Judges

Judges 8: The LORD shall rule over you

Begin in prayer

Before we look at how the LORD alone rules His people and deserves their worship, let us come to Him together. Ask Him to turn our hearts from idols and to help us see Christ, the King who rules His people.

They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

Hosea 8:4

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Please show us Jesus, the faithful King, and teach us to honor You in our words and choices. Turn our hearts from every idol as we listen to Your Word. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Gideon quiets Ephraim's anger, then pursues Midian's two kings with his weary men despite Succoth and Penuel refusing bread. After capturing the kings, he takes thorns to Succoth's elders, destroys Penuel's tower, and kills its men. He also kills the kings because they had killed his brothers. Gideon refuses Israel's offer of lasting rule for his family, yet makes a gold ephod that leads Israel into idolatry. The land rests forty years, and Gideon has many wives, seventy sons, and another son named Abimelech through his concubine. After Gideon dies, Israel returns to the Baals, forgetting the LORD who rescued them and showing no kindness to Gideon's family.

As you read Judges 8, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD alone rules His people and deserves their faithful worship.

After the victory, Israel asks Gideon to rule over them, because they say he saved them (verse 22). Gideon answers, “Yahweh shall rule over you,” and refuses to rule himself or to let his son rule. Yet he asks for the gold earrings from the plunder and makes an ephod in his own town of Ophrah. An ephod was part of the high priest's holy clothing, and God's worship belonged at His tabernacle with His priests. All Israel worships Gideon's ephod, and it becomes a snare to Gideon and to his house (verse 27). At Penuel he threatened only the tower, yet he breaks it down and kills the men of the city (verse 17). He has many wives, and he names his concubine's son Abimelech, a name that means my father is king. As soon as Gideon dies, Israel makes Baal Berith its god and forgets the LORD who saved them (verses 33 and 34). Even the man who said the LORD should rule could not keep Israel faithful, so Israel still needed the LORD as King.

How does Judges 8 show us that the LORD alone rules His people and deserves their faithful worship?

God gives victory even as Israel's tensions appear.

Ephraim rebukes Gideon for leaving them out, and he points to the princes God delivered into their hands. His answer quiets their anger (verses 1 to 3). Gideon then pursues the remaining kings with exhausted men, despite the refusal of Succoth and Penuel to feed them.

The LORD deserves the rule Israel offers Gideon.

Israel credits Gideon with saving them and asks him, his son and his grandson to rule. Gideon refuses this offer for his family and says the LORD shall rule (verses 22 and 23). The rescuer must leave God's people under God's authority.

God's rescue gives no excuse for false worship.

Gideon collects gold earrings and makes an ephod in Ophrah. Israel worships it, and it becomes a snare to him and his house (verse 27). After his death, Israel forgets the LORD's rescue and returns to Baal worship.

Memorise

Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you.”

Judges 8:23

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what gift have I made into an idol, and will I bring it to Jesus?

Gideon tells Israel, “Yahweh shall rule over you.” Yet the gold ephod draws the people into false worship, and they later forget their Deliverer. Their rescue from Midian has not removed the sin that makes them reject God's rule.

Jesus is the King who always honors His Father and brings His people back to God. At the cross He died in their place, bearing the judgment due for their idolatry and every other sin. The debt their sins created is fully paid through His death. He rose from the dead and reigns as the living Lord, whose people owe Him faithful love.

Turn from your sin and trust Christ. Wealth, victories and admired leaders cannot give you a clean heart or pardon your guilt. There is forgiveness in Jesus for every sinner who takes refuge in Him. Ask Him to turn your heart from idols and teach you to obey.

Parent's note

Tell your children to turn from sin and trust Christ. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Explain what Gideon did at Succoth and Penuel, and the kings' deaths, in your own words. Pray for God to give every child a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His right to rule and His mercy toward sinners, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;

2 Peter 2:9

Lord, thank You that You alone rule Your people and deserve their faithful worship. Please forgive the idols we cherish and bring us to trust Jesus as Savior and King. Teach us to thank You for Your gifts without loving them more than You. Amen.