Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply. So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? “God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.—Judges 8:1-3
These humble words of Gideon reminded me of what I wrote on a few days ago on Luke 22:24-27.
Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ “But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. “For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.
True greatness IS found in humility. How much better it is for us and everyone around us, if we can put off offense and put on the gentleness and graciousness of humility as Gideon does here in Judges 8. With pride, the Proverbs tell us, comes nothing but contention. Gideon’s response to the men of Ephraim did not seek to justify himself, but as it says in 1 Peter, he committed himself to Him who judges righteously. Gideon was slow to anger and esteemed the men of Ephraim as better than himself. His soft answer turned away their wrath. Matthew Henry points out that Gideon was willing to diminish his own achievements, but not God’s in magnifying what the men of Ephraim did.
“God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb.”
Oh, would that I would be able to put off offenses against me and put on humility as Gideon did here.
A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a castle.
A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.—Proverbs 18:19-21
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;—Romans 12:10
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law....Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.—Romans 13:8;10
