Judges 8 - Abimelech's Reign and Downfall | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church
The Bible by David Alley · David Alley
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Show Notes
In this video listen to Judges 8 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In Judges 8 the battle against the Midianites is still ongoing with 15000 troops and two king remaining on the eastern side of the Jordan at Karkor. Gideon requests help from two cities, Succoth and Penuel, but they hedge their bets and refuse help, probably thinking the Midianites might retain ongoing influence. This comes back to bite them later.
Gideon catches the remaining 15000 Midianite soldiers by surprise and defeats them. He then returns to punish the leaders of Succoth and Penuel. This illustrates to us that in the battle between the Lord’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world, we should not hedge our bets. It always results in catastrophe. Finally Gideon overcomes and they want him to be the King.
He refuses, but internally sees himself as a king, naming one of his sons Abimelech, which means, my father is King. His position of pride leads him to make an ephod which becomes a snare to Israel. This chapter teaches us the danger of firstly not trusting our spiritual leaders, and secondly the danger of pride in spiritual leadership.