And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. Judges 8:24-26
Suddenly something happens which is disturbing. Some acts of
Gideon have felt slightly off kilter but it was hard to tell what is amiss. Here we see Gideon do something which raises a concern in our minds.
And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” Gideon will not accept the offer to become king but he does make a request. It appears he is tempted by the lust of the eyes so he asks each person to give him the earrings of the Midianite soldiers they had taken as plunder. (In ancient times a soldier’s pay came from the plunder stripped from the corpses or devastated villages of the enemy. Remember there were around 135,000 Midianites killed in the battle.) Gideon refuses to be king but he leverages
his fame for personal benefit. (Rather than trust God he asks for part of the plunder as his reward.)
(For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) The Midianites wore earrings because they were Ishmaelites. They were the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham through Hagar. Obviously this was their practice which was different than the Israelites.
And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” The people are glad to give what Gideon requests.
And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. Gideon’s reward is substantial. One writer suggests a Hebrew shekel was between 2/5 and 2/3 of an ounce.1,700 shekels would be around 71 pounds of gold. This would be around 2.5 million dollars today.
Suddenly, Gideon is a very wealthy man. Besides the earrings, Gideon took the possessions of the kings of Midian. That included their crescent ornaments and collars from the necks of their camels,
their pendants and their royal purple garments – all items that belonged to kings.
What can we learn? Something subtle is occurring. The Midianite kings indicated Gideon’s brothers acted like royalty. Satan is tempting Gideon to do so as well. The people asked him to rule
over them. Despite turning down that request, Gideon seems to feel superior to the others. He deserves a share of the wealth (Satan’s temptation). He deserves these things for his leadership.
This feeling of superiority is seen in a number of his actions. Gideon takes many wives and his 70 sons indicate a harem as a king would have. He takes a tribute from the soldiers who accompanied him which is the action of a king. Later we read he names his concubine’s son Abimelech which means “my father is king”. Then he claims the possessions of defeated kings as a conquering king would normally do. So we see Gideon display the actions of an inflated and superior view of his own worth. This is a real danger that confronts the man used mightily of God. He begins to feel superior to those around him, he deserves special privileges. Soon he takes liberties even with God’s word. The humble becomes proud and Satan is turning victory into sin.