You Started Strong, But… | Sunday, April 7, 2024

Amen, amen! Praise God. God is good. Good morning, Cross Connection. You can have a seat. Welcome! We're so glad that you are here. Thank you to my friend Scott for leading us in worship this morning.

This week, I was in my office going through some boxes. I had a whole bunch of boxes of stuff that I needed to sift through, and as I was going through them, I came across this relic from the last century called a cassette tape. In fact, this is older than Cali over here. The reason I've had this for so long is that when I was about 16 years old, I had just finished my sophomore year in high school, and I went to a youth camp, Chapel Youth Camp, up in the mountains. The first day of the camp was on Ephesians chapter 1, and Scott, who was leading worship this morning, was the youth pastor who set up that camp. That was the first time I met him, and he has been leading worship for many years after that. You can clap; praise the Lord!

At Cry Chapel in Costa Mesa, he led worship there for a long time. This cassette tape is from the first speaker at that camp, a guy named Chuck Smith. Some of you may have heard of him. He taught on Ephesians chapter 1, and the reason I still have this all these years later is that it was at that camp and through that message that God began to do a work in my life to call me into the ministry. So, I'm grateful for that camp, and I'm grateful that Scott was one of the ones who helped set that up. A true blessing! It’s so awesome to have him with us here this morning. He has also led worship for us on the last two Holy Land cruises that we have done.

Of course, on the last one, we didn’t quite make it to Israel because we were supposed to be in Israel on the 8th of October, and you might remember that on the 7th of October, a terrible terrorist attack happened in the country, and we weren’t able to enter. But Scott was leading worship for us on that trip and on the trip we did previous to that in 2019. He has been a real blessing for those.

We are going to get into the Scriptures this morning in the Book of Judges. We were in the Book of Judges before Palm Sunday and Easter, and now we’re going to come back to that. We’ll be in Judges chapter 8, so if you take out your Bible, we’ll be there in a moment. If you have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. Judges is the seventh book of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, then Joshua, and Judges. This year, we’re studying through the Book of Judges for most of the year, and we’re in chapter 8 today.

Before we get into the Scriptures, I do have a few things I wanted to share with you this morning. Some of them are repeats from what was announced by Pastor Garrett, but I think they are really important things. God is doing a really great work here.

Here at Cross Connection Church, I am truly thankful. I want to give glory and praise to God for the work that He is doing. We added a third service, as you know; this is our new third service that we started last Sunday, and we will continue to do that. Our new service times are 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00. If you are so inclined, you could always come to the 7:30 service, which has lots of room. The best donuts are at the 7:30 service! However, I know you all are like me and would probably sleep in, thinking, "Yeah, I'll come to the 11:00 service." But we're glad you're here.

As you can tell, we have more room now in the service. Our second service was getting really crowded, and now we've opened up some more seats. I want to give glory to the Lord; over the last year, the church has grown by about 25%. The Lord is truly doing a spectacular work here, and we are grateful for what He is doing. You can clap for that—praise God!

I also want to express my gratitude to you because, most of the time, the people who come here for the first time were invited by a friend. We have been encouraging you here at the church to do the work that God has commissioned us to do: to go into all the world and preach the gospel and share the good news of Christ with others. Sometimes, that is as simple as inviting someone to come to church, and you have been doing that quite a bit over the last year.

Additionally, I want to share my gratitude for your support as we prepared to start a third service. We needed a whole bunch of new people to volunteer and serve in the new service. In the month of March, we had almost 50 people who signed up to serve. Praise the Lord! Thank you for signing up. If you have not signed up to serve, you can go to CCchurch.com/serve, and we would love to involve you. We need help with ushers, greeters, security, hospitality, and children's ministry—lots of great places to plug in. Serving is a wonderful way for you to connect with other people, get to know those on the team, and build some great relationships.

On that note, I want to update you on some things. As was already mentioned in the announcements, I want to highlight it again: starting this week, our growth groups are beginning here at Cross Connection Church. You can go to CCchurch.com to see the various groups that will be happening. They mostly take place in homes during the week, and we use materials from a resource called RightNow Media. You can sign up for those groups, and this is a perfect way to get to know new people.

The church is not only a place for worship but also a community where we can grow in what are called the "one anothers" of the Bible. In the New Testament, the phrase "one another" is used almost 40 times in contexts such as praying for one another, caring for one another, loving one another, and sharing with one another. These "one anothers" truly come to life when we are in fellowship with one another, spending time in small groups, praying for each other, and studying the Scriptures together.

