worshipers of Baal and Asherah, God will and did find a way for him to fulfill his assignment.

God assured Gideon that He will always be there for him and with him. It is an assureance that has never changed even until now. Matthew 28:19 and Philippians 4:13 gives us the same assurance that God has given Gideon. And by this promise, we should rest assured in God's love for "if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32) But then again, since God gave us that promise, satan will do his best to destroy and corrupt our self image so that we will doubt God. To counter this, we should always pray for God to give us the strength to resist satan and his minions and for God to protect us from all kinds of temptations.

The way we see ourselves can be influenced by many variables. It can be affected by the way other people see and treat us, our achievements or lack of it, even physical deformities can affect the way we view ouselves as a whole. This, plus the devil's influence (for he will capitalize on whatever advantage he can get to bring us down), can greatly diminish our self esteem. This, I think, is one of the main reasons why Gideon - and the rest of us - have trouble looking at ourselves the way God sees us. Which is probably why Gideon's self perception and God's opinion regarding Gideon were almost opposites. Gideon saw himself as a weak, useless and insignificant man. God, on the other hand, saw him and used him as a mighty warrior and an ambassador that He will use to show His might and power both to His people and to the Midianites.

They worshipped the gods that the Amorites worshipped. The prophet reminded them the commandment that they are not to worship other gods. They have yet to understand that they cannot serve two masters nor can they turn their back on the God that delivered them from their enemies. This is still a very big problem nowadays. People are very fickle when it comes to their relationship with the Lord. We tend to be easily distracted by other "important" things like work and money and big-named stars and sports prestige and so on and so forth especially when we're not yet experiencing any problem or challenge. We only remember the Lord when we're already neck-deep in problems that we have probably caused in the first place. We forget the fact that God will be a very good friend who will always be there to help us and take care of our needs only when we are the same way to Him. We need to ask, look for, and always try to catch His attention to show Him that He really is our primary priority. Only then will He really take care of us and reveal His secrets and His plans for us...much like a true, long-time and loyal friend does...because that is what He really is.

Whenever we are beset by problems and challenges that seem too overwhelming, we tend to point our finger and blame everybody - including God - as long as that same finger is not pointing to us. We usually fail to look at the fact that we may also be at fault which is why we're experiencing a problem. This, I think, is one of the main reasons why Gideon was blaming God. I think Gideon blamed God out of desperation. He didn't like seeing his people in the state they were in and yet he failed to see the reason why they were suffering. Of course this kind of assessment is highly inaccurate because we know that God never turns his back on His people. Rather, as history has proven time and time again, it is the other way around. People turn their back on God's good grace and then, amazingly, wonder why they are suffering. I think this is a very dangerous idea to even entertain because once we start blaming God, we are in grave danger of running even farther away from His grace because we think we are running away from the source of our problems.

hi! my name is leo and i'm from the philippines. i am glad that we are blessed to have this opportunity to be able to exchange messages instantly even though we are from different parts of the world. God bless us all!