Judges 8:18-35

CHAPTER 8

FINAL DEALING WITH THE ENEMY—GIDEON’S LAST DAYS. Judges 8:18

CRITICAL NOTES.— Judges 8:18. Then said he, etc.] This must have taken place when Gideon arrived at home; for it was after his return to Penuel and Succoth, and the boy Jether was present, who could not have been in the battlefield. It may have been on the old battleground in Jezreel where the people would come flocking to see the terrible kings in fetters. [Cassel.] If so, what an impressive lesson it must have read to the captive kings, to contrast the picture they looked upon in that spot, only two days before, with the position they occupied now!

Whom ye slew at Tabor.] The incident is not recorded, but it would appear they had been murdered in cold blood, and not slain in battle; and Gideon, as next of kin, now reckons it his duty to act the part of an avenger of blood (see Numbers 35). Some imagine it was the execution of Gideon’s brothers, by the command of those kings as soon as Gideon’s purpose to attack the invaders was made known. [Lias.] Not likely, for the kings did not know they were Gideon’s brothers till now. Much more probable is it, that in one of the many forays made by these marauders on private properties, the house of Joash had been attacked, and while fighting in its defence, Gideon’s brothers had been taken prisoners and carried into the presence of the robber kings, who immediately ordered their execution. However it was, the tragedy was so marked, that, though many others were wantonly put to death, this one made such an impression as to be remembered above others.

As thou art, so were they,] in stately form and chivalrous bearing. They wished to give a complimentary answer as being the only chance they had, though a small one, to plead for their lives.

Judges 8:19. Sons of my mother.] A customary phrase where polygamy was so common. The sons of the mother had also the same father, but the sons of the father oftentimes had not the same mother. The sons of the mother were therefore full brothers, and hence the expression “sons of my mother” was reckoned specially endearing (Genesis 43:29; Psalms 69:8; Deuteronomy 13:6).

If ye had let them live, I would not slay you.] This implies that it was by a word from them that they were slain. They were therefore murderers, and justice must now overtake them. Gideon here shows his merciful spirit. He had no pleasure in putting them to death, but he was constrained to do it from considerations of justice, and the law of his God in acting the part of an avenger of blood. It was all but universal in that iron age to put prisoners to death, and often with circumstances of revolting cruelty. Tamerlane put Bajazet, the celebrated sultan, into an iron cage, and treated him as a wild beast, until, maddened with grief and mortification, he dashed out his brains by striking his head against the bars of his cage. Sapor, king of Persia, having taken the Roman Emperor Valerian prisoner, put him to death by flaying him alive.

On a higher ground, these ruthless men deserved to die, because they had wantonly touched the Lord’s anointed, and vilely desecrated the heritage of the God of Israel; so that even if Gideon in his clemency had spared them, Divine vengeance could not have suffered them to live (comp. 1 Samuel 15:3; 1 Samuel 15:8; 1 Samuel 15:32).

Judges 8:20. Said unto Jether his first born.] It was reckoned a deep disgrace by all who had a spark of honour in them to be put to death by a woman, or a slave (Judges 9:54). So these warriors felt it to be a stigma on their name, to have their death-stroke at the hands of a mere boy. Gideon also wished to teach his son in his youth to be the avenger of his country’s enemies.

Judges 8:21. Rise thou and fall upon us (1 Kings 2:46). Escape was hopeless, and, knowing that the practice of holding life cheap, which they had so long applied to others, was now to be applied to themselves, they felt it would be the less of two evils to be despatched by the general himself than by a mere stripling. It was also less horrible to die by a few effective strokes than to be hacked and hewed by hands incompetent to the task. Gideon complied, and so ended the days of the brigand kings. Barbarous and revolting work! excusable only when meting out merited punishment to flagrant transgressors. “To restrain justice at the proper time is to support sin, and not to correct, is to consent to the crime.” [Trapp:] “Bonis nocet qui malis parcit.”

The Ornaments] (comp. Numbers 31:48). The Hebrew word signifies “little moons.” They were crescent-shaped ornaments, generally of gold or silver, worn on the necks, sometimes the foreheads of men and women (Isaiah 3:18), and frequently on the necks of camels. Some think they were shining plates of gold in crescent form suspended from the neck of the camel, and hanging down on their breasts in front. And so the heads, necks, bodies, and legs of camels are still highly ornamented in Eastern countries [Bush.] The use of the crescent as a symbol of the Ottoman power is widely known among us. The ancient Ishmaelites were worshippers of the moon.

Judges 8:22. Rule thou over us. When the heavy incubus was removed, and things were beginning to settle down into a state of rest, the uppermost feeling in the mind of every reflecting man was that of gratitude to the noble man, who, through the aid of his God had done so much for his country. Partly by way of recompense, and partly to have a shield of protection for the future, the general voice of the nation was everywhere heard: “Let us make Gideon king!” Such an extraordinary feat of heroism they were ready to worship, and besides it did them honour as a nation. Their proposal they presented in definite form: first, that he himself should be their ruler for life; and then, that his sons should succeed him in perpetuity. They were not in a state to measure their words. They had among them a man who towered above all his compeers in courage, in capacity, in practical wisdom, and in ability to rise to the height of great occasions; yet one who was as humble and meek as any of them all, who was great in his moderation and disinterestedness, also in his self-command and fairness of dealing. Such a man had not been seen in Israel since the days of Joshua or Moses. “Come,” said they, “let us make him king, and his sons after him, and so bring back the golden age of our history.”

Most unreflecting choice! Had they got their wish, Gideon himself might have done well; but what a broken reed they would have had in Jether! Timid now as a boy, and bidding fair to continue as a boy all his life, he was swept away as a straw by the first brush of Abimelech’s strong hand. “Woe unto thee, O Land, when thy king is a child!” The people’s error was twofold—

(1.) In supposing that Gideon’s success was entirely of himself and not of God’s Spirit resting upon him; and
(2) in forgetting the fact that they already had a King in God Himself, and that any other who might be appointed must be His viceregent, and also must be appointed by God Himself.

