Gideon's gold ephod Image may be copyright
Satan's Snares: Greed, Idolatry & Sex
The Israelites said to Gideon,
“Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”
And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)
In Judges 8:27 we read: Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
It was a blasphemous act involving a golden version of the High Priest's sacred garment and led to idolatry on the part of Gideon and his family.
We also learn that Gideon (also known as Jerub-Baal) had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives, and a concubine, who lived in Shechem, who bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.
No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side (Judges 8:33-34).
They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon), in spite of all the good things he had done for them. And his son Abimelek turned out to be a disaster, who murdered his seventy brothers and persuaded the people to crown him king at the great pillar in Shechem (Judges 9:6).