Gideon’s Laces Start Coming Untied with Victory
[14] And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
[15] And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’”
[16] And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. [17] And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
[18] Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”
[19] And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”
[20] So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man.
[21] Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
Gideon has had his victory and now he is tying up loose ends. He questions the leaders of the enemy army. Who knows if these guys really killed Gideon’s kin or if Gideon was just looking for an excuse to kill them outright. Either way, they were dead.
He asked his own son to carry out thei execution, but he couldn’t do it. It says “he was still a young man.”
Honestly, this should not have taken so much drama. When Gideon made the killing of these kings into an episode of revenge, done by his son, he made it about himself. This was about God saving the Isaelites from their oppressors, not Gideon’s drama.
It just goes to show that God is at work, with or without our drama. He can call us to do something, and we can do it faithfully, and in the next second be a stupid head. God knew that when He called Gideon a mighty warrior, and He knew it when He called you to lead worship, or lead an elementary kids’ small group on Sunday morning, or to write the daily bible reading.
God has been accomplishing great things for dozens of centuries with imperfect people. He did everything required with the One who was perfect, so all of the rest of us who follow Him can be made perfect like Him.
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