Judges 6

Jud 6:1-6.

THE

ISRAELITES, FOR

THEIR

SINS,

OPPRESSED BY

MIDIAN.

1. and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian--Untaught by

their former experiences, the Israelites again apostatized, and new

sins were followed by fresh judgments. Midian had sustained a severe

blow in the time of Moses

(Nu 31:1-18);

and the memory of that disaster, no doubt, inflamed their resentment

against the Israelites. They were wandering herdsmen, called "children

of the East," from their occupying the territory east of the Red Sea,

contiguous to Moab. The destructive ravages they are described as at

this time committing in the land of Israel are similar to those of the

Bedouin Arabs, who harass the peaceful cultivators of the soil. Unless

composition is made with them, they return annually at a certain

season, when they carry off the grain, seize the cattle and other

property; and even life itself is in jeopardy from the attacks of those

prowling marauders. The vast horde of Midianites that overran Canaan

made them the greatest scourge which had ever afflicted the

Israelites.

2. made . . . dens . . . in the mountains and caves--not, of course,

excavating them, for they were already, but making them fit for

habitation.

Jud 6:7-10.

A

PROPHET

REBUKES

THEM.

8. the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel--The curse of

the national calamity is authoritatively traced to their infidelity as

the cause.

Jud 6:11-16.

AN

ANGEL

SENDS

GIDEON TO

DELIVER

THEM.

11. there came an angel of the Lord--He appeared in the character and

equipments of a traveller

(Jud 6:21),

who sat down in the shade to enjoy a little refreshment and repose.

Entering into conversation on the engrossing topic of the times, the

grievous oppression of the Midianites, he began urging Gideon to exert

his well-known prowess on behalf of his country. Gideon, in replying,

addresses him at first in a style equivalent (in Hebrew) to

"sir," but afterwards gives to him the name usually applied to God.

an oak--Hebrew, "the oak"--as famous in after-times.

Ophrah--a city in the tribe of Manasseh, about sixteen miles north of

Jericho, in the district belonging to the family of Abiezer

(Jos 17:2).

his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press--This incident tells

emphatically the tale of public distress. The small quantity of grain

he was threshing, indicated by his using a flail instead of the

customary treading of cattle--the unusual place, near a wine-press,

under a tree, and on the bare ground, not a wooden floor, for the

prevention of noise--all these circumstances reveal the extreme dread

in which the people were living.

13. if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?--Gideon's

language betrays want of reflection, for the very chastisements God had

brought on His people showed His presence with, and His interest in,

them.

14-16. the Lord looked upon him, and said, 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 reasonable, and it was graciously

granted

[Jud 6:18].

Jud 6:17-32.

GIDEON'S

PRESENT

CONSUMED BY

FIRE.

18. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I . . . bring forth my

present--Hebrew, my mincha, or "meat offering"; and his idea

probably was to prove, by his visitor's partaking of the entertainment,

whether or not he was more than man.

19-23. Gideon went in, and made ready a kid; . . . the flesh he put in

a basket, and he put the broth in a

pot--(See on

Ge 18:7).

The flesh seems to have been roasted, which is done by cutting it into

kobab, that is, into small pieces, fixed on a skewer, and put before

the fire. The broth was for immediate use; the other, brought in a

hand-basket was intended to be a future supply to the traveller. The

miraculous fire that consumed it and the vanishing of the stranger, not

consciousness of demerit fills the heart of every fallen man at the

thought of God, with fear of His wrath; and this feeling was increased

forthwith die. The acceptance of Gideon's sacrifice betokened the

acceptance of his person; but it required an express assurance of the

divine blessing, given in some unknown manner, to restore his comfort

and peace of mind.

24-32. it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him--The

transaction in which Gideon is here described as engaged was not

entered on till the night after the vision.

25. Take thy father's . . . second bullock--The Midianites had probably

reduced the family herd; or, as Gideon's father was addicted to

idolatry, the best may have been fattened for the service of Baal; so

that the second was the only remaining one fit for sacrifice to God.

throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath--standing upon his

ground, though kept for the common use of the townsmen.

cut down the grove that is by it--dedicated to Ashtaroth. With the aid

of ten confidential servants he demolished the one altar and raised on

the appointed spot the altar of the Lord; but, for fear of opposition,

the work had to be done under cover of night. A violent commotion was

excited next day, and vengeance vowed against Gideon as the

perpetrator. "Joash, his father, quieted the mob in a manner similar to

that of the town clerk of Ephesus. It was not for them to take the

matter into their own hands. The one, however, made an appeal to the

magistrate; the other to the idolatrous god himself"

[CHALMERS].

Jud 6:33-39.

THE

SIGNS.

33. all the Midianites . . . pitched in Jezreel--The confederated

troops of Midian, Amalek, and their neighbors, crossing the Jordan to

make a fresh inroad on Canaan, encamped in the plains of Esdraelon

(anciently Jezreel). The southern part of the Ghor lies in a very low

level, so that there is a steep and difficult descent into Canaan by

the southern wadies. Keeping this in view, we see the reason why the

Midianite army, from the east of Jordan, entered Canaan by the northern

wadies of the Ghor, opposite Jezreel.

34. the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon--Called in this sudden

emergency into the public service of his country, he was supernaturally

endowed with wisdom and energy commensurate with the magnitude of the

danger and the difficulties of his position. His summons to war was

enthusiastically obeyed by all the neighboring tribes. On the eve of a

perilous enterprise, he sought to fortify his mind with a fresh

assurance of a divine call to the responsible office. The miracle of

the fleece was a very remarkable one--especially, considering the

copious dews that fall in his country. The divine patience and

condescension were wonderfully manifested in reversing the form of the

miracle. Gideon himself seems to have been conscious of incurring the

displeasure of God by his hesitancy and doubts; but He bears with the

infirmities of His people.