These grow groups are a great way for you to develop relationships with others while also deepening your walk with the Lord. This leads to the next announcement: next Sunday during this service, we will be having our Cross Training class. We haven't conducted this class for a number of years, but we recognize that the leaders and pastors of this church have been called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. One of the ways we do this is through our School of Discipleship, which has not been running for too long. Therefore, we are restarting it, beginning with our Cross Training class next week.

If you are wondering how to get involved at Cross Connection Church or how to connect and grow, especially if you are new to the church or new to your faith, this is a great place to start. It is just one class for one week, and we will be running these classes every seven weeks at the church. The Cross Training class will start next Sunday during the third service. You can attend this class, and we will share with you how to connect and grow at the church, as well as what it means to be a Christian.

I had a conversation with a gentleman this week who was asking me what it actually means to carry the label of being a Christian. This class is a great starting point. In May, our School of Discipleship will begin with our "Discover the Good News" class, which is a five-week class that will take place on Wednesday nights. You can learn more about it at CCchurch.com/sod for School of Discipleship. If you want to grow in your knowledge of the Bible and understand what the Christian faith is all about, this is the place to start after the Cross Training class.

I encourage you to check out these opportunities; I believe they will be a blessing and encouragement to you. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how quickly time passes. The last time we offered this class was in 2017, and we are now going to start doing this more regularly. There are many new people who have joined the church in the last seven years, so this will be a wonderful opportunity.

Please be praying about the things that God is doing. Pray for the leaders. Paul the Apostle, in Ephesians, says, "Brothers, pray for us," and I would echo the same sentiment. Would you pray for us?

Pray for me and for the other pastors at the church, the elders, and leaders of our church, that God would give us wisdom as we seek to fulfill the mission that God has given to us. Our mission is to connect with Him and with one another and to fulfill the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples. Pray for us as we are seeking to accomplish that. Pray that God would lead you in how you might plug in on a team, in a growth group, or in the School of Discipleship.

Pray for those in your life that God has put around you who don't yet know the Gospel. Every one of us here today knows people who are far from God, and they are experiencing the effects of being far from Him. God has placed you in their lives—someone that you work with, or live next door to, or someone you've known a long time as a friend. God has placed you in their life so that you might be able to share the good news of the Gospel with them, that they might come to know Him. So, be praying about how the Lord might use you to reach out to those people. I just want to encourage you to get plugged in so that you might grow.

With that, we're going to jump into the Scriptures. Take out your Bibles; Judges chapter 8 is where we are at. As I said, this year we are spending the bulk of our time going through this Old Testament book, The Book of Judges. I've called this series "Dumpster Fire," and that's why there's fire on the screen behind me. The reason I've called it "Dumpster Fire" is that at this point in Israel's history, they were moving from one dumpster fire to another.

After the children of Israel had come into the land to take possession of it, the land that God had promised to their great, great, great, great grandfather, Father Abraham, they finally came into the land and took possession of it under Joshua. That's what the whole book of Joshua was all about. After Joshua died, the children of Israel were left to lead and rule themselves. That was what God had called them to do through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.

Moses had told them that as long as they followed the Lord, sought Him, served Him faithfully, and kept His commandments, they would do well and be blessed. Deuteronomy chapter 28 lists one blessing after another, where God says through Moses, "If you will keep my commandments, you shall be blessed in your towns, you shall be blessed in your fields, you shall be blessed in your storehouse." In our modern day, we would say you will be blessed even in your bank account. I know some people get weirded out by that, but God promises a blessing to His people who will follow His word. However, in the same passage, He says if you depart...

From faithfully following, if you do not follow my commandments, then I will remove my hand of protection and blessing. I call that the passive judgment of God, where He just allows you to reap the consequences of your actions. He says that if you depart from my ways, then I am going to remove my hand of blessing and protection, and you will reap the curses of the law.

What Judges pictures for us is exactly that reality. In this book, seven times we read the words, "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." They turned to follow after the various gods of the people who were around them. When they would turn to idolatry and immorality, they would slide down into a time of despair, as the nations around them, their enemies, would come and oppress them and take control of them.

It was in this cycle that we see several different times in the Book of Judges that the children of Israel would end up under the tyranny of the oppressive nations around them. From there, they would cry out to God in their despair. Because God is merciful and gracious, He would hear their cry and raise up a deliverer, a judge, to deliver them out of all of their despair.

