What's Your Golden Ephod?

 What's Your Golden Ephod? The apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 10:11, "Now all these things [OldTestament events] happened to them [the Israelites] as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon who the ends of the ages have come." It is worth our while as Christians to consider what God authorized to be written in the Old Testament. Those stories and histories are there to help educate and train us to live righteously before God. One of these is the story of Gideon (Judges 6-8). His story contains examples of both good and questionable judgment Christians can learn from. By the time Gideon comes on the scene, the Midianites, because of Israel's idolatry and disobedience, have oppressed the Israelites for seven years. They would invade Israel at harvest time, take the food, and destroy and kill, leaving the Israelitesimpoverished. In their distress, God's people cried out to Him for deliverance, and He sent them a prophet who detailed the causes of their distress. Afterward, the Angel of the Lord came to Ophrah and sat under a terebinth tree as Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. These details show this incident occurred during the Pentecost season in the late spring. The Angel calls Gideon a mighty man of valor and assures him that God will use him to save Israel from the hands of the Midianites. Despite Gideon's protests, God insists he is the man for the job. So, Gideon urges Him to accept an offering,and the Lord assents to his request. He then instructs Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal in his father's house and make a burnt sacrifice to God (Judges6:25-26). Hesitatingly, Gideon does as the Lord instructs, but under the cover of darkness because he fears the reaction of his father and the townspeople. Despite the townspeople wanting to kill him, Gideon continues his work for God. When the Midianites again besiege Israel, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he gathers 32,000 men in response, which, ultimately, God whittles down to amere three hundred (Judges7:1-8). God encourages the young man by allowing him to overhear a Midianite telling his companion about a dream he had. The companion says, "This means God has surely delivered Midian into Gideon's hand!" (Judges7:9-14). So comforted, Gideon sounds the advance, each man carrying a trumpet and an empty pitcher with a torch or candle in it. Just after midnight, they suddenly blow the rams' horns and break the clay jars, shouting, ‘The sword of the LORDand of Gideon!" (Judges7:15-18). The result is total chaos! The Midianites are terrified by the illusory assault. In the pitch dark, they try to run away but end up running wildly about, attacking and killing one another. In the end, God uses Gideon's three hundred to slayover 120,000 men! After their victory, the Israelites gather plunder in abundance. Later, in their exuberance, the men of Israel proclaim to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered [Hebrew yāša‘; Strong's #3467, "to save rescue, deliver"] us from the hand of Midian" (Judges8:22; emphasis ours). To them, Gideon is their savior, and the grateful Israelites offer him a dynasty! Gideon's humility here is impressive: He declines their offer and tells them the Lord Himself will rule over them. However, he asks one thing of them: that each man would contribute golden earrings from his collected booty, and they willinglydo so. When tallied, the weight of the golden earrings is 1,700 shekels of gold, besides other ornaments, pendants, and chains. Then Gideon makes it into an ephod and sets it up in Ophrah, his own city (Judges8:23-27). Knowing the Israelites, we should expect what Judges 8:27 tells us: "And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house." Idolatry has always been a problem for the people of Israel. They worshipped the golden calf that Aaron made at the foot of Mount Sinai.Interestingly, Aaron also crafted his abomination from golden earrings (see Exodus 32:2-4). Later, the children of Israel burned incense to the bronze serpent Moses crafted at God's command (Numbers21:4-9; II Kings 18:4). No one is sure what this golden ephod looked like, but generally, an ephod is a sacred garment or vestment. The one described in Exodus 28:6 is for the high priest to wear: ". . . and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked." It was an outer garment bound about the waist with a belt or girdle. Several aspects of Gideon's ephod could have made it become a snare, which is a trap or pitfall. It may have been made of over 40 pounds of gold, and if so, it was worth at least a few million dollars in our currency—maybe more! It was a magnificentgarment, perhaps adorned with jewels from the precious ornaments, pendants, and chains also collected. Money or wealth is often a powerful snare! Did its beauty, value, and prestige prod the Israelites to worship it? The snare may not have been money. The high priest's ephod was not just decorative but, being associated with the Urim and Thummim (on the high priest's shoulders), it played a part in ancient Israel's communication with God. David later askedfor the ephod when he desired God's will on a matter (ISamuel 23:2-9; 30:7-8). Did Gideon think having a glorious replica of the high priest's ephod nearby would strengthen his relationship with God? Could he have had designs, not on kingship, but on a kind of mediatorial position for him and his house, bypassing the highpriest? Recall that in Judges 6:25, God Himself had personally instructed him to build an altar and offer a burnt sacrifice to Him. On this experience, Gideon may have justified crafting the golden ephod. This is speculation, of course, but interesting to consider. Overall, the Bible speaks well of Gideon despite his weaknesses. Hebrews 11:32-33 includes him in the list of heroes of faith: For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions . . .. Would God use him as an example of faith if he had so deliberately committed idolatry? No. Gideon probably made the ephod to glorify God, perhaps to highlight God's free and willing communication with him before his assault on the Midianiteraiders. In his humility, Gideon rightly appraises himself, what God had done through him, and what a great victory He had brought about. God got all the credit. In turn, He blessed Gideon and Israel with forty years of rest from their enemies. Despite this, the ephod became a snare to Gideon and his entire family. What began as a glorification of God led to the nation falling into the trap of idolatry. Perhaps innocently, Gideon added a foreign element to the worship of God (Deuteronomy4:2), and it backfired on him, as it always does. After his death, his son, Abimelech, massacred all but one of his brothers in a bid for power and rulership (Judges9:1-6). Is this family and national tragedy a result of Gideon setting up the ephod? In the text, Abimelech's atrocity comes immediately after the mention of the ephod, Gideon's death, and Israel's return to full-fledged idolatry (Judges8:27-35). So, consider: Have we added anything to our worship of God? Have we let our desires change our approach to Him? Are we trying to get something earthly for ourselves, like power, position, or money? Pursuing these things can pull people off course,neglecting their pursuit of Christ, the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. Gideon's example shows us that we must be careful how and why we worship God. He supplies many tools and blessings, and if we use them carefully, they can truly enhance our relationship with the Father and Son. Even so, like Gideon's ephod, they can become a snare if our worship emphasizes them rather than God Himselfand His revealed Word. We must give God all the glory. We should take some time to ask ourselves, "What is my golden ephod?" - John Reiss Live Sabbath Services Church of the Great God Sabbath services can be heard every Sabbath at 2:30 PM (Eastern Time). Connect to our live stream at www.cgg.org by using the CGG Live button at the top of the page Church News & Special Announcements We are incredibly saddened to announce the death of Wilfred Lee of the Trinidad congregation. He died peacefully at home on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at the age of 102. He was a faithful member of Church of the Great God since 2003. Hisdaughters, Elizabeth Laydoo and Anne Hoford, also members of CGG, would sincerely appreciate your prayers as they and the rest of the family plan his funeral for next week. He will be greatly missed. Thank you for all yoursupport. 01-Aug-24