Judges 6:1-40

Life Without Law

Judges

Philip Smith

Chapter 6

The stories about Gideon and his son, Abimelech are the most important ones in the book. John J. Davies says, ‘Gideon is the ideal judge like Moses. His son is the very opposite.’

v1 Again *Israel’s people did not obey God. For 7 years, he let people from Midian rule them. v2 The people from Midian were stronger than the *Israelites. The *Israelites hid in holes in the mountains. They hid in caves and other safe places. v3 They planted their seeds. Then people from Midian, Amalek’s people and other *tribes from the east went into the country. They went in as enemies. v4 They camped on the land and they destroyed the crops as far as Gaza. They took sheep, cows and *mules. And they left nothing for *Israel’s people to eat. v5 They came with their animals and tents. They seemed like large numbers of *locusts. People could not count the men and their camels. People could not grow anything on the land. v6 The people from Midian made the *Israelites very poor. So the *Israelites cried to the *Lord for help.

v7 They cried to the *Lord because of what Midian’s people did. v8 Then he sent a *prophet to Israel’s people. He said, ‘The *Lord, the God of *Israel’s people, says this. “I freed you so that you were not slaves in Egypt any more. v9 I freed you from Egypt’s people. And I freed you from all those people that were cruel to you. I made your enemies leave and I gave their land to you. v10 I said to you, ‘I am the *Lord your God. Do not praise the gods of the *Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you did not listen to me.” ’

The *Israelites soon forgot about Deborah’s success and they behaved in their old ways again. The new enemies were people from Midian and Amalek’s people. They were ‘too many’ in number, so that *Israel’s people could not defeat them. Their plan was what we today call a ‘scorched (burnt) earth plan’. This means that they destroyed everything on the land so that *Israel’s people could not grow food there. God told the people what he had done for them. Then he told them what they had done to him. God had heard their voice, but they had not listened to him. He had done very many kind things for them, but they still did wrong things. So God had to notice those wrong things and he had to punish *Israel’s people. And this was the result. He sent to them too many people from Midian.

v11 The *angel of the Lord came. And he sat under the *oak in Ophrah. This belonged to Joash from Abiezer’s family. Joash’s son Gideon was beating the stems of wheat to separate them from the grains. He did this in a hole in the ground. This was where they usually made *grapes into wine. Then the people from Midian would not see what he was doing. v12 The *angel said to Gideon, ‘The *Lord is with you, brave soldier.’ v13 Gideon replied, ‘Sir, if God is with us, why has all this happened to us? What about all the *miracles that our *ancestors told us about? They told us that he brought them out of Egypt. Now the *Lord has left us alone and he has let the people from Midian control us.’ v14 The *Lord said, ‘Go. Use your strength to save *Israel’s people from Midian’s people. I am sending you.’ v15 Gideon said, ‘But how can I rescue *Israel, *Lord? My family is the weakest family in Manasseh’s *tribe. I am the least important member in my family.’ v16 The *Lord answered, ‘I will be with you. You will destroy that nation called Midian as if there was only one person in it.’ v17 Then Gideon spoke. ‘Please prove with a *miracle that God is really speaking to me. v18 Please do not leave until I return with a gift for you.’ The *Lord then answered him, ‘I will wait until you come back.’

v19 Gideon went in and he prepared a goat. He also made bread without *yeast. He put the meat in a basket and he poured the soup into a pot. Then he took them to the *angel under the *oak. v20 The *angel said, ‘Put the meat and the bread on the rock. Pour out the soup.’ Gideon did this. v21 The *angel touched the meat and bread with his wooden stick. Fire burned up the meat and the bread. And the *angel disappeared. v22 Then Gideon knew that it was the *angel of the Lord. He said, ‘Help, *Lord. I have seen the *angel of the Lord.’ v23 But the *Lord said, ‘Peace! Do not worry. You will not die.’ v24 So Gideon built an *altar (a stone table with a flat top). He built it in order to offer a gift to God there. He called it ‘The *Lord sent peace’. (It is still there today in Ophrah. This is in the area where Abiezer’s relatives live.)

Gideon is like *Israel’s people. He says that he is not important. God can use people when they know their weakness and their difficulties. The *angel described Gideon as a brave soldier. But this was a *prophetic description rather than what Gideon actually was at that time. However, his courage grew. This was not because he was brave. It was because God was making him brave. Notice the parallel between Gideon and Moses. Compare Judges 6:6; Judges 6:11; Judges 6:14; Judges 6:15; Judges 6:22 with Exodus 2:23 and Exodus 3:10-12 and Exodus chapter 6. Several things are the same about how God called each person and that person’s answer.

