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Judges 6-8
The Will of God
and Gideon
Psalm 36:9-12 River of Pleasures
9.For with you is the spring of life. In your light shall we see light.10.Oh continue your hesed/loyal covenantal love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.11.Don’t let the foot of pride come against me. Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.12.There the workers of iniquity are fallen. They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise."Observation
36:9-12.Those who know God and are upright in heart will drink deeply of the pleasures God offers to those who are loyal to Him. He will not only delight them with His abundance, but protect them from the wicked.
Application
Seek to know God and walk in His ways and you can dive into the river of His pleasures.
Prayer
God, I praise You for being concerned about my desires and delights; may I always be in a position to enjoy them. Amen.
Proverbs 10:17 Welcoming Reproof
17.“He is on the path to life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes/refuses reproof goes astray/leads others astray.”Observation
10:17.The one who pays attention to correction or discipline (and even seeks it out), is on the path to life, and will live happily ever after. On the other hand, the one who refuses reproof (having their sin exposed), goes astray, off the path to life, sometimes causing the naive to follow their bad example. The Hiphil verb is usually causative, which is why some translations opt for the second reading of “leads others astray,” but the first reading matches the parallelism with the first half of the verse.
Application
If you want to be sure you're on, and stay on, the path to life, seek out correction and reproof, or you will stray.
Prayer
Lord, thanks for those who love me enough to question and correct me, so that I can finish well in my life of following You. Amen.
Judges 6-8 The Will of God and Gideon
These chapters relate the account of Gideon, another denizen of Faith's Hall of Fame (Hebrews 11), famous for his fleece testing of the will of God. See Outline on the Will of God under Digging Deeper. Gideon lived in a time when Israel had so forgotten God, they wanted to kill those who were loyal to Yahweh. There was no judge like Deborah, and Yahweh was a distant memory. So guess the state of Israel's peace and prosperity? Rather than possessing the land as princes, they lived in dens and caves like animals, under the oppression of the Midianites.
Judges 6 Gideon Becomes A Mighty Warrior
1.The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.2.The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made themselves dens in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.3.When Israel had sown, that the Midianites and the Amalekites, came up against them;4.and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.5.For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.6.Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.7.It happened, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian,8.that Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the 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 who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;10.and I said to you, "I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not listened to my voice.’"11.The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.12.The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!"13.Gideon said to him, "Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian."14.Yahweh looked at him, and said, "Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?"15.He said to him, "O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house."16.Yahweh said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."17.He said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.18.Please don’t go away, until I come to you, and bring out my offering, and lay it before you." He said, "I will wait until you come back."19.Gideon went in, and prepared a young goat, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.20.The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." He did so.21.Then the angel of Yahweh stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight.22.Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!"23.Yahweh said to him, "Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die."24.Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it "Yahweh is Peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.25.It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, "Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;26.and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."27.Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.28.When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.29.They said one to another, "Who has done this thing?" When they inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."30.Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it."31.Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar."32.Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar."33.Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.34.But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.35.He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.36.Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,37.behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken."38.It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.39.Gideon said to God, "Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew."40.God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.Observations
6:6-10.When people complain about the consequences of their actions and want relief, God sends a prophet to tell them why they are in the mess they're in. We want to remove the symptoms, God wants to remove the cause of our difficulties, which is not listening to nor obeying God's word. The penultimate phrase of verse 10 gives some insight into territorial spirits.
6:11-12.
The “angel” is identified as Yahweh in 6:14 probably a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Gideon doesn't quite fit the profile of a “mighty man of valor,” but the least guy of the poorest family of the most oppressed nation on earth can become mighty if responsive to God.
6:13-15.
Gideon first uses “'adown”, a general word for lord, that can refer to a human or divine master, then switches to “my 'Adonay” used almost exclusively for God, indicating his recognition of Yahweh.
6:17-24.
Gideon asks for a sign. See intro above for the setting. There was no pro-Yahweh culture as there had been under Deborah. God had shown Himself strong on behalf of Israel through what seemed like legendary works (6:13). God supernaturally accepts Gideon's offering, giving the sign he sought, as Gideon was offering and doing what God said.
6:25-32.
God gives Gideon the task that He gave Israel, destroying the altars of Baal, which Gideon completes as instructed, although at night for fear of the consequences. Gideon's father protects him with the logic that if Baal is god, then he should be able to avenge himself.
6:32-35.
In the face of opposition from the oppressors, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon, he sounds the trumpet and sends messengers to neighboring tribes to assemble.
6:36-40.
Gideon had already received a sign from God, and obeyed successfully. He talked with God face to face. He knew what God's will was, but doubted his ability to do it. He asks God for another sign that God really was going to deliver the nation through its most insignificant man. God obliges, twice. This is a really bad method of determining God's will, because Satan can manipulate circumstances. Open doors are equally bad, because you don't have to “ask, seek or knock” if your modus operandi is to just walk through whatever trap door Satan has open. See the Funnel of Determining God's Will, and resources under Digging Deeper.
Judges 7 God Delivers Through Gideon
1.Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.2.Yahweh said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’3.Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’"Twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.4.Yahweh said to Gideon, "The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. It shall be, that of whom I tell you, ‘This shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whoever I tell you, ‘This shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go."5.So he brought down the people to the water; and Yahweh said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, like a dog laps, you shall set him by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink."6.The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water.7.Yahweh said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place."8.So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.9.It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, "Arise, go down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand.10.But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp:11.and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp." Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.12.The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude.13.When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."14.His fellow answered, "This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army."15.It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise; for Yahweh has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!"16.He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.17.He said to them, "Watch me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do.18.When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’"19.So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands.20.The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they shouted, "The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!"21.They each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight.22.They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man’s sword against his fellow, and against all the army; and the army fled23.The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and chased after Midian.24.Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan!" So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan.25.They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.Observations
7:1-15.God wants to make it clear that He is the one delivering, so He reduces the fighting force to 300. But He graciously accommodates Gideon's timidity, giving him unsought encouragement that Yahweh can always be trusted.
