Judges 8:27-35 – Lessons Learned Part II

²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

²⁸ Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹ And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

³⁰ And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

³¹ And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

³² And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.

³⁴ And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:

³⁵ Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

Today, we’re looking back on the lessons learned from Gideon and the way the people responded after Gideon’s death. Gideon had a great start, but a lousy finish. He made an idol that the people ended up worshiping. After Gideon’s death, the people quickly forgot all that God and Gideon had done for them and quickly turned back to worshiping other gods.

For us Christians, we need to make sure that we do not do anything that could lead another Christian to sin. Our lives should match up to what we believe. No body should look at our actions and think, “Well, if he is doing that, then it must be okay!” We need to walk the walk, not only talk the talk.

Also, us Christians need to remember the people that have invested into our lives. Gideon invested into the people of Israel. Despite the poor ending to his life, he did a lot of good earlier in his lifetime. Israel, however, completely forgot all the good he had done and was not even kind to his family. All of us have people that has invested into us to help make us into the person we are today. Remember those people who had invested into your life whether it be your parents, a pastor, or whomever. Maybe for you that is as simple as a ‘thank you’, not ignoring them, or maybe it means you need to make good decisions that honors the work they put into your life.

Life Step: Think about it…

What kind of things can we do that could hurt another believer?

Who has invested into your life?

What can you do to avoid forgetting them like Israel forgot Gideon?