Necessary goodness seems in more self-interest than accumulating gold (Gideon's story)

 

Judges 6-8: Killing for wealth rather than for necessary goodness on earth

Gideon misleads Israel to take their God for granted and to worship gold. The story illustrates the importance of retaining sufficient humility to The God, or whatever constrains the consequences of human choice.

Guide: CJB emphasis in bold (CJB online), Yahweh or representative in green with Gideon comments in blue and storyline in olive; NIV in magenta ; Nomads* discussion in yellow; and my comments in gray.   

*Participative Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Ken Tipton. My continually improved statement about Genesis 1:26-28 is at the end of this.)

Major concerns

1.      Representation of Gideon’s dialogue varies from God, to Yahweh, to angels.

2.      Gideon’s trust in his God does not overcome his attraction to wealth and notoriety.

3.      Israel follows Gideon’s lack of humility to the God.

4.      We have the opportunity to be humble to The God but are not benefiting from reported history.

a.       Do we doubt history?

b.      Do we doubt the literal Bible?

c.       Do we project what we believe onto the Bible?

d.      Is personal opinion more important than The God’s opinion?

5.      In concert with Ron Perritt’s series on Job, are covenants with Yahweh one way? That is, is Yahweh’s forgiveness a gift rather than reward for Israel’s future obedience, which never seems to develop? If so, how can humankind apply the principles?

The scripture, CJB

^6:1 But the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, so Adonai handed them over to Midyan for seven years. ² Midyan exercised its power harshly against Isra’el, and because of Midyan the people of Isra’el hid themselves in mountains, in caves and in other safe places. ³ One time, after Isra’el’s sowing season, Midyan, with ‘Amalek and others from the east, attacked them. ⁴ They set up camp by them and destroyed the produce of the country all the way to ‘Azah; they left nothing for people to live on, no sheep, no oxen, no donkeys. ⁵ For they came up with their cattle and tents, and they came in as thick as locusts; both they and their camels were beyond numbering, and they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ Isra’el became very discouraged because of Midyan, and the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai.

⁷ When the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai because of Midyan, ⁸ Adonai sent a prophet to the people of Isra’el, who said to them: “Adonai the God of Isra’el says, ‘I brought you up from Egypt, out of a life of slavery. ⁹ I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all your oppressors. I drove them out ahead of you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ And I said to you: “I am Adonai your God; you are not to be afraid of the gods of the Emori in whose land you are living.” But you paid no attention to what I said!’”

¹¹ Then the angel of Adonai came and sat under the pistachio tree in ‘Ofrah that belonged to Yo’ash the Avi‘ezri. His son Gid‘on was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan. ¹² The angel of Adonai appeared to him and said to him: “You valiant hero! Adonai is with you!” ¹³ “Excuse me, sir,” answered Gid‘on, “but if Adonai is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Didn’t Adonai bring us up from Egypt?’ For now Adonai has abandoned us and handed us over to Midyan.” ¹⁴ Adonai turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Isra’el from the hands of Midyan. Haven’t I sent you?” ¹⁵ But Gid‘on answered him, “Forgive me, my Lord, but with what am I to save Isra’el? Why, my family is the poorest in M’nasheh, and I’m the youngest person in my father’s house!” ¹⁶ Adonai said to him, “Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man.” ¹⁷ Gid‘on replied, “If indeed you favor me, would you mind giving me a sign that it is really you talking with me? ¹⁸ Please don’t leave until I go and return with a gift and present it to you.” He replied, “I’ll wait till you come back.”

¹⁹ Gid‘on went in, cooked a young goat and made matzot from a bushel of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to him under the pistachio tree and presented them. ²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and matzot, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” Gid‘on did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Adonai reached out with the stick he was holding, touched the meat and matzot, and fire shot up out of the rock and burned up the meat and matzot. Then the angel of Adonai disappeared before his eyes. ²² Gid‘on realized that he was the angel of Adonai and said, “Oh no! My Lord! Adonai! Because I’ve seen the angel of Adonai face-to-face!” ²³ But Adonai reassured him, “Shalom to you, don’t be afraid, you won’t die!” ²⁴ Then Gid‘on built an altar there to Adonai and called it “Adonai-Shalom”; to this day it remains in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri.