Judges 8:23. I will not rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you. Gideon keeps them right. He saw their error in a moment, and felt that if he complied he would be the usurper of a place which Jehovah had reserved for Himself as King in Jeshurun. As the principles of his character had been deep enough to withstand the blasts of adversity, so now they have substance enough not to become evaporated before the sunshine of prosperity. These are brought out in 1 Samuel 8:5; 1 Samuel 12:12; Numbers 23:21, and other places.

Judges 8:24. Give me, every man, the ear-rings, &c. Rather the ring of his prey or booty, for the word is singular. This ring was of gold and valuable. The booty was got from the slain Ishmaelites, who seem to have been the merchant Midianites, the others being freebooters simply. The former were great traders, especially with Egypt, where they sold the spices and balms they got in the East, and were paid in silver and gold. But ear-rings, nose-rings, chains, and pendant-drops made of gold and silver seem to have abounded in Arabia as well as in Egypt. Rings of gold were often used as money in Egypt, as appears by the monuments. [Speak. Comp.]

Some would make נֶזֶס mean nose-rings instead of ear-rings. The word is susceptible of either interpretation, but nose-rings were chiefly worn by women, whereas here the rings were asked of men, and so were more likely to have been ear-rings. These latter were often worn by men. Probably one such ring, or at most two, were worn by each man. Reference is made to this ornament in Genesis 35:4; Exodus 32:2; Job 42:11, in all of which places the same word is used (נֶזֶס).

Judges 8:25. They spread a garment. Lit. the garment (ha-simlah), as if a special one used for such occasions. It was the upper or outer garment, and only a large square piece of cloth. [keil.]

Judges 8:26. The weight of the golden ear-rings.] Probably the weight exceeded his request, for they were in the very enthusiasm of gratitude. As the golden shekel was a little more in weight than two English sovereigns, the value of the ear-rings given would amount to upwards of £3,400 (1700 × 2). This would imply that at least 3,400 Ishmaelites were slain who wore golden ear-rings, a small number of the whole army. Those who wore such must have been of superior rank. At the battle of Cannae no fewer than three bushels of gold rings were taken from the dead bodies of the knights and senators that fell on that bloody day.

There are different words used in this account.

1. Saharonim are the “little moons,” or crescent-shaped ornaments of silver or gold which men and women alike wore upon their necks (Judges 8:21), and also hung round the necks of their camels.

2. Nezem, the ear-rings of gold (Judges 8:24).[7]

[7] “Those golden ear-rings were ill-bestowed on such uncircumcised ears as Ishmaelites had.” Trapp

3. Netiphoth, not “collars” but pearl-shaped ear-drops, like the pendants of modern ear-rings (Judges 8:26).[8]

[8] Thene ear-pendants made of pearls were peculiar to kings and persons of rank as compared with the simple rings wron by the other Midianites. The word natap means a drop

4. Anakoth. Necklaces or chains around the neck (Proverbs 1:9; Song of Solomon 4:9). “They put a band of cloth or leather round the animal’s neck, on which are strung small shells called cowries. The Sheiks add silver ornaments to these, which make a rich booty to the spoiler” [see Wellsted, Travels].

5. Aregaman bigedi, purple clothing, or garments of purple. They may have got the Tyrian dye from the shores of the Mediterranean. “This is the first indication of purple as a royal colour.” [Bush.]

Gideon had now great wealth at his feet, but all that he retained for himself was the spoil which he got from the Midianitish kings. His aims were higher than those of Clive, in India, (pure as he was when compared with others) as he walked amid heaps of gold taken from the Nabobs and others.

Judges 8:27. Made an ephod and put it in his city. Gideon has for the most part been severely condemned for this act, as if his uprightness had at last given way before the poisonous influence of the idolatrous atmosphere around him. Rightly interpreted, his conduct indicates no intention whatever in the direction of idolatry. Being civil ruler, his privilege was to inquire of God by the High Priest. The working coat of the High Priest was the ephod (see Exodus 28:6). It was the distinctive priestly garment. It had no sleeves, but went round the breast, and contained the Urim and Thummim, which were essential when inquiring of God. His object was then to inquire of God, or receive instructions from Him in all matters of special difficulty, where the exercise of his own judgment was insufficient. This was an intention wholly consistent with true piety.

But though the intention was good, the act was wrong; for God had already appointed a High Priest in another place to discharge these very functions. His act was, therefore, equivalent to the practical setting aside of what God had already done. In Shiloh was the ark, and there was the High Priest. But Shiloh was in the tribe of Ephraim, and Gideon felt sore under the jealous spirit so strongly cherished by that tribe. He might also think that they had sunk so low in their loyalty to the God of Israel, that they were unworthy to be the custodiers of the Divine oracle for all Israel. Therefore, he wished to have an oracle in his own city, and under his own care, conscious as he was of his own entire loyalty to his God. But it was not for Gideon to establish rules for the worship of his God, nor for any mortal man to assume that his judgment might decide anything in such a matter. Whatever was wrong in the existing state of things it was for God Himself to put right.
“A good aim does not alone make a good action. Gideon must have a good warrant as well as a good motive” [Trapp.] If Gideon supposed that because he had already once offered sacrifice on an altar in Ophrah and been accepted, therefore he might continue to do so as a rule, either by himself or by a priest, he entirely forgot that the circumstances were most special and not to be repeated.

An ephod thereof,] i.e., he made the gold and cloth, &c., which he had received into an ephod, which was the most costly part of the High Priest’s dress. The material was worked throughout with gold threads, and there were precious stones set in gold braid on the shoulder-pieces, and chains made of gold to fasten the parts. But there was no image, far less the form of an idol like the golden calf of Aaron.

All Israel went thither a whoring after it,] i.e., they made an idol of the ephod itself, giving that worship to the mere piece of dress which idol-worshippers do to a block or a stone. The homage of the heart was illicitly bestowed. That was perverting Gideon’s well-intentioned work to a very bad use, from which he would have shrunk back with abhorrence. Jerubbaal, the idol-destroyer, could never have knowingly encouraged the idol-worshippers.

