“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets” (Hebrews 11:32 NIV).
Unfortunately, Gideon’s account does not end with the Biblical record of his victory over the Midianites. You see, the Old Testament book of Judges continues with a subsequent portion of Gideon’s life…
“The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.’ But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you'” (Judges 8:22-23 NIV).
When the people of Israel offered to serve as Gideon’s royal subjects, Gideon countered with the proper response: “…’I’m not the one who will rule over you, and my son won’t rule over you either. The Lord rules over you'” (CEB). If Gideon had only stopped there, things might not have taken a turn for the worse…
“And he said, ‘I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.’ (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) They answered, ‘We’ll be glad to give them.’ So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it.
The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family” (Judges 8:24-27 NIV).
So the interval following Gideon’s great victory over the Midianites turned into a period where he fell into a grave spiritual error. In like manner, we should also be alert to the tests and temptations that follow a significant victory in our lives. If we fail to remain spiritually vigilant, we may find ourselves in a similar situation.
Seventeen hundred shekels of gold represented about fifty pounds (23.7 kg) in weight. If that amount of gold was to find its way to a modern-day currency exchange, the resulting value would equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We’re then told that Gideon used that reward to create an ephod that he subsequently erected in his hometown.
An ephod was a garment that was typically worn by a priest. As mentioned earlier in our look at Hebrews, one of the primary responsibilities of a priest involved the act of representing others before God. A priest was also responsible for presenting the sacrificial offerings that were necessary to atone for the sins of the people. So why did Gideon choose to create this symbol of spiritual leadership? Therein lies an important spiritual lesson that we’ll consider next.