And Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. (Jdg 8:27 NAS77)
After God’s great victory, Gideon makes a golden monument to commemorate the occasion. We’ve seen this many times before. God does something great and they set up a stone pillar or pile up some rocks or build an altar. But this was different.
They began to worship the monument to the moment instead of the God of the victory. It was exactly what God warned them about in 7:2.
And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ (Jdg 7:2 NAS77)
It’s easy to believe our own PR. To lose our humility. To forget who is deserving of our gratitude. We become enamored of our accomplishments and forget the author of our “win”.
It’s easy to be dependent in the face of adversity, but can we remain humble in the fact of our success.
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Evening meditation