Judges 8:29-35
The Death of Gideon
29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
Our study of the life of Gideon began by stating that Israel did evil before the sight of God. As with all Hebrew chiasms, the last event is parallel, and sometimes opposite, to the first event. For example, both Judges 1:1 and Judges 8:33 show the corrupt nature that was the root problem for Israel and all mankind, and that is, doing evil by worshipping and following after other gods. God our Creator made us for His glory and for us to worship Him in Spirit and truth. But as the Apostle Paul clearly shows us in Romans 1:28-32, by saying:
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
The Book of Judges shows the darkness that a corrupt nature brings upon a people. And in the midst of the darkness, there shines a light of distant hope. That hope in the promises from the Word of God still shines today. This hope is, God is with us. In our study, God calls and equips Gideon to deliver the Israelites from the traumatizing reign of terror of the Midianites. Gideon, by his own profession and deeds, proved to be a man of humility, having the desire to obey God, and faith that produced great works by delivering Israel. However, corruption inhabits all men, even men of faith in God. Gideon, as he journeyed toward his demise, also showed us his lack of faith, obedience to God, and in today’s passage in Judges 8:29-35, a lack of humility. The diagram below shows a brief overview of Gideon’s life in the Hebrew chiasmic form
Today’s lesson in Judges 8:29-35 reveals Gideon’s further decline in his spiritual journey with God. In particular, we see Gideon’s lack of humility. At his call, Gideon tells the angel of the Lord in Judges 6:15, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” At the end of his life, on the other hand, Gideon takes on many wives and has 70 sons. Nevertheless, Gideon had a concubine in Shechem. It is interesting to note that Shechem was an ancient city. In Genesis 12:7, the Lord declared to Abraham that He will give the land of Canaan to his descendants. In Genesis 33:18-19, Jacob returns from the land of the Chaldeans and buys a piece of land near Shechem. Some commentators believe this is where Jacob’s Well was built and is the same well where Jesus sat and talked with the Samaritan woman in John 4:5-30. And in Joshua 20:7, Shechem is mentioned as a city in the land of Ephraim and later it became the first capital city when the kingdoms divided, with Judah with Jerusalem to the south and the ten tribes of Israel with Shechem to the north (1 Kings 12:25-33). To the Jews, the city has history, but chiefly it is identified in ancient times, as well as when it became the capital of the northern tribes of Israel, as a city of idolatry.
In this city of Shechem, Gideon had a concubine who bore him a son. Gideon named the son “Abimelech” (Judges 8:31). To the Hebrew reader this would be close to blasphemy. The Hebrew meaning of the word, Abimelech, is, “my father is king.” Gideon who told the Israelites when they wanted to make him their king, said in Judges 8:23, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” How far Gideon has fallen! He once professed his humility, but then he became corrupt with pride. Because of his pride, Gideon got angry when the Israelites in the cities of Succoth and Penuel refused to help. Therefore, Gideon took his revenge upon them. And now, because of pride, he must have truly wanted to be known as their king, since Gideon named his own son Abimelech. This name is like a title that would belong only to a prince by birthright and as an heir to the throne. Gideon has fallen from being humble to now being proud.
Lastly, the loss of Gideon’s legacy shows that his obscurity at the conclusion of his life was equal to his popularity at the beginning of his life. The people immediately forgot Gideon when he died. This was not a gradual decline that took many generations. Instead, the Israelites were ready and quickly rejected God and worships the Baals in the land. We must note that Moses commanded the Israelites to teach their children about the Lord God and all He was done for them. Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” The rejection of God in today’s passage in Judges 8:29-25, cannot be placed on Gideon as his fault.
In application, we must first deal with Israel’s quick rejection of God. Therefore, it is important to remember that the Israelites were always stiff-necked people who rejected God, even under the leadership of Moses. This disconnect between serving and betraying God continues throughout mankind’s history. Therefore, we must take it upon ourselves to evangelize every generation. We must never assume that people are followers of Christ just because their parents are. We must also be quick to always check our own hearts for pride, an ungodly characteristic that God hates. Instead, we must pray to ask the Lord our God to keep us humble and always dependent on Him. In bad times, we need to repent of sin and trust Him always. In times of prosperity, we need to remember the sins of our youth and proclaim, ‘but by the grace of God, there go I.’ We need to be people of obedience. In this way, we can reap the blessings of peace and joy and eternal rewards for being people who walk by faith in Him
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My God, I confess my need for a Savior. I confess my lack of faith that leads me to be proud and not obedient to You and Your Word. God, forgive me of my sins and help my unbelief. Give me a heart that yearns and seeks You and Your righteousness. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen!
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Faith if the Victory, by John H. Yates in 1891:
