May the Lord Rule Over Us; Judges 8-9

May the mumbling commence!

What a great confession Gideon makes in Judges 8!  After Gideon saves Israel from the Midianites, Israel asks Gideon and his sons to be their king for now on.  Here is Gideon’s reply: “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you.  The Lord will rule over you.”  Gideon would not allow either his son or himself to take the role that belonged only to the Lord God.  Gideon still realized that he was only a tool in the hand of the Lord.  Gideon knew that he had not rescued Israel.  Gideon knew that the Lord had rescued Israel.

What faith in the Lord!  If only the people of Succoth had the same faith.  When Gideon was chasing down the last two kings of Midian, his 300 men were weary and hungry.  Gideon asked Succoth for sustenance for his men from them.  The people of Succoth would not help them. 

It seems they were hedging their bets.  They did not want to support one side or the other until they knew who would win.  With the dominance of Midian, they were probably not at all certain that Gideon and his men could overcome Midian.  They forgot to enter the Lord into the calculations.  They showed no faith in the Lord.

The people of Succoth ended up paying for their lack of faith.  When God accomplished what He had set out to accomplish through Gideon and his men, Gideon returned to Succoth and put the men to desert briars and thorns (Judges 8:4-16). 

We have a similar choice.  We can accept the briars and thorns of the desert while following the command of the Lord.  Or we can get the desert briars and thorns later without knowing the comfort of the Lord’s presence among us.  Do we want suffering without meaning or do we want to suffer for something worthwhile and eternal?  The choice is simple but difficult to make.  May each of us choose well.

When we choose well, we will become the man or woman of God that God has created us to be.  When we choose the Lord as King over us and when we choose Jesus as our President, our faith is given eternal life through obedience to our King and our President.  We are set free to bless God and others by being simply what God has created us to be.

When I read the parable of the trees from Judges 9, I think about this choice.  Read the parable below as recorded in Judges 9:8-15 –

“One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' 

But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?' 

Next, the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be our king.' 

But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?' 

Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be our king.' 

But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?' 

Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be our king.' 

The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'”  

Why would you or I give up the very thing that God has created us for only to strive after a title and role that belongs only to God?  Why would we give up the satisfaction of being a contributing part of the body of believers to grasp onto people and things that do not and cannot belong to us?  Is there any man or woman worthy of being king of president?  No.  That role belongs solely to God.  And I give thanks.  

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out