Why Have You Serve Us This Way? - Judges 8:1

In the book of Judges we learned how, “Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan”, and in chapter eight and verse one of Judges, we learn how “the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you served us thus” where we read,

And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you served us thus, that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.

The verse reads, “And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you served us thus, that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites?” The writer began with the words, “and the men of Ephraim” which means “and the male human beings belonging to Ephraim whose name means ‘double ash-heap or I shall be doubly fruitful’ and was “the second son of Joseph , blessed by him and given preference over his first son Manasseh” “said unto him” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed to him, Gideon”, “Why have you served us thus” which means “for what reason and cause have you, Gideon, done, accomplished, dealt and produce toward us, the people of Ephraim, this way”, “that you called us not” or “that you, Gideon, did not cry out, ask for or invite us, the people of Ephraim”, “when you went to fight with the Midianites” which means “at the time and moment you, Gideon, left and departed to do battle and make war against the Midianites or Midian whose name means ‘strife’ and was the son of Abraham by Keturah and the progenitor of the tribe of the Midianites or Arabians”? The writer shared how the males within the tribe of “Ephraim” asked “Gideon” for what reason he did not call for help at the time he went to battle in opposition to the “Midianites”. 

The verse continues, “And they did chide with him sharply.” The writer added the words, “and they did chide with him” which means “and they, the men of Ephraim, strove with words and quarreled with Gideon “sharply” which means “with strength, might and force”. “The writer shared how the “men of Epharim” forcibly quarreled with Gideon. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how the males within the tribe of “Ephraim” were upset with “Gideon” because he did not call for their help at the time and moment he engaged in battle with the “Midianites”. Because they thought themselves overlooked in the process, the “men of Ephraim” contended with “Gideon” in a forceful way. We shall see how “Gideon” handles this matter in our next few verses, but for now let us keep in mind that Jehovah God was involved in the battle to defeat the “Midianites” even as He is involved in offering salvation to anyone who yields to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave after three days. When we submit to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and to empower us to live in keeping with His will, timing and purpose for our lives. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how Gideon asks, “What have I done now in comparison of you?”, 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".