²⁵ That very night Adonai said to him, “Take your father’s bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba‘al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it, ²⁶ and build a proper altar to Adonai your God on top of this strong-point. Then take the second bull; and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred pole you cut down.” ²⁷ Gid‘on took ten of his servants and did what Adonai had told him to do. He didn’t do it by day, because he was afraid of the men in his father’s household and those from the city, so he did it at night. ²⁸ When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Ba‘al destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar. ²⁹ They asked each other, “Who could have done this?” But after investigating, they concluded that Gid‘on the son of Yo’ash had done it. ³⁰ “Bring out your son,” the men of the city demanded of Yo’ash, “so that he may die, because he destroyed the altar of Ba‘al and cut down the sacred pole next to it!” ³¹ But Yo’ash said to all those crowding around him, “You’re defending Ba‘al, are you? It’s your job to save him? Anyone who defends Ba‘al will be put to death before morning! If he’s a god, let him defend himself! After all, somebody destroyed his altar!” ³² Therefore on that day Gid‘on was given the name Yeruba‘al [let Ba‘al defend], because they said, “Let Ba‘al defend himself against him, since he destroyed his altar.”

³³ Now all Midyan, ‘Amalek and the others from the east joined forces, crossed the Yarden, and set up camp in the Yizre‘el Valley. ³⁴ But the Spirit of Adonai covered Gid‘on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi‘ezer rallied behind him. ³⁵ He sent messengers throughout all M’nasheh, and they too rallied behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Z’vulun and Naftali; and they came up to join them.

³⁶ Gid‘on said to God, “If you are going to save Isra’el through me, as you said you would, ³⁷ then, here: I will lay a wool fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, while all the ground stays dry, I will be convinced that you will save Isra’el through me, as you said you would.” ³⁸ And it happened! He got up early in the morning, pressed the fleece together and wrung dew out of it, a bowlful of water. ³⁹ But Gid‘on said to God, “Don’t be angry with me because I am asking one more thing, let me make one more test, please: this time let it be dry only on the fleece, with dew all over the ground.” ⁴⁰ And that is what God did that night — it was dry only on the fleece, even though there was dew all over the ground.

7 Then Yeruba‘al, that is, Gid‘on, and all the people with him, got up early and set up camp by ‘Ein-Harod; the camp of Midyan was north of them, by Giv‘at-Moreh, in the valley. ² Adonai said to Gid‘on, “There are too many people with you for me to hand Midyan over to them, because I don’t want Isra’el to be able to boast against me, ‘We saved ourselves by our own strength.’ ³ Therefore, proclaim to the people ‘Anyone who is anxious or afraid should go back home, while we stay here on Mount Gil‘ad.’” Twenty-two thousand returned, but ten thousand remained.

⁴ Adonai said to Gid‘on, “There are still too many people. Have them come down to the water, and there I will screen them for you. If I say of anyone, ‘This one is for you,’ he will go with you; and if I say, ‘This one is not for you,’ he won’t go with you.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water, and Adonai said to Gid‘on, “Put to one side everyone who laps up water with his tongue the way a dog does, and put to the other side everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred lapped, putting their hand to their mouth; all the rest of the men got down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Adonai said to Gid‘on, “I will use the three hundred men who lapped the water to save you; I will hand Midyan over to you. Let all these others go back home.” ⁸ So they took the provisions and the shofars of the people; then he sent all the men of Isra’el away, each to his tent. But the three hundred men he kept.

The camp of Midyan was in the valley below him. ⁹ That night Adonai said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, because I have handed it over to you. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to attack, go down with your servant Purah; ¹¹ and after you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to attack the camp.” So with his servant Purah he went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹² Now Midyan, ‘Amalek and all the others from the east had settled in the valley as thick as locusts; their camels too were beyond counting, like the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Gid‘on got there just as a man was telling a comrade about a dream he had had: “I just now dreamt that a loaf of barley bread fell into the camp of Midyan, came to the tent and struck it so hard that it overturned the tent and knocked it flat.” ¹⁴ His comrade answered, “This can only be the sword of Gid‘on son of Yo’ash, a man of Isra’el. God has given Midyan and all its army into his hands.”

