Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Judges 8 - Gideon: who shall rule over us?
Judges 8 and 9 recount the downfall of the house of Gideon. What caused this? Not surprisingly, the flip side of his rise: Where Gideon was useful in the work of God because of his weakness, fear, and honesty before the Lord; he and his children became useless because of their strength, arrogance, and dishonesty.
The fall of Gideon's house centers around the question of kingship in Israel. During the pursuit of the Midian kings, two Israelite towns refused food to Gideon and his men. After his victory, Gideon had them slaughtered. God is not mentioned in this -- the slaughter is simply reported. Here we begin to see the rise of Gideon's arrogance. But, Gideon's arrogance is not yet overweening for Gideon is able to give the right answer in this exchange:
Judges 8:22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian." 23 Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you."
Gideon’s answer upholds the pre-monarchial understanding of God's direct rule over Israel through the charismatic selection of "judges." Here, Gideon stands in the line of prophets against the notion of dynastic kingship. (See 1 Samuel 7)
The transition in the story comes with Gideon's death:
Judges 8:33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35 and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
These verses could be read as if the problem was that the Israelites were not loyal to Gideon by making his family kings. In fact, loyalty to Gideon meant rejecting kingship in favor of maintaining the direct rule of God. Gideon and the other judges (who were selected from among different tribes, often from the smallest families as inn Gideon's case), led Israel in overthrowing the oppression imposed on them by Canaanites, Midianites, etc., which were monarchies. The story of Judges is the story of a charismatic, fluid tribal society fighting for freedom against oppressive dynastic hierarchy and human over-lordship.
In the next chapter, we see Gideon's household fall because one of Gideon's sons abandoned the right side in this struggle.
The fall of Gideon's house centers around the question of kingship in Israel. During the pursuit of the Midian kings, two Israelite towns refused food to Gideon and his men. After his victory, Gideon had them slaughtered. God is not mentioned in this -- the slaughter is simply reported. Here we begin to see the rise of Gideon's arrogance. But, Gideon's arrogance is not yet overweening for Gideon is able to give the right answer in this exchange:
Judges 8:22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian." 23 Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you."
Gideon’s answer upholds the pre-monarchial understanding of God's direct rule over Israel through the charismatic selection of "judges." Here, Gideon stands in the line of prophets against the notion of dynastic kingship. (See 1 Samuel 7)
The transition in the story comes with Gideon's death:
Judges 8:33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35 and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
These verses could be read as if the problem was that the Israelites were not loyal to Gideon by making his family kings. In fact, loyalty to Gideon meant rejecting kingship in favor of maintaining the direct rule of God. Gideon and the other judges (who were selected from among different tribes, often from the smallest families as inn Gideon's case), led Israel in overthrowing the oppression imposed on them by Canaanites, Midianites, etc., which were monarchies. The story of Judges is the story of a charismatic, fluid tribal society fighting for freedom against oppressive dynastic hierarchy and human over-lordship.
In the next chapter, we see Gideon's household fall because one of Gideon's sons abandoned the right side in this struggle.
