Rest in the Right Place

Judges 8

My parents would always tell me that I needed to work hard because nothing would be handed down to me. As Christians we need to realize that the world will not really go out of their way for us. Instead they sometimes can make things harder. They are looking to see if you will fall or push your buttons so that they could see you react in sin. 

In this chapter we will see Gideon finishing up the Midian army and how he lived in his last days alive.

Exhausted but Still Pursuing

After the miracle that God did with the 300 men of Gideon against the Midian army of 120,000 they were still in pursuit of the kings of Midain. God was giving them strength to carry on. Gideon and his men came to an area called Succoth and asked for some bread for his men. The leaders of the city asked if the kings of Midian were dead because they feared the Midianites and they did not want any retaliation from them because they helped their enemy out. They said, “No.” They did not want to help the men. Because of this, Gideon said, “I’ll be back,” like the Terminator. Again he asked another city for bread for his men and they said, “No way.” Again Gideon gave them the watch out, I will come back and you will be sorry speech. 

Just like this, there is no rest for those who are doing God’s work in the world. They will sometimes make life harder and tasks more difficult but we need to realize our rest comes not in this world but from the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give  you rest.” True rest does come from the Lord we need to be like Gideon and his men, exhausted but still moving and doing the work of the Lord. May we go to the Lord to renew our strength.

The Downfall

Gideon caught up with the kings of Midian and killed them. As soon as Midian was gone and the people were delivered from their oppressors, they asked Gideon to be their leader but this was more than a leader they wanted him to be their king. This was a honored request but Gideon new their hearts. The people of Israel were weak and they wanted someone to lead and allow them to do evil in the sight of the Lord. The people cried out for help to be delivered of their enemy but not to be delivered of their sin. Gideon responded by saying, “No.” He told them, God will be your leader. This was what was to be intended by God. That he would be their king and ruler. He was the one who showed Israel how to get around in the wilderness. God is the one that fought before them in battle. God is the one that delivered them, but they were too much in their sin to see that.

This was the same temptation that Satan asked of Jesus. He said, If you worship me, I will give you this world. Power and authority is a very tempting vice that Satan will push upon Christian leaders. As tempting as that may have been Jesus said NO. Charles Spurgeon said, “Learn to say, ‘No’; it will be more use to you than to be able to learn Latin.”  

I wish we could say that was how Gideon ended by denying temptation but instead he built an ephod which was to stand for civil rule and not priestly rule but this became a snare to Gideon and the people. It became an idol for the people. The downfall of pride got in the way. We read before Gideon’s death that he also had 70 sons because he had several wives another sin he fell into. 

Temptation will come at you as Ephesians tells us that they are the flaming arrows from Satan. He does not stop nor take a break but constantly is trying to hit you, the target. He tries to find your weak spots and have you fall. May you put on your shield of faith and guard yourself from the enemy. Your strength is in the Lord and not in this world. The ability to withstand temptation is in the Lord, not in this world.