Trusting God Even When We Make A Mistake

 God had given a tremendous victory over the Midianites, but the people credited Gideon with the victory and asked him to be king, in Judges 8:22.  “Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.” 

 

Recognizing that while God had chosen him to lead in the defeat of the Midianites, he had not called him to be king, Gideon refused this honor, in Judges 8:23.  “And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.”  God had never intended them to have a king originally, as he was to be their ruler.  God id recognize that the day would come when they would not be satisfied with him as king, and in Deuteronomy 17, had given some specific guidelines as to what he king should be like, but at this point Gideon was content to trust God to protect them without a formal government. 

 

Appreciating their desire to honor him, Gideon asked them to donate the gold earrings they had taken from the Midianites, who wore earrings as a mark to identify them as Ishmaelites.  The people gave far more than the earrings, as we see in Judges 8:24-26.  “And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)  And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.  And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.”

 

Gideon used the donations to set up a memorial to God celebrating the victory God had given, as Judges 8:27 describes.  “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.”  As part of the memorial, Gideon made a copy of the high priests ephod.  Unfortunately, the people began to come to Gideon’s memorial rather than going to Shiloh to the Tabernacle to worship as God had commanded.   The memorial became a distraction and caused Gideon’s own family to turn away from God. 

 

Unfortunately, our efforts to protect and preserve our beliefs by setting up organizations or memorials to a certain man or event often become a distraction from serving God, just as Gideon’s ephod did.  Suddenly that person or group’s teachings and beliefs become more important than what God said.  This is a major part of the reason there are so many different so-called Christian groups today.   Gideon had the best of intentions, but he made a decision that wasn’t good.   We need to be careful that we do not unintentionally set up things that lead people to focus on something other than God. 

 

In spite of his bad decision, God blessed Gideon mightily, as we see in Judges 8:28-32.  “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.  And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.  And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.  And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.  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.”

 

While we need to be careful, when we make such a mistake, we can trust God to work things out for us.   We don’t have to spend our time worrying about making a mistake or messing up his plans.