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Context No. 2388 of 4322 · Judges

Context · Reflection

Judges 8:18-22: in context

18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “They were like you. They all resembled the children of a king.” 19He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20He said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up and kill them!” But the youth didn’t draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth. 21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks. 22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.”

After defeating Midian, Gideon settles a personal score, executing the captured kings Zebah and Zalmunna for killing his brothers. Then the men of Israel make him an offer: rule over us, you and your son and your grandson, because you saved us from Midian. They want to turn a deliverer into a dynasty.

The request sounds like gratitude, but it carries a dangerous wish underneath: to fasten their security to a strongman and his bloodline. God had raised Gideon for one crisis; the people want to make him permanent, a king in all but name, so they need not depend on God for the next threat. Gideon will decline the title in the next breath, but the impulse is already loose in Israel, and it will curdle into real disaster through his son. The temptation is old: to hand ourselves over to a human savior rather than keep trusting the God who actually delivered us.

Whom am I asking to rule and save me, quietly hoping a person will spare me the work of depending on God?

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