Please say Shibboleth

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

Please say Shibboleth

Judges 12:1-7 (JDV)

Judges 12:1 The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight against the Ammonites but haven’t called us to go with you? We should burn your house with you in it!”
Judges 12:2 Then Jephthah said to them, “My people and I had a bitter dispute with the Ammonites. So I called for you, but you didn’t rescue me from their power.
Judges 12:3 When I saw that you weren’t going to rescue me, I grasped my throat and crossed over to the Ammonites, and Yahveh handed them over to me. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”
Judges 12:4 Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and struck down Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, “You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
Judges 12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,”
Judges 12:6 they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and executed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
Judges 12:7 Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Please say Shibboleth

Today a Shibboleth can be a community-wide password, or a common expression with little behind it. But for the Gileadites, the Shibboleth was the determiner between friend or foe. It marked a civil war between two factions in Israel — a sad day for God’s people.

I wish I could say there are no such factions and divisions in Christendom today, but that is manifestly untrue. We often pit ourselves against others who claim the same Savior. Sometimes our disagreements are warranted. But I hope that we can learn to be more gentle with each other.

LORD, may our love for you lead us to love others who call on your name.

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Jephthah’s legacy

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

Jephthah’s legacy

Judges 11:29-40 (JDV)

Judges 11:29 The Breath of Yahveh came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead.
Judges 11:30 Jephthah made this vow to Yahveh: “If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me,
Judges 11:31 whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to Yahveh, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.”
Judges 11:32 Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and Yahveh handed them over to him.
Judges 11:33 He struck down twenty of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
Judges 11:34 When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, he noticed his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.
Judges 11:35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to Yahveh and cannot take it back.”
Judges 11:36 Then she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to Yahveh. Do to me as you have said, because Yahveh has brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites.”
Judges 11:37 She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
Judges 11:38 “Go,” he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains.
Judges 11:39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel
Judges 11:40 that four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah’s legacy

Jephthah vowed to offer up the person who came to greet him as a “burnt offering” — but the entire text makes it clear that his vow was not to destroy that person, but to devote that person to God. The person turned out to be Jephthah’s only child. She was the only chance Jephthah had of a legacy. She was to remain a virgin through her life. Jephthah’s legacy had to be something else besides his lineage.

Perhaps Jephthah’s vow was rash, but his determination to stay true to that vow manifested a trust in God himself. Our hope of a legacy beyond this life is not best placed in our lineage. It is best placed in our faith in an ever-living God.

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trying to prevent conflict

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

trying to prevent conflict

Judges 11:1-28 (JDV)

Judges 11:1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a capable warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
Judges 11:2 Gilead’s wife bore sons for him, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s family, because you are the son of another woman.”
Judges 11:3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some hollow men joined Jephthah and went on raids with him.
Judges 11:4 Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel.
Judges 11:5 When the Ammonites waged war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
Judges 11:6 They said to him, “Come, be our commander, and let’s fight the Ammonites.”
Judges 11:7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s family? So why have you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”
Judges 11:8 They answered Jephthah, “That’s true. But now we are turning to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
Judges 11:9 So Jephthah said to them, “If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and Yahveh gives them to me, I will be your leader.”
Judges 11:10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahveh is our witness if we don’t do as you say.”
Judges 11:11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of Yahveh at Mizpah.
Judges 11:12 Jephthah sent agents to the king of the Ammonites, asking, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight me in my land?”
Judges 11:13 The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s agents, “When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably.”
Judges 11:14 Jephthah again sent agents to the king of the Ammonites
Judges 11:15 to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.
Judges 11:16 But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
Judges 11:17 Israel sent agents to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us travel through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent agents to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
Judges 11:18 “Then they traveled through the wilderness and around the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon but did not enter into the territory of Moab, because the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
Judges 11:19 “Then Israel sent agents to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, ‘Please let us travel through your land to our country,’
Judges 11:20 but Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his troops, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
Judges 11:21 Then Yahveh God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his troops to Israel, and they struck them down. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country.
Judges 11:22 They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
Judges 11:23 “Yahveh God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and will you now force us out?
Judges 11:24 Isn’t it true that you can have whatever your god Chemosh conquers for you, and we can have whatever Yahveh our God conquers for us?
Judges 11:25 Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
Judges 11:26 While Israel lived three hundred years in Heshbon and Aroer and their surrounding villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn’t you take them back at that time?
Judges 11:27 I have not failed you, but you are doing me wrong by fighting against me. Let Yahveh who is the judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
Judges 11:28 But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah’s message that he sent him.

trying to prevent conflict

The temptation is great to ignore this part of this chapter, and only address the tragic vow made by Jepthah and its consequences. However, Jepthah’s appeal to the king of the Ammonites deserves some consideration as well. He did what he could to prevent the conflict by appealing to history, and seeking a peaceful solution to the problem. Only when the Ammonite king refused to listen to reason and insisted on war did Jepthah resort to warfare.