The country was in quietness forty years, &c.] There was no special outbreak of sin in public, and so there were no public displays of Divine judgment made, though the waters of sin might be rising silently over the land. The forty years may be dated from the time of Gideon’s call. How powerful is the influence of a great name, when its greatness arises from its goodness! Would that every wearer of a crown might notice this!

Judges 8:29. Went and dwelt in his own house.] He makes himself as one of the common people, notwithstanding that no man before or after him had better title to live in a palace and wear a crown. The continuance of the name Jerubbaal was an honour to his memory similar to that which the name Israel was to Jacob.

Judges 8:32. Died in a good old age.] His days were long in the land which he had been honoured to restore (Genesis 15:15; Genesis 25:8; 1 Chronicles 29:25; Job 42:17). His God had carried him to hoar hairs (Isaiah 46:4), “though his last evil act were some spot to his white head.” [Trapp.]

Judges 8:33. As soon as Gideon was dead, they turned again.] The breakwater being removed, the waters rushed out. Sin, and especially the sin of idolatry was with them a passion. Well might it be said to them, “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away!” After all the sharp lessons they had been taught, they still have learned nothing.

“Though woo’d and aw’d,

They are flagrant rebels still.”

Judges 8:34. Remembered not the Lord.] “My people are bent to backsliding from me. They have slidden back by a perpetual backsliding. Ephraim is a cake not turned.”

Judges 8:35. Neither showed they kindness.] Where there is no right principle in the heart, there is no foundation for trusting that the most solemn engagement will be kept, when a man casts off all fear of God, he is not likely to make conscience of doing his duty to his fellow men.

SPECIAL QUESTIONS

Certain questions grow out of this narrative which deserve particular notice, and which apply equally to all the heathen adversaries that fought against Israel and their God. It is distinctly conveyed, that the defeat of these adversaries in turn, was not merely an accident arising out of the fortunes of war, but was a special judgment sent upon them by Jehovah for the manner in which they despised His great name, and trampled in the mire the people whom He had redeemed.
One question which arises out of this, is—

I. Can the Heathen sin against light.

Did Zebah and Zalmunna know that they were committing great sin, in doing what they did to Israel, and their God? Is it not characteristic of the heathen that they do not know the true God; and if so, how could they be held guilty of profaning His name, and contemning His authority? They had no Bible, no sanctuary service for Jehovah established among them, no series of instructors among them like the prophets, no one to impart to them in proper form a knowlege of the truth about the true God. It was not only a rare event, but almost a solecism for a servant of the Lord to be sent with a special message of penitence to the king of Nineveh, as Jonah was. The density of the darkness might be gathered from the answer returned by the men of Ethiopia to Philip’s question, “How can I understand except some one guide me.”
Indeed the heathen universally “sat in darkness.” “Gross darkness covered” the multitudes throughout all heathendom. They were “without God, and without hope in the world.” Their description is often given as those that “know not God.” But if they had no proper knowledge of the true God, how could they understand the nature of His claims upon them, and if they did not understand these claims, how could their condemnation be just? It is manifest that we must look a little more closely into the subject to get quit of this difficulty.
Are we anywhere told, that the heathen are absolutely ignorant of either the existence, or the character of the true God? That they were relatively so, as compared with the seed of Abraham, is everywhere said, just as moonlight or starlight is inferior to that of the sun. But the question is, “Had they any light at all sufficient to constitute a foundation for responsibility?” This question we unhesitatingly answer in the affirmative. For where there is responsibility there must be light in some degree. Guilt lies in acting contrary to that light.

(1.) There is the light of nature. By looking on the works of the natural world, the first candid instinct of the heathen mind is not to worship the works, but Him who made the works, and to see glorious features of character shining through the works. It is not till afterwards, when men, disliking the presence of God, and trying to get quit of Him altogether, begin to give that homage to the objects of nature which ought to be reserved for the Framer of nature. This we take to be the meaning of the important paragraph in Romans 1:20 with its connection. That the heathen, though not instructed by revelation, know, or ought to know, something of God as a basis of their responsibility is clear from Romans 1:19; Romans 1:21; Romans 1:25; Romans 1:28; Romans 1:32; Acts 14:17. They are said to be “without excuse.”

Nature gave them light, not only on the existence and character of God, but also on the code of duty which He has laid down for human conduct. For “having not the law (written) they are a law to themselves,” etc. (Romans 2:14). This applied not only to a few solitary cases, when a sheik like Job rose up to instruct the people among whom he lived; but the law is written more or less legibly on every man’s heart. The universal conviction, not only that sacrifices, but that costly sacrifices were expressly needed to propitiate the superior powers, proved beyond doubt that they felt they were guilty. This is confirmed, too, by Romans 1:32.

(2.) There was also the light of the history of God’s Israel. The history of God’s Church in the world was, to these heathen nations, a kind of Bible about God’s character and ways. It was a great addition to the light of nature. The first grand display of His character given by means of His Church was when He smote the Egyptians with such terrible plagues, and redeemed His people from bondage with a high hand and stretched out arm. This was pitching the key-note. All the series of events that followed were such as to reveal the God of Israel to be immeasurably superior to all others that were called by the name of gods, and to prove distinctly that He was God alone, and there was none else. If the nations were not convinced of this, they had ample evidence to convince them of the sin and folly of choosing any other god, and of daring to touch the people that were called by His name.

This two-fold light undoubtedly these kings with their armies had, so that though their privilege was small indeed compared with that of Israel, it was yet sufficient to make them conscious they were committing great sin in rising up against the God of Israel, and wantonly destroying the people who were dear to Him as the apple of His eye! The impression made on all the surrounding heathen nations by God’s remarkable dealings with His people is indicated in such passages as these:— Deuteronomy 2:25; Joshua 2:9; Joshua 6; Joshua 10:1; 1 Samuel 4:7.

