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Judges 6-7    Listen Podcast

 

Israel runs out of food (Judges 6:1-10)

1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,
2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.
3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.
5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.
6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.
7 ¶ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,
8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you 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 who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10 Also I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

Here they are doing "evil in the sight of the Lord" again. What do you suppose they were doing? What else? Going after strange gods (we see this in verse 27). For 7 years they are bullied by the Midianites - like one kid at school stealing another kid's lunch...every day! Their harvests, cattle and everything else of value were scooped up before they could enjoy the fruits of their own labor. The mention of Gaza on the southwest coast of Israel is probably given to emphasize how thorough the devastation from these nomadic tribes was...all the way from the eastern-most part of Israel to the Mediterranean Sea. And, given the fact that the tribes which Gideon calls upon to assist in the battle (northern tribes) down in verse 35 (see below), this was most certainly an aggression against all of the Tribes of Israel.

Israel gets the word from God through a special unnamed prophet (verses 8-11): Your affliction befalls you because you have not obeyed God.

Judge #5 - Come on Gideon, show some backbone (Judges 6:11-27)

11 ¶ Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 ¶ Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 ¶ Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 ¶ So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 ¶ And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
17 ¶ Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.
18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” ¶ And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
19 ¶ So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.
20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21 ¶ Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22 ¶ Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”
23 ¶ Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The–LORD–Is–Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 ¶ Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;
26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”
27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

The "Angel of the Lord" visits Gideon while hiding food from the Midianites at the time. Who was this angel? Gideon addresses him with the word "Lord" from the Hebrew "aw-done´" as well as "LORD" from the Hebrew "Yahweh" aka "Jehovah." However, any doubt as to his identity is settled in verses 14, 16 and 23 when we are told that it is definitely the "LORD" ("Yahweh/Jehovah") talking to Gideon. This is a pre-incarnate manifestation of God in human form i.e. Jesus himself. I'm convinced that the only physical body that God ever had or will have is that of Jesus Christ (see notes on John 1:1-14).

So, here Gideon gets the fight-for-God call but insists on a sign from God first...and gets one. Gideon lays his sacrifice out on a rock and the "Angel of the LORD" supernaturally consumes it with fire after simply touching it with his staff (verse 21). He names this new altar in verse 24 "Jehovahshalom," a name which means "Jehovah is peace." That naming is in response to the guarantee in verse 23, "Peace be with you," being the equivalent of "all is well." He's convinced - now for the marching orders. Step one: tear down that altar to Baal and build one for God - which, incidentally, he does at night for fear of the wrath of his own family and local neighbors. They loved their Baal! The Hebrew word for the NKJV rendering, "wooden image," is "Asherah" - the female counterpart to Baal and another of the gods they worshipped. Asherah appears frequently through the Old Testament; she was considered to be a Canaanite goddess represented by a wooden cult object. He tore down that one as well and used the wood to build his altar to God

Gideon's people are steamed! (Judges 6:28-35)

28 ¶ And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.
29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”
31 ¶ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!”
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”
33 ¶ Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

Who tore down our favorite altar to pagan gods...and where's Asherah? Gideon's neighbors are steamed; they want to kill Gideon, but Gideon's papa (Joash) has the best idea. If your god, Baal, is so supernatural, let him kill Gideon. That leads him to come up with a nickname for Gideon - Jerubbaal. It means "let Baal plead for himself." Hey...aren't nicknames supposed to be shorter than your real name? Practically speaking, when people called Gideon "Jerubbaal," they were calling him "Baal fighter." The Midianites call for reinforcements from the Amalekites and other "children of the east [of the Jordan River]" who subsequently cross over the Jordan and set up camp in the valley of Jezreel (15 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee). Gideon calls up troops from the Northern Tribes of Manasseh (his own tribe), Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. The stage is set for battle.

Incidentally, you will notice that Gideon did not call upon Ephraim to supply troops for this battle. That omission is taken as a tribal insult in a verbal confrontation between Gideon and Ephraim's leadership in Judges 8:1-3 (see notes).