¹⁵ When Gid‘on heard the dream and its interpretation, he fell on his knees in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Isra’el and said, “Get up! because Adonai has handed Midyan’s army over to you.” ¹⁶ He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He put in the hands of all of them shofars and empty pitchers with torches in them. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, whatever I do, you do the same. ¹⁸ When I and everyone with me blow the shofar, then you blow your shofars all around the whole camp, and shout, “For Adonai and for Gid‘on!”

¹⁹ Gid‘on and the hundred men with him arrived at the edge of the camp a little before midnight, just after they had changed the guard. They blew the shofars and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ All three companies blew the shofars, broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands, keeping their right hands free for the shofars they were blowing; and they shouted, “The sword for Adonai and for Gid‘on!” ²¹ Then, as every man stood still in place around the camp, the whole camp was thrown into panic, with everyone screaming and trying to escape. ²² Gid‘on’s men blew their 300 shofars, and Adonai caused everyone in the camp to attack his comrades; and the enemy fled beyond Beit-Sheetah near Tz’rerah, as far as the border of Avel-M’cholah, by Tabat.

²³ Then men of Isra’el were summoned from Naftali, Asher, and both regions of M’nasheh; and they pursued Midyan. ²⁴ Gid‘on sent messengers through all the hills of Efrayim, with the message, “Come down and attack Midyan; and capture the rivers before they get there, as far as Beit-Barah, and also the Yarden.” So all the men of Efrayim came together and seized the rivers as far as Beit-Barah and the Yarden. ²⁵ They also captured two chiefs of Midyan, ‘Orev and Ze’ev. They put ‘Orev to death at the Rock of ‘Orev and Ze’ev at Ze’ev’s Winepress; then, as they kept pursuing Midyan, they brought the heads of Orev and Ze’ev to Gid‘on, who had crossed to the far side of the Yarden.

^8:1 But the men of Efrayim complained to Gid‘on, “Why didn’t you call on us when you went to fight Midyan? Why did you treat us this way?” They were sharp in their criticism. ² He answered by saying to them, “How can what I have done be compared with what you have done? Aren’t the grapes Efrayim leaves on the vines better than the ones Avi‘ezer harvests? ³ God handed over to you Midyan’s chiefs, ‘Orev and Ze’ev. What could I do that matches what you did?” By saying that, he appeased their anger at him.

⁴ By now Gid‘on and his three hundred men had come to the Yarden and crossed over. They were exhausted but were still pursuing the enemy. ⁵ In Sukkot he asked the people there, “Please give some loaves of bread to the men following me, because they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zevach and Tzalmuna the kings of Midyan.” ⁶ But the chiefs of Sukkot said, “You haven’t captured Zevach and Tzalmuna yet, so why should we give bread to your army?” ⁷ Gid‘on said: “If that’s your answer, then after Adonai has put Zevach and Tzalmuna in my hands, I will tear your flesh apart with desert thorns and thistles!”

⁸ From there he went up to P’nu’el and made the same request, and the people of P’nu’el gave the same answer as those of Sukkot. ⁹ So he answered the people of P’nu’el similarly, “When I return safe and sound, I will break down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zevach and Tzalmuna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all that remained of the entire army of the people from the east; since 120,000 arms-bearing soldiers had fallen. ¹¹ Gid‘on went up, using the route of the nomads east of Novach and Yogbehah, and struck down the army when they thought they were safe. ¹² Zevach and Tzalmuna fled, but Gid‘on pursued them. Thus he captured the two kings of Midyan, Zevach and Tzalmuna, and routed their whole army in panic. ¹³ When Gid‘on the son of Yo’ash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass, ¹⁴ he captured a young man from Sukkot and asked him about the chiefs and leaders of Sukkot; he wrote down for him the names of seventy-seven of them. ¹⁵ Then he came to the people of Sukkot and said: “You insulted me when you said, ‘You haven’t captured Zevach and Tzalmuna yet, so why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’ Well, here are Zevach and Tzalmuna!” ¹⁶ And he took the leaders of the city and desert thorns and thistles, and used them to teach the people of Sukkot a lesson! ¹⁷ He also broke down the tower of P’nu’el and put the men of the city to death.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zevach and Tzalmuna, “Tell me about the men you killed at Tavor.” They answered, “They looked like you, like a king’s sons.” ¹⁹ Gid‘on replied, “They were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As surely as Adonai is alive, I swear that if you had spared them, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his oldest son, Yeter, “Get up, and kill them!” But the boy didn’t draw his sword; being still a boy, he was afraid. ²¹ Then Zevach and Tzalmuna said, “You, do it. You, kill us. Let a grown man do what takes a grown man’s strength.” So Gid‘on got up and killed Zevach and Tzalmuna; then he took the ornamental crescents from around their camels’ necks. [Gideon greedy for gold.]

