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.

• After a tremendous victory over King Jabin, the nation once again does what is evil in the sight of The Lord, and because of their rebellion against The Lord, they are delivered over to the enemies of God.
• The consequence of their rebellion drove them to live in dens. mountains and caves to avoid the harsh dealings at the hands of the oppressive and cruel Midianites.
• Rather than learning from past sins, they repeat them over again. If the truth be told, each one of us finds ourselves wrestling with some easily besetting sins as well that bring us into captivity…it could be pride or anger or laziness or lust.
• May God grant us the grace to guard our hearts and stay close to Jesus.  

3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east (Arabians), 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.

·      The Amalekites were descendants from Esau's grandson Amalek. After the Israeli’s harvested their crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites would sweep in  and steal their produce before they could eat it themselves. This would be like someone robbing you of your paycheck every week. That would get very annoying!

·      The Midianites used camels in warfare, which surprisingly are very agile. In addition to their iron chariots, the camels would give the Midianites a decided edge in warfare.

·      Sin and rebellion against The Lord always leads to misery and destruction. Let all that sin, expect to suffer: let all that turn to folly, expect to return to misery. John Wesley

·      Beloved may we all learn that the only place that we are free from bondage is when we are in His will and in His hands. There is no such ting as freedom outside of the will of our God and Creator.  

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried (either due to anguish or because they were in danger) unto the LORD.

• After 7 years of bondage and oppression (vs.1), the children of Israel finally call out unto God. The phrase cried out unto The Lord is found 5 times in the book of Judges.

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;

• Ps 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: 12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help (the consequence of rebelling against God). 13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
• Our only hope of deliverance from sin and its consequences is when we truly cry out unto the Lord.
• We might expect that the Lord would justly say, "Enough is enough!  You've spurned Me one time too many.  Away with you!  Let the Midianites engulf you for all I care!" Pastor Phillip Newton, South Woods Baptist Church
• Instead of wrath, God sends them a prophet to declare His truth and promise of help. Once again, we taste and see the mercy and grace of God toward His children.
• Please note that this prophet is an unnamed prophet of God. The vast majority of God’s servants are unnamed and unknown to the public.

• I brought you up from Egypt. The older that I get and the longer that I walk with The Lord I realize that if The Lord did not assert Himself in my lives, I would go the way of rebellion. 

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;

• The prophet reminds His people how He delivered them in the past. To face their current crisis, Israel needed a reminder of what God did before.
• This reminded them of the love and power of God that delivered them out of the oppressive hand of the Egyptians.

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.

• He reminds them that Jehovah is their God and Lord. He reminds them that the root of their oppression was forsaking His Lordship and worshipping the gods of the Amorites.
• Israel thought the problem was the Midianites but the real problem was Israel. It is human nature to blame others for problems that we cause. David Guzik

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.

• Many scholars believe that this angel of The Lord is a theophany or a preincarnate appearance of The Lord Jesus Christ.
• Gideon was not threshing wheat with oxen, as the manner was, but with a staff to prevent being discovered by the Midianites. Wheat was usually threshed at a high elevation in order to allow the wind to blow the chaff away. But as we have seen already, whenever the Midianites knew that the Israeli’s were threshing wheat, they would come and rip them off. Thus, Gideon in not threshing wheat on a mountaintop, but in a lower spot, a winepress.

12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

• The Lord is with thee. Likewise The Lord has declared to all of His children the wonderful promise, Heb 13.5 I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
• Are you kidding me? Gideon is hiding from the Midianites and The Lord calls him a mighty man of valor! Beloved, our struggles are not a hindrance to God doing a work in our lives.

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.

• Would you please note with me tonight beloved that Gideon interpreted the meaning of God’s Word, The Lord is with thee in verse 12 by his experience in verse 13.
• Gideons language here indicates a weak theology. The very chastisements of God were proof of His care for and presence with Israel. MacArthur Study Bible
• We tend to do the same thing don’t we beloved? Lord, if you are with me, than why am I experiencing all of these problems? Why is everything crashing down around me? Why aren’t all of those miracles happening in my life or in our church like the ones we read about in the Bible?
• I have a question for us tonight. Did The Lord deliver the Israelites into the hands of the Midianites? Yes! Did The Lord forsake them? No. Gideon failed to consider that the cause of the bondage that Israel was in was their rebellion against God, not God.
• Impoverished thoughts of God, more colored by perception of circumstances than revelation through the Word, lack the spark to inflame faith. Pastor Phillip Newton South Woods Baptist Church

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?

