Judges 6-8

Israel has faced loss due to their disobedience.  They have even fallen into the hands of the Midianites and were in captivity for seven years as judgement for their worship of other gods.  Gideon comes on the seen and God uses him to tear down the worship of Baal amongst the people of Israel.  After he does this, he is used by God to win a remarkable victory.  The interesting thing is that it began with Gideon testing God with a fleece and then ends with strife for Gideon's family because of an outfit.

Gideon does something that initially causes me to cringe.  He actually has the audacity not to only test God once, but he does it twice.  I ask myself, "why would God allow him to even question him?"  When I read this passage, not only do I see God not rejecting him, but almost inviting him to see that God will do what he says he will do.  Gideon is about to take a huge risk leading menial forces into a battle that they have no business winning.  God has to win this battle.  God invites being put to the test because God is absolutely going to win.  Gideon takes a huge risk and God does exactly what he said he would do.  He would have victory.  So I ask, "are we to take risk to bring God glory and thus put God to the test?"  These risks are not just non-calculated, blind experiences that are meant so that we benefit from them.  Rather, they are risks for the purpose of bringing God the glory that he desires.  So I want to challenge you to take risks in order to bring God the glory he deserves and to be his reflection to the world.

The end of Gideon's life does not end with the celebration of God's victory, but rather the misplacement and misuse of a garment that he should not have used.  The ephod was a garment that was intended for the high priest to be worn in the presence of God.  The ephod was a garment of great value and it was only to be worn once a year.  The garment that Gideon had in his procession was not used for its intended purpose and Gideon and his family would pay the price.  It is like any other good thing that God provides us, when can take it and twist it for a use that it was not intended and we will face the repercussions for those misuses.  Although Gideon had done great things for Israel, they were ignored due to his indiscretions.  We see this even today throughout the sin that effects generations.  Watch how we use the gifts of God.  They will effect our families in the future for better or worse.