Dig Deeper
Judges
chapter 8 begins following a great military victory by Gideon and his small
army of 300 mighty men and ends in spiritual defeat with Gideon’s idolatry ensnaring his people, “Gideon made the
gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted
themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his
family” (Judges 8:27). In this chapter Gideon faces five common snares (lures):
pride, power, lust and idolatry. What additional insights
about these snares are gleaned from the following Scriptures?
(Pride) Proverbs 8:13, 11:2,
16:18; Luke 1:51; Acts 20:19; 1 Corinthians 8:1and Philippians 2:3--
(Power) Deuteronomy 8:17-18;
2 Chronicles 26:16; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Ephesians 1:19, 3:20; and 2 Peter 1:3--
(Money) Proverbs 11:24;
Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 3:8 and 6:9-10--
(Lust) Proverbs 6:25, 7:21;
Romans 13:13; Galatians 5:16; Colossians 3:5; 1 Peter 2:11; and 1 John 2:16-17--
(Idolatry) Exodus 20:3,4;
Judges 2:1-3; Hosea 3:4-5; Habakkuk 2:18; 1 Corinthians 10:7, 14; 1
Thessalonians 1:9; and 1 John 5:21--
What encouragement do the
following Scriptures provide for those desiring to resist such snares?
Romans 8:37--
Hebrews 2:18--
James 1:2-3, 12--
1 John 4:4--
Memorize This
2 Corinthians 4:7-- But we have
this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from
God and not from us.
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