Judges 6:14

_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?_ Go in this thy might ... have not I sent thee? The command and the promise made Gideon aware of the real character of his visitor; and yet, like Moses, from a sense of humility, or a shrinking at the magnitude of the undertaking, he excused himself from entering on the enterprise. And even though assured that, with the divine aid, he would overcome the Midianites as easily as if they were but one man, he still hesitates, and wishes to be better assured that the mission was really from God. He resembles Moses also in the desire for a sign; and in both cases it was the rarity of revelations in such periods of general corruption that made them so desirous of having the fullest conviction of being addressed by a heavenly messenger. The request was...

11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned...

Verse Judges 6:14. _GO IN THIS THY MIGHT_] What does the angel mean? He had just stated that _Jehovah was with him_; and he now says, _Go in THIS_ _thy might_, i.e., in the might of Jehovah, who is _with thee_....

THE LORD LOOKED UPON HIM - That gracious look conferred immediate strength (compare Ephesians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; John 20:22; Acts 3:6) The change of phrase from “the angel of the Lord” to “the Lord” is remarkable. When messages are delivered by the Angel of the Lord, the form of the message is as if God Himself were speaking (compare Judges 2:1). The sending implied a valid commission and sufficient powers. Compare...

EXPOSITION JUDGES 6:11 AN ANGEL, etc. Rather, the _angel of the Lord_,_ _otherwise called "the angel of his presence" (Isaiah 63:9). In Judges 6:14, Judges 6:16, Judges 6:23, for _the angel of the Lord _we have simply _the Lord _(see Judges 2:1, note). AN OAK. Rather _the oak_, or _terebinth_,_ _as it should be rendered. It was doubtless a well-known tree still standing in th

AND THE LORD LOOKED UPON HIM,.... The same before called the angel of the Lord, and who was no other than Jehovah himself; who looked upon him with great earnestness, and with great delight and pleasure smiled upon him, and thereby showing he had a kindness for him, and meant well to him: and SAID UNTO HIM, GO IN THIS THY MIGHT; both of body and mind, which had been before given unto him, and was now increased, and which no doubt Gideon was sensible of: AND THOU SHALT SAVE ISRAEL FROM THE HAND OF THE MIDIANITES; as he did, and therefore justly reckoned among the saviours and judges of Israel: HAVE NOT I SENT THEE? to do this great work, save the people of Israel, from whence Gideon might perceive who it was that talked with him, and having a command and commission from God, had authority enough to go about this service....

4. FOURTH DECLENSION: UNDER MIDIAN AND GIDEON, TOLA AND JAIR CHAPTER 6 _ 1. Israel's suffering from Midian (Judges 6:1)_ 2. Their repentance and the divine answer (Judges 6:7) 3. Gideon, the deliverer, chosen (Judges 6:11) 4. The restored worship (Judges 6:25) 5. The gathering for the conflict (Judges 6:33) 6. The sign of the fleece (Judges 6:36) After Deborah and Barak the land had fifty years' rest, and when again they did

JUDGES 6:11. On the angel of Yahweh see Judges 2:1; Genesis 16:7 *. For oak read terebinth. While the primitive Semites were animists, the Israelites came to associate Yahweh's own presence with sacred trees (p. 100, Genesis 18:1). Judges 6:12. With the assurance Yahweh is with thee _cf._ the faith grandly expressed in the name Immanuel, God is with us (Isaiah 7:14). On hearing the words Yahweh is with _thee_, Gideon replies, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with _us_ (u

THY MIGHT. His might lay in the knowledge of Jehovah's strength (Judges 6:13) and his own weakness....

_The call of Gideon_. Sequel of 2 6a 11. _the angel of the Lord_ i.e. Jehovah Himself in manifestation; see on Judges 2:1. Closely parallel are the appearances in Judges 13:3-23 and Genesis 18 J; the Angel or Messenger appears in human form, and in the end is recognized as Jehovah; cf. also Genesis 16:7-14 J, Genesis 32:24-30 J (cf. Hosea 12:4 f.), Exodus 3:2-6 E. Here