Gideon Made an Ephod - Judges 8:27

In the book of Judges we learned how Gideon said, “I would desire a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks”, and in chapter eight and verse twenty-seven of Judges, we learn how, “Gideon made an ephod thereof” where we read,

And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went there a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

The verse reads, “And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah:” The writer began with the words, “and Gideon” whose name means “hewer” and was the “youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites” “made an ephod thereof” or “formed, fashioned, accomplished and produced a priestly shoulder-cape or mantle with the golden ornaments and the nose and earrings”, “and put it in his city” which means “and placed, set and established the ephod within his, Gideon’s, dwelling place, habitation, abode or town”, “even in Ophrah” or “also and indeed within Ophrah whose name means ‘fawn’ and was a place in Manasseh, native place of Gideon; probably located close to Shechem”. The writer shared how “Gideon” fashioned a priestly mantle from the golden jewelry and ornaments, and he placed it within his own town named “Ophrah”. 

The verse goes on to say, “and all Israel went there a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.” The writer continued with the words, “and all Israel went there” which means “and each, every and the whole of the people within Israel whose name means ‘God prevails” and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob proceeded forth to the city of Ophrah” “a whoring after it” which means “committed fornication and played the harlot for the golden ephod”: “which thing became a snare” or “and the ephod happened and fell out to be bait, a lure and a gin” “unto Gideon” which means “to Gideon whose name means ‘hewer”, “and to his house” or “and toward his, Gideon’s, dwelling place, abode and habitation”. The writer shared how everyone from “Israel” proceeded to Gideon’s city “Ophrah” and began to commit spiritual adultery with the “ephod”, and the “ephod” fell out to be a lure and bait for the dwelling place of “Gideon”. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how “Gideon” took the golden ornaments that he collected and formed a “shoulder-caped mantle” from it. This may have seemed like an appropriate spiritual response to the victory and gain Jehovah God provided, however, the people of “Israel” went to see it in “Gideon’s” town, “Ophrah”, and began to worship it. God alone is to be worshiped by us, and no implement should ever be the object of our worship. God alone sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when He rose from the grave after three days, He made the way through faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and provided with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and keep us from worshiping anything other than Him. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 22:12)

Next time we learn, “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".