The *angel of the Lord is God, who is appearing as a person. Usually, God gave messages under an *oak tree that was a holy tree. Gideon’s father came from the family of Abiezer, Manasseh’s son. The hole in the ground was called a *winepress. (The ground there was rock.) In there, people used their feet to *crush *grapes. The juice ran down to a place where something held it. Gideon was able to separate corn from stems in the *winepress. This shows how small the harvest was. Gideon was like other people who lived at that time. He thought that God had left him alone. God had done things for his people in the past. But he thought that God had not done such things in the present. However, God made him feel sure that God was giving him the task. Gideon thought that he was not the most suitable person for it. But God encouraged him. He promised to be with Gideon.

*Israel’s people had to learn how great their enemy was. In verses 17-18, Gideon asked for a sign. And he offered a present. The word for ‘present’ means something that people offered to a king. Or they offered it to an important person. The present was expensive, as they had very little food. The flour weighed between 34 and 45 pounds (15-20 kilograms). The fire burnt up the meal. Then Gideon knew who his visitor was. And he was afraid. People believed that no person could continue to live after he or she had seen God. That is why Gideon was afraid. The *Lord told him that he would not die. So he built an *altar (a stone table with a flat top on which to burn dead animals and gifts). From this story, we learn how the place got its name. The name means ‘The *Lord sent peace’. In this part, the story is very similar to chapter 13. That chapter contains the story about Samson’s birth.

v25 That night, God said to Gideon, ‘Take your father’s second male cow. That is the one that is 7 years old. Pull down the *altar where people offer gifts to *Baal. And pull down the holy *pole where people praise the female god *Asherah. v26 Then build an *altar where people can offer gifts to God. Build it on top of this hill. Offer the male cow as a burnt *sacrifice on the *altar. Use the wood from the *Asherah *pole.’ v27 Gideon took 10 servants with him and he obeyed God. Because he was afraid, he did it at night. He did not do it in the day.

v28 Next morning the people in the town noticed that someone had destroyed *Baal’s *altar. Someone had cut down *Asherah’s *pole. Someone had *sacrificed the male cow on the new *altar. v29 They asked who had done this. Someone told them that Gideon had done it. v30 They ordered Joash, ‘Bring out your son. He must die, because he has destroyed *Baal’s *altar and *Asherah’s pole.’ v31 Joash replied, ‘Are you trying to support *Baal? Are you trying to save him? We will kill whoever does this. We will kill them by morning. Is *Baal really a god? Then he can defend himself when someone destroys his *altar.’ v32 So that day they named Gideon Jerubbaal. This means ‘Let *Baal fight him’. This was because he cut down *Baal’s *altar.

Before Gideon could change the nation, he had to change things in his home. Perhaps his father served both God and *Baal. The male cow was a special animal. Perhaps Joash wanted to *sacrifice it to *Baal. God told Gideon to build another *altar on top of a rock. People probably went to that rock whenever the people from Midian attacked. They would go there for safety. (Look at verse 2.) God told Gideon to do this after he had first destroyed his father’s *altar and wooden *pole. The *altar was where people offered gifts to *Baal. And the *pole was where people praised *Asherah. These were evil things from the world round them. These things had come into their lives before anyone had noticed it.

So Gideon obeyed God and he destroyed his father’s *idol. (An *idol is an object to praise instead of God.) He had to oppose the enemy. It was better to do it at night if he was too afraid during the day. He had to do what God told him. He did not have to be a hero who would take risks.

The people called him Jerubbaal. This name means ‘Let *Baal fight him’. It was Gideon’s nickname. (A nickname means a name that people give someone. They give it to them because of what they are like.) In this story, we learn why they gave him this nickname. The neighbours of Gideon’s father protested against Gideon’s action. Then Gideon’s father replied to them in this way: If *Baal were a real god, he would not need their help in this matter. If they did help him, it would be an insult to him. And they would deserve death because of it. They would deserve death because *Baal should be able to protect his own character! By this reply, Gideon’s father showed good wisdom that he had learned from experience.

v33 The people from Midian came together with Amalek’s people and other people from the east. They crossed the Jordan river and they camped in the valley called Jezreel. v34 The Spirit of God controlled Gideon. He blew a *trumpet. And he called Abiezer’s relatives to follow him. v35 He sent people with messages to Manasseh’s *tribe. In the messages, he called them to fight. He also called Asher’s *tribe, Zebulun’s *tribe and Naphtali’s *tribe. And they came to meet the other people.

