Judges 6

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Intro:

We are going to add some things to our Wednesday nights in 2022
Next week is Equipping Dinner
Communion on 1st Wednesday night
Short Prophecy update on 2nd Wednesday
That video has over 2000 views on Youtube so there is definitely an appetite
Tonight we are going to start the well known stories of Judges
We start looking at Gideon
It also introduces a theme we see throughout all of the Bible
God likes to work through the Least Likely
In fact, he shows that those are the most open
That doesn’t mean they don’t have doubts or express suspicion at God’s intentions
Gideon personifies all of that
If you think there are more qualified people for God to use then you are in the perfect position to be used.

Read Judges 6:1-6

I. Overpowered and Oppressed vs. 1-10

vs. 1 Given to the Midianites
We are not told that Deborah dies but we can assume she has because the people of Israel are once again doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord
This is different than doing what was right in their own eyes, but it is the same thing
We aren’t told what that is but we will find out later that they are worshipping Baal and erecting Asherah poles
God is a jealous God and won’t compete with other gods
He judges Israel and gives them into the hand of the Midianites
This gives us the image of it being a gift
Israel didn’t have a leader and weren’t looking to God so it was easy for these nations to conquer Israel
One thing we need to understand is that these punishments keep increasing in intensity
That is what happens with rebellious people
The Midianites are a people living in the southern portions of the Transjordan region.
They are described as the descendants of Abraham and Keturah, and in the Joseph narrative they operate as traders and caravaneers .
Moses joins the Midianite clan of Jethro after fleeing Egypt, but the Midianites do not join the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan.
In the Balaam narrative the Midianite elders are allied with the Moabites and participate in the hiring of the prophet to curse Israel
It’s easy to say relations weren’t good between the two nations
vs. 2-6 Brought Very Low
Because of Israel’s sin they were brought very low
The Midianites were raiders
At harvest time they came and devoured their crops
vs. 5 says they would come with their lives stocks and tents and it would look like locust
They laid waste to the land
The timing of the invader was very important.
If harvest time had passed, the villagers would have stored and hidden all of their grain and could withstand attack more easily.
If the grain was still in the fields, the invader would have ample provisions and the villagers none. This would suggest April or May as the time of the invasions.
The villages could easily be crippled if they were deprived of their year’s supply of grain, so what the invaders did not use or steal, they destroyed.
The trampling of the fields would also jeopardize future seasons.
Israel was a free lunch because they worked hard and God still blessed their labors
One of the hardest punishments can be to have the fruits of your hard labor taken from you without anything in return
vs. 4 The Midianites would leave no sustenance
In response Israel had to go into hiding
They took their crops and put them in dens and caves in the mountains
With few fortified cities, the Israelites’ only protection was to hide out in the hills, where they could preserve their supplies and their families.
Every time it would happen the people were brought low
That means they were losing hope with no end in sight
This is what forsaking God does to believers
You work hard and have nothing to show for it
This makes Israel cry out to the Lord
vs. 7-10 God sends a prophet
In response to their cries God sends a prophet
We don’t know the name of this prophet because it wasn’t of importance
This is all to ready Israel for the next judge
He points out what God has done in the past
He also tells them there is nothing to fear their gods
Here he is seen as a defender of the covenant, and his message focuses on worshiping Yahweh exclusively.
Then he tells them that Israel has not obeyed my voice

