During Gideons reign, Israel had peace 40 years and when they conquered other kingdoms and gathered the spoils he took the gold and had made an ephod
 Judges 8:27Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown.But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family

Gideon dies at a ripe old age, the ephod which he set up turned out to be a snare because, after his death, he was not remembered no more , the people had worshiped the ephod instead of the one and only true God that Gideon served . Gideon had 70 sons because  he also had many wives, one of his sons Abimelech plots and kills his brothers so that he alone can be ruler and king. It's strange how people tend to worship the created things instead of the creator. Sin will take you captive and you will be ensnared and held in bondage. But when Isreal tore down their false gods and images God had mercy and compassion.  
LESSON A person's pride will blind them to reality unawares and not seeing the dangers  that prevail, only a fool would walk on thin ice yet we sometimes think that we are bulletproof, that we have arrived and will not slip . Deut 32:35 their foot shall slide in due time , their own wickedness will slay them, Johnathan Edwards "the wicked are walking on an icy plank over the firey pits of hell,one slip and they are facing the terrors of death for eternity"