As we've been studying through Judges chapters 1 to 6, we've already considered the stories of a judge named Othniel, then the story of a judge named Ehud, and another one named Deborah, along with Barak, who was with Deborah. Just before Palm Sunday, two weeks prior, in chapters 6 and 7, we were introduced to a man named Gideon. We have looked at the first two-thirds of his story, as his story occupies chapters 6 and 7, and we will see chapter 8 today.

If you were with us several weeks ago when we were introduced to Gideon, I shared with you at that time that Gideon was one of the greats of the judges of Israel. We might call him the GOAT, the greatest of all time. When you get to the New Testament book of Hebrews, there is a chapter there, Hebrews chapter 11, that we commonly refer to as the Hall of Faith, kind of like the Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Faith, we have a list of all these individuals who were men and women of faith in the Old Testament. When the author of the book of Hebrews gets to the time of Israel's judges, the first judge that he mentions is Gideon.

Gideon is like a standout; he is this great judge who did so well. You might point at him and say he truly is the quintessential judge. Everything would be great if the story ended at the end of chapter 7 or even in just the first few verses of Judges chapter 8. If all we had for Gideon was Judges chapter 6 and 7, and the first few verses of chapter 8, it would be like, "Man, this guy is awesome! Everything is awesome about Gideon!"

However, you get to chapter 8, and as has been observed many times before, it isn't how you begin the race, the war, the hike, or whatever endeavor; it really often is how you finish in the end. In 2007, the New England Patriots had the best season ever. They went 16-0 in regular season play, undefeated in the 2007 NFL season. They did awesome in the playoffs until they faced a giant, the New York Giants, in Super Bowl 42 in January of 2008. Eli Manning did what Eli Manning did both times he met Brady in the Super Bowl, and he won.

So, although the Patriots did so well in season play, 16-0, at the end of the Super Bowl, it was Eli Manning who had the ring, the trophy, and the title of MVP of the 42nd Super Bowl that year. Now, that's not to say that Tom Brady wasn't an amazing player or that the Patriots under him were not an amazing team. He certainly is a Hall of Famer. But when it comes down to it, the season is all about how you finish and not how you begin.

In fact, there have been many times when guys don't begin all that well, but boy, do they finish really well in the end. The story we are going to see with Gideon, as we wrap up chapter 8 and consider the end of his life here in this passage, teaches us an important point: in the end, it is all about how you finish and not how you begin. Gideon is still in the Hall of Faith, as I mentioned. When you get to Hebrews chapter 11, he is the first of the judges that is mentioned there in the Hall of Faith. However, when you read chapter 8 and really unpack what is happening, it becomes clear that the focus is on how he finishes.

Happening in Judges chapter 8, it really causes you to ask the question: why is he in Hebrews chapter 11? Judges 8 perfectly illustrates what not to do when you win. In Judges chapter 6 and Judges chapter 7, Gideon was victorious in so many beautiful ways. However, in Judges chapter 8, in some ways, you could say that the victory went to his head. Victory can almost be more deadly and dangerous than defeat. Here, we are going to see some real failures of Gideon in this passage that are going to teach us some very important lessons.

It brings us back, I think, in some way to a verse that I've highlighted many times before, and one that I believe you would do really well to remember. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 12, the Apostle Paul says, "Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall." In his letter to the Romans, in Romans chapter 11, Paul writes to the Christians in the city of Rome and says, "We stand by faith and trust in God." That's where we find our strength and our ability, as we put our trust and our faith in God. Therefore, as he says, we stand in trust and faith. He warns us not to be haughty, not to be high-minded or conceited, thinking that our power and strength come from ourselves.

Gideon in chapter 6 and Gideon in chapter 7 fully acknowledged and understood his weakness. I think he recognized at the beginning of the story of his life that he, in and of himself, was insufficient. As it says, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency comes from God." In the early stages of his life and ministry, Gideon understood that and became victorious because he trusted in God and recognized his own insufficiency.

However, somewhere along the line, he seems to forget those important lessons. We see this very clearly in the words that we find in Judges chapter 8. At the beginning of Judges chapter 8, the first three verses suggest that he is going to finish well. At the end of chapter 7, Gideon, with just 300 men, has put to flight or expelled the Midianite army that came into the land of Israel every year around that time.

