Jg. 8: Gideon Continues to Clean House

Judges 8:7 "Then Gideon replied, 'Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.'"

Gideon looks to have gotten quite the bloodlust. He was pursuing these Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. When he got to Succoth and Peniel, he asked for bread to feed his tired men. The officials of Succoth and Peniel both refused. Well, Gideon was already tired and cranky, so he promised painful defeat on both lands when he got done conquering the already depleted Midianite forces. Basically, to Succoth, he promised to whip them with desert thorns...painful. And he was going to tear down some tower in Peniel. Probably a tower of some (possibly religious?) significance to them.

So anyway, he captures Zebah and Zalmunna, and wrecks their army. On the way back, he runs into a Succothite who gives him the name of each official in Succoth. Now that is what I call being connected to the social scene there. He knew all 77 town leaders? Can you name your state representative? Anyway, he brings the ZZ Kings back through and shows the officials what he had done, and still harboring the grudge for being denied grub, he whips them with thorns. Then he kills all the men of Peniel.

Then he kills the kings. He was going to have his oldest son kill them, but he wimped out, as he was only a boy. Boys shouldn't have to kill men.

Then in his zeal, Gideon makes an ephod from the gold of the Israelites. Instead of its proper use, you know, being worn on a priest, he sets it up in town and the Israelites worship the ephod. The holy shirt.

And the same thing happens, there is peace in Israel for forty years, then Gideon dies, and the cycle starts over...the Israelites worship the Baals again. Yay.