Midian Oppresses Israel
1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of Yahweh; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- JUDG 6:1[FULFILLS]When each judge died, Israel would turn back to idols and the cycle would start again ← JUDG 2:18-19MEDIUM
3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them, 4encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys. 5For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
6Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to Yahweh.
7Now when the Israelites cried out to Yahweh because of Midian, 8He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 9I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10And I said to you: ‘I am Yahweh your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
- JUDG 6:7[TEXT]The oldest copy of Judges, a Dead Sea Scroll called 4QJudg a, goes straight from 6:6 to 6:11. It does not have the prophet's speech in 6:7 to 10. Some scholars think those verses were added later; others think the scroll left them out.
- JUDG 6:8[NOTE]RED LETTERS. A prophet is passing on God's words, so only God's words are red, from I brought you up to the end of 6:10.
- JUDG 6:10[DEMONIC]Do not fear the gods of the Amorites
The Call of Gideon
11Then the angel of Yahweh came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of Yahweh appeared to Gideon and said, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
- JUDG 6:11[MIRACLE]The angel of Yahweh calls Gideon a mighty man of valor
- JUDG 6:11[NOTE]Wheat was threshed on an open hilltop so the wind could blow the chaff away. Gideon was threshing in a winepress, a pit in the ground, to hide his food from the Midianites.
- JUDG 6:12[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → HEB 11:32
- JUDG 6:12[NOTABLE]Gideon was hiding in a winepress when God called him a mighty man of valor. God names people by what He will make them, not by what they are today.
13“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if Yahweh is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not Yahweh brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
14Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?”
- JUDG 6:14[NOTE]In 6:12 the angel of Yahweh speaks; in 6:14 the text says Yahweh turned to him. The same Person seems to be both. This is one reason many see the angel of Yahweh as God Himself.
15“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16“Surely I will be with you,” Yahweh replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.”
17Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me. 18Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.”
And Yahweh said, “I will stay until you return.”
19So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from half a bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.
20And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
21Then the angel of Yahweh extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh vanished from his sight.
- JUDG 6:21[MIRACLE]Fire from the rock consumes Gideon's offering
22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of Yahweh, he said, “Oh no, Lord Yahweh! I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!”
- JUDG 6:22[NOTE]Gideon thought he would die, because no one could see God and live, Exodus 33:20. God answered, Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die, 6:23.
23But Yahweh said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”
24So Gideon built an altar to Yahweh there and called it Yahweh Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar
25On that very night Yahweh said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26Then build a proper altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”
- JUDG 6:25[DEMONIC]Gideon tears down his father's Baal altar and Asherah
27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than in the daytime.
28When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar. 29“Who did this?” they said to one another.
And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Are you contending for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself with the one who has torn down his altar.”
32So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.
The Sign of the Fleece
33Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34So the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him. 35Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.
36Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, 37then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
- JUDG 6:36[MIRACLE]Gideon's fleece, wet and then dry
- JUDG 6:36[NOTE]THE FLEECE. God had already promised Gideon the victory, 6:14 and 6:16. Gideon asked for a sign anyway, then a second one. God was patient with his fear. Today, asking God for a sign is called putting out a fleece.
38And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.”
40And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.