QT 4 Dec 12, When our words and actions differ, we create an inconsistency that can ruin our ministry

Judg 8:23-35 (NIV) But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you." 24 And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

25 They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years.

29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and 34 did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

NOTES: A few things stand out to me from this passage. One, culture is dictated by customs of the time and not by long-standing norms or rules. Gold earrings on men were the custom of the time and not an indication of sexual orientation or a sin. Secondly, Gideon requests for a share of the plunder was not wrong, nor was what he did with it wrong if we view it in the context of a symbol of civilian magisterial rule. On the other hand, Gideon had just said he would not rule over the people (8:22--God would rule), and now he takes on the role of a ruler. And what he creates, then becomes a snare, an idol. Our actions need to be in accord with our words. If you say you are not going to rule, and then choose to rule, there is an inconsistency and an insincerity in your life. In the next passage, Abimelech, his son, clearly thinks that the family of Gideon are rulers of the land. This error is facilitated in some way by the ephod. And also, the ephod goes from being a civilian symbol to a religious symbol, in direct contrast to the ephod worn by the high priest. What was Gideon thinking or was he thinking?

Where do my words and my actions cross? What are my true interests? Do I say one thing about my ministry and purpose, and then do another thing? Lord, help me to know your purpose, to say the right things, and to follow through with the right actions.