heatherdills

An ephod is an ornamental "breastplate" that priests often wore in religious ceremonies. The gold ephod may have looked like armor worn in war, but was ornamentalized for worship.

Gideon asks for earrings from the plunder as his reward. Gideon was not wrong to take a reward since it was customary in his time and God had not told him he could not do this. His sin began when the ephod he made from the gold was worshipped rather than God.

Gideon refuses to be king over Israel because God is already the head over Israel. Becoming king would be treason in the sense it would be "overthrowing" God from the throne. The Israelites did not see bestowing kingship as treason because they did not acknowledge the invisible living God as their king and wanted a physical eathly king to rule over them.

Gideon slays Zebah and Zalmunna because they killed his brothers. He is just in fulfilling his obligation. Romans 12:19 prohibits Chirstians from taking vengeance because we are to leave room for God to enact His wrath. He will give them just punishment in ways we never could and it keeps us away from our own sin.

The cities of Succoth and Peniel refuse aid to Gideon's army because they are afraid Gideon would fail and wanted to remain in good standing with the Midianites. Gideon punishes these cities later because they had broken their covenant with other Israelites. Thier sin is disobeying God's will. Gideon is just. A circumstance of when a Christian might be quilty of the sin of Succoth and Peniel is when they pass on an opportunity to help someone in need because they don't want to be bothered.

Gideon must vanquish the Midianite force of 15,000 men in Karkor to complete the task God gave him. The danger we face when we deal with problems only half-way is that it leaves us open to face them again.

Gideon asks the Ephraimites to cut off some of the escape routes so as to inflict greater losses on the Midianites. They are angry because Gideon did not call on them to go into battle. Gideon's approach to the Ephraimite's arrogance was that flattery and humility can get you a long way.

Gideon divided into three companies so the Midianites would be confused by thinking they were surrounded. The strategy of the trumpets, the empty jars, and the torches were to make the enemy think there was a larger army than there actually was. The result of this strategy caused the Midianites to turn on each other and flee. This strategy works because Gideon did as God instructed.

THe rolling barley loaf meant that something that seems small and harmless, like the loaf, would destroy an entire tent in the Midianite's dream. The Lord shows Gideon this dream to reinforce the victory going to give him.

The significance in selecting "lappers" from the "kneelers" may be that "lappers" never let their guard down by kneeling close to the water and being distracted like the "kneelers".

We demand that GOd's directions make sense to us before we'll follow them because we lack true faith. The spiritual danger here is not to fully rely on the Lord and receive His blessings. We can balance blind obedience with getting confirmation through spiritual people whose discernment we trust are starting what GOd has asked and asking for advice on how to get it done.

GOd felt Gideon's army was too large because He knew that they would take the credit for defeating the Midianites rather than giving Him the glory. Shrinking the army's size to a tiny band was essential in restoring Israel's faith and allegience because a few against many would be a true miracle. Failure, rejection by the people and loss of favor with God are some pressures Gideon would be feeling not to obey God in shrinking his army. Gideon was able to obey God fully in this byfollowing God's instructions.

We should ask God to confirm his direction with a sign when we need His guidance. The danger of demanding a sign is placing the expectancy of a sign rather than our reliance on Him.

Gideon put out a fleece before the Lord twice so God could strengthen his faith. This is a sign of belief becuase he asks God and God answers. This is a "testing" of God becuase Gideon wanted a specific action from God. This is different from the sinful testings of God the scripture warns againstbecause it is not done from a selfish sinful nature, but rather to ferment his faith.

The Spirit of the Lord inspires Gideon to blow the battle horn and summon an army against the Midianites. Gideon has the Spirit of the Lord overcoming him in common with other judges and leaders of his era.

Gideon's father, Joash, has been a community leader up to this point. Gideon's action brought his father to the community's attention and was forcing him to choose between his son and idolatry. Gideon should not have considered the impact on his father because the command came straight from God. This should not and did not affect Gideon's action because he did as the Lord asked. Joash was a follower of Yahweh now because defended his son and dared the community to action in rebellion for Baal.

God tells Gideon to tear down the Baal altar and Asherah pole because they are parts of idolatry. The positive thing he is to do in their place is sacrifice a bull as a burnt offering to God. The risks involved in this action are punishment by his father and ridicule by his community. Gideon did this at night because he was afraid. The night mission is both a sign of weakness, because he used the cover of night, and of faith, because he obeyed the Lord.

wE ARE TO OBEY THE COMMANDMENT "HONOR THY MOTHER AND FATHER" IN THE SITUATION GIDEON FOUND HIMSELF IN BY OBEYING OUR FIRST AND HEAVENLY FATHER, GOD. GIDEONS JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS WAS THAT GOD COMES BEFORE OUR EARTHLY PARENTS.

Yes a person can be a "disobedient disciple". It is an oxymoron because to be a disciple one should be obedient at all times. We have choices, itt is called free will.

God's answer to Gideon's self-image was that He was with him and he will be victorious. This spritiual principle does apply to our lives as Christians. An appropriate prayer to pray in light of what God has taught me from this passage is to submit to his calling with complete faith and to rely on his strength to accomplish His will.

God saw Gidoen as a mighty warrior. Gideon saw himself as the weakest. God's self-perception is most accurate. Our own self-perception prevents us from what God has made us to be by binding our gifts and anointings and not fulfilling everything the Lord has asked us to do.

According to the prophet in 6:7-10, the reason for Israel's oppressed state was their idol worship of other gods. They broke the first commandment "thou shall have no other gods before me". They had not "listened" because they conformed to the religious practices of the land. This affects Christians today because so easily we concede to modern society and tolerate things we know are not right in God's eyes.

Gideon blames God for his troubles in 6:13 by claiming that God had abandoned the Israelites and left them in the hands of the Midians. Gideon's assessment is not wholly accurate. God used the Midianites as a form of punishment, but had not abandoned them. We blame God because we think of Him as our protector. He is, but we have to learn from our mistakes and reap the consequences of our actions. The danger of blaming God is that our hearts become hardened and we start to abandon Him. We can stop short of this in the future by learning from our mistakes and thanking God for turning our outcomes for His glory.

Convictions God has formed in me through this Bible study that have made a difference on how I think about, value and act toward my own local congregation are that noone is perfect, to not get discouraged when not asked to help in a ministry, to care about everyonr in the church, and not to judge people because it is not my place to do so. These sentiments are pretty much the same towards the greater Church around the world with the exception that I pray for the wisdom of its leaders to show the love of Christ and not to push people away that are seeking God.

We should love the Church because it is our own body in that each member has a purpose, the church has a purpose, and it provdes for us as God provides for us. That kind of love will produce in our actions love, empathy, kindness, unity and faith. We need to repent of despsing the Curch and begin to love her aright because despising the Church is despsing God. We cannot love God and hate His house.