Judges 8:22-35 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also… 1. Gideon's piety. The Israelites offered Gideon the rule over them. Few men would have refused so tempting an offer. But Gideon knew that he could not accept it without trenching upon God's prerogative. In the spiritual application, our wisdom is to make request to the Lord Jesus, "Rule Thou over us, for Thou hast delivered us." He hath "saved us" at the cost of His own life-blood, "from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us." 2. Gideon's modesty. What he had sought in his service against Midian was not his own aggrandisement, but Israel's welfare (1 Corinthians 9:18, 23; 2 Corinthians 12:14, 15). Ambition and self-seeking mar the service of God, and injure the minister's own soul. The service itself is its own highest honour and best reward. 3. Gideon's wisdom, too, appears in his choosing to remain in the station to which the providence of God had called him. Restlessness can never bring happiness. The adage is true, He who carves for himself often cuts his fingers; he who leaves God to carve for him shall never have an empty plate. "Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not" (Jeremiah 45:5). (A. R. Fausset, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. |
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