~ut their mistRke was twofold-(1) in exalting mnn instead of God, and (2) in seek- mg to put_an en~ to the theocracy. 'l'he natural mind nets always thus, in the fhce of the plarncst signs of Divine intervention and authority; building itself out from the UnsPPn by human authorities and institutions. Tle chain of connection with ~od _is "'eakened_ by lengthening it. The pl~inest commands of God are disobeyed ,n m1stak~n. sel~-mterest. The h~man agent 1s depended upon because the perception of the D1vme 1s weak. Exaltmg one of themselves was but a species of self- glorification. The motive of Gideon too is misunderstood. I!·. DI~INTERES1:ED SERVICE. The hono_ur is refused. If prudence aided the dec1s10n, 1t was chiefly due to unaffected faith and reverence for Jehovah. He may have felt that his "might" and success were solely individual and due to direct inspiration; and the incapacity and disagreements of his childre~ may have already be_trayed_t~emseh·es. He ~hereby vindicates his own patriotism and disinterestedness. R1s humility and magnammous loyalty to God as only Sovereign for Israel outshine all his exploits. 1. How hard it is for men to believe in the disinterestedness of benefactors ! 2. God, who imparts might and inspiration, can also purify the heart from worldly ambitions and weaknesses. III. DE_vot.TT_ RECOGNITION __?F DIV!NE AID ~ND AUTHORITY. The ephod is explained and descnbed m Exod. xxvm. It 1s the priestly garment, with breastplate attached to it, worn in the sanctuary. The Urim and Thummim were also used in connection with it for oracular-consultation. It meant, therefore, a tabernacle and its service wherever it was placed. 1. So far as this was to the honour of God and commemor- ation of his mercy, it was a pious act. 2. By using the spoils of the people for its construction, a national sacrifice was effected. 3. But by placing it m Ophrah he encouraged schism, gave his own family undue importance, and tempted his country- men to superstitious practices.-M. Vera. 24--27.-The mi.stake of a good man. I. ORIGINATING IN MO'l'IVES FOR THE MOST PART NOBLE AND HONOUllABLE. (1) Desirous of a national testimony to God's gracious deliverance, and a commemoration of it to future ages, he (2) persuades the Israelites to make a national offering, and (3) increases the means of grace in his own district. IJ. REFLECTING THE DEFECTS OF HIS CHABACTEB AND BE'l'RAYING ITS LATENT VICE, In his zeal for the religious reformation of Israel he did not snfficiently consider the bearings of the step he had taken. It was a hasty and crude expedient, from which greater experience or sage advice, or, above all, God's Spirit, would have saved him. And therein lay the root of the mischief. He relied on his own wisdom, and forgot to ask God's guidance. In getting to look upon himself as in a special sense the re-introducer of the Jehovah-worship, and the exponent of the mind of Jehovah, he forgot that it was only as he was taught of God that he could be preserved from error. Of all inventions, religious ones are to be most carefully scrutinised. And in the background of this assumption there lay a secret tendency to self-esteem because of his spiritual endowments and character, and the great achievements of the past. Pride because of hie own humility-is it not a failing that many have shared? Dy this mistake be sowed the seeds of grave evils: schism, superstition, hero-worship. But- 111. THE SUBSTANTIAL GOOD DONE WAS NOT WHOLLY DESTROYED. Whilst be lived- a quiet, steadfast, rigbteou~ life-the people observed the true ~orship of Jeho_v~b. Hie own example walj a guide and a deterrent. And when at !us death euperebt10n ran riot, and tbe old licentious idolatry flowed back in an obliterating wave over the land and the institutions of Jehovah's worship, there were some things that could not be destroyed, remaining as germ ideas in the spiritual consciousness of Israel- the immediate obligation of the moral Jaw upon every one, the direct responsibility of every one to God, and faith in the personal help of Jehovah. (1) God super- intends the development of his truth, und (2) restrains the evil that mingles with the good in men's worke.-M. Vers. 29-32.-T/ie after life. It is interesting to watch the after life of grent n,P11. Jn some it is a continual progress, in others a growing weakness of charnctc1 aud facul1y. Gideon's was- ()II, VIII. 22-36.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 95
r. A IllcWARD AND CONSEQUENCE OF FAITHFUL SERVICE TO JEHOVAH. Long lifo, quietness, pro8perity, honour. II. KJGP'l' ON THE WHOLE RIGHT, AND MADE A BLESSING BY THE GRACE OF Goo. He had begun well. His youth was a consecrated one; his old age was its true outcome. And yet not hy natural virtue, but by the blessing of God. III. CONTAINING TllE GERMS OF NATIONAL EVILS. He was not ever on the heights of spiritual excitement. Perhaps his was a nature that required great difficulties to be surmounted in order to keep it right. At any rate he fails to rise above the laxities of his age, and he enters into connection with the Canaanites. How much too of his after-life could be explained as 11, living on the memory of a glorious past, and a growing estimation of the part he himself had played. The ephod, the natnral son by the Canaanitish woman, the conflicting interests of the many heirs to his influence and renown-these were the occasions of untold evil.-M.
Vers. 33-35.-The consequence of the imperfect recognition of Jehovah. I. AN IMPURE, DEFECTIVE WORSHIP OF TllE TRUE Goo PREPARED FOR THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS. "False worships make way for false deities." II. UNDUE MAGNIFYING OF HUMAN IMPORTANCE AT TIIE EXPENSE OF THE HONOUR DUE TO Goo ALONE, DIVERTED FROM THE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH, AND so CUT THE ROOTS OF THE PERSONAL RESPEC'l' IN WHICH HIS SERVANT WAS HELD. True religion is the found- ation &nd safeguard of all the esteem and respect due from one to another. The heavenly Father is the key-stone of the whole house of life.-M.