In our study of Judges 6-8 we’ve seen how God prepared Gideon to overthrow the Midianite army and their cohorts.
When the battle was finally over “The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us – you, your son and your grandson – because you have saved us out of 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).
The Israelites recognized Gideon’s leadership qualities, courage and faith. They were confident he would be able to maintain their newfound peace and lead them into prosperity. But Gideon, understanding that the battle was the Lords, and He pulled it off through them, it would only be right for all of them to recognize that the Lord should rule over them.
When Gideon first understood that the Lord was calling him to overthrow the Midianite stronghold over them He built an altar to the Lord and called it The Lord is Peace (Judges 6:24). Then, when he overheard the soldier’s dream and its interpretation he immediately stopped and took time to worship God.
Now, after winning the battle and bringing peace to his people he was not going to usurp God’s rightful place as ruler over Israel. All he asked for was a portion of the bounty, a gold earring from each soldier. They gladly gave him what he requested. It amounted to seventeen hundred shekels of gold, or 42 pounds of gold! When he got back to his home, he realized he didn’t really need the gold, so he made the gold into a replica of an ephod which he placed in Ophrah.
More on this in our next visit.