Exposition of the Moral Law, Book 1 · Commandment 2 · Exercitation 11
EXERCITAT. XI. Whether Gideon made the Ephod an idoll or not. Commandement II.
Iudg. 8.26. And Gideon made an Ephod thereof, and put it in his citie in Ophra; and all Iſrael went thither a whoring after it.
WHen Gideon made an Ephod of the gold & eare-rings which they had taken of the ſpoile, wee need not to take it ſo ſtrictly that it was onelyonly made of gold, but of thoſe things which were taken in the ſpoile, whether gold, ſilke, linnen, &c.
But it may ſeeme, Verſ. 27. That ſtatuit in Ophra, Ob. hee ſet it up in Ophra, that it was of pure gold, which might ſtand up, an image made of gold.
In the Hebrew it is poſuit onelyonly, he put it, and not, Anſw. he ſet it up, the prieſts Ephod was of linnen, and the high prieſts Ephod was partly of linnen, and partly of ſilke, and partly of gold.
This word Ephod in the ſcripture is applied onelyonly to holy uſes,Ephod twofold. but if wee will conſider the perſons who put on the Ephod, then it may bee ſaid to be partly eccleſiaſticall, and partly politicke.
Eccleſiaſticall is three fold, firſt the Ephod of the high prieſt: Exod. 28.6. Secondly of the prieſts:Ephod eccleſiaſticall threefold. 1. Sam. 22.18. And thirdly of the Levites: 1. Sam. 2.18.
Politicke againe is that which David wore when hee danced before the Arke: 2. Sam. 6.18.David did not put on the Prieſts ephod. When David ſaid to Abiather the high prieſt Ahimelechs ſon, I pray thee bring me hither the Ephod. 1. Sam. 30.7. And Abiather brought hither the Ephod, el David, to David, that is, Davidis cauſa, foreign id eſt, Davidis cauſa.the prieſt tooke on this Ephod to aske counſell for David what he ſhould doe, David wore not the prieſtly Ephod himſelfe; for by Ephod here is meant the whole ornaments of the prieſt: So Hoſ 3.4.
Object. Now the queſtion is, whether Gideon intended here to ſet up an idoll in Ophra? thoſe who hold the affirmative bring this reaſon for them: becauſe he inſtituted that for which he had not warrant out of the word of God.
Anſw. The word of God ſetteth downe all the prieſts ornaments: therefore he did not this without a warrant altogether. He made not a new Ephod.
Obj. 2 Secondly, ſome hold that Gideon did not directly ſet up an idoll, nor did he intend to doe it; but becauſe hee withſtood not the people when they committed idolatrie, therefore he ſinned.
Anſ. It is evident that they did not commit idolatrie till after his death, therefore Verſ. 27. it is not rightly tranſlated, Fornicatus eſt omnis Iſrael poſt cum, as though they followed Gideons example in their idolatrie;The Iſraelites went not a whoring after the Ephod till after the death of Gideon. Obj. Iunius tranſlateth it better, poſt eum ſcilicet Ephodem, or in eo ſcilicet Ephode.
Thirdly, ſome hold that Gideon ſinned, offering ſacrifice with this Ephod upon him.
Anſ. The Lord who ſpared not Vzziah when hee went to offer incenſe at the altar, but ſtroke him with leproſie: 2. Cron. 26.17. and ſpared not Core, Dathan, and Abiram with their complices. Num. 16. Would hee have ſpared Gideon if hee had attempted ſuch a thing? and is it probable that he who refuſed the government when it was offered to him by all their conſent, that hee would affect the prieſthood?
Obj. Fourthly, it may ſeeme that hee ſinned, in making theſe holy veſtures to have ſome uſe out of the tabernacle, which alwayes ſhould have ſerved for the tabernacle.
When Ieſhuah ſet up an altar, Ioſh. 22.29,30. Anſ. Gideon ſet up the Ephod in memorie of thankſgiving.Hee ſet it not up that they might ſacrifice there, but only he ſet it up as a memoriall of thankſgiving. So Gideon made this Ephod onelyonly in a memoriall of thankſgiving, and for no other uſe.
But theſe who hold the negative that he committed not idolatrie in making the Ephod, bring theſe reaſons.Reaſons proving that Gideon committed not idolatry in making the Ephod.
Firſt Iude 8.32. It is ſaid, Gideon died in a good old age, which comprehends in it foure things. Firſt, fulneſſe of dayes; ſecondly, tranquillitie of minde; thirdly, a good name, and fourthly, to die in the favour of God, and this phraſe is never ſpoken but of thoſe who died well, as Abraham died in bona cani…ie, in a good old age. Gen. 25.15. So David, 1. Chron. 29.28. and ſo Gideon here.
Secondly, the Iſraelites are challenged for this, Reaſ. 2 that they ſhewed not kindneſſe towards Ierubbaal, or Gideon, according to the goodnes which he had ſhown to them, Verſ. 35. Now if hee had ſet up this idoll to make the people to commit idolatrie, they ſhould have had no cauſe to have ſhewne kindeneſſe to him, but rather ſhould have hated him.
But it may be ſaid that the Ephod became a ſnare to him and to his houſe: Verſ. 27. Obj.
Although Gideon himſelfe ſinned not in ſetting up the Ephod, yet it tended to his ruine, that is, Anſ. to the ruine of his ſons, and the reſt of his houſe, that is, his friends, it was the ruine of his houſe in the dayes of Abimelech, when this Ephod was ſet up in the houſe of Baal-bereth in Sichem. Iudg. 9.33.
The concluſion of this is,Concluſion. that we are to conſtrue the acts of the Saints in the beſt part where wee ſee no evident proofe to the contrarie: farre leſſe are wee to condemne them, where the holy ſpirit commends them.