Not All that Glitters is Gold
Not All that Glitters is Gold
Judges 8:24a & 27
And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” … And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
Gideon’s ephod was not only a snare to lawless, image-craving members of Israel’s commonwealth, but it remains a bit of a snare for biblical commentators as well. The ambiguity of what this golden object actually is and what motivates Gideon to craft it means that this pivotal ending to an otherwise uplifting biography is surrounded in controversy rather than consensus.
Is this ephod a copy of Aaron’s priestly ephod, crafted to symbolize God’s role in the Midianite conquest? That is, is Gideon constructing this memorial in good faith, doing exactly what those Reubenites and Gadites did after their conquest of Canaan, when they built a replica of the altar on the bank of the Jordan? Or is this a moment of idolatrous craving in Gideon’s heart—another tragic instance where a godly man falls prey to his own vanity—like Aaron who fashioned the calf and Achan who took wealth devoted to destruction and Abraham who slept with Hagar and Moses who beat the boulder in anger and Noah who got drunk in his PTSD? Is this Gideon saying with one side of his mouth, “The LORD is King!”, but whispering with another side, “Psssst … but save some of the spoils for me!”
Well, knowing the dichotomous nature of fallen men, I’m sure the answer is a bit of both. This ephod does become a stumbling block for those who still miss that destroyed statue to Baal in Ophrah, which means that we can’t exonerate Gideon from blame. Yet, because Gideon has just overtly turned down an offer of kingship, we shouldn’t cast shade on his motives and assume he’s building an idol to himself. Instead, let’s learn from this episode a warning to be careful what we leave behind for others. Not everything done in good faith is a good thing.
How tragic to think that we could pour out all our energy tearing down false idols for those who follow us only to build one back in the void.