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Judges Chapter 6
Midian Oppresses Israel
Again we see after 40 years a repeat of
what happened in previous years. It seems like the remembrance of
the word and works of the Lord is forgotten after a generation
passes. This is what we need to learn from these events. How do we
as believers in Jesus today, keep this from happening? Never should
there ever be said of us, "There a arose a generation that knew not
the Lord." This period of bondage was shorter though. Only seven
years.
After the death of Sarah, Abraham
married Keturah. One of their sons was named Midian from which came
the Midianites. So we see sadly that Israel was oppressed by their
own kin in a way. Brother against brother. Moses married a Midianite
woman when he fled from Pharoah years before God called him to
deliver Israel out of Egypt.
-
Judges 3 And so it was,
when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the
Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up
against them;
The Amalekites were the descendents of
Amalek originally from the descendents of Esau. The Amaleks fought
against Israel in the days of Moses. It appears that they helped the
Midianites oppress Israel.
- Judges 6:4 And they
encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth,
till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel,
neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
- 5 For they came up
with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers
for multitude; for both they and their camels were without
number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
- 6 And Israel was
greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children
of Israel cried unto the LORD.
The Midianites could never had done
this if Israel was walking faithfully with the Lord. God is so good,
and faithful. When we depart from His presence and go our own way,
we cast aside protection, security, salvation, eternal life and so
many good things not only for us but for our children after us. We
are the unfaithful ones, not God. This happens over and over again.
Satan is out to steal, kill and destroy all he can. God is out to
save, deliver and bless all who will let Him do so.
Seems like trouble came from Gaza in modern
times also.
- Judges 6:7 And it
came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD
because of the Midianites,
- 8 That the LORD sent
a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt,
and brought you forth 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
that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave
you their land;
- 10 And I said unto
you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
Our wonderful merciful God sends a
prophet to tell them of their sin. This isn't easy but if God sends
us someone to bring us correction when we get into error, whether it
is speaking to someone one on one or an anointed preacher in a
public worship service, we need to thank God for His mercy on us
instead of getting angry at the messenger. When God does that, He is
showing us mercy and attempting to pluck us out of the things that
lead us into destruction. God is good. I find no fault in Him. If
God had not have helped them this time, the people would have
starved to death because the Midianites showed no mercy taking all
their provisions.
The Call of Gideon
- Judges 6:11 And
there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was
in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son
Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the
Midianites.
- 12 And the angel of
the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with
thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Some say that this angel was Jesus
Himself. Notice that even though Gideon is unsure of himself and
lacks confidence, the Lord calls him a mighty man of valour. God
sees something he didn't see in himself.
- Judges 6:13 And
Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why
then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles
which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us
up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites.
- 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?
The angel does not repeat their sin
this time but gets to the point of his visit to Gideon. God is going
to use Gideon to deliver the people from the Midianites. Actually
God did not forsake Israel. Israel departed from God. Yet the angel
gets to the point and doesn't mention it again after the prophet God
sent earlier gave them the reason for their being in bondage.
- Judges 6:15 And he
said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?
behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
father's house.
- 16 And the LORD said
unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the
Midianites as one man.
God does not choose who we think is
good for a job. He sees what we don't see.
- Judges 6:17 And he
said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew
me a sign that thou talkest with me.
- 18 Depart not hence,
I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present,
and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou
come again.
- 19 And Gideon went
in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of
flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a
pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented
it.
- 20 And the angel of
God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and
lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
- 21 Then the angel of
the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand,
and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose
up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the
unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his
sight.
- 22 And when Gideon
perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O
Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to
face.
This may have been only a legend or
superstition among the Israelites, that one would die if they saw
and angel. God told Moses once that no one can see His face and live
but no angel was mentioned so I wonder if that is where this rumor
started. No one mentioned in the bible died after seeing an angel.
It would appear that Gideon thought this was just an ordinary human
before the angel consumed the offering and departed after completing
his mission.
- Judges 6: 23 And the
LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not
die.
- 24 Then Gideon built
an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto
this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- 25 And it came to
pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy
father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years
old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and
cut down the grove that is by it:
- 26 And build an
altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the
ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt
sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
Time to get rid of any hinderances to
the blessing and deliverances from God. They needed to get rid of
the false religious system set up by those that fell from the truth
and substituted a false, evil and deceiving religious system instead
of the worship of the living, holy and true God of Israel. We need
the real folks.
-
Judges 6:27 Then Gideon
took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto
him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household,
and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he
did it by night.
The fear of man is not easy to overcome
but I've seen some in this day and age that have a kind of boldness
that confronts directly those that do evil. Not all of us are like
that though. Gideon is still afraid and unsure of himself.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
- Judges 6:28 And when
the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the
altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was
by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that
was built.
- 29 And they said one
to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and
asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
Perhaps the one who tells what Gideon
did, is trying to save himself from the consequences of tearing down
the altar of Baal.
-
Judges 6:30 Then the men of
the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die:
because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath
cut down the grove that was by it.
The men of the city was so deceived at
this point that they wanted the death penalty upon the one that
destroyed the altar of Baal.
- Judges 6:31 And
Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for
Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be
put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him
plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
- 32 Therefore on that
day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him,
because he hath thrown down his altar.
This father takes the side of his son
instead of the men of the city and is really wise here. He says to
let Baal bring judgment if he is for real. I guess the father sort
of knew Baal was just an idol with no power.
- Judges 6:33 Then all
the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east
were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley
of Jezreel.
- 34 But the Spirit of
the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer
was gathered after him.
- 35 And he sent
messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after
him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and
unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
God's Holy Spirit comes upon Gideon and
some of the other tribes come to meet with him.
The Sign of the Fleece
- Judges 6:36 And
Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as
thou hast said,
- 37 Behold, I will
put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the
fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall
I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast
said.
- 38 And it was so:
for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece
together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of
water.
- 39 And Gideon said
unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will
speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once
with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and
upon all the ground let there be dew.
- 40 And God did so
that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was
dew on all the ground.
This guy sounds so much like me. I am a
cautious person that wants to make sure I'm hearing from the Lord
and it's not just my imagination. I have no trouble believing God if
I'm sure it is God. There is a place in God's word that speaks of
trying the spirits. Gideon may have wanted to make sure that the
angel was from the Lord and it wasn't his imagination or someone
that wasn't really from God. This is my speculation here so don't
assume this is Gideon's true motive.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world.
- 2 Hereby know ye
the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
- 3 And every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already
is it in the world.
The bible is so awesome in that there is an
answer to everything we need for understanding and living for the
Lord instead of going our own evil way. We see from 1 John that God
knows our weaknesses and that we might get things wrong. In the days
after the coming of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
there is a way to know what is truth and how to discern. Examining
our motives helps in this also.
Is what is taught Christ centered? Does the
speaker or the spirit we hear in our minds confess that Jesus is God
that came into human flesh to die for our sins, then rose again and
went back to God the Father after His resurrection. To deny the
incarnation, the death and resurrection is anti Christ. After Jesus
returned to Heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to abide within those
that believe. In Gideon's day God gave him a visable sign, in
our day we have access to the Holy Spirit indwelling after coming to
Christ. We do not have to be deceived. DC
Judges Chapter 7
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