The Harvest sought to steal the fruitfulness of the land of Israel. Gideon, with just 300 men, pushed 35,000 Midianites to run for their lives and flee back to their homeland east of the Jordan River. This was an absolute miracle, not because Gideon had an amazing plan, not because he had awesome strength, and not because any of the 300 men in his army were skilled warriors, but purely because of the power of God.

In fact, at one point, when Gideon had more than 20,000 people, God said, "Listen, you have too many people. If you win with these people, you would think that it was your strength that did this." But it was not going to be about their strength. Gideon was perfectly fine with that; he trusted in God. As he relied upon God, he experienced great victory. This is the story told in Judges chapter 7.

As Gideon and his 300 men pursued the Midianites, who were fleeing east to return to their homeland in Midian, Gideon called upon three tribes of Israel: Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh. The nation of Israel was divided into twelve different tribes, and he sent word to the heads of these tribes, asking them to come and help. They joined the fight.

Gideon also sent messengers to the tribe of Ephraim, one of the largest and strongest tribes in the land of Israel. Ephraim joined the fight at the end of chapter 7. Not only did they join, but the men of the tribe of Ephraim captured and killed two princes of the Midianites, named Oreb and Zeb. If you're looking for names for your kids, those are great names—well, actually, don't name them after Midianites; that wouldn't be good.

Gideon continued his pursuit of the Midianites, with the tribes of Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh following along with him. Then we read in Judges chapter 8 that a dilemma arose. The men of the tribe of Ephraim said to Gideon, "Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?" They reprimanded him sharply in the midst of the battle, as they were pursuing the Midianites after experiencing a great victory by capturing and killing two of their princes.

The princes of Midian sent their messengers to Gideon and said to him, "Hey, you did wrong. You didn't send us a text, you didn't send us an email, you didn't call us when you went to battle. How come you didn't involve us in the initial battle? We should have been involved in that whole thing." They reprimanded Gideon sharply.

Now, think about this for a moment. In such a situation, how might you respond? I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm tempted to not respond in the best way when people confront me like this. But look at Gideon; he responds in a great and exemplary way here in verse two. Gideon said to them, "What have I done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim much better than the vintage of Abiezer?"

What is he saying? He is using very poetic language here. He is saying, "Listen, I'm from this little no-name town called Abiezer, and I've got nothing. You guys are amazing, Ephraim! You are awesome! Look at what you've done and what you've accomplished. God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeb. What was I able to do in comparison to you?"

They came to him and confronted him, saying, "How dare you not involve us in the battle?" He responded, "Man, I've done nothing in comparison. You guys are amazing! Look at this victory; you beat these two princes, you captured them, you killed them." Their anger subsided when he said that.

What we have here is Gideon exercising some really good diplomacy. He is judicious and proves the truth of Proverbs 15:1, which says, "A soft answer turns away wrath." That's a good lesson to learn, isn't it? A soft answer turns away wrath. The whole of the verse not only states that a soft answer turns away wrath, but it also gives a very valuable lesson that every husband and wife would probably do well to take note of: "A harsh word stirs up anger."

I know none of the husbands and wives in here have any experience with this at all. Only the first and second services probably have experienced this, where in the moment they don't quite choose their words wisely. Instead of a soft answer that turns away wrath, they might give a little harsh word. None of you husbands and wives have ever experienced that in the third service. You are the...

Righteous ones get good sleep, but there are times when we recognize the truth of this. Gideon, here, wisely responds in humility. He has just experienced a great victory; he has been used by God to expel the Midianites, pursue them, and push them out of the land of Israel. Now, the tribe of Ephraim, the leaders of this great tribe, confront him and say, "How dare you not involve us?" Instead of standing his ground and pushing his agenda, he softly answers and responds in humility.

Now, if only the story of Gideon stopped there, we would label him the greatest of all time. What an incredible judge Gideon was! Unfortunately, the story does not stop there. In verse four of Judges chapter 8, when Gideon came to the Jordan, we remember that the children of Israel lived in a land very similar to the geography of today. The land was split down the middle by the Jordan River. East of the Jordan River was the territory for the Moabites, the Ammonites, and even the Midianites, who lived to the south of what we know today as Western Saudi Arabia. The Jordan River served as the boundary for their land; everything to the west of the Jordan was really their land.