II. Does the guilt of the wicked entirely destroy sympathy for them in their punishment?

Are we to have no pity for such men as Zebah and Zalmunna when we think of their terrible fate, or must the fact that they defied the God of Israel, and put to death in cold blood so many of His chosen people, make us shut up all bowels of compassion for them? When we see innocent persons barbarously murdered by some monster of cruelty, we instinctively have far more sympathy with them than we can have for the perpetrator of the horrid deed himself, when he comes to suffer the last sentence of the law. There can be no doubt that guilt lessens sympathy; but does it entirely close it up? Or, if we are afflicted at seeing a criminal suffer, when he has brought it down on himself by his evil conduct, does not that seem as if we objected to the due reward of his deeds being measured out to him? Are we to have more sympathy with the man than with the administration of justice? Men’s sense of the evil of sin, and its awful desert is, in this world, so small, that it seems harsh and cruel when any heavy dispensation is inflicted. But the time is coming when another light shall be shed upon it, and when what now appears to be so small shall be seen to reach the heavens, and to call for the awful frown of Him who is the Guardian of righteousness, and purity and truth.

On this side of the subject there are some solemn statements in the Book of God. The inspired apostle, when closing one of his epistles, says, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha.” This many interpret to mean—accursed at the coming of the Lord, or for the Lord comes. But, however we explain it, the meaning is most solemn. If anathema had stood alone its natural force is—devoted to destruction, and ητω implies let him be, as if the apostle, speaking on behalf of all the good were to have no more sympathy with him, but to say—that is the only destiny suitable for him. Not to love Christ will then, in the clear light of eternity, appear so tremendous a crime that nothing but absolute destruction will, in the judgment of all, be regarded as the only fit treatment of it. Even now, speaking through the Spirit, this inspired man can say—Let it be so. All this corresponds with the words that shall come from the lips of the Judge Himself, “Depart from me ye cursed, etc.” It also corresponds with the phrase “the wrath of the Lamb,” and that other statement, “Again they said, Alleluia! and her smoke rose up for ever and ever.” Sympathy with the claims of eternal righteousness will in the light of eternity be so strong, as to lead the righteous to acquiesce in the destruction of their fellow-men who have rejected the Saviour.

But are we then to drop all sympathy with the wicked because of their wickedness? We do not read the teachings of scripture so, nor yet the teachings of our own hearts. The common feeling of humanity leads us to grieve at the spectacle of a wicked man suffering misery, though we know and admit that he deserves it. We say, it is not his misfortune but his crime. Yet we mourn for the man, while we emphatically condemn his conduct. We mourn that he should be of a wicked spirit, and allow himself to be led by wicked influences, so bringing down upon himself the righteous judgments of God. Our sorrow is not alone for his misery, but that he should be under the power of sin, and so necessarily be miserable. Grief at seeing the wicked punished by the hand of justice must always be accompanied by abhorrence of the guilt which has made the punishment necessary.

Thus it was with Him, who, in this, as in all other matters, is our perfect example. His lamentation over unbelieving Jerusalem was deep and sincere, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, &c.” (Matthew 23:37). Yet how severe His condemnation was of their sin may be learned from Judges 8:33 of the same chapter. Such was the depth of His compassion, that at the very moment when He was bearing His cross on to Calvary, He seemed to forget His own sufferings at the sight of theirs (Luke 23:28). Most wonderful of all, He shed tears over them when He thought of them as lost souls (Luke 19:41). Yet he abated not any of the heavy calamities that were impending over their heads, and which He Himself, in the exercise of His power as Ruler over all, would inflict upon them for their sins in due time (Matthew 24:4).

Our sympathies then should go out to the wicked, not as adhering to their wickedness, but in the way of earnestly desiring that they should turn from their evil ways, and receive Christ as their Saviour, that so they may receive deliverance in harmony with the laws of righteousness and truth. Our feeling towards the heathen world all over, should be that of profound sorrow, that so many of our fellow creatures should be without the proper knowledge of God, and the means of salvation by the blood of Christ, and to do our very utmost to extend that knowledge to the ends of the earth, in deep sympathy with them as our fellow men.

III. Does God set up the wicked as a mark for punishment according to the degree of their guilt, or by what rule?

Were Zebah and Zalmunna greater sinners than all the heathen rulers of their day that they should be singled out for special punishment? If Sisera was made an example of the divine vengeance, why should Jabin, his master, be passed by? Why should Og and Sihon, kings of the Amorites, be slain in battle, while Balak, king of Moab, is spared? Why should the population of so many of the towns of the Canaanites be all put to death, while those that dwelt in several others were left? Is it always the greatest sinners that are thus set up as a mark for God’s judgments; and, if so, would the common wicked escape such judgment, on the ground that their sins were not so great as to warrant such retribution?
A fatal error, we believe, it would be to suppose that any sin is of so slight a character as not to deserve some manifestation of the Divine frown, for sin in its very nature implies that the creature abandons its God, renounces His authority, and disobeys His laws. And as God is jealous for His own character He must frown on such a creature. If God were therefore to inflict on men the full measure of their desert in this world, He would send some visible and strong mark of his displeasure on all men without exception. But that is not now the rule. It is only in rare instances that special inflictions are sent. The rule is to give specimen cases of how God regards sin, and how He will deal with it. Thus Christ warns his hearers against the error of supposing, that those on whom severe calamities are sent were sinners above all other men. His solemn language is, “I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2). He informs them that their sins deserved similar calamities, and if they did not fall on them, it was of God’s mercy, and not because they were not equally liable to receive the same treatment.

Though it is often those that sin with a high hand that are dealt with most severely, many who sin in this manner are often passed by. Sodom was a city remarkable for its wickedness (Genesis 13:13), and was turned into ashes by the fire of heaven falling upon it, as an example to those that should live ungodly in after ages. Yet our Saviour speaks of some of the towns in His day as if they were worse in character, though they had no such vials of wrath poured upon them. “I say unto you, Capernaum, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.” (Luke 10:10).

