Judges 8:22 says, Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.  The men of Israel asked Gideon to be their ruler, and for his sons and grandsons to follow him in ruling them.  They said that he had delivered them form the Midianites, but really God had.  Verse twenty-three states, And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.  Gideon said neither he nor his sons would reign over them, but that the LORD would.  No matter who the earthly leader may be today, as followers of Christ we can never forget that God is in charge.  Verse twenty-four adds, And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)  Gideon then requested that the men give him the earrings that they had gotten from their enemies.  This would have been seen as some of the fruits of war.  We really shouldn't look to profit materially from defeating our spiritual enemies,  Verse twenty-five says,  And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.  The men said they would willingly give the earrings to Gideon, and they did.  Gideon did not demand that they do this, but they willingly granted his request.  When we are asked to give up the things of this world that may come between God and us, we need to do so willingly.  God will never demand that we do this, but He will ask it of us.  Verse twenty-six states, And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.  There was a lot of gold.  No matter how much we are asked to give up of the things of this world in order yo remain true to God, we must never feel that it is too much.  Verse twenty-seven declares, And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.  Gideon made an ephod of the gold and put it in his city, and the people of Israel began to worship it.  This became a snare to Gideon and his house.  If we allow anything to stand between God and us, it will become a snare to us.  Verse twenty-eight states, Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.  Israel once again had a period of peace during Gideon's lifetime, for forty years.  Verse twenty-nine declares, And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.  Then verse thirty adds, And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.  Gideon lived in his house, not in a palace as a ruler, and he had seventy sons, since he had many wives.  I don't believe that he would have been following God's will in this, but would have been living by his own desires.  Just because God uses us to accomplish great things in the world does not give us the right to then live by our own desires.  Verse thirty-one says, And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.  Gideon also had a son named Abimelech with his concubine at Shechem.  He not only had many wives, but he had at least one concubine, with whom he had a son.  Verse thirty-two states, And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.  After a long life, Gideon died and was buried.  No matter what we do for God, there will come a day when we die, unless Christ returns first.  Verse thirty-three declares, And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.  Once Gideon was dead, the people of Israel once again turned away from God and started worshipping Baal.  We cannot allow our faith to be based on any earthly leader, but it must be based on our relationship with Christ.  Verse thirty-four adds, And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:  The people of Israel, God's chosen people, once again forgot God and all that He had done for them.  We as followers of Christ cannot afford to be the same way, but must always remember what God has done for us and remain true to Him.  Verse thirty-five concludes, Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.  The people of Israel may have wanted Gideon and his descendants to be their rulers, but now that he was dead, they no longer felt any reason to honor his descendants.  If people forget God, we should not be surprised that they do not show any respect for those who serve Him and have been used by Him to do great things.