Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 69
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J u dges
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Zalmunna, the two Midianite kings, fled, but Gideon chased them down
and captured all their warriors.
After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass. There
he captured a young man from Succoth and demanded that he write down
the names of all the seventy-seven officials and elders in the town. Gideon
then returned to Succoth and said to the leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zal
munna. When we were here before, you taunted me, saying, ‘Catch Zebah
and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your exhausted army.’” Then
Gideon took the elders of the town and taught them a lesson, punishing
them with thorns and briers from the wilderness. He also tore down the
tower of Peniel and killed all the men in the town.
Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Ta
bor—what were they like?”
“Like you,” they replied. “They all had the look of a king’s son.”
“They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother!” Gideon exclaimed. “As surely as the Lord lives, I wouldn’t kill you if you hadn’t
killed them.”
Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not
draw his sword, for he was only a boy and was afraid.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!”
So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks
of their camels.
Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler! You and your son and
your grandson will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from Midian.”
But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord
will rule over you! However, I do have one r equest—that each of you give
me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.”
(The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)
“Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in
a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder. The weight of the gold
earrings was forty-three pounds, not including the royal ornaments and
pendants, the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, or the chains
around the necks of their camels.
Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his
hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.
That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never
recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about forty years—
there was peace in the land.
Then Gideon son of Joash returned home. He had seventy sons born