The people from Midian attacked again. And the Spirit of God came upon Gideon. In the original *Hebrew language, this means that God’s Spirit ‘put himself onto Gideon, like clothes’. God’s Spirit completely controlled him. Gideon asked Abiezer’s relatives (Gideon’s own people) to help him. And he asked Manasseh’s *tribe (to which Abiezer’s relatives belonged). He also asked Asher’s *tribe, Zebulun’s *tribe and Naphtali’s *tribe. He did not call Ephraim’s *tribe to help him. Perhaps he was afraid to lead such a powerful *tribe. They complained about this later, in chapter 8.

v36 Gideon said to God, ‘You say that you will use me to save *Israel’s people. You have promised this. v37 I will put some wool on the ground where we *thresh corn. Suppose that there is *dew on the wool only. And suppose that all the ground is dry. Then I will know that you will free *Israel’s people by me.’ v38 That is what happened. Gideon got up early the next day. He squeezed enough *dew out of the wool to fill a bowl with water. v39 Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not be angry with me. I want to ask just one more thing. Let me try with the wool once again. This time, make the wool dry and cover the ground with *dew.’ v40 So God did that. That night, the wool was dry and *dew covered all the ground.

Gideon needed to be sure what God wanted. So he used the wool as a test to make sure. People often needed to discover what God wanted. But that was not usually a good way to do it. In Psalms 95:5-11, the writer speaks badly about the *Israelites. This was because they tested God. In Isaiah 7:10-17, the writer speaks badly about the king. But there it was because he did not ask for a sign. We follow God by trust. We do not follow him by what we can see. The important thing about God’s advice is not how God gives it to us. The important thing is the fact that he does give it. Gideon here was different. He was humble, unwilling and shy. He was slow to act. But this does not mean that he did not trust God. He had *faith, but he was careful. He knew that the second sign was the greater *miracle. In the first sign, the wool would easily hold water. But in the second sign, the floor was rock. This would not hold water easily.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.

descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
Israelites ~ the people that belonged to the nation called Israel. God had chosen them as his own special people.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
tribe ~ a large group of people that are all relatives of each other.
mule ~ a horse with short legs that carries loads.
locusts ~ insects that fly as large groups and they destroy plants.
Lord ~ a name for God. It means that he is the master, the ruler over all. Also, people often use this word to translate Yahweh, a very special Hebrew name for God.

Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
prophet ~ a person who teaches God’s message. A prophet sometimes tells about the results that present actions will have in the future.
Amorites ~ a group of people that lived in Canaan.

Canaan ~ the country that later was called Israel.
angel ~ a special servant of God. He lives where God lives and he brings messages from God.
oak ~ a tree with hard wood. People often considered it as a holy thing.
grape ~ juicy green or purple fruit that grows on the branches of a vine. People use this fruit to make wine.

vine ~ a plant that climbs. Its fruit is the grape.
miracle ~ an event that does not follow the laws of nature.
ancestors ~ people that lived before you in your family.
yeast ~ a type of plant that people use to make bread become bigger. It has no leaves, no fruit and no green colour.
altar ~ a special table where people put a sacrifice to God (or to a false god). They usually made it from stone.

sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.
prophetic ~ when a statement or event shows what will happen in the future.
winepress ~ in a winepress people used their feet to crush grapes; the juice ran down to a place where something held it.

crush ~ press something so that it breaks into pieces.
grape ~ juicy green or purple fruit that grows on the branches of a vine. People use this fruit to make wine.
vine ~ a plant that climbs. Its fruit is the grape.
crush ~ press something so that it breaks into pieces.
Baal ~ the false god of rain and good crops.
pole ~ a very long piece of wood that usually stands straight up. At that time, it often represented a god.
Asherah ~ a female god.
sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.
idol ~ a thing that people make out of wood, stone or metal. It looks like a man or a god. People worship it and pray to it instead of God.

worship ~ to show honour and respect to God or to a false god. To praise and serve God or a false god.
trumpet ~ a musical instrument that people blow in order to play it. They make it from metal.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.

descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
dew ~ drops of water that form on cool surfaces outside. They form at night when the air is damp.
faith ~ trust, complete confidence.