Back to full study

Judges · Men's Leadership Study

Week 8: The Ephod After the Victory

Judges 8

Name:  

Date:  

Read Together

Judges 8

Read the whole chapter aloud before discussing the handout.

Hidden in the Text

Weekly Devotional

Gideon refused the crown with his mouth—“the LORD shall rule over you”—but lived like a king. He collected royal gold, multiplied wives, fathered seventy sons, and named one Abimelech, meaning “my father is king.” The detail exposes the gap between public doctrine and private appetite. Worse, the ephod he made came from the earrings of a victory God had given him. Yesterday's testimony became tomorrow's idol. A leader must examine not only what failure does to him, but what success permits him to build, collect, and quietly believe about himself.

Discuss Honestly

Hard Questions

  1. 01

    Gideon's later violence was personal revenge under a national banner. Where are you doing something for God that is actually about a wound?

  2. 02

    He said the right thing about God's rule and then took the gold. What is your version of the ephod — the thing you built out of a real victory that people now look to instead of God?

  3. 03

    How do you tell the difference between receiving honor and absorbing worship? Give a real test you could apply this month.

  4. 04

    Gideon's compromise became his family's snare. What are you doing right now that your children or the men you disciple will inherit as normal?

  5. 05

    He named his son 'my father is king' while publicly refusing kingship. What do your private decisions say that your public statements deny?

  6. 06

    Where has success made you harsher with people who don't cooperate — Succoth and Penuel in your world?

  7. 07

    What will keep you from becoming like Gideon in chapter 8? Name the person who will hold you accountable and what that person will do. Do not give only a good intention.

Look Them Up

Cross-References

  • 1 Timothy 3:6

    'Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.' The Gideon trajectory.

  • Deuteronomy 8:11-14

    When thou hast eaten and art full, beware lest thine heart be lifted up. Prosperity is the test Gideon failed.

  • Acts 10:25-26

    Peter refuses worship outright — the clean contrast to Gideon's ephod.

  • Proverbs 16:18

    Pride before destruction; Judges 9 is the destruction Judges 8 set up.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:12

    Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall — written to people who had already seen deliverance.