So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
Whatever this ephod was, it became an object of worship and a spiritual stumbling block to the Israelites (Judges 8:27). Thus Gideon became the second official sponsor of idolatry in Israel, as far as we know, Aaron being the first. He was doing what was right in his own eyes (cf. Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25).