So, in the words of John Lennon, “war is over” and even though we see that there is peace for 40 years, Gideon’s choices are about to put an end to all that!

[Read Judges 8: 22-35]

• In v22, the Isrealites say, “rule over us…be our king!” What does this show us?
• Next, Gideon seems to get it. He refuses their offer of royal praise and points them back towards God, but then in his next breath Gideon does something weird. What is it and what does it show us about Gideon?
• What does this episode in Gideon’s life tell us about us?
• By refusing kingship but then taking an “offering” for himself, what essentially has Gideon done?
• What’s an ephod?
• So, if it was ok to make an ephod in the past, what’s wrong about making this ephod?
• What does the way the Isrealites treat / react to the new shiney ephod, tell us about us as humans?
• Our strengths can easily become our weaknesses. Gideon’s strength was that he was able to hear from God. Gideon’s weakness was that he had to hear from God. What could this mean?
• Can you think of other examples in the bible, where someones strength was also their weakness?
• What is the result of Gideon’s actions? How is this ironic?
• We read that Gideon had 70 sons! But it also mentions that Gideon took a concubine who bore him a son, Abimelek. This was to mark trouble for Gideon’s family. Can you think of other examples in the bible of when doing similar to this bore similar results?
• Gideon is weak in ch6, because of his inexperience. Gideon is weak in ch8, because of his pride. What can an overview of Gideon’s story tell us about him? And ultimately, about us too?