The rule then by which special visible manifestations of the Divine anger are made against communities, or individuals in this world, is not always the greatness of their guilt above other places, though it sometimes is so, but when the case chosen is suitable to serve as a specimen of what God might righteously do in similar circumstances.

MAIN HOMILETICS.— Judges 8:18

I.—The Troubled End of the Wicked.

1.—Preparations for his Fall.

(1.) He had to answer for his sins to Israel’s God. “God reigneth over the heathen.” He is “Judge of all the earth.” “Say among the heathen, the Lord reigneth.” “Every one shall give an account of himself unto God.” (1 Samuel 2:3; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Hebrews 4:13; Acts 17:31; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Romans 2:16.)

This is God’s world; and all its inhabitants are His creatures. To Him and Him alone, are they responsible for their conduct. It was this God—Israel’s God—whom these kings wickedly dared to defy. It was with Him they were really at war. It was with His power they dared to contend, and His holy name which they despised. It was His children, on whom they inflicted so many bleeding wounds, and whose lives they so capriciously destroyed. For every act of impiety, therefore—for every wanton exercise of power, and every barbarous deed, to the God of Israel were they really responsible as their Judge. Thus was preparation made for an evil day.

(2.) The sinner’s blindness to his sin, and its consequences.

These men of the desert, doubtless, had their memories filled with reports of what the God of Israel had done, and how superior He was to all the gods of the nations, and it was their duty to have prosecuted this knowledge to its just conclusion. But when they saw the rich valleys and smiling plains of Israel, and found a people weak as children only defending them, their lust for possessing so valuable a prize rose within them; they shut their eyes to every consideration of moral right, and the fear of God, and grasped at the booty which was so easily within their reach. Men cannot look upon sin with open face so long as their moral vision is not impaired, for it immediately raises a struggle within one’s own breast. The will strongly desires what is forbidden, and conscience thunders against it. To save this struggle the man shuts his eyes, and makes himself blind both to sin and its consequences. By getting into a habit of not looking at sin in its evil nature, and not reflecting on its sad consequences, a man gradually becomes practically blind, so that he is able to commit sin with little remorse. Satan, meanwhile, greatly assists the soul in this self-blinding process, by the fascinating pictures which he sets before it of the gratification of sinful desires, and by turning away the attention from the voice of conscience. Indeed, that tremendous power which God has put into the soul to represent His own authority over it, he attempts to silence by drugging it; just as Mercury, when he proceeded to the task of putting Argus to death, found that he could not succeed on account of that monster having one hundred eyes, and when some of them slept, others were always awake, so that he could not come near him to effect his purpose. He, therefore, thought of drugging him all over, and having at last got all the eyes to shut, he speedily accomplished his object. “O, sir,” said a Christian lady to a young man of noble extraction, who was going on thoughtlessly in a wild career of sin, “O, if you would but think—only think?” “I cannot think,” he replied; “I dare not think—thought kills me!” When conscience is stifled, when Satan is listened to, when a deaf ear is turned to Christ, when reason is kept under and passion is allowed to reign, then there is darkness, and the works of darkness are done. (See 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:37.) On the Deceptive Character of Sin, see p. 197, etc.

(3.) The wicked’s persistent continuance in sin. These heathen marauders having been successful for one year in the work of spoiling Jehovah’s vineyard, and apparently no harm coming of it, they returned a second year, then a third and a fourth, until seven years had passed. They would begin to think that this people were deserted of their God, or possibly, all that they heard of Him and His doings were but dreams of the past. At any rate, there was no cloud in the sky to make them afraid. Why should they not continue to fatten on these fat pastures, and gratify themselves to the full? “To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is set in them to do evil.”

While they were thus imagining that the Lord did not see, neither did the God of Jacob regard, the plans of Heaven were maturing. He who is angry with the wicked every day, was whetting His sword and bending His bow. Time was allowed for the evil-doers to repent of their conduct, but as of this, after seven years’ trial, there were no symptoms, God arose from His place and executed judgment on His adversaries. This persistence in sin shows an advance in blindness of the understanding and hardness of heart.

(4.) The certainty that the wicked’s sin shall in due time find him out. How confounding it must have been for these kings, now to find themselves helpless prisoners in the hands of the very brother of the innocent men, whom in the wantonness of their power they had slaughtered so recently at Mount Tabor, for no other alleged crime than that they had endeavoured to defend their property from the spoliation of freebooters! Then their sin seemed to them a thing to mock at; now it stands out so serious a thing as to cost them their lives. Many other ruthless deeds, doubtless, they had perpetrated. Now this one sin is made the means of bringing down meet punishment for all the rest. Every perfection of Jehovah’s character demands that every sin be at some time visited with its just desert. His sovereignty regards it as an outrage of the creature against the authority of the Creator. His jealousy will not suffer that any spot or stain should exist, under the moral government of One who is so greatly to be feared. His justice will not allow that the standard of righteousness be in any degree lowered, beyond the point of absolute perfection. His holiness will not permit that any instance of sin should occur in any part of His pure universe, without some fit mark being put upon it of His detestation. His omniscience searches out the culprit—His omnipresence holds him fast in every place, and His omnipotence lays him for ever low in the dust; while Divine Providence causes every gate to be shut against him among the creatures, so that he shall have none to associate with, and none to pity him in the universal creation of God. How much do we owe to Him who, to every believer, prevents all this by the endurance of the bitter death of the cross!

2. The greatness of his fall.

This is measured by—

(1.) The height from which he fell. Over that vast host, that filled the valley and covered the slopes of Jezreel, these men bore absolute sway. A whole nation living in tents were as grasshoppers before them. Whom they would they slew, and whom they would they kept alive. To one they said Go, and he went; to another Come, and he came; to a third Do this, and he did it. They formed the double helm that guided the movements of that huge host. Their hearts were filled with proud and exultant feelings, as they looked on the magnificent spectacle of men and camels, crowding on each other over all the plain as far as the eye could reach, all glittering with jewels of silver and jewels of gold, the halfmoon-shaped ornaments conspicuous everywhere, as became the worshippers of the luminary of the night sky. Nature was calm around them, as they cursed the God of Israel, and trampled His people down before them as dust in their path. For days and months the sun shone on peacefully as before, and they were wholly unconscious of danger or surprise.

