“Gid‘on became the father of seventy sons,
because he had many wives.”
-Judges 8:30
Yesterday I talked about how Gideon welcomed the lifestyle of a king even though he declined to become one.
Verse 30 is even more evidence to this fact.
We’re told he became the father of 70 sons because he had many wives.
We’re not told the exact number of wives he had but 70 sons is a heckuva lot of children.
And it would have taken a king’s wealth to raise that many kids.
So we can see that Gideon had come a long way from his humble beginnings when he was just a commoner from the poorest tribe of Manessah.
Now one of Gideon’s sons was a fellow named Avimelech or “Abimelech” as most English Bibles put it.
This child was the product of Gideon’s union with a concubine from the city of Shechem.
But don’t think Avimelech was illegitimate because he was born from a concubine.
Remember the Torah doesn’t jive with traditional Christian notions about sex and marriage.
But having said that, Avimelech was considered of lower status than his brothers because he wasn’t born from one of Gideon’s legal wives.
The chapter ends by telling us Gideon “died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Yo’ash, in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri”.
“To die at a ripe old age” meant to receive the Lord’s blessing of a full life span.
Unfortunately, as soon as Gideon was gone, almost immediately Israel started whoring after the pagan gods of the Canaanites again.
And to give you an example of just how bad things got, we’re told Israel even went so far as to officialize their worship of the ba’alim by making Ba’al Brit their god.
Ba’al Brit literally translates to “Baal of the covenant”.
This was an idolatrous abomination and it happened right on the heels of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites.
So we can see as great a leader as Gideon was, he fell for the same temptations and failures we all fall for.
How he decided to live his life after his victory over the Midianites would have far reaching consequences that would affect even his family long after his death.
A perfect case in point was his son Avimelech.
Avimelech literally means “my father is king”.
It wasn’t a formal name.
It was an official title Gideon gave this son probably shortly after he was born.
We actually aren’t told the son’s real name.
Through this title, we can see Gideon’s desire to want to live as a king being projected onto his son.
A father pushing his aspirations onto his son is something I think a lot of parents do with their children.
And I’m not so sure it’s a good thing.
My dad tried everything in his power to get me to embrace the idea that a happy life meant studying hard in school and then joining some big company where I’d be forced to be a corporate slave for the rest of my life.
His pushy aspirations for me never stuck because I revolted against them.
But dang the pressure he placed on me was relentless and I felt really messed me up in many ways.
Contrary to how I rebelled against my papa, we’ll see that Avimelech did the exact opposite by fully embracing the kingly aspirations his father had for him.
Alrighty, let’s move to the takeaway.
Is it not amazing how an individual, family or an entire nation can so quickly forget everything the Lord has done for them?
Not only is this a testament to the fickleness of human nature is, it’s a testament to just how tempting the Mystery Babylon religions were to the Israelites.
Think it about it man.
As soon as Gideon passed away, it seems like the very next day the Israelites went back to worshipping the Ba’alim.
They were chomping at the bit to return to their idolatrous ways!
This just shows how strong the power of the dark side is.
A domain we’re told is ruled by the one whom Paul calls “the god of this world”.
The lesson here is to not underestimate the power of Satan.
He knows you better than you know yourself and his knowledge of Scripture far exceeds yours.
And if you’re snickering at what I just wrote thinking I’m some primitive-minded fool for even thinking such a being as the devil exists, well I got news for you homie.
Satan’s got you exactly where he wants you.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Stay sober, stay alert!
Your enemy, the Adversary,
stalks about like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.”
-1 Peter 5:8
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