Year 4, Day 269: Judges 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

In Judges 8 we get two very interesting perspectives on identity.  Let’s start with the perspectives of the leaders of the towns of Succoth and Penuel.  Where is their identity?  Their identity is in their affluence and their success. How do I know this?  It’s pretty easy to see it.  The towns of Succoth and Penuel are unwilling to part with their resources unless the return on their investment is worth it.  They will not support Gideon until he has already proven himself a winner.  Unless their support increases their fame by partnering themselves with a proven winner, the leaders of the towns of Succoth and Penuel would rather keep their stuff.  They clearly value fame, reputation, and prosperity.  That is the source of their identity.

Then we turn to Gideon.  This chapter is painful for me to read.  Gideon showed such promise as a fledgling follower of God.  He was willing to listen.  He was willing to be encouraged.  While he needed help, he was willing to follow and be obedient.  But in this chapter, what is it that we hear?  We hear that Gideon makes a golden ephod – a symbol of being a priest – for himself.  We hear that the ephod caused all of Israel to whore after Gideon.  And perhaps worst of all, after telling the people “God is your only king,” we find out that Gideon actually names one of his sons Abimelech, which means “My Father is King.”

As much as I would love to report that Gideon’s identity was coming from God, at the end of Gideon’s life it does not appear to be that way.  Gideon appears to have become king – supplanting God’s rule over the Hebrew people.  Gideon seems to get his identity from the wealth and fame of being victorious.  Gideon is human after all.

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