But the decree had gone forth; they had been weighed in the balances and found wanting; their days of sin and cruelty were numbered. From the watch-tower in the skies a messenger came down to tell, that the God of Jacob had seen the wrongs inflicted on his chosen people, and was about to fell the oppressor to the dust. As in a moment, the avalanche fell on the tents of Midian; the host ran, and cried, and fled. But who could escape the wrath of Him who could set all the resources of nature against them? They were cut down as the grass; they withered as the green herb—

Like the leaves of the forest, when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest, when autumn has blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

And now the two leaders stand all alone, stripped of everything, not a man of their armies left, waiting to receive their death-stroke at the hands of a mere boy!

(2.) The fall came irresistibly; nothing could withstand the destructive agency when it came. Who could stop that panic that arose in a moment at the midnight hour, when the signal was given by the braying of so many trumpets and the breaking of the pitchers? From that moment the work of death-dealing went on till only a speck remained on the distant mountains, of the dense cloud of men that obeyed the commands of these mighty chieftains. “They were chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.” It was a precipitous fall, as if they had been hurled violently over a cliff.

(3.) They were utterly helpless in their fall; they seem not to have been able to use a single stroke in beating back the wave. Not a man of Gideon’s army was killed nor even wounded; the 300 remained intact to the end. “None of the men of might in that hostile camp did find their hands.” What a picture of helplessness when 15,000 men should have allowed themselves to be either cut to pieces or scattered by 300 men, whose strength was completely exhausted—that is, at the rate of every fifty men allowing themselves to be smitten by one man without returning a blow!

(4.) The fall was unexpected and rapid. Nothing seemed more preposterous than to suppose, that a few stragglers gathering together on the mountains of Manasseh should inflict any serious blow on the myriads of Midian; and if by any means some advantage had been gained for Israel, the natural thought was, that it must have been only by slow degrees that these spoilers could have been driven out of the country. But in little more than a single day is the work done. When the day of reckoning comes, it is “as a thief in the night.” “Blessed is he that watcheth.” “The wicked are chased away as a vision of the night.” “When they are saying Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh.” When a wicked man has been reasoned with, has been implored to repent and believe, and has had much patience exercised towards him while yet he does not return, then he is “driven away in his wickedness”—he “dies in his sins.”

5. The Fall was ruin—irremediable and final. “The Midianites lifted up their heads no more” (Judges 8:28). Forty years passed away, and Gideon was still alive, but all that time we do not hear a single sound from the land of Midian against Israel. They had received so terrible a lesson, that they trembled at the very thought of contending with so great a God again. The Fall here recorded was not merely a reverse, or even a heavy misfortune, which, as the wheel turns round might be again reversed, but it was a casting down to destruction; so that while contemplating what God had done we might well exclaim with the prophet, “O wheel!” (comp. the Fall of Sisera pp. 299–307).

II. The honour attending the last days of the righteous man.

We place the two characters in contrast, the righteous and the wicked. They differ in character and conduct in active life, and they differ in the end of life. The wicked we have seen spend life in fighting against God, and in the end they have many sorrows. But the righteous go through life walking with God, trusting in Him, led by Him, and acknowledging Him in all their ways, and in the end all things smile upon them (see Psalms 32:10). There is much instruction to be got in studying the history of both characters, each of them taken by itself. But there is much additional instruction to be had from looking at the two in contrast, and hence we find them often placed together in scripture, one against the other so as to be contrasted. We sometimes see them in pairs as Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Saul and David, and others. Again we see them in communities generally, the people of God on the one hand, and those who have cast off God on the other. At one time, we see promises and many gracious words spoken to the righteous, while threatenings and forebodings of future wrath are held out to the other. But the end of life is generally set forth as the time when the contrast becomes most complete. The righteous are then dealt with as jewels, and the wicked as dross, “then shall we return and discern between the righteous and the wicked” (see Malachi 3:17; Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:30; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 25:41; Matthew 25:46; Luke 13:28.)

Here what a contrast between the heads of the Midianitish army, and the head of the army of Israel. We have seen the one go down under a dark cloud never more to appear, but, turning to the other side, we see a name destined to go down to everlasting remembrance. “Light is sown for the righteous.” “His horn shall be exalted with honour.” What was the kind of honour which Gideon had in his last days?

1. It was in the moral greatness of his character.

It was not the honour of wealth, though he had that; not the honour of being a great patriot though he had much of that; not the honour of having a public ovation from the people, though that also he had to the full; nor was it that highest distinction which any people could offer to such a man, when with one consent they asked him to become their king. No; his honour lay in refusing a crown, not in having it offered him. Moral greatness is the true greatness of a man, when he places right principle higher than himself, and prefers to do what is best to be done, rather than what might suit his own interests, or is most agreeable to his own will. Gideon made the glory of God his chief good, and all his thoughts continually circled around that. For the sake of the name of his God, he braved every blast in the rough days of adversity, and now in the warm sunshine of prosperity, when the temptation to have his own name put forward at one point, in place of his God, is set before him, he meets it with a “Get thee behind me, Satan”—“I will not rule over you, neither shall any son that I have—the Lord shall rule over you.”

Gideon quite comprehended the position, which, alas! few or none else seemed to do. Israel was the Lord’s people. They belonged to Him as His redeemed, His chosen, whom he raised up for a special purpose in the world. They were His alone, and could belong to no other. He had also made Himself over to them to become theirs. He was their God, and therefore their King. It was wrong for them to think of any other head. All this was settled once for all at the outset of their history, and it was settled by solemn covenant. It was therefore an impious thought to suggest that a mere man, or any other than the Eternal God Himself, should be their Judge, Lawgiver, and King (1 Samuel 8:5).

