Judges 8:21-35 Sowing Bad Seeds
Channel: Mike Attwood
Date: 2022-04-22

We begin by considering the ornaments around the camels' necks, a symbol that connects with other portions of today's reading.

Sometimes after a victory we are tested to see if there is any pride in our hearts for the victory the Lord has given.  They said, "thou hast saved us", but Gideon knew that the Lord had saved them.  What Gideon said is so commendable, but somehow he began to live like the future kings of Israel.  They had forgotten that God was their king.

We all have our heros, and we thank God for them, but we never want to lose sight of the fact that it is God working in and through them, that in all things He might have the preeminance.

An ephod was connected with divine worship.  Gideon is making an imitation of something divine, but it is made of Ishmaelite gold, bringing the world into God's place and turning it into an idol.

The ephod itself was nothing.  The value was dependent on the person who wore it.  An ephod without a priest is a form of godliness without the power thereof.  That's what Gideon made, because he was not a priest, so it should not have had any value.

We are told in the word of God that we have to be very careful about the matter of spiritual adultery.  James wrote "Ye adulterers... know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God?"  It's so easy for us to bring the worldly into the divine, and it's a very unholy mixture.  There is apostasy in the church, such as theistic evolution, which is a denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.  Psychiatry is also rooted in evil.  Maslow had a pet demon named Philemon on his shoulder that gave him instructions.

Too often the ways of the world are added to Christianity.  God's word is sufficient.

Allow God's forgiveness, but do not presume and take it lightly.  Fear Him.  Run well to the end.  We need each others' help and God's help.  Do not corrupt the simplicity that is in the Word of God.  Andrew Bonar said, "Let us be watchful after the victory, just as much as before the battle".