²² The men of Isra’el said to Gid‘on: “Rule over us, you, your son and your grandson, because you saved us from the power of Midyan. ²³ Gid‘on replied, “Neither I nor my son will rule over you; Adonai will rule over you.” ²⁴ Then he added, “But I have this request to make of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from the booty you have taken.” [Gideon greedy for gold.] For the enemy soldiers had worn gold earrings, like all the other tribes descended from Yishma‘el. ²⁵ They replied, “We’re glad to give them to you.” They spread out a robe, and each man threw in the earrings from his booty. ²⁶ The gold earrings he requested weighed more than forty-two pounds; and this doesn’t include the crescents, pendants and purple cloth worn by the kings of Midyan and the chains around their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Out of these things Gid‘on made a ritual vest, which he located in his city, ‘Ofrah. But all Isra’el turned it into an idol there, and it thus became a snare to Gid‘on and his family.

²⁸ This is how Midyan was defeated by Isra’el, so that they ceased to be a threat. The land had rest forty years during the lifetime of Gid‘on; ²⁹ Yeruba‘al the son of Yo’ash returned to his home and stayed there.

³⁰ Gid‘on became the father of seventy sons, because he had many wives. ³¹ He also had a concubine in Sh’khem, and she too bore him a son, whom he called Avimelekh. ³² Gid‘on the son of Yo’ash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Yo’ash, in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri.

³³ But as soon as Gid‘on was dead, the people of Isra’el again went astray after the ba‘alim and made Ba‘al-B’rit their god. ³⁴ They forgot Adonai their God, who had saved them from the power of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵ and they showed no kindness toward the family of Yeruba‘al, that is, Gid‘on, to repay them for all the good he had done for Isra’el. [Gideon greedy for gold. Consequence was bad influence to Israel. “Their God” continually grants forgiveness for bad behavior and thereby maintains misfortune from generation to generation. Israel could admit they don’t hold a covenant with The God and adopt humility. And it is a lesson to humankind, including those who choose Christ’s blood over Jesus’ miracle-works and Jesus over Yeshua’s civic influence.]

[The writer of Hebrews included Gideon as an example of how and why a human being may and can overcome belief that their God is more beneficial than The God.]

[My view is that Genesis 1:26-28 informs humankind to flourish in goodness rather than accommodate badness and allow evil:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

This, the conclusion of the first chapter of the Holy Bible informs Today that humankind may and can rule on earth. Acceptance of this power, authority, and responsibility is human being (verb) – is pursuit of goodness. The rest of the Bible discloses the chaos that ensues if most individuals choose wanton behavior, chiefly, neglecting the laws of physics and progeny, which reaches psychology.

The civic collective cannot rule if most fellow citizens practice badness and allow evil. It’s a matter of personal choice: either pursue human being (verb) or accommodate sacrifice to evil.

Yeshua affirmed Genesis 1:26-28, e.g. in Matt 5:48 (be as perfect as goodness), 18:18 (don’t expect error-correction), and 19:4-6 (don’t divide goodness). 

Today there are more than 8,000 religions and 45,000 Christian sects on earth. Today is time for individuals to accept the power, the authority, and the responsibility to practice civic integrity. “Ourselves” may either continue to leave reliable responsibility to “our Posterity”, referring to the preamble to the US Constitution, or practice necessary goodness.]