Judges 8:22

GIDEON DECLINED THE KINGSHIP; BUT ASKED FOR GOLD (Judges 8:22-28)

"And the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you. And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein in every man the ear-rings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on their camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house. So Israel was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon."

"Thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian" (Judges 8:22). "The men of Israel" who made this the basis of their inviting Gideon to be king probably does not mean all of the tribes, but only those which had participated in the expulsion and defeat of the Midianites. Note that Israel, true to their rebellious character, gave the honor and glory which belonged to God to one of themselves, namely, Gideon.

"I will not rule ... neither shall my son rule over you" (Judges 8:23). In the same way that Caiaphas, although wicked himself, prophesied that, "It is expedient that one man should die for the people" (John 11:50). Gideon, the Divinely-appointed deliverer of Israel, also uttered a prophecy, despite the probability that he was unaware of it. The evil son of the concubine, Abimelech, would indeed not rule over Israel.

"They had golden ear-rings because they were Ishmaelites" (Judges 8:24). All of those who were defeated by Gideon were also called, "Midianites," and here it is clear that they were also identifiable as "Ishmaelites." This passage refutes the critical enemies of Genesis who allege "multiple sources," "contradictions," etc., in Genesis 37:27-28, where the company of people to whom Joseph's brothers sold him are referred to in those verses both as "Ishmaelites," and as "Midianites."

"They did cast therein (into the garment) the ear-rings of their spoil" (Judges 8:25). "Gideon's soldiers had made quite a haul";[23] and they gladly turned over to Gideon the ear-rings he requested, which no doubt amounted to only a small fraction of the booty taken from the slain Midianites.

"One thousand seven hundred shekels of gold" (Judges 8:26). Keil estimated this as, "About fifty pounds of gold."[24] This, of course, made Gideon a very wealthy man.

"And Gideon made an ephod thereof and put it in ... Ophrah" (Judges 8:27). This does not say that he used "ALL of that gold" in making the ephod, but that the material in the ephod came from it.

CONCERNING THAT EPHOD

In making this ephod, Gideon invaded the sacred precincts of that which belonged exclusively to the High Priest of Israel. In Exodus 28:4ff and 39:3ff, one may find the Divine directions for making the ephod. It was a vestment to be worn exclusively by the High Priest.

It was made of blue, gold, purple and scarlet, along with pure white linen. It was supported by two shoulder-pieces and held together with an elaborate girdle. On the shoulder-pieces were two onyx stones bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon them. Attached to the ephod by chains of pure gold was the breastplate, which contained four rows of three precious stones each, standing for the tribes of Israel. Under the ephod, yet part of it, was a blue robe extending to the feet of the High Priest. In the breastplate, there was also the Urim and Thummin, by means of which the High Priest could submit questions to the Lord and receive heavenly direction on what should be done.

It is believed that Gideon's sin in making such an ephod might have been due, as Keil suggested, in part, "To the fact that the High Priesthood had probably lost its worth in the eyes of the people on account of the worthlessness of its representatives."[25]

Another contributing factor to this sin of Gideon might have been the latent hostility between him and the tribe of Ephraim mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter. The Tabernacle with its High Priest, etc. was located in Ephraim's territory, and Gideon might have felt the desire to have closer access to God than that of going through the Tabernacle at Shiloh.

Nevertheless, what he did was sinful. "He usurped the prerogatives of the Aaronic Priesthood, drawing away the people of Israel from their one and only true sanctuary, thereby not only undermining the theocratic unity of God's people, but also giving a strong impetus to the relapse of the nation of Israel into the worship of Baal, following his death. This sin destroyed the house of Gideon."[26] Regarding the question of just what the ephod made by Gideon looked like, nothing is certainly known. "We know nothing of its shape, size, or use, although it may well have been a priestly garment."[27] A number of scholars suppose that this ephod was some kind of an image. Moore called it, "an idol,"[28] but that was merely his deduction based upon the fact that Israel worshipped it.

"This making of an ephod marks the tragic end of a truly great man."[29] With regard to the widespread opinion that some kind of an image was involved in this event, Yates wrote that: "It is possible that Gideon constructed an idol (an image), wearing his ephod which closely resembled the true ephod at Shiloh."[30]

"And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon" (Judges 8:28). This indicates a rather long life for Gideon, and it was quite logical to append at this point in the narrative a kind of summary of that long life.