Judges 8:12 - Prayer Tents

Judges 8

8Then the Ephraimites said to Gideon, "Why did you leave us out of this, not calling us when you went to fight Midian?" They were indignant and let him know it.H376H669H559H4100H6213H1697H7121H1980H3898H4080H7378H23942But Gideon replied, "What have I done compared to you? Why, even the gleanings of Ephraim are superior to the vintage of Abiezer.H559H6213H5955H669H2896H1210H443God gave you Midian's commanders, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I done compared with you?" When they heard this, they calmed down and cooled off.H430H5414H3027H8269H4080H6159H2062H3201H6213H7307H7503H1697H16964Gideon and his three hundred arrived at the Jordan and crossed over. They were bone-tired but still pressing the pursuit.H1439H935H3383H5674H7969H3967H376H5889H72915He asked the men of Succoth, "Please, give me some loaves of bread for my troops I have with me. They're worn out, and I'm hot on the trail of Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings."H559H582H5523H5414H3603H3899H5971H7272H5889H7291H310H2078H6759H4428H40806But the leaders in Succoth said, "You're on a wild goose chase; why should we help you on a fool's errand?"H8269H5523H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H66357Gideon said, "If you say so. But when GOD gives me Zebah and Zalmunna, I'll give you a thrashing, whip your bare flesh with desert thorns and thistles!"H1439H559H3068H5414H2078H6759H3027H1758H1320H6975H4057H13038He went from there to Peniel and made the same request. The men of Peniel, like the men of Succoth, also refused.H5927H6439H1696H2063H582H6439H6030H582H5523H60309Gideon told them, "When I return safe and sound, I'll demolish this tower."H559H582H6439H559H7725H7965H5422H402610Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with an army of about fifteen companies, all that was left of the fighting force of the easterners—they had lost 120 companies of soldiers.H2078H6759H7174H4264H2568H6240H505H3498H4264H1121H6924H5307H3967H6242H505H376H8025H271911Gideon went up the caravan trail east of Nobah and Jogbehah, found and attacked the undefended camp.H1439H5927H1870H7931H168H6924H5025H3011H5221H4264H4264H98312Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but he chased and captured the two kings of Midian. The whole camp had panicked.H2078H6759H5127H7291H310H3920H8147H4428H4080H2078H6759H2729H426413Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass.H1439H1121H3101H7725H4421H4608H277514He captured a young man from Succoth and asked some questions. The young man wrote down the names of the officials and leaders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.H3920H5288H582H5523H7592H3789H8269H5523H2205H7657H7651H37615Then Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are the wild geese, Zebah and Zalmunna, you said I'd never catch. You wouldn't give so much as a scrap of bread to my worn-out men; you taunted us, saying that we were on a fool's errand."H935H582H5523H559H2078H6759H2778H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H582H328716Then he took the seventy-seven leaders of Succoth and thrashed them with desert thorns and thistles.H3947H2205H5892H6975H4057H1303H3045H582H552317And he demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the city.H5422H4026H6439H2026H582H589218He then addressed Zebah and Zalmunna: "Tell me about the men you killed at Tabor." "They were men much like you," they said, "each one like a king's son."H559H2078H6759H375H582H2026H8396H559H3644H259H8389H1121H442819Gideon said, "They were my brothers, my mother's sons. As GOD lives, if you had let them live, I would let you live."H559H251H1121H517H3068H2416H3863H2421H202620Then he spoke to Jether, his firstborn: "Get up and kill them." But he couldn't do it, couldn't draw his sword. He was afraid—he was still just a boy.H559H3500H1060H6965H2026H5288H8025H2719H3372H528821Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Do it yourself—if you're man enough!" And Gideon did it. He stepped up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. Then he took the crescents that hung on the necks of their camels.H2078H6759H559H6965H6293H376H1369H1439H6965H2026H2078H6759H3947H7720H1581H667722The Israelites said, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson. You have saved us from Midian's tyranny."H376H3478H559H1439H4910H1121H1121H1121H3467H3027H408023Gideon said, "I most certainly will not rule over you, nor will my son. GOD will reign over you."H1439H559H4910H1121H4910H3068H491024Then Gideon said, "But I do have one request. Give me, each of you, an earring that you took as plunder." Ishmaelites wore gold earrings, and the men all had their pockets full of them.H1439H559H7592H7596H5414H376H5141H7998H2091H5141H345925They said, "Of course. They're yours!" They spread out a blanket and each man threw his plundered earrings on it.H559H5414H5414H6566H8071H7993H376H5141H799826The gold earrings that Gideon had asked for weighed about forty-three pounds—and that didn't include the crescents and pendants, the purple robes worn by the Midianite kings, and the ornaments hung around the necks of their camels.H4948H2091H5141H7592H505H7651H3967H2091H7720H5188H713H899H4428H4080H6060H1581H667727Gideon made the gold into a sacred ephod and put it on display in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel prostituted itself there. Gideon and his family, too, were seduced by it.H1439H6213H646H3322H5892H6084H3478H2181H310H4170H1439H100428Midian's tyranny was broken by the Israelites; nothing more was heard from them. The land was quiet for forty years in Gideon's time.H4080H3665H6440H1121H3478H5375H7218H3254H776H8252H705H8141H3117H143929Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and lived in his house.H3378H1121H3101H3212H3427H100430Gideon had seventy sons. He fathered them all—he had a lot of wives!H1439H7657H1121H3409H3318H7227H80231His concubine, the one at Shechem, also bore him a son. He named him Abimelech.H6370H7927H3205H1121H8034H7760H4032Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.H1439H1121H3101H4191H2896H7872H6912H6913H3101H1H6084H33

Abimelech

33Gideon was hardly cool in the tomb when the People of Israel had gotten off track and were prostituting themselves to Baal—they made Baal-of-the-Covenant their god.H1439H4191H1121H3478H7725H2181H310H1168H7760H1170H43034The People of Israel forgot all about GOD, their God, who had saved them from all their enemies who had hemmed them in.H1121H3478H2142H3068H430H5337H3027H341H543935And they didn't keep faith with the family of Jerub-Baal (Gideon), honoring all the good he had done for Israel.H6213H2617H1004H3378H1439H2896H6213H3478