Introduction to Gideon

It's funny how some bits of scripture are really well known and some are more or less forgotten.  Everyone remembers that Jews shouldn't eat pigs but few people remember the ban on prawns.  Everyone remembers David but Rehoboam isn't all that well known. Everyone remembers the ban on "lying with a man" but few people remember the ban on mixed fibres in your clothes (maybe the God Hates Fags crew should switch to God hates Polycotton!).

Which brings me to Gideon. One of the big famous bits in the Bible.  The start of his story is really well known but the ending is less so.  You can see why the start is famous from the few verses in today's reading.  I think we all love the idea of the guy plucked from obscurity by an angel to rescue his people from the maurauding invaders.  He certainly doesn't come across as hero material.  Far from tearing down his father's idols publicly he works at night out of fear.  He argues with God and more or less tells him off for negligence (despite the fact that his family own the shrines to Baal and Asherah in town) but in the end, like Moses before him, he finally quits with the excuses and gets on with the job of liberation.

The end of the story is not as good as the beginning. Like many a Middle Eastern dictator before him what starts well ends in fratricidal conflict but maybe we are right to celebrate and remember the successful start rather than the unhappy ending.  I hope in the future if anyone gets round to remembering my life then something of the same selective process might occur and the good will be remembered and the bad bits forgotten.