Judges 8:6-17: a reflection

6The princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7Gideon said, “Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword. 11Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the army felt secure. 12Zebah and Zalmunna fled and he pursued them. He took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused all the army. 13Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. 14He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15He came to the men of Succoth, and said, “See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” 16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

Earlier in his story, Gideon had shown remarkable humility, defusing an angry confrontation with soft, self-effacing words. But here, later, we see a different Gideon. When the towns of Succoth and Penuel refuse to give his exhausted men bread as he pursues the enemy, Gideon does not respond with the grace he once showed; he threatens them, and after his victory he returns and brutally punishes them, tearing the men of Succoth with thorns and killing the men of Penuel. The humble Gideon has hardened into something harsher.

Notice the drift. This is the same man who once said, What am I compared to you? and magnified others over himself. But success, power, and the momentum of victory have changed him; the humility has given way to vengeful harshness against those who crossed him. It is a sobering picture of how even a person who began humble can be coarsened by power and success, how the pressures and intoxications of rising can erode the very grace we once had.

There is a warning here worth taking to heart, especially for anyone who is succeeding, rising, gaining influence. Humility is not a permanent possession; it can be lost. The same success that God gives can, if we are not watchful, harden our hearts, making us harsher, more vengeful, more entitled than we once were. Gideon's drift from grace to harshness is a caution: watch your heart as you rise. Do not assume the humility of your early days will simply endure. Guard it deliberately, lest success coarsen you as it coarsened Gideon.

Lord, Gideon began humble and gracious, but success and power hardened him into harshness and vengeance. Guard my own heart as I rise or succeed. Keep me from assuming that humility, once had, will simply endure; help me see how power and momentum can coarsen me. Where I am gaining influence, protect the grace and lowliness you have worked in me, so that success does not turn me harsh. Keep me humble to the end.