Incurable Idolatry

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Opening Prayer

Father, I pray confidently today because You are always with me, watching over me. Open Your Word to me now.

Read JUDGES 8:22-35

^[22] The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us-you, your son and your grandson-because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ^[23] But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.” ^[24] And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) ^[25] They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ^[26] The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. ^[27] Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. ^[28] Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. ^[29] Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. ^[30] He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. ^[31] His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. ^[32] 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. ^[33] No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god ^[34] and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. ^[35] They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“The human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual factory of idols” (John Calvin).

Think Further

We battle against intransigent temptations all our days. Other people are influenced by us even when we aren’t actively trying to influence them. Despite our highest ideals, the work we’ve done has been identified with us and once we’re gone it can easily all fall apart.

Thus Gideon–believing, brave, a mighty warrior and modest–made an object which was not in itself bad, but which played on the people’s incurable idolatry. If the Israelites couldn’t make an idol out of Gideon himself, they’d make one out of his ephod. With a true heart, Gideon had referred the shallow Israelites to God’s rule, refusing a throne and a dynasty. With exemplary humility, he had returned to his home town and settled back to a quiet life. But that ephod, that one act of self-indulgence, was a hook that Satan used against the people. What a dangerous error it is to assume that our virtues have eradicated our vices. The fight against idolatry goes on until we die. The good news about God’s work in us never lessens our need of God’s work for us.

Once Gideon is dead it gets worse. The descent into idolatry is alarming (“No sooner had Gideon died …” v. 33), and there’s a new depth to the awfulness: the god that they set up has a name that mockingly twists Jehovah’s love–“Baal-Berith” means “The Lord, or the husband, of a covenant.” Forsaking their covenant with God, they squander their souls to any passing idol. The New Testament from Acts onward gives the history of the early church. It is also the history of churches no longer with us. Judges 8 is sobering and vital. Planting a church is one thing; nurturing, protecting and sustaining a church is quite another.

Apply

What dangers could lurk for others in my “harmless” self-indulgences? How might I avoid exposing others to their own weaknesses?

Closing prayer

Gracious Lord, I confess I find it easy to put other things, rather than You, in first place. I’m grateful for new beginnings as I seek Your Kingdom above everything.

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