Judges 8:29-35: a reflection

29Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives. 31His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33As soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again and played the prostitute following the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god. 34The children of Israel didn’t remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

After Gideon dies, having led Israel to a great deliverance from their enemies, the people turn away with startling speed. As soon as Gideon was dead, the text says, the Israelites turned again and prostituted themselves to the Baals. And it names the root of it: the Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from all their enemies on every side. They forgot the God who had saved them, and forgot too the good that Gideon had done, turning to idols almost the moment their deliverer was gone.

Notice how quickly, and how completely, they forgot. God had delivered them dramatically, rescuing them from oppression on every side, and within a generation, indeed as soon as Gideon died, they had forgotten it and turned to other gods. The memory of God's great deliverance did not hold them; they let it fade, and with it their faithfulness. Forgetting God's works led directly to forsaking God himself.

That is a sobering pattern, because forgetting is such an easy sin. God's deliverances in our own lives, the times he has clearly helped, rescued, and provided, can fade from memory, and as they fade, so can our gratitude and faithfulness. We drift from God not usually by dramatic rejection but by quiet forgetting, letting the memory of what he has done grow dim. Guard against forgetting. Deliberately remember God's works in your life, his deliverances, his provisions, his faithfulness, and let the remembering hold you faithful. Israel forgot the God who had saved them, and it was their undoing. Do not forget what God has done for you.

Lord, as soon as Gideon died, Israel forgot you, the God who had delivered them from all their enemies, and turned to idols. Guard me from that easy sin of forgetting. When you have clearly helped, rescued, and provided for me, do not let the memory fade and my gratitude and faithfulness fade with it. Help me deliberately remember your works, your deliverances, your faithfulness, and let the remembering hold me faithful to you. I do not want to be undone by forgetting; keep your deeds fresh in my memory.