You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/605429090102569/
Judges 8:4-7
Gideon starts out great, he’s humble looking to be obedient, but gets a bit distracted after he has a small taste of victory. And honestly it’s not really his victory. He did very little, but what happens next ugh!
Judges 8:4-9 (NIV) Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”
Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”
From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”
When he does kill the two opposing kings, by the way it doesn’t say that God told him to do that, but Gideon makes good on his threat. And the people he threatens are the people he was supposed to be protecting.
Remember the situation of Israel. They are cohabitating in the promised land with people that God had commanded they drive out. Then they started intermarrying with them, which leads them to start worshipping other gods. When they do that, they end up enslaved to these idols and to the people associated with them. Humanity does not like to be enslaved, when it happens the Israelites naturally cry out for help. God sends a judge who delivers them then, after a time of peace, they turn back to idolatry and once again become enslaved. This is the cycle of sin and it’s the reality of the situation for Israel.
Understandably, Israel wants this cycle to end. But instead of realizing that to break the cycle, they need to come to terms with their sin and their God, they think the way out is through some sort of stable, human-created government. And so they ask Gideon to be their king.
In fact, they ask him to establish a dynasty not just a kingship but a dynasty. That’s why they ask for Gideon, his son, and his grandson to rule over them. And because they had misplaced their hope in him, the cycle of disappointment never ends. Gideon dies, and everything returns to a lifestyle of idolatry and slavery. That’s what happens when we place our hope in a human being instead of placing your hope in Jesus.
If you place your hope in Jesus, the Bible promises us that He will never forsake you. Jesus died for you and He died for me. It’s easy to see how other people let us down. It’s also true that each one of us fall short of God’s standards. That is why we need Jesus. We need Jesus to live in us and through us so that we can be found blameless when Christ returns. There is no other answer other than Jesus. We need Jesus – He truly is the answer.