Gideon’s act was, therefore, far above that of a Cincinnatus, who, after his great feat in accomplishing the deliverance of his country from a great danger, cared not to accept of any high rewards, but quietly returned to his farm and his plough. Another case of moral sublimity we have in Washington, who, though he permitted himself to be called by the title of President, yet refused all thought of royalty. Julius Cæsar was thrice presented with a kingly crown, and this he as often refused; but policy rather than principle appeared to be his motive. Cromwell reached the highest pinnacle of success, and chose to be called Lord Protector rather than king, but this too seemed to be on the ground of policy. Gideon alone, of all the characters of history, was by the unanimous voice of the nation hailed as king, and yet at once and with decision, on the high ground of a Divine arrangement, he rejected the tempting proposal.

2. He enjoyed the highest respect of his people. So many things, both in his character and conduct, were fitted to excite admiration, that it is not wonderful if he had the highest respect of all the good from Dan to Beersheba. The modesty of his demeanour, his singular meekness in dealing with the Ephraimites (Judges 8:1), his implicit obedience to the instructions given him by the angel, his bold opposition to Baal, as the root of his country’s evils, his rising to the height of the great occasion when the Midianites had so be fought with and conquered, and the amazing success which in less than two short days had crowned his extraordinary exertions—these and other elements raised him so high in the people’s estimation, that the whole nation felt they never could do him enough honour. The whole land was full of his fame for forty years. In fact, even in Israel’s remarkable history, there was nothing brighter to speak of or to sing of, than of his name and his doings. He lived in the hearts of his people. If he asked their silver and their gold, he might have it as much as he chose to name (Judges 8:24). If he wished them to carry on their worship in his city Ophrah, they came there at his desire. If they even abstained from the rites of Baal worship, which so many loved in their hearts, it was out of respect to his name that they did so, for so long as he remained with them no altars of Baal were frequented in Israel.

3. The whole land enjoyed peace for his sake. “The country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.” This was a high honour conferred on any man to say of him, that for his sake the whole land enjoyed the inestimable blessings of peace for so long a period. Such was the honour put on him by Divine Providence. For doubtless there were many secret causes of provocation among all the tribes, during the most of that period. Idolatry was the besetting sin everywhere, and, but for the strong influence of Gideon’s name, it must have broken out publicly in not a few places. Gideon, too; was ever thought of as the Jerubbaal—the conqueror and adversary of Baal, and this must have done much to keep back the rising tide of idol worship, and so to ward off the Divine judgments. He lived in his own house in peace, for so long a time, and the land had no special troubles for his sake.

4. He was blessed with long life—“died in a good old age.”

This phrase, which is used also of Abraham (Genesis 25:8) and of David (1 Chronicles 29:28), and the similar phrase “full of days” which is spoken of Job (Job 42:17), implies that the man who saw such a length of days was visibly blessed of God. In that age, when God taught his people so much by emblems, there was a deeper significance in the enjoyment of temporal prosperity as the sign of the Divine favour, than there is now under the Dispensation of the Spirit. In nearly all the descriptions given of the manner in which God will bless the man whom He loves, it is the language of temporal blessing that is used. In Job 5:26, the man who submits to God’s correction, after experiencing many deliverances from God’s gracious hand, is promised that at last he “will come to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.” And among the numerous proofs of the Divine favour, which are promised to the man who makes choice of God as his own God, and looks to Him as his refuge, the list closes with the blessing of long life (Psalms 91:16). The mere prolongation of life itself is a natural blessing, but it is chiefly of value when it is given as a mark of the Divine favour.

It cannot indeed now be predicted with the same definiteness, as in the days when the teaching of the Church was by symbols, that external prosperity, or the prolongation of life, is an indication of the Divine favour to the possessor above other men; indeed, it is one of the mysteries of Divine Providence, that the way of the wicked prospers more frequently than that of the righteous, though not so much in the matter of long life, as in that of external prosperity. But that the righteous have immensely the advantage, both from the nature of the case, and from the assurances of Scripture, is clear. The righteous have always God’s blessing with their portion, which, even if that be small, it will yield more real enjoyment, than would a princely fortune to the man on whom God frowned (Psalms 37:16; Psalms 37:11; Psalms 37:25, &c.). In Isaiah 65:20, we have a remarkable statement respecting long life as a sure indication of the Divine favour, implying that when God rises up to bless His Church, there will no longer be persons who have only an infant’s age, nor any man called “old,” who has not filled up the days of an old man (such will be the care which God in His Providence will exercise over him); for he who will be reckoned only a child in those days will really have lived 100 years, and the sinful man who dies at the early age of 100 years will be reckoned accursed of God, for not having nearly reached what shall then be the common limit of life. An eminent thinker defines the word “sinner,” to mean, one who misses the mark, and translates the last line of the verse thus: “He who misses the mark of 100 years, will be reckoned accursed of God,” because his life will appear cut short, so that he does not live half his days.

5. The good man’s grievous errors. However bright the name of Gideon, though it shines as a star of the first magnitude in the Old Testament sky, it is not without its spots (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The Bible good man is, in this world, one who was originally a bad man, now in process of being made good. God Himself is the worker; the means employed are of His choosing, and the work will in due time be made perfect, but as yet it is only in process. Hence the struggles of the “old man” with the “new man,” and the strivings of the “Spirit against the flesh” (see Galatians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22). The extinguishing of human depravity in any human heart is not effected instantaneously, but is a gradual operation. Hence the proper light in which to look at any good man is not to regard him as of a different mould from other men, or taken from a different stock, but to regard any spiritual excellence of character which he has above other men, as wholly due to the grace of God working in him.

Gideon was guilty of the sin so common in his time of polygamy. “He had many wives.” This was a distinct violation of the law of marriage even by the light of nature (Genesis 2:22; Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:14; Malachi 2:13), and more emphatically by the light of the written law of Moses (Exodus 20:14). But there was so much fog in the atmosphere of those days, before the glorious sun had risen in the sky, that men could but dimly read the meaning of heaven’s laws. Thus, surrounded by the corrupt practices of every other community on earth, even some of the best of God’s people gave way before the evil example (1 Corinthians 15:33). But the light of those times being small relatively, certain evil practices were not condemned so strongly as they are in the clearer light of gospel times (Matthew 5:31). It is said with regard to many points of conduct, “The times of this ignorance God winked at”—passed over. The sins were seen, were hated, were condemned, but God did not in many cases execute the sentence they deserved. Yet sin in every case, and in every age, is condemned by God quite as much among His own people, and even more, than among others (see on this whole subject pp. 322–4).

