Judges 8
Leaders Prep Section
Watch this video, read these notes, and send the pre-written email (below) to your group 2-3 days before you meet.
Notes
Doing something for God means doing great things. But how do you keep it from going to your head? Lots of people struggle with this…and it’s possible we might too. So what’s the remedy?
Group Guide Starts Here
Context of scripture
Gideon and his minuscule army of 300 watched 120,000 enemy soldiers kill each other. Now, Gideon has called others from all over to help them finish the fight…once and for all.
Read Judges 8: 1-3
Glean means to collect. Gideon is stroking their ego, basically saying, “Collecting some grapes from your tribe is better than the whole harvest from my tribe.” Gideon is giving them credit for capturing the enemy princes, which is all they wanted anyway, to receive credit for something.
Have you ever prayed for something, then gotten it, then wanted to take credit for it?
Read Judges 8: 4-9
Notice the battle isn’t over yet. By refusing to give Gideon’s army any bread, God’s people could stay neutral until they knew who’d win.
Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight. But in the moment, there’s two ways to look at this…either God’s people were being conservative and smart – keeping things from getting worse; or they should have been “all in” and helped Gideon win against their enemies.
Imagine your family living there; are there any circumstances under which you would not help Gideon’s men?
Read 8: 10-17
Gideon has definitely evolved…from questioning God to attacking 15,000 men with 300.
Gideon keeps the two kings alive to rub in the faces of the people who would not help earlier. There is no evidence that God told Gideon to flog and kill those Israeli men…he just did it.
Is Gideon being a hypocrite by punishing these men who wouldn’t get involved right away? After all, God gave him several chances to question things before he got involved.
Before reading on, go back and read Judges 6: 15-17…then,
Read 8: 18-21
God’s promise came true, with Gideon striking the final blow as one man.
Is everything he did justified just because God was using him?
Read Judges 8: 22-28
An ephod is a special garment created for Israel high priest. It signifies someone as chosen and special to God. By creating it and putting it up in his hometown…Gideon is basically showing off.
Imagine the satisfaction Gideon felt being sucked up to by the people who doubted him earlier.
What does it take to stay humble when God takes you from being a “nobody” to a “stud?”
Read 8: 29-35
Abimelech, translated, means “my father is king.” So picture the scene – Gideon was asked to be king, said no, said his son would not rule over them either, and then named his son “my father is king.”
The writer of Judges does not judge Gideon as as right or wrong. Arguably, he lived the rock star life fathering 71 sons, untold daughters, had many wives and concubines, and lived like a king without the responsibility of being one. He also heard from God directly and was used in a powerful way that changed a nation.
Have you ever thought if you could only experience God in a tangible, meaningful way you would follow him the rest of your days?