Judges 6:1 ¶ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
But, Israel continued on its path of apostasy. Notice that Israel had a history with Midian that went back to Moses. Midian came from Abraham through his wife after Sarah, Keturah.
Genesis 25:1 ¶ Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
Joseph was sold to Midianite merchants.
Genesis 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Moses’ father-in-law was a priest of Midian who is considered the ancestor of the Druze today, their spiritual founder and chief prophet. Moses dwelt in the land of Midian when he fled Egypt as per Exodus, chapter 2.
And Israel would do battle with them in their fight for the
Promised Land.
Numbers
31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian,
beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and
Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with
the sword.
The
Israelites are reduced to hiding in caves and having their crops taken. It is a
desperate time and they cry out to God as we are wont to do not in times of
plenty and peace but in our sorrow and grief.
they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number references simply a very large number. The Israelites had no idea how many people they were up against.
Judges 6:7 ¶ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, 8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; 10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
Who was this prophet in Judges 6:8? We are not told in the text but Jewish legend says that he was Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and Aaron’s grandson. Remember, he killed the Israelite and the Midianite woman, a member of Midianite royalty. Their Hagadah (legendary information) generally enables them to name these nameless prophets in the Bible. But for us there is no reason to come up with a name except out of curiosity. We will know when we are in front of our Lord. The important thing is that he reminds the Israelites of what God has done and what they have not done.
Judges 6:11 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. 19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
We are here introduced to a person named Gideon who is hiding his wheat from the Midianites. Things must be pretty desperate, and starvation could be the result. The Soviet Russian leader, Stalin, caused a great famine by confiscation of wheat in the 1930s resulting in the death of millions of Ukrainians. The British Empire in the late 1800s did a similar thing and caused the deaths of millions of people in the territory of India in an event called by one author, “The Late Victorian Holocaust.” The Israelites are in grave danger.
In verse 12 the angel or appearance of the LORD, being Jehovah, appeared to Gideon. Here is a definition of an angel, an appearance of someone or something that is somewhere else, and yet can act on our physical reality.
Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them:
So, the Lord God appears to Gideon and that appearance is called an angel. Christ is the appearance, the image, the similitude, of God being God in the flesh.
Galatians 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
So, Christ, before His appearance on earth as a man appears to Gideon, as He has done others, in the form of an angel. My comments back on chapter 2 goes into a little more detail on this subject.
Verse 13 brings to mind how many times a Christian might say, “where is God in my trouble?” He or she presumably doesn’t doubt God’s existence but feels abandoned. My own daughter’s suicide note in the year 2000 expressed that lamentation, “Why has God abandoned me?” This question is not unusual. But, God has a time and while His ways are sometimes tedious and require patience on our part, His ways are sure. Here, He makes Himself apparent to Gideon in Gideon’s despair.
God calls Gideon a mighty man of valour in verse 12. God sees us for what we will be not just, as we see us, for what we are.
Gideon’s initial interaction with God ends in Gideon’s realization that he has seen God. Certainly, he believes he will die. There are others who have this fear when God appears to them.
Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Judges 13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
And God Himself even suggested that to look upon Him directly was to risk death.
Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
In verse 24 the altar that Gideon built he calls Jehovah is peace. When this book was written the altar still stood as a memorial obviously.
Gideon shows that he is at least capable of obedience as he performs that which is required of him.
Judges 6:25 ¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: 26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. 31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
Gideon is ordered to tear down his father’s altar to the demon-god, Baal, and to cut down the grove next to it also used for worship. This place of worship has been discussed previously in chapter 3.
“Worshipping in groves of trees bears note here. Commentators have noted that Jupiter, the Roman name for Zeus, was worshipped in groves. According to the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, and others priests and priestesses would attend the sacred grove of Zeus, possibly in the millennium that saw the Exodus of Moses and the Hebrews out of Egypt, at Dodona in Greece interpreting the rustling of the oaks’ leaves as expressing the will of the Gods. Bible commentator John Gill, in his commentary, noted that from Germans to Phoenicians groves of trees were where people worshipped, awaited instructions from their gods, and even honored their dead heroes.”
Gideon is told to build an altar and burn a sacrifice with the wood he has cut down from the grove. He is to use his father’s second bullock which suggests to me that the first bullock was either offered to Baal or was dedicated to God and the second bullock was to be offered to Baal, which God demanded be used as a sacrifice to God.
But see Leviticus, chapter 4, and possibly regard the second bullock as a sin offering for all Israel while the first bullock was for a sin offering of an individual, even a priest. Perhaps God is dealing with the sin of idolatry opening up the door for their salvation from their enemies.
Leviticus 4:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: 3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering. 4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD. 5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation: 6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary. 7 And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8 And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 9 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away, 10 As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering. 11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, 12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
13 ¶ And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. 16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: 17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail. 18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 19 And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. 20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. 21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
In verse 27 Gideon does his
work by night with his ten helpers. He is afraid of what the people around him
would do but his effort to hide his obedience to God doesn’t work. See how
Gideon turns this back on his accusers. Do you actually plead for Baal? If he
is strong let him plead for himself. So Gideon is given a title. I mentioned
earlier that this is one of the archaeological evidences for the veracity of
the book of Judges. A
Smithsonian Magazine article dated July 13, 2021 revealing how a supposedly
3100 year old jug has the name Jerubbaal, the nickname for Gideon, on it.[1]
Judges 6:33 ¶ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
All the Midianite, the Amalekite, and children of the east warriors and their camp followers pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
The valley of Jezreel is in Northern Israel, also called the Plain of Esdraelon. It divides the hilly areas of Galilee in the North and Samaria in the south today. It was in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh and Gideon is from that tribe. See Joshua, chapter 17.
Joshua 17:2 There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer,…
Judges 6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
One way of look at this is that we can be amazed at the impertinence of Gideon and even more so at God’s patience with him. Gideon’s faith is weak and God’s patience is great. This might remind you of Abraham’s questioning of God in Genesis 18:23-33 in regard to the destruction of Sodom. Notice how tender and kind God can be to His people weak in faith. In this Gideon confirms that God is powerful and that this is God with whom he is dealing.
An important point is made here that is made very clearly in Job. God is the author of all reality and nothing is impossible for Him to do. There is no twisting of the fabric of time nor is there any altering of the so-called laws of nature that can overwhelm Him. He is the author of our reality, no matter how painful or joyous in either His direct will or His will by permission. This is a tough thing for us to understand.
Another important way of looking at this is that Gideon calls his
assembly to war and then asks for these proofs to confirm that God is going to
deliver the Israelites by Gideon’s hand. Am I the one? Please confirm that I
am.
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