Advanced Level, Block 5—Frustrations in the Land
Week 48
Gideon—His Failure
Point to Emphasize: We can have a very good beginning, but how we end is more important.
Reference Reading: Judges 6:1-27, footnote 271; 7:1-22; 8:16, 24, 26-35
Memory Verse: Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; / Better is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 7:8)
Story Sample
Today we will use a story recorded in the Bible of a judge named Gideon to learn a very important lesson. Gideon’s start in life was very good but his end was not good. We can have a very good beginning, but how we end is more important. Gideon began by following after God but something developed later that caused him to go in a different direction.
The children of Israel had done evil, so Jehovah let Midian prevail against them. They hid in the mountains and caves and any stronghold they could find to hide from the Midianites. Whenever they went to plant their fields, the Midianites along with the Amalekites destroyed the produce and took all their cattle from them. They became impoverished people. Then God raised up Gideon.
Gideon became one of the judges for the children of Israel. He was a marvelous and successful judge. He was successful because he listened carefully to the word of God, obeyed God’s word, and acted on it. In acting on God’s word, he tore down the altar of the idols of Baal and Asherah.
As a result of these things, Gideon prevailed against their strong enemy, the Midianites. In one battle against the Midianites, Gideon had more than 30,000 men who were able to fight. But Jehovah told Gideon that was too many men. Eventually, God sent Gideon with only 300 men to go to battle. These 300 defeated the enemy not with weapons, but with trumpets, pitchers, and torches. Gideon gained these victories because he followed God’s word and instructions every step of the way.
If Gideon were to continue to follow God’s instructions his entire life, he would have had a good ending. But sadly, after his great successes, he had a terrible failure. Gideon wandered away from following God and started to break God’s commandments. He was not kind, he killed the countrymen who did not support him, and he also became proud and greedy. At one of the battles, the people had gathered as spoil all the gold from the Midianites including golden earrings. Gideon requested that each person would give him an earring from his spoil and he ended up with 1,700 shekels of gold. In today’s value, what he got was over a million dollars! He used it to make an ephod (priestly garment) and he placed it as an idol in his city. He participated in many other evils. Gideon broke God’s law and reached a low state. The outcome of his failure was the corruption of not only his family but of the entire society of Israel. This failure canceled out all of his successes.
The story of Gideon is a warning to all of us. It is not how you start but how you finish. Maybe, you get good grades at school. Are you already considering a profession where you can make a lot of money? Maybe, you are learning to play an instrument. Are you dreaming of being a rich and famous musician? Maybe, you excel in the sport you play. Are you dreaming of becoming a professional athlete and making tons of money? You have these thoughts because there is pride and greediness in your heart.
I’ll give you one example of what was in my heart when I was your age. Growing up as a child I wore no brand name tennis shoes because we could not afford anything more. But in my heart, I wanted Nike tennis shoes. Owning a pair of Nike shoes was a status symbol. All the rich children wore them. So, I wanted them. Having Nike shoes made you “somebody”. I asked my parents many times for a pair even though I knew they could not afford them. This was in my heart, wanting something rich children had as a status symbol. I was greedy for those shoes. [Storyteller, share your story.]
Do you have the same kind of feeling in your heart? I’m sure you do. So, what do we do now, once we know we are greedy? Do we just ignore it or are we willing to talk with our parents about it? If you ignore it, it will not go away and it may even grow worse, making you someone who always wants more and is never satisfied. But, if we admit these feelings now and talk with our parents, it will not have such a hold on us. And the greediness that filled Gideon and caused him to have such a poor ending will not fill our hearts. Greediness can cause us to wander away from following God.
As children who are in families that love and fear God, we’ve had a good beginning by learning to obey our parents and to follow the kind of life they live. And we are learning that we need to keep all of God’s commandments and live according to His instructions and also that of our parents. If we continue like this throughout our lives, our end will not be like Gideon’s. Our end will be full of joy and satisfaction.