Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" And they said, "They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king." He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you." So he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise, kill them." But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise up yourself, and fall on us; for as the man, so is his strength." So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments which were on their camels' necks.
Then
he said to Zebah and Zalmunna: In
verse 18, Gideon decides it is time to bring Zebah and Zalmunna to justice.
Gideon prefaces this with an inquiry allowing the two leaders to indict
themselves.
What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor: This is speaking about Mount Tabor, and the people living there had no part in the battle. This shows not only did the Midianites plunder Israel, but they also committed terrible acts among the Hebrew population simply to intimidate and control them. Their answer was that the men they killed at Tabor looked very much like Gideon. Gideon tells them that there is a good reason for that--those men were his siblings. They were Gideon's mother's sons. So, they were direct blood relatives.
As the LORD lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you: It was usual to NOT kill captured kings and military leaders. Many leaders were killed, but the general custom was to respect their station and to allow them to live. Killing the leaders served to dishearten the enemy but also to arouse their anger. Gideon had a duty: his brothers were unjustly killed. Therefore, Gideon was compelled to be their next of kin avenger--their blood avenger.
So he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise, kill them.": Gideon instructs his firstborn son to execute Zebah and Zalmunna, but the boy is too intimidated to carry out the request. Jether was still young, not at all accustomed to killing men and certainly not such fierce and hardened men as stood before him.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise up yourself, and fall on us.": The two Midianite leaders seeing that the boy was not physically mature and was scared to act, made a request for Gideon to kill them. These two Midianites were brave warriors. They did not fear death, but they wanted their execution to be swift and as painless as possible. They knew Jeter was incapable of killing them. Gideon granted their request.
Took the crescent ornaments which were around their camels' necks: Verse 21 says something which is easy to overlook. Gideon took as spoils of war these crescent shaped pendants which hung around the necks of the camels belonging to Zebah and Zalmunna. The crescent is referring to the crescent moon. (Verse 24 says that the reason the enemy had crescents and other ornamentations on their camels and on themselves was that they were Ishmaelites (descendants of Ishmael).
What prominent modern group of people who claim an attachment to Ishmael employs the crescent moon as their symbol? Islam.
Before you jump to conclusions, let me explain a little bit about Islam. Islam did not exist in Bible times; it did not even exist in the New Testament times. The founder of Islam, Mohammed, was born in the late sixth century A.D. Islam is an odd mixture of Judeo-Christian principles, Arab folklore and the ancient moon-god religion of the Sabeans. The symbol of the moon-good is (and has always been) the crescent moon.
The Sabean religion does not go back to the time of the Judges. However, the worship of the moon-god goes back even farther than the time of Gideon to a time before Abraham. It was very prevalent in the city of Ur where Abraham's father Terah made and sold god idols. During Abraham's day, it appears as though Ur was the moon-god center of the religion.
During the time of Gideon (around 1300 B.C.), the Arabs had already adopted many elements of moon-god worship, and we find it right here in the Bible. All the symbols ancient tribes wore were inherently religious in nature. Moon-god worship changed over time. Today, it is called the Muslim religion.
In modern times, Islam has become somewhat embarrassed at all of its moon-god heritage and has taken to denying it as of late. A few decades ago, some of the Muslim sects began removing the chapters in the Koran which spoke directly to its moon-god roots. Not very long ago, a British man wrote a book about this cover up and called it The Satanic Verses. The man's name is Salmon Rushdie, and some of the Islamic leaders ordered him killed for exposing it. He has been in hiding and in seclusion for many years.
The Satanic Verses are the verses removed from the Koran to hide the direct moon-god beginnings of Islam as stated in their holy book. All the Islamic crescent moon related symbols and rituals, and the observances all timed on the appearance of the crescent moon refers directly to the moon-god. (The signaling of the time of Ramadan, the most holy season for Islam, is at the appearance of the crescent moon.)
We have here in the Book of Judges moon-god worshipers, sons of Ishmael, bedeviling Israel over 3000 years ago. God knew that the violent and murderous intent of the Muslims to rid the world of all vestiges of God's people would do nothing but increase as a result of Israel's reluctance to deal with moon-god worshiping Arabs, Midianites and other Middle Eastern tribes when they first began occupying Canaan.
As you can see, this is the cyclical nature of history. The entire world is subject to it. The only real question before us is this: is this the final cycle or is there another one to follow? That is important to know (if we can) because the final cycle will end with the return of Messiah.
B. Israel under Gideon as a Judge
1. (Judges 22-23) Gideon refuse to be made king
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son's son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you."
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us": Verse 22 revels something startling but expected. Recall many months ago when we introduced the Book of Judges that I mentioned the purpose of the era of the Judges was to convince Israel that they MUST have a king to rule over them. It was God's intent that Israel was to have a king, but at the time, they did not want one. They had had enough of kings. Israel had the king of Egypt rule over them and that did not work out too well for them. Despite the prevalent teaching within Christianity that God did not want Israel to have a king, nothing could be farther from the truth. God only wanted Israel to have HIS king who would be a godly king in the mold of a shepherd/servant as opposed to the self-serving, power seeking, wealth oriented and charismatic type of king the world always wants. The first God approved king (a man after God's own heart) would be David. The next God-approved king would be Jesus, when He returns to set up His kingdom.
After Gideon defeated the Midianites, some of the 12 tribes had been oppressed countless times and had gone through many hardships that they were finally beginning to realize that they were not going to make it unless they banded together under one leader. Therefore, some of the tribal and clan leaders went to Gideon and offered him the job as king over them. This was a major turn of events in Israel's history.
But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you": Gideon, even though he was deeply flawed, knew enough to refuse the offer. Gideon was anointed shofet (judge) and not melech (king). He told the people that God was their king, and there was no need for any other.
There are several things to consider about the evolving society and attitudes of the Israelites. First, there is a growing understanding that a more robust and continuing leadership was of a tremendous benefit for the people. Second, coupled with that is a Judge was only raised up AFTER a long period of subjugation. When the Judge delivered the people, the Judge would rule until he died. There was never a successor. Thus, the leadership ended and then the next cycle of oppression would begin because Israel had no leader.
By accepting a government over them based on a monarchy, there was a natural means of succession--the kings' son usually took over the leadership position. Further, by the king being the actual head of a sovereign government, a standing army would be formed. Then, the possibility of PREVENTING another foreign subjugation became realistic. People of all eras are very practical. Thus, there were real and pressing circumstances behind the Israelite tribal and clan leaders' sudden willingness to cede their personal autonomy to a king.
We do not need to look too hard to bring this principle forward to today and see where the entire world (including the USA) is headed in regard to wanting a world leader. The world wants a king, and soon we are going to anoint one. Christians know him as the anti-christ. God wants us to have a king, but the one we will choose is one which will betray us. God wants us to have His Son as our king. He will be perfect, but we will not be ready for Him. The world will not accept Him until we have experienced the final horror of a world wide kingdom run by an evil man of our own choosing.
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