Fleece - you mean that's all it takes? (Judges 6:36-40)

36 ¶ So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—
37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”
40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Gideon devises a test for God. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit - don't need a fleece. Gideon takes a fleece of wool and spreads it out on the ground in the open air; if God wants him to lead this battle, he should make the fleece wet with dew while the ground around remains dry. That's exactly what happens, but Gideon is not altogether satisfied. He requests that God reverse it the next night - dry fleece, wet ground. Bingo! That's it; he's convinced; we're going to battle!

So much for the overwhelming force! (Judges 7:1-8)

1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2 ¶ And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, “Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
4 ¶ But the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, “This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.
7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”
8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

What a way to select your SPECIAL FORCES! Gideon starts with 32,000; 22,000 say they are afraid and are given draft exemption, leaving only 10,000. Incidentally, being fearful was a valid basis for exemption according to Deuteronomy 20:8 (see notes). Still too many! God tells Gideon that the people will think they did it on their own with 10,000 troops going to battle. How about a test to pare it down? This is the who-drinks-water-like-a-dog test. In other words, if you lap water like a dog, go home! Those who cup their hand and dip water are invited to stay. Gideon ends up by God's command with an army of only 300. A funny test - don't you agree? When the battle is over, the people must know it was God's deliverance and not by their own hand.

Why the lap-water test? Opinions differ. Most students of the Bible assume that those who cupped their hands and dipped water for drinking were chosen because they were careful and deliberate. The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, conjectured that those who lapped like a dog were fearless and that those who dipped their hands in the water were cowards. His conjecture is that God used the 300 cowards to defeat the enemy. We aren't actually told in scripture why this test was used.

That's a battle plan? (Judges 7:9-18)

9 ¶ It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,
11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
13 ¶ And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
14 ¶ Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
15 ¶ And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.
17 And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:
18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!’ ”

Okay, Gideon, what's the battle plan? Do what...Gideon! Do you realize that there are thousands upon thousands of enemy soldiers down there? Let's review verse 12, "Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude." BUT GIDEON HEARD A DREAM! That's right; that very night the LORD had sent Gideon over to eavesdrop on the enemy when Gideon overheard a dream that included in the interpretation by his fellow soldier Gideon himself prevailing in battle; it's a battle plan devised from hearing a guy tell scary stories around a camp fire. Emboldened and oozing with confidence after discovering that the enemy troops were authentically frightened at the thought of engaging Israel in battle, Gideon heads back to his own camp, rouses the troops and goes over the strategy. So...here's the battle plan: With 3 platoons of 100 each we're going to scare them with lanterns and trumpets. YOU CALL THAT A PLAN! That's almost as ridiculous as marching around Jericho seven times. If this works, there's no question - it's God!

Note: One hand with a lantern and the other with a horn. That's both hands accounted for. With which hand do they wield their swords? Therein lies the miracle; they won't be needing swords. God will do the work for them.

Talk about panic! (Judges 7:19-25)

19 ¶ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!”
21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.
22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.
23 ¶ And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
24 ¶ Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.
25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

It's around midnight ("beginning of the middle watch") and the enemy is all bedded down for the night - big day planned for tomorrow. Suddenly the trumpets blow, the lanterns flash on from every side and they hear Gideon's troops cry out, "The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon." That was one confused bunch of math-challenged Midianites. In their confusion, they turned on each other with their swords. Gideon then calls for the Israelite reinforcements to come in and finish off the job. Ephraim jumps into the conflict at this point, rounding up Midianite fugitives fleeing Gideon and his army. They captured and slew two of the Midianite "princes," Oreb and Zeeb. These princes of the Midianites lost their heads - literally. I love it when a plan comes together! And God did it all with only an army of 300.

Well, the battle is over, but Ephraim's leadership is a little miffed that they were involved at such a late date. They'll have something to say to Gideon about this in Judges 8:1-3 (see notes).