Dear BAGBR Churches,  

Judges 8: 27 “Gideon made it into an ephod…so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household.”  

When his great victory over the Midianites was completed, the only tribute that Gideon received was earrings and medallions from each person that he in turn melted down and had fashioned into some sort of idol/image. After all that God had done with him, for him, and through him, WHY would he then make an image that was in absolute contradiction to the law and his faith? There is no explanation given but only the statement that this became a snare to Gideon and his household. A man so greatly used by God stumbled almost immediately after his great triumph, and this would be a problem for his household and eventually undermine his legacy in all of Israel.

Did his success go to his head or his heart?  Was this image an attempt to establish something that memorialized “his” accomplishments, a trophy of his success? Is it possible that if we attempt to celebrate too much over our successes that we make our celebration more about ourselves, seeking our glory and not His? How we respond to God’s blessing and our successes may reveal that we are actually striving to make it more about us than Christ. We must guard our hearts in all things, successes and failures, and seek to glorify and honor Him. We must earnestly strive—to “not” build, boast, or fashion things that could ultimately become a snare to us and our children.  

Gideon is not the only spiritual hero who has made foolish decisions in the aftermath of a great victory from the Lord, nor was he the last.  Guard your heart in the victories of faith so your legacy of faith does not become a snare but a blessing.

In  Christ,
Tommy Middleton

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