Gideon allied himself with a Canaanitish family. The maidservant whom he married, of the house of Shechem, appears to have belonged to the idolatrous portion of that clan (see Judges 5:31; Judges 9:18, &c.) This was the sin which had been forbidden more expressly than any other, and which led to many a dark day in the homes of Israel (Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3; Judges 3:6). Bitter consequences also came down on Gideon’s house, as the sequel will show.

Gideon made an ephod and put it in his city, as a point of worship for the people. We have already spoken of this, and pronounced it an error of judgment, rather than of intention. He had not, so far as appears, the most remote intention of encouraging idolatry. That was at the very antipodes of his thoughts and wishes. But as Shiloh, the only centre for the worship of Israel’s God in the land, was in the tribe of Ephraim, and as the Ephraimites had already shown themselves so sensitive in their dealings, both with himself and with the men of Manasseh, he was apprehensive lest, on the occasion of one or other of the frequent visits that might be made, from persons of his own and other tribes in the north, to Shiloh, some spark might kindle a flame of resentment, which would both put an end to the worship, and envelope the country in civil war. There was the greater reason to fear this, that Ephraim contained such large numbers of the idolatrous classes. The intention, here, we believe, was only for good, for Gideon was eminently a man of peace, and had already shown that he could make large sacrifices to avoid a quarrel with brethren.

But he was in serious error. He tried to do a right thing in a wrong way. God had already appointed the place of His worship, and also the men who should minister to Him in the service. And not even a Gideon durst interfere to make any alteration on it before Him. If such dangers as Gideon feared actually existed, Jehovah was well able to take care of his own service. But this God-fearing man thought that, as he had already been taken into the service of Jehovah, he was not acting presumptuously now in wearing the priest’s ephod, or working dress, and so personating that official in his office. But he had received no call to enter into that office, though on one occasion he was specially called to erect an altar and offer sacrifice (ch. Judges 6:25, &c.). It was therefore a false step. What keeps everything right in the matters of God, is to act implicitly at His command. In place of this, Gideon now acted according to his own judgment. Evil results followed. The first step taken being wrong, another and another went further from the line of duty, until at last the people fell into the old pit of idolatry—the very last thing which the good man who took the first false step ever dreamt of.

When Epicurus, the founder of the celebrated school, made his summum bonum consist of that which ministered best for pleasure, he little imagined to what lengths of impurity and bestiality, many of his disciples would carry his system. Neither did Socinus seem to realise at first, how far the doctrine or principle would carry him, of making reason, the judge of everything the Bible declared about God. And all through Church History especially, we have many warnings not to trust to human reason, when it would determine for itself in the face of any commandment of the Lord.

Yet, with all these serious drawbacks, there are so many elements of excellence in Gideon’s character, that it shines resplendent on the page of Scripture history, and is remembered down to New Testament times, where again it is taken up (Hebrews 11:32, &c.), and held up as a bright picture to be looked at to the end of time. From the days of Joshua to those of Samuel, no such full account is given of any other of Israel’s heroes. Through the long decline of a green old age, he is continually pointed to, as he goes out and in among the people, as Jerubbaal, the man who dared to fight and was able to conquer Baal. And when he dies at last, it is when the field has long been clear of enemies, and when he is surrounded only by friends. Amid the regrets of all, with the blessings of love poured on his head, and the gifts of honour laid on his bier, he is put into his father’s sepulchre, and laid in the family vault, leaving his praises to be sung, and his example to be followed, by many in every home of the land he loved so well.

N.B.—We have now reached that stage in our remarks on the matter of this Book, that we have practically discussed all the more important principles it contains, so that in what follows it is not necessary that our comments should be otherwise than brief, and that frequent references be made to the thoughts already given.

THE PREFACE TO CHAPTER 9

Judges 8:33

1. The immediate result of Gideon’s death. This might be expressed in one short line. The people relapsed into idolatry. Notwithstanding all the long-continued lesson read to them by that splendid career, and notwithstanding all the warnings of the past, and the terrible seasons of chastisement they had come through, they still spring anew to that sin, the moment that the hand that kept them back from it is removed. The good judge is dead, and Israel fly to their idols, is the purport of the story. (See the character of the unteachable heart, and God’s dealings with it, on pp. 311–318; also 186, 189–192.) This is instructive.

(1.) It showed that their previous penitence wanted root. Impressions, however strong, made on the human heart will not last, unless they take root in the understanding, the affections, and the will.

(2.) The sin of worshipping other objects in place of God is a passion with the depraved human heart.

(3.) Inveterate sin is without shame. Therefore it loses self-respect.

(4.) It is blind, and regardless of consequences.

(5.) If not arrested, it leads to sudden destruction. (Proverbs 29:1.)

In this case, happily, the covenant stood between them and that.

2. The people’s ingratitude to both God and man.

(1.) It springs from want of consideration. How often does God complain, “My people do not consider?” “They are sottish children—a people of no understanding.” There is no weighing of claims, or taking serious facts into account.

(2.) It implies deadness of heart. The motives on God’s side towards all His creatures are so strong, that if there be any sensibility left in the heart at all, there must be some emotion awakened. That there should be none, implies the loss of the capacity for feeling.

(3.) It implies aggravated guilt. How offensive such a spectacle before a holy God. That such a worthless object should be embraced, a piece of dead matter, a thing made by its own worshipper, and an object surrounded with every possible vile association, that such an object should be preferred as a thing to be embraced and worshipped instead of the true and holy Jehovah, is indeed fitted to bring down some awful manifestation of the Divine anger.