• The Lord does not answer Gideon’s question, He gives him a commission and a command to obey. You shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites….I have sent you.
• In other words, God did not play into this psychological game with Gideon. There were people in bondage and God raised up Gideon to do something about it.

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.

• A couple of things to ponder here saints. (1) Gideon is taken by surprise at the call of God. He does not feel qualified. (2) God knew all of this before He called Him.
• God told Gideon, I am with you and I have sent you. Beloved, one of the keys to fruitful ministry and being used by The Lord is remembering that it is not who we are, but Who The Lord is. Scripture tells us to be strong in The Lord and in the power of His might.

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.

• Gideon is seeking for confirmation from The Lord. Before you do anything for The Lord, first seek confirmation from The Lord.

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.

• Note that Gideon was instructed by the angel of The Lord to take this offering and place it upon a rock. Who is it that you and I are to give our offerings and tithes to? Our Rock, The Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

• The fire upon Gideon’s offering was a visible symbol of God’s approval. Our God is a consuming fire.
• The Scripture teaches us that 1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
• Beloved, when we stand before The Lord at the judgment seat of Christ, our works and the motives for doing them will be tried by fire.  Only what is done out of love for Christ and His glory will stand the test.

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.

• Gideon reacts with awe and worship to the miraculous sign.

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.

·      Gideon calls upon God by the name Jehovah Shalom, "the Lord is peace" (see Eph. 2:14-16 for the significance concerning Jesus). When God reveals Himself by a particular name in the Old Testament, He is revealing to that person an aspect of His character, His heart and mission, as well as what He desires to be for that individual or group of His people. Pastor Bob Caldwell

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.

• According to Leviticus 1, the burnt offering was an offering for consecration unto The Lord. True consecration to The Lord comes not from responsibility, but a response to The Lord from the heart, mind and will.

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.

• The Hebrew word for the English word grove is asherah. Also known as Astarte, this was a wooden image set up to worship a Phoenician goddess.
• Ancient Israel worshipped Baal because he was thought to be the god of weather, and they relied on the weather for agricultural prosperity. In the hard economic times because of the Midianite oppression, people worshipped Baal all the more - not understanding that they only made things worse by not turning to God. David Guzik
• The first act of obedience to God for Gideon was throwing down the altar that his father had built unto Baal. For deliverance and revival to take place, idolatry had to go. Gideon had to love God more than his father and his idol. Gideon’s faith overcame the fear of his fathers household.
• No doubt this was an important test of faith for Gideon. He did what God told him to do, trusting the Lord with the results and consequences. One of the conditions of being a disciple of Jesus is that we love him more than anyone and anything else, including our own lives. Lord, increase our faith!

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.

• Idolatry so debases men, and renders them so foolish, that they will worship, and sometimes try to help gods that have no power to help themselves. Family Bible Notes
• Please note how God honored Gideon’s step of faith. His father who owned the destroyed idols now comes to his defense!  When Joash saw the boldness and faith of his son Gideon, God stirred something up in his heart. Only the Lord can turn the tables - and indeed He does as we step out in obedience to Him. 

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal (let Baal plead), saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

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.

• The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon: This follows the familiar pattern of the Spirit's work upon men under the Old Covenant. The Holy Spirit comes upon specific people for specific reasons, usually for divinely empowered leadership. Under the New Covenant, a broad and generous outpouring of the Holy Spirit is promised upon all flesh (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:17-18).

• Note that the key to all that follows here is not Gideon but the Lord's Spirit upon him. The Holy Spirit comes upon us in order that God gets all of the glory for the work that is done.
• The people gathered around Gideon because The Spirit of The Lord was upon Him. Gideon was not from a wealthy or influential family. He had no credentials to stand upon that would impress others to follow him. It was God’s Spirit doing all the work.

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.

• After the descent of the Holy Spirit, we do not read any more of people casting lots or putting out a fleece. The Spirit of The Lord now directs His people through His Word, as we seek Him in prayer and listen for that still small voice for direction.