As the Midianites were leaving and going back to their home, Gideon came to the boundary at the Jordan River. He and the 300 men who were with him crossed over. He was now leaving his land. His call and commission from God was to expel the Midianites from his land, and now they had left. In many ways, you could say that the mission was done, but not in Gideon's mind. He came to the Jordan River and crossed over with his 300 men. They were exhausted, but they were still in pursuit. Then he said to the men of Succoth, a town held by the Jewish people along the Jordan River, as he continued his pursuit of the Midianites who were heading back to their home in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

Gideon comes to the town of Succoth and says, "Please give me loaves of bread for the people who follow me. They are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zeba and Zuna, the kings of Midian." The leaders of Succoth respond, "Are the hands of Zeba and Zuna now in your hand that we should give bread to your army?"

Gideon replies, "For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zeba and Zuna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with thorns of the wilderness and briers." What on Earth is going on here? Gideon approaches the leaders of Succoth and explains that he is pursuing Zeba and Zuna, the kings of the tribes of Midian, asking for provisions to take care of his men. They refuse to help him, and Gideon, feeling slighted, puffs up his chest and says, "Do you not know who I am? You obviously didn't get the news about what I have done. I am pursuing these guys, and when I get them, I will remember what you did here. I am coming back, and I will deal with you because you didn't help me."

That's essentially the gist of the story, in my own words. Then he went up to Penuel, another town along the Jordan, and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had. Gideon told them, "When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower in your town."

Gideon is not very happy, but I want to suggest to you point number two: a big part of victory is knowing when and how to stop the pursuit. Have you ever in your life pushed a little too much, perhaps extended a bit too far, as we say, over your skis?

If you read the commentary on this passage, many commentators agree, and I would concur, that while the Lord was with Gideon to a point, much of what we see as he crosses the Jordan River and pursues the Midianites back to their land seems to indicate that he is no longer functioning under the strength, power, and might of God. Instead, he appears to be operating in his own power.

Strength can be pushed too far. Even though there are some closed doors, there are people from Gideon's own land who are not necessarily willing to help him in this mission. They may have been with him earlier on, but now they are not willing to assist him as much.

Many centuries later, we have another similar story where someone is following the leading of the Lord. His name was Paul, and he wanted to go into an area called Bithynia. Somehow, the Spirit of God said no. Then he wanted to go into an area called Asia Minor, and again, the Lord said no, closing that door as well. Paul was sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, but Gideon is not.

One indication that we know Gideon is not sensitive to the Spirit's leading is his response to those in the towns of Succoth and Penuel. He says to them, "If you're not willing to help me, I'm going to take names, and when I come back, I'm going to beat you up." There is an important lesson here. I don't think that God ever leads in any direction where our vengeance and retribution are the ruling passions. If vengeance and retribution are what push you to move forward, that is a time for pause. God says, "Vengeance is mine; it is not for you."

When God leads you into a wind, be careful not to push into a direction where God is not leading. He never leads with vengeance and retribution. What we discover in this passage is that God was with Gideon to a point, but at some moment, God says, "Okay, I am actually removing my hand of protection and blessing."

We will see this again later in the Book of Judges. Perhaps you have heard the name Samson, who is also a well-known judge in the Book of Judges. In Judges 16:20, it states that although God had been with Samson in many victories, the Lord removed His hand from Samson, and Samson did not know that the Lord was no longer with him.

I think Gideon is experiencing the same thing. There is a lack of awareness that he is now functioning outside of the will, purpose, and call of God. One indication of this is that he is being pushed or driven by vengeance and retribution, rather than by the leading of the Spirit of God. But it gets worse.

Look at Judges chapter 8, verse 10. Now, Zeba and Zuna were at Carore, and their armies with them numbered about 15,000, all who were left of the army of the people of the East, the Midianites. For 120,000 who drew the sword had fallen. This is amazing. The Midianite army, when they were in the land of Israel oppressing the children of Israel, had 135,000 soldiers. Now, through the work of Gideon and his 300 men, along with other military-minded individuals from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Asher, 120,000 of the army of Midian has been destroyed. There are only 15,000 left, and they are fleeing to go back to their own homeland.

Here they are in the town of Carore, which is on the east side of the Jordan. Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents, on the east side of Noba and Jahaz. He attacked the army while the camp felt secure. When Zeba and Zuna fled, he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zeba and Zuna, and routed the whole army. There was a massacre.

