ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tusite Sune 27, 2023

The Harlot's Ephod

KO E ‘EFOTI ‘O E FE’AUAKI 

JUDGES 8:26-27

AND THE WEIGHT OF THE GOLDEN EARRINGS THAT [GIDEON] REQUESTED WAS 1,700 SHEKELS OF GOLD, BESIDES THE CRESCENT ORNAMENTS AND THE PENDANTS AND THE PURPLE GARMENTS WORN BY THE KINGS OF MIDIAN, AND BESIDES THE COLLARS THAT WERE AROUND THE NECKS OF THEIR CAMELS. AND GIDEON MADE AN EPHOD OF IT AND PUT IT IN HIS CITY, IN OPHRAH. AND ALL ISRAEL WHORED AFTER IT THERE, AND IT BECAME A SNARE TO GIDEON AND TO HIS FAMILY.

FAKAMAAU 8:26-27

26 Pea tā ko e mamafa ‘o e ngaahi hau koula kuo ne kole ko e sikeli koula ‘e taha afe mā fitungeau: tukukehe ‘a e fanga ki‘i māhina-kalipa, mo e ngaahi teunga tāupe, mo e ngaahi kofu kulokula na‘e kofu ‘aki ‘a e ongo Tu‘i Mitiani, pea tukukehe ‘a e ngaahi kahoa na‘e ‘i he kia ‘o ‘enau fanga kāmeli. 27 Pea ngaohi ‘aki ia ‘e Kitione ha ‘ēfoti, ‘o ne tuku ‘i hono kolo, ‘i ‘Ōfila; pea na‘e tango ki ai ‘a ha‘a ‘Isileli kātoa: pea na‘e hoko ia ko e tauhele kia Kitione mo hono fāmili.

Gideon started out well but ended poorly. The Spirit of the Lord had clothed him for victory (6:34). Then what did he do? Like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it, he turned on his divine master. Power bloated his head. He who had been clothed in the Spirit, reveling in his own success, then clothed an idol with an ephod made from the spoils of war. An ephod is a special vestment of a priest, worn over his chest (Exod. 28:6-14). This one, probably draped over a pagan image, was a harlot's ephod, for "all Israel whored after it there" in spiritual adultery. 

Gideon, a man of faith (Heb. 11:32), was also a man of selfish ambition - a deliverer direly in need of deliverance himself. Thank God that at the foot of which Christ's cross is a whole wardrobe, filled with the garments of salvation, in which Christ’s one size fits all.

Strip off our filthy garments, merciful Lord, and robe us in your absolving love.