LORD, forgive us for so quickly resorting to violence and conflict to solve our problems.

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impatient with Israel’s trouble

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

impatient with Israel’s trouble

Judges 10:6-18 (JDV)

Judges 10:6 Then the Israelites did what was evil again in the eyes of Yahveh. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned Yahveh and did not worship him.
Judges 10:7 So Yahveh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.
Judges 10:8 They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for eighteen years they kept doing it to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead.
Judges 10:9 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed,
Judges 10:10 so they cried out to Yahveh, saying, “We have failed you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”
Judges 10:11 Yahveh said to the Israelites, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,
Judges 10:12 Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, did I not rescue you from them?
Judges 10:13 But you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods. So I will not deliver you again.
Judges 10:14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you whenever you are oppressed.”
Judges 10:15 But the Israelites said, “We have failed. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today!”
Judges 10:16 So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped Yahveh, and his throat became impatient with Israel’s trouble.
Judges 10:17 The Ammonites were called together, and they camped in Gilead. So the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.
Judges 10:18 The rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Which man will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

impatient with Israel’s trouble

The trouble Israel was facing had lasted for eighteen years, to the extent that even God had become impatient with Israel’s trouble.

Brothers and sisters, we all know what it is like to suffer through long periods of distress. Do you know that our God gets frustrated as well when we go through such times? Yes, he is eagerly awaiting a people who will cry out to him in their distress. Will we be such a people?

LORD, we deserve what is happening to us. “We have failed. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today!”

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Tola and Jair’s legacy

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

Tola and Jair’s legacy

Judges 10:1-5 (JDV)

Judges 10:1 And, Tola son of Puah son of Dodo stood up after Abimelech and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and stayed in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
Judges 10:2 He judged Israel twenty-three years and when he died, was buried in Shamir.
Judges 10:3 After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
Judges 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. They had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called Jair’s Tent Villages today.
Judges 10:5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

Tola and Jair’s legacy

These two leaders do not get much publicity. Not enough is known about how they served. But it was important to know that they served. They did leave a legacy that was remembered after their deaths. This is seen in the mention of the towns where they were buried. It is also seen in Jair’s thirty tent villages — overseen by his thirty sons.

Tola and Jair are reminders that not all the story has been told. Someday we will learn about their lives by talking to them ourselves.

LORD, thank you for the promise of a future life.

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violent aftermath

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

violent aftermath

Judges 9:34-57 (JDV)

Judges 9:34 So Abimelech and all the troops with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four groups.
Judges 9:35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the troops who were with him got up from their ambush.
Judges 9:36 When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Notice, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!” But Zebul said to him, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.”
Judges 9:37 Then Gaal spoke again, “Notice, troops are coming down from the central part of the land, and one unit is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.”
Judges 9:38 Zebul replied,”What do you have to say now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? ‘ Aren’t these the troops you despised? Now go and fight them!”
Judges 9:39 So Gaal went out leading the landowners of Shechem and fought against Abimelech,
Judges 9:40 but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. Numerous bodies were strewn as far as the entrance of the city gate.
Judges 9:41 Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers from Shechem.
Judges 9:42 The next day when the people of Shechem went into the countryside, this was reported to Abimelech.
Judges 9:43 He took the troops, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down.
Judges 9:44 Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down.
Judges 9:45 So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
Judges 9:46 When all the landowners of the Tower of Shechem heard, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
Judges 9:47 Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the landowners of the Tower of Shechem had gathered.
Judges 9:48 So Abimelech and all the troops who were with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees. He picked up the branch, put it on his shoulder, and said to the troops who were with him, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
Judges 9:49 Each of the troops also cut down his own branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire; about a thousand men and women died, including all the men of the Tower of Shechem.
Judges 9:50 Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it.
Judges 9:51 There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and landowners of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.
Judges 9:52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.
Judges 9:53 But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and fractured his skull.
Judges 9:54 He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, or they’ll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.'” So his armor-bearer ran him through, and he died.
Judges 9:55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
Judges 9:56 In this way, God brought back Abimelech’s evil — the evil that Abimelech had done to his father when he killed his seventy brothers.
Judges 9:57 God also brought back to the men of Shechem all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

violent aftermath

This chapter illustrates the violent aftermath of Gideon’s success. He did what he could, and we celebrate that, but he failed to bring lasting peace. His son Abimelech deals treacherously and murders his brothers. Jotham escapes, and calls down a curse upon Abimelech and the town of Shechem. God honors the curse and brings violence to Shechem, and a violent and ignoble death to Abimelech.

The point of all this is that although God had used Gideon, he did not bring in lasting peace.

LORD, give us the wisdom to do what we can, but to trust you to bring in lasting peace through Christ.