Sometimes, in situations like this, we can be tempted to overlook and try to justify the acts of our heroes. However, what we really see here in this passage is point number three: true victory never follows unrighteous actions. I don't think there's any way to spin it other than to say that Gideon is functioning in a place and in a way that God was not with him. Character and integrity are important, and Gideon seems to show neither of those here in this passage.

But as I said, it gets worse. Look at verse 13. Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. He caught a young man of the men of Succoth—remember, Succoth was the town that refused to help him—and he interrogated the man of Succoth. He wrote down for him the elders of Succoth and its leaders, 77 men. He made a list, checking it twice. Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zeba and Zuna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, 'Are the hands of Zeba and Zuna now in your hand that we should give bread to your weary men?'"

Then he took the elders of the city of Succoth and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he...

Taught the men of Seot a lesson, how do you think he taught them? Then he went and tore down the Tower of Penuel and killed the men of that city. On the warpath, he was filled with rage, filled with vindictive, retributive justice, taking things into his own hands and killing the people of God.

I want to suggest to you that God's leading never involves vengeance and retribution on our part. Vengeance, retribution, and gloating are not in the list of the fruits of the Spirit; they are more akin to the works of the flesh. Always remember, people are watching our lives closely. People you work with, people you go to school with, people in your neighborhood, and people in your own home, especially your children.

I have to say, it's a devastating reality that pastors wrestle with. I've had many conversations with the pastors on our staff about this. I have met many pastor's kids who grew up where their father's testimony was one way before the church and another way before the family. Their example didn't cross from the doors of the church through the doors of their home.

There has been a conversation many times with the leaders I connect with, the other pastors I connect with, about making sure that we are being a proper example wherever we are, that we are the same consistent person. I have met far too many preacher's kids, sometimes called PKs, who may no longer walk with the Lord because of the testimony of their father and their family. We need to be always very aware of the example that we're setting.

I don't think that Gideon here in this passage was very aware of his example. Look at what we read as we continue on in the story. In verse 18, he said to Zeba and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" Tabor was one of the towns of Israel, and obviously, the Midianites had killed some of the men of that town. So they answered, "They were like you; as you are, so were they." But it almost seems like they are trying to flatter Gideon here, trying to save their own lives. "Each one resembled the son of a king, just like you."

Gideon said, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you would let them live, then I would not kill you." Then, in verse 20, he said to his firstborn son, Jethar, "Kill them." This is striking. Gideon turns to his firstborn son and commands him to rise and kill the two Midianite kings, Zeba and Zuna. However, the young man, being just a kid, was afraid and would not draw his sword. Zeba and Zuna then said, "Rise yourself and kill us, for as a man is, so is his strength." Ultimately, Gideon arose and killed Zeba and Zuna, taking the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

God's leading never involves our vengeance and retribution. In the New Testament book of James, it is stated that the vengeance of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. One of the lessons we can learn from this is that we should never ask others to commit wickedness on our behalf. Gideon, in wanting to involve his young son in his own vengeance and retribution, illustrates this point.

After this event, the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son and your grandson also." This is amazing. Gideon had achieved victory over the Midianites; 135,000 Midianites were dead, and the princes and kings of Midian were also dead. Now, the children of Israel came to Gideon and expressed their desire for him to be their king. Gideon's polling was really high; he had a very high approval rating at that moment. The children of Israel wanted him to be their first king and desired his family to establish a dynasty.

However, God had said through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy that Israel was not to have a king, as God was to be Israel's King. When the offer was presented to Gideon, he seemed to respond in the right way. The people came to him and said, "Rule over us, both you and your son and your grandson also, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." But Gideon reminded them that it was not he who delivered Israel; it was God who delivered Israel. He said to them in verse 23, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you, for the Lord shall rule over you."

To Israel's request was the right and godly response because God had said that they were not to have a human ruler; God would be their King. However, Gideon's actions betrayed his words. We all know that we can say one thing with our mouths and live a different way with our lives.

In verse 24, Gideon said to them, "I would like to make one request of you." Although they wanted him to be their King, he replied, "No, I'm not going to be your king because God is your King." Then he added, "But, you know, maybe this is an opportune time to ask just one request. I don't want to be your king; I don't want the responsibility of being your king, but I wouldn't mind the reward of being your king. I just have one request to make of you: that each of you would give me the earrings from the plunder."

The people had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites, a group connected to Ishmael back in the Book of Genesis. The Ishmaelites wore gold jewelry, including gold earrings. When the 135,000 of the Midian army were defeated, the people had quite the spoil of golden earrings. Gideon asked, "Can I just have the earrings from the spoil?"

