Judges 9, Proverbs 17, Hebrews 2

Judges 9 is a gruesome, sad chapter. Israel followed the wrong man. Shechem followed the wrong man. Greed seemed to know no end, for a while. But eventually the gravy train ended, tempers flared, war broke out again, and judgment came against all who had put their trust in men, money, and power instead of God.

Hard lesson. The wisdom of Proverbs teaches that "he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished" (v.5) and "an evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him." (v.11) Abimelech learned these lessons the hard way.

Don't Drift Away. "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." (v.1) We are in no less danger than Gideon and Abimelech of drifting away.

We have a Brother who will not betray us, but will come to our aid and intercede for us as our high priest. We need to stay in close fellowship with Him so that we don't allow anything to come between us and cause us to drift away.

Judges 8, Proverbs 16, Hebrews 1

God's assignment for Gideon included war, which was physically exhausting. It cost him the lives of his relatives and at the very end, when he and his men were famished, no one would help them or feed them. They were left to conquer the last two kings with no resources except faith in God.

Returning as victors, they subdued those who had ridiculed them and withheld food from them. The thrill of victory was so sweet that Gideon apparently believed he could let his guard down. So he set up a golden ephod which the people worshipped instead of God. It may have started out as a reminder of God's victory, but it became a substitute for God instead.

Because of his sin, Gideon's influence shrank until no one even remembered God by the time of his death.

It's too bad Gideon didn't have Proverbs to read. If he had realized that a proud heart is an abomination to the Lord, pride goes before destruction, wisdom is much better to get than gold, and it's better to be humble than to divide the spoil with the proud, his legacy might have been different.

Jesus is exalted above the angels. He is God's Son and they are ministering spirits sent to help those who "inherit salvation." Angels helped Gideon. Jesus himself, pre-incarnate, gave Gideon his assignment and went before him into battle.

Gideon needed to remember, as should we, that there is only one God, and whatever we do for Him only happens by His power.