Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Intro:
So far we’ve seen Gideon grow from a fearful man in to a courageous hero in .
But this section presents a completely different side of Gideon.
After , we expect to see a Godly Gideon but it is the opposite of what we expect.
@@ We see 5 things in this section that change our perspective of Gideon:
1.
The Lord is not involved in this phase of the plot at all.
2. Gideon runs into serious conflict with his Transjordanian countrymen.
3. Gideon depend on himself to capture and execute the enemy kings.
4. Personal vengeance replaces national deliverance as a motive for Gideon’s action.
5. Gideon, the fearful young man, has become a brutal aggressor.
We are seeing a summary of the end of Gideon’s life in today’s lesson.
I. Gideon threatened men of Succoth and Penuel v4-12
After the battle of the Midianites, Gideon were exhausted but they still pursue the 2 kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.
Jdg 8:
Jdg
Succoth and neighbor Penuel was in the territory of Gad.
So the inhabitants are Israelites perhaps mixed with the unconquered Canaanites.
@ Succoth in tribe of Gad.jpeg
And Penuel is around 15 km away from Succoth at most.
@ Succoth and Penuel.jpeg
But the men of Succoth and Penuel refused to help Gideon and as a result received a threat from Gideon.
6-
Note there was no mention of the Lord and hence Gideon must have done it in the strength of men.
But he did succeed.
Notice the contrast between the willingness of the northern tribes west of the Jordan to aid Gideon at Mount Moreh and the cynical response of the people east of the Jordan—their response to Gideon’s campaign.
This episode marks a transition from the Lord’s war of liberation to Gideon’s personal crusades.
We will see this even more clearly in verses 18–21.
This episode marks a transition from the Lord’s war of liberation to Gideon’s personal crusades.
We will see this even more clearly in verses 18–21.
So long as it was about the Lord’s war of liberation, so long as that was clear, the Israelites were ready to help.
But now the agenda has changed.
Gideon and his band of three hundred men are off on a private campaign.
II.
Gideon’s cruelty v13-17
Jdg 8:
Having defeated and captured the kings, we see Gideon returned to take revenge on the men of Succoth and Penuel.
What does it tell us about Gideon?
What has happened to this man?
Not too long ago, he was a national hero.
Now he is a villain.
III.
Gideon’s self-conceitedness v18-21
This narrative seems to be loaded with sarcasm.
In Gideon’s a/c, there was no mention of Tabor.
Perhaps Gideon was trying to ask the kings to describe their exploits.
And the kings sarcastically replied that they killed men like Gideon and who resembled the children of a king.
In v19, Gideon by acceding to the their description actually thought that he is like son of a king.
At this time, it just looks like a hypothesis I’m making up but follow me first and later this will make sense.
When Gideon asked his son to kill the kings, they scorned at the timidness of his son.
Hence Gideon slew them themselves.
He may then take what looks like harmless objects: the ornaments that were on their camels’ neck.
These were what the kings wore.
Did Gideon want to show people that he is worthy to be a king?
IV.
Gideon becomes a problem v22-32
When the people ask Gideon to be their king, it wasn’t according to the law of Moses:
Dt 1
And they were actually asking Gideon to start a dynasty by including his descendants (v22).
There was no involvement of the Lord here unlike in king Saul’s case.
Gideon verbally rejected their request and even sounded pious “the Lord shall rule over you” v23.
But in v24, he acted in the capacity of a king by asking gold earrings from every men and in addition requests for the ornaments, collars and purple robes of the kings of Midian.
If he didn’t want to be king, what did he want these things for?
In v27, he used the gold to make an ephod and put it in his city, Ophrah.
Suddenly he now has a city!
Why did it do that?
The Scriptures tells us that Israel went a whoring after it.
In Akkadian, the word ephod is used of costly garments worn by high officials or draped over images of the gods.
This seems to imply that Gideon instituted a cult.
That is, he is no longer worshipping Yahweh.
Jdg8 30-
Why did he do so?
v30 gives us a hint.
He had 70 sons and many wives.
And he even had a concubine a from the Cannaanite Shechem.
He had to live like a king or he can’t afford so many wives and children.
The Lord would not permit him to live that way and Gideon knew it and that’s why he establishes a religious cult.
He even named his son by the concubine Abimelech meaning, “my father is king.”
Conclusion:
Gideon started well but didn’t end well.
Why did he depart from the Lord?
lists him a man of faith.
Probably the biggest question we have now is is he saved?
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