Sermon Cloud

Judges 8: 22-28 Gideon and the golden ephod

Gideon's name means hewer (or one who cuts down). Gideon was the least person in his family and his family was one of the least. Yet God had him rise up and save a nation. After all this, he makes an ephod which becomes a means of false religion for Israel. With King David, we can trace his sin back to his going against God's law and taking too many wives. This created a great weakness in him that helped further the temptation. But there is no Biblical record of any thing Gideon did that was a precursor to this golden Ephod. We can also say it was not like Aaron's golden calf which was out right idolatry. It just seemed he wanted a memorial to the victory he had. Beware Christians. We can get more excited about God's victory more than God Himself. There may be an element of pride in this. We want a memorial to OUR victory. If you saved a nation would you have some pride in you? We do not have to save a nation. It would take a lot less for us to have pride in us. Probably every one here has some pride in them.  William Law said humility should be one of the most primary focuses in our prayer life. Pride is also the reason why God told Gideon He could not deliver Israel until the numbers were reduced. They were reduced from thousands to three hundred just so men could not boast.