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the other shoe

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

the other shoe

Judges 9:22-33 (JDV)

Judges 9:22 When Abimelech had ruled over Israel three years,
Judges 9:23 God sent an evil breath between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They treated Abimelech deceitfully,
Judges 9:24 so that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood would be avenged on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the landowners of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers.
Judges 9:25 The landowners of Shechem rebelled against him by putting men in ambush on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.
Judges 9:26 Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the landowners of Shechem trusted him.
Judges 9:27 So they went out to the countryside and harvested grapes from their vineyards. They trampled the grapes and held a celebration. Then they went to the house of their god, and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
Judges 9:28 Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal, and isn’t Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?
Judges 9:29 If only these people were in my power, I would remove Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Gather your army and come out.”
Judges 9:30 When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was angry.
Judges 9:31 So he secretly sent agents to Abimelech, saying, “Notice! Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and notice they are turning the city against you.
Judges 9:32 Now tonight, you and the troops with you, come and wait in ambush in the countryside.
Judges 9:33 Then get up early, and at sunrise attack the city. Notice when he and the troops who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can.”

the other shoe

Abimelech had murdered seventy men, and it appeared that he had gained the political position he wanted. But God would not allow his treachery and murder to go unpunished. The traitors who helped him to power now turned against him. This is what happens when you gain prominence by deceitfully using others. Sooner or later, the other shoe drops.

God’s message for those who seek leadership is that it has to be earned honestly. His message for those under leaders who lack integrity is that he oversees everyone. No one gets away with anything.

LORD, thank you for watching over the small and the great.

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fire from the bramble

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

fire from the bramble

Judges 9:7-21 (JDV)

Judges 9:7 When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them: Listen to me, landowners of Shechem, and may God listen to you:
Judges 9:8 The trees decided to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, “Be king over us.”
Judges 9:9 But the olive tree said to them, “Should I stop giving my oil that people use to honor both God and men, and rule over the trees?”
Judges 9:10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, “Come and be king over us.”
Judges 9:11 But the fig tree said to them, “Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, and rule over trees?”
Judges 9:12 Later, the trees said to the grapevine, “Come and be king over us.”
Judges 9:13 But the grapevine said to them, “Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, and cause disturbance over trees?”
Judges 9:14 Finally, all the trees said to the bramble, “Come and be king over us.”
Judges 9:15 The bramble said to the trees, “If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.”
Judges 9:16 “Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did –
Judges 9:17 because my father fought for you, risked his throat, and rescued you from Midian,
Judges 9:18 and now you have attacked my father’s family today, killed his seventy sons on top of a large stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the landowners of Shechem ‘because he is your brother’ –
Judges 9:19 so if you have acted faithfully and honestly with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he also rejoice in you.
Judges 9:20 But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the landowners of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
Judges 9:21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.

fire from the bramble

Jotham exposed the true motivation behind the Shechemites choice of Abimelech. He warned that their choice of this violent usurper would bring violence and death upon them. The parable of the bramble would soon be played out in their own lives.

Nobody ever wins when we try to oppose God’s will. When we choose leaders who are willing to plow down everyone around them to get their way, our leaders will remain consistent. So, eventually, we will be the ones being plowed down.

Lord, give us leaders who work for peace, and care for those you have placed them over.

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when solidarity is sin

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

when solidarity is sin

Judges 9:1-6 (JDV)

Judges 9:1 Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem and spoke to his uncles and to all his mother’s clan, and he said this:
Judges 9:2 “Please speak in the hearing of all the landowners of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, govern over you or that one man govern over you? ‘ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”
Judges 9:3 His mother’s relatives told all these words about him in the hearing of all the landowners of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, because they said, “He is our brother.”
Judges 9:4 So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech used it to hire hollow and violent men, and they followed him.
Judges 9:5 He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he had hidden.
Judges 9:6 Then all the landowners of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

when solidarity is sin

Like the landowners of Shechem, we are often tempted to choose one voice over the seventy. In this case, that one voice was a “brother” but also a treacherous murderer.

LORD, give us wisdom to avoid solidarity around anyone except your chosen king, Jesus Christ.

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checkered legacy

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

Judges - 1

checkered legacy

Judges 8:22-35 (JDV)

Judges 8:22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Govern over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”
Judges 8:23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not govern over you, and my son will not govern over you; Yahveh will govern over you.”
Judges 8:24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.
Judges 8:25 They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it.
Judges 8:26 The weight of the gold earrings he requested was 1700 units of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels.
Judges 8:27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
Judges 8:28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.
Judges 8:29 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.
Judges 8:30 Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.
Judges 8:31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Judges 8:32 Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Judges 8:33 When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
Judges 8:34 The Israelites did not remember Yahveh their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them.
Judges 8:35 They did not show covenant loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

checkered legacy

Gideon made some very good choices — like the choice to refuse being named king. He also made some very bad choices — like the making of the ephod which encouraged a plunge back into idolatry.

The problem with a checkered legacy is that no one can be sure of your true motivations. It is much better for us to choose this day whom we will serve and serve wholeheartedly. Our choices should always be results of following the Lord.

LORD, we want to be 100% committed to you.

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