Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - God Isn't Finished With You | Historical Books | Judges 8:22-35

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Have you settled for a false finish line? What are the snares or traps in your life? Is God ever finished with us? In today's episode, Jeff shares how Judges 8:22-35 should convict us back into dependence upon God. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Judges 8:22-35

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. There are few things more frustrating than thinking that you've finished something, only to find out that the finish line is still ahead of you. Back in 2015, a runner for the University of Oregon was about to finish first place in a 3,000-meter race. I mean, victory seemed so certain that he started to slow his pace. He confidently gestured to the crowd and relished the joy of winning, all before reaching the finish line.

As the organ runner soaked up his pre-victory celebration, another athlete from the University of Washington caught up to him, flew past him, and crossed the finish line first. The look on that celebratory organ runner's face is equal parts bewilderment and frustration. He was running as if he'd already finished the race, and that cost him the race. He had a false finish line, which turned out to be a trap. It's tempting to simply laugh at this story, but it's better if we try to learn from it, because here's a thing. This race with the false finish line serves. as a diagnosis for you and for me. We can all fall for the allure of a false finish line,

thinking that we've achieved victory, only to find out that the race is still very much going on. The false finish line can be like a trap that keeps us from finishing well, or finishing at all. The idea of a false finish line reminds me of the complex stories of the people we come across in the Book of Judges. Many of them have promising beginnings only to falter or completely fail before their race is finished. It's almost like they have a kind of ongoing problem of celebrating their victory before it's actually accomplished. This is the kind of dynamic we come across in the story of Gideon. Today we'll look at the end of his narrative in the book of judges. But we'll also go beyond looking at his life, and we'll let his life be like a mirror to examine our own.

Now, as we approach God's words together, let's pause and ask for His grace to move through our time. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath in this new day, and thank you for the gift of your word. We bring before you every part of our days, every part of our lives, our joys and our sorrows, our anxiety and our excitement, our calendars, our calendars, our calendars, and our contingencies. God, would you meet us in this space, in this time? Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. And Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in judges. As we read these words, let these words read us and restore us in our relationship with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so last Friday, we encountered the

beginning of Gideon's story arc in the book of judges. And today, we come to the end of it. And we start our passage with the Israelites, making a strange request of Gideon. In verse 22, they say this to him, rule over us, you, your son, and your grandson, because you have saved us from the hand of Midian. Now, a couple of things give us a sense that things are out of sorts here. First, this request from the people goes against Deuteronomy 17, which indicates that God is the one who should choose the king of Israel, not the people. Secondly, the Israelites are misattributing their success to human agency. Notice how they say, because you, because you Gideon, have saved us from the hand of Midian. There's no reference to God as the one true king who saves his people.

And that serves as a bad omen for the rest of this passage. Now, in response to this questionable request, Gideon gives what at first glance seems to be a faithful retort. In verse 23, he says, I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you. Now, let's be honest, this seems like a pretty good response, doesn't it? I mean, Gideon acknowledges that God is the one true king

over the Israelites. But as we keep reading, we come to find that this response is really just a platitude. It's theologically correct, but is practically evasive. When we keep going into verse 24, we turn a sharp corner in Gideon's story. After paying lip service to the kingship of God, Gideon requests earrings from the Israelites, amassing a stockpile of gold in order to make an F-od. More on that F-od in a moment. But for now, we should note that this request for gold from the people, it's the kind of thing that a king would do. So, while Gideon gives off this air of humility and deference to God with his words, his actions betray a deep sense of self-importance.

And that powerful sense of self-importance that leads us to the construction of this Ephod. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, an effod was a garment, almost like an ornate apron worn by the high priest in temple service. But there's reason to believe that this effod has much more sinister purposes in mind. Verse 27 tells us why. Gideon made the gold into an effod, which he placed in Afra, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon

and his family. Now, it's hard to know exactly what this effod looked like, but some scholars suggest that this garment was placed over a sacred image, not an image of Gideon, but an image in a shrine, to Baal, which was formerly torn down. Old Testament scholar Daniel Block comments on the significance of this move by Gideon. Here's what he says. The irony and twistedness of his actions should not be missed. Instead of himself, an image of God closed with the Spirit of Yahweh, Gideon created his

own image and clothed it with pagan materials. That's the tragic irony here. The very man who was formerly tearing down idols and rescuing God's people, well, now he's building idols and leading God's people into rebellion. So we have to ask the question, what on earth happened to Gideon? He was running the race so well, but here, near the end, it's like he's settled for a false finish line, and it's costing him the entire race.

And as verse 27 says, this Fod, this symbol of Gideon's, greatness mixed with pagan worship, it ends up being a snare to him and his family. It's a trap that sends shockwaves into the community for generations. I wonder if you and I have snares, traps, just like Gideon, that we'd prefer to ignore. Could there be something like that at play in your life right now? A trap that's causing you to settle for a false finish line and could cost you the race in your relationship with God. Maybe it's a persistent sin that somewhere along the line you've decided to make peace with, or perhaps it's the allure of comfort or control that's preventing you from taking a risk that God is calling you to take. Or maybe you're a lot like Gideon and that your trap involves your

willingness to call God king with your words, while your heart and your actions suggest that you want to maintain sovereignty over your life. I honestly don't really like reading this ending to Gideon's story because it reminds me of me. When Gideon's story acts like a mirror to confront my own life, it makes me uncomfortable. And frankly, it should. But here's the tension at play with Gideon, his life, his story. He and some of the other complicated figures in the book of judges are commended as exemplars of faith in Hebrews 11, that famous Hall of Faith passage in the New Testament. This man who did not finish the race well is still recognized for the faith he did have, for the ways that God did use him. It's almost like Hebrews 11 is trying to say,

hey, don't give up on the Gideons of the world. And if we're the ones who identify with Gideon, it's saying, hey, don't believe that God is giving up on you. Maybe the worst kind of false finish line is believing the lie that we are so far beyond God's grace that he is somehow finished with us. See, God's enemy would love nothing more than for this story or any other story in the Bible to drive you further from God. But the point of this story isn't to convict us away from God. It's to convict us back to him, back to dependence, back to ascends, back to ascends,

back to a sense of our need for him. True conviction is meant to fuel greater connection to God and his purposes. All of this reminds me of a famous verse from the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. Here's what he says in Philippians 1-6. He says he's confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Let that powerful truth wash over you as you consider Gideon's story and your own story. Yes, this narrative should convict us, but it should convict us back to dependence on and delight in our Creator King. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. And notice what Paul says, that the work that God does will continue until the day of Christ Jesus. That means that whatever work God has started in your

your life is not limited to the span of days that you have on earth. It will continue creating ripple effects of restoration until Jesus returns to make all things new. Now that is the finish line that God is bringing us to by His grace for His glory. Father, we acknowledge the traps that cause us to settle for a false finish line in the race of faith. Jesus, we thank you that you do not give up on us, but that instead you gave yourself up for us. Spirit, let our conviction fuel greater connection to you. Continue the good work that you've started in us. Lead us further into the race one day, one step at a time. In Jesus' name, amen.