II. Least of the Weakest vs. 11-24

vs. 11-13 Might Man of Valor
Now we are introduced to one of the great characters in the Bible, Gideon
He is the everyman of the Bible
No great qualifications and full of doubt
The Angel of the Lord appears and sits under the terebinth tree
Trees were often a place where an oracle of God was given or a place of worship
The is the Pre-incarnate Jesus
He comes to a place called Ophrah
Interesting note is that this is where Oprah got her name but her parents spelled it wrong
Gideon was in a winepress beating out the wheat
Threshing floors were large areas of dirt or stone that were usually out in the open so that the breezes could be used to blow away the chaff.
They would generally be used by the whole community.
Threshing was done mostly in June and July, using a stick or by walking cattle over the sheaves.
A winepress was a square or circular pit hollowed out of rock big enough for a few people to walk around in.
Threshing activity in a winepress would be much less conspicuous than on a threshing floor.
It was easier to hide but it could also mean that he didn’t have as much wheat as normal
The Angel of the Lord interrupts his work and calls him a might man of valor
He also tells him that the Lord is with him
This elicits a rather desperate and whiny response from Gideon
“If the Lord is with us, why has this happened? Where are all his wonderful deeds? The Lord has forsaken us.”
I find this interesting
If he has heard the recounted stories he has also heard the teachings of the law
There is no self-assessment of wrongdoing or realization of current circumstances
He also doesn’t reference the words of the prophet
This is typical of people in dire straits. They blame those who haven’t helped them
vs. 14-16 Go In Your Might
The Angel of the Lord doesn’t even respond to his complaint
Instead he gives him marching orders
What a great response!
“Go in this might of yours and save Israel”
Gideon responds: “how can I save Israel?”
He describes himself as the least in his fathers house and they are part of the weakest clan of the tribe of Manasseh
This has to do with standing and authority
Gideon has no authority to call out troops to fight
The Lord reassures him that he will be with him as the strike the Midianites
vs. 17-21 Show Me a Sign
Gideon is still having a hard time coming to grips with what the Lord is asking
“if I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign.”
Some people criticize Gideon for his lack of faith but he is looking at his situation and circumstances and he wants assurances
The Lord doesn’t get upset
He wants to bring the Lord a gift, a sacrifice of food
The contents of this meal included goat meat and broth and unleavened bread (having been made quickly).
An ephah is about half a bushel, which would make ten flat cakes of eight or ten inches in diameter, a very generous provision for the hard times they were experiencing.
vs. 20 put the food on the rock
The Lord tells him to put the food on the rock and pour the broth over them
The Lord touches the food with the tip of his staff
Fire springs up from the rock and the Angel vanishes from his sight
vs. 22—24 Realizes He’s Seen God
Gideon has a woman at the well moment
Jesus tells her how many men she has been married to and the guy who she is with now isn’t her husband
She says “I perceive that you are a prophet.”
Vs. 22 The food gets consumed by fire and the Angel of the Lord vanishes and Gideon perceives that he was the Angel of the Lord
Gideon thought this was simply a man before this
The sudden appearance of the fire and disappearance of the visitor convinced Gideon that indeed he had seen God and spoken to Him, and this frightened him even more.
Since the Jews believed it was fatal for sinful man to look upon God, Gideon was sure he would die.
The human heart is indeed deceitful: Gideon asked to see a sign, and after seeing it, he was sure that the God who gave him the sign would now kill him!
There is always “joy and peace in believing” (Rom. 15:13), but unbelief brings fear and worry
The Lord gives him a message of peace
Unless we’re at peace with God, we can’t face the enemy with confidence and fight the Lord’s battles.
The Hebrew word for “peace” (shalom) means much more than a cessation of hostilities but carries with it the ideas of well-being, health, and prosperity.
Gideon now believed the Lord was able to use him, not because of who he was but because of who God was.
Whenever God calls us to a task that we think is beyond us, we must be careful to look to God and not to ourselves. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
God asked Abraham (Gen. 18:14); and the answer comes, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
Job discovered that God could do everything (Job 42:2), and Jeremiah admitted that there was nothing too hard for God (Jer. 32:17).
Jesus told His disciples, “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26); and Paul testified, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13, NKJV).

III. Rise Up and Judge vs. 25-40

vs. 25-27 Tears down Idols
That very same night the Lord tells him to take his fathers bull and pull down the altar of baal and the Asherah
He was then to build an altar to the Lord on top of the stronghold and sacrifice the second bull
Only a few male bulls were needed to sustain a herd, so many males were slaughtered at a young age.
Only the best stock would be kept for breeding.
A seven-year-old bull must therefore have been a prime breeding bull.
The sacrifice of this bull would have been extremely significant.
The altars to Baal and Asherah
Baal was the Name of the most prominent Canaanite deity.
As the god of fertility in the Canaanite pantheon (roster of gods), Baal’s sphere of influence included agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality.
Places for worship of Baal were often high places in the hills consisting of an altar and a sacred tree, stone, or pillar
Baal is pictured as descending into the netherworld, the domain of the god Mot.
That descent was evidently part of a cycle intended to coincide with the cycle of seasons.
In order to bring Baal up from the realm of Mot and thus insure initiation of the fertile rainy season, the Canaanites engaged in orgiastic worship that included human sacrifice as well as sexual rites (Jer 7:31; 19:4–6).
Sacred prostitutes evidently participated in the autumnal religious ritual.
Asherah was a goddess in the Baal god system
She was a goddess of fertility and was pictured as having sex with Baal but never losing her virginity
You could see why the Lord wanted Gideon to tear these down
Gideon was probably the only one who God could get to do this job
These idols were where the community came to worship
This was also why Gideon tool ten of his servants and did it by the darkness of night
vs. 28-32 Upset the Natives
Needless to say, when the men woke up the next morning they weren’t happy
They confront Joash, Gideon’s father
Gideon’s father, Joash, confronted with villagers seeking vengeance on behalf of the affronted Baal, suggests that this is not a matter for the community to punish but for Baal himself to avenge.
vs. 33-40 Testing God
The Midianites and their allies made their annual invasion about that time as more than 135,000 men (8:10; 7:12) moved into the Valley of Jezreel.
It was time for Gideon to act, and the Spirit of God gave him the wisdom and power that he needed.
As we seek to do God’s will, His Word to us is always,
Zechariah 4:6 ESV
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Nevertheless, Gideon doubted God’s promise.
Did God really want him to lead the Jewish army?
What did he know about warfare?
After all, he was only an ordinary farmer; and there were others in the tribes who could do a much better job.
So, before he led the attack, he asked God to give him two more signs.
The phrase “putting out the fleece” is a familiar one in religious circles. It means asking God to guide us in a decision by fulfilling some condition that we lay down. .
“Putting out the fleece” is not a biblical method for determining the will of God.
Rather, it’s an approach used by people like Gideon who lack the faith to trust God to do what He said He would do.
Twice Gideon reminded God of what He had said (6:36–37), and twice Gideon asked God to reaffirm His promises with a miracle.
The fact that God stooped to Gideon’s weakness only proves that He’s a gracious God who understands how we’re made
Who are we to tell God what conditions He must meet, especially when He has already spoken to us in His Word?
“Putting out the fleece” is not only an evidence of our unbelief, but it’s also an evidence of our pride.
God has to do what I tell Him to do before I’ll do what He tells me to do!
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