They answered, "We will gladly give you the earrings." They spread out a garment on the ground, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. The weight of the gold of the earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold. How much is that? Calculations show it to be about 42 pounds of gold. At the current price, it's like $1.6 million—not a bad haul. They gave him all the earrings, totaling 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, as well as the chains that were around their camels' necks.

Gideon, in verse 27, made them into an ephod. What is an ephod? It's an outer robe traditionally worn by the priest. Gideon made it into a golden ephod and set it outside the city, or up in his city of Ophrah. All Israel played the harlot with it; it became a snare to Gideon and his house. He didn't want the responsibility of leading as a king of Israel, who was supposed to lead in righteousness unto the Lord, but he certainly didn't mind the reward. He started to live like royalty, taking all this gold and setting it aside.

Gideon set up an ephod, which, as I mentioned, was the robe worn by a priest. He established it at the central point of his town, where there had previously been an altar to the idol Baal and to Asherah, which he had torn down back in Judges chapter 6. Now, he set up a new altar, but not to the God Baal or Asherah. In effect, he set up an altar to himself. He took the glory and the credit for the victory that was truly God's. He made himself an idol to be worshiped by the children of Israel.

It's important for us to remember point number four: God's true victors know that the glory belongs entirely to God. In verse 29, we read that Jerubbaal, which was also Gideon's name, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his house. Gideon had seventy sons, who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. He began to live like the kings of the people around him. His concubine, who was in the town of Shechem, also bore him a son whose name was Abimelech. Keep note of that name, as it will become important next week.

Gideon used his victory, which was really the victory of the Lord, as an opportunity for immorality. When all was said and done, after he had seventy sons by many wives and one concubine, we will see in the next chapter that he left it all to be dealt with by his wicked, boneheaded son. This was not a good plan, especially when, like Gideon, you have been such an abysmal example of what you ought to do.

The story of Gideon is a challenging one. The first two-thirds of the story are awesome; he understood his weakness, his insufficiency, and his frailty. Therefore, he relied upon and trusted in the Lord. However, at a certain point, he started to trust in what everybody else was saying about him. He began to trust in his own power and strength, thinking of himself as a king or royalty. In the end, it's all about how you finish, not how you began. This raises a question when you read through the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, and go through the Hall of Faith.

Certain individuals, when you know their stories, prompt the question: why are they in here? Samson, for example; we'll get to him eventually. Then there's Gideon, David, and even King David. Sure, he had some great victories, but boy, did he have some low lows. Abraham is another one. Sometimes, you look at these individuals and remember the words of one great preacher: the best of men are men at best. We are, and will always be, still sinners. Without the enabling power of God, as we rely and trust in Him, we are all in danger of falling.

In the end, it's not about how you finish, but how you begin. That's why I think it's so important that Hebrews 11, this great Hall of Faith, which mentions Gideon, Samson, David, Abraham, and all these others, is followed by these words in Hebrews chapter 12. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us—individuals of faith like Abraham and David—the reason they are in the Hall of Faith is that they had faith in God. When they trusted in God, they were worthy of note.

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, laying aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. These are the keys for you and me. God wants us to run the race with endurance, and I want to hear Him say for me, and hopefully for you as well, when we get to the end of the line, "Well done, good and faithful servant." But to do that, you have to finish well, amen? It's not just about starting well.

So how do we run the race with endurance? There are two things: laying aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith. Having our eyes and our hearts in the right place—would to God that we be able to do that, amen?

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, I thank You for the sobering message of Gideon here in Judges chapter 8. I pray, God, that You would cause these lessons to be in our minds and our hearts as we seek to follow You. There are so many things in this world that can distract and trip us up, but God, I pray that You'd help us, by Your enabling power and by Your Spirit, to lay aside those snares—those sinful snares—and to have our focus.

Attention firmly fixed upon You, Jesus. You are the great example, the one we ought to imitate and pattern our lives after. Even the great examples of old, or throughout church history, had great victories as they trusted in You, but there were also many pitfalls, dangers, and places where they tripped up and fell. You are the one that we ultimately need to look to and emulate.

So, God, would You give us the enabling power by Your Spirit today to lay aside every weight and sin and pursue You, looking to You? Thank You for this story; help us to learn from it. We pray for this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."