Lois’s Decision

Gideon’s Ephod

Having Elijah come forward in time to the present day allows me  a great deal of creative thinking. Not only can we explore how how an Old Testament prophet would react to present day issues, but also what important bits of knowledge he would bring with him.  I plan to explore much more of this in subsequent books of the Future Perfect Series. When we meet in him in this book (#4) , it is at a point in his timeline after he has adjusted to the 21st Century. However, in future books, we will continue his story after the Spirit has come upon him in Book 3 and he has to engage the present world for the first time!

While the Future Perfect Series is geared toward ideas and concepts of the Pre-Flood days and how a modern person would react to it, I also feel it is important to connect it as much as possible to the Old Testament.  Gideon would have lived a mere 300 years before Elijah and so Eli would be very aware of the effects that judge had on societies of the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. We often times concentrate on the success of Gideon in Judges 6-7, but do not focus on Gideon’s legacy in Judges 8:22-35 and following, which is not so positive.

What is an ephod?

Originally, an ephod was part of the priestly garments in ancient Israel. In this case, because of the weight of gold it does not seem to be exactly that. Instead, was probably a kind of statue or idol used to commemorate the triumph over the Midianites. The following has a pretty good discussion of the topic.