7:16.
Even though God was doing the delivering, Gideon still had to be faithful to do his part. God works through people so they can serve as guideposts to a relationship with Him.
7:22.
Yahweh set the men of Midian against each other and caused them to panic and flee.
Application
It's not the size of your resources; it's the size of your God that counts.
Prayer
All powerful God, may I always trust in Your ability to achieve success, and not in my own ability. Amen.
Judges 8 Gideon Wanders From God
1.The men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us, when you went to fight with Midian?" They rebuked him sharply.2.He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?3.God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.4.Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing.5.He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing the kings of Midian."6.The princes of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"7.Gideon said, "Therefore when Yahweh has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."8.He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.9.He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."10.Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword.11.Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the army was secure.12.Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused all the army.13.Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.14.He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.15.He came to the men of Succoth, and said, "See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’"16.He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.17.He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.18.Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They were like you. Each one resembled the children of a king."19.He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you."20.He said to Jether his firstborn, "Get up, and kill them!" But the youth didn’t draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth.21.Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength." Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.22.Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."23.Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you."24.Gideon said to them, "I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings of his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)25.They answered, "We will willingly give them." They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his spoil into it.26.The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks.27.Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the prostitute after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.28.So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.29.Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.30.Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives.31.His concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.32.Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.33.It happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god.34.The children of Israel didn’t remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;35.neither did they show hesed/loyal covenant love to the house of Jerubbaal, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.Observations
8:1-3.There's gratitude for you. Gideon humbly appeases the Ephraimites.
8:4-21.
By refusing to help their fellow Israelites the leaders of Succoth and Penuel violated the law summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself.” By refusing to help the Lord's anointed (Spirit on Gideon) they were being disloyal to Yahweh, and worthy of the destruction they justly received. Israelite cities that were disloyal to Yahweh were to be destroyed (Dt 13). By killing the two kings Gideon was fulfilling the Biblical role of avenger of blood.
Dt 13 12 “If you hear that one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell, that: 13 Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," which you have not known; 14 then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in the midst of you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is in it, and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil completely, to Yahweh your God: and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand; that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers; 18 when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”
8:22-32.
Gideon starts out well in refusing the kingship but wanders from God. Remember the last item made from gold earrings which indicated allegiance to demonic gods? (Hint: Ex 32). The gold was worth about two million USD. Gideon's reliance upon signs rather than the word of God perhaps contributed to his downfall. An ephod was worn when inquiring about God's will (1Sam 23:9; 30:11). Was it God's will for Gideon, whom God chose, filled with His Spirit, and supernaturally prospered, to be ensnared? See more on Gideon and the will of God under Digging Deeper.
8:33-35.
Once again the redeemed and rescued people return to their rebellion, not remembering what God and Gideon's house had done for them. Gideon rescued the people from their enemies, but not from themselves.
Application
If we rest on our laurels we will soon be laying in the gutter of sin.
Prayer
Lord God, may I never take Your deliverance and blessing for granted, but may I draw on Your grace to walk in Your truth all my days, and pass it on to others, so You will be glorified. Amen.
Digging Deeper
Gideon gives us insight into the will of God from two perspectives: first is personally knowing and doing God's will; the second is understanding the general will of God and sovereignty.
For help in finding and doing God's will see these links:
Will of God Decision-Maker outline
Will of God Sermon Part 2 with audio
For a consideration of the second perspective, review the beginning of Gideon, how God chose Him, spoke to Him, encouraged, empowered, and prospered him. Was it God's will that Gideon deliver the Israelites?
Then consider the end of Gideon, ensnared by sin, leading Israel back into apostasy and prostitution with pagan gods. Was it God's will for that to happen? Does God get glory when His people abandon Him? Why did He bother giving all the commands against disloyalty? Did Gideon have a choice in the matters at the end of his life? Was it God's will for him to pass on a Biblical lifestyle to his children (see next chapter)?
God in a nutshell: God comes to the aid of His people when they call out to Him in repentance. Sometimes He first sends a prophet so we know that we're just reaping the consequences of our disobedience, and then He delivers. He chooses to use frail clay vessels, so we will continually depend upon Him rather than our own strength. He will accommodate our timidity, if we are committed to obeying Him, providing whatever encouragement we need. His will is that we obey Him, not that we serve demons. However, He lets even choice, Spirit filled servants chose their consequences, even if it dishonors His name. He sovereignly sends the promised consequences for disobedience. When we obey, He blesses.
Us in a nutshell: We eventually wise up to the fact that the things we don't like about our lives are not God's fault, but ours. When we fess up to our sin, God can work miracles in our earthly experience. God is willing to do whatever it takes to help us trust and obey Him, but we still have to trust and obey. We tend to forget what God and others have done for us, and when unrestrained return to old and bad ways, to our detriment. Servants of God need to labor for the glory of God and look for His praise of them, because the praise and gratitude of men is fragile and fickle. Even those who serve God mightily don't finish well if they cease depending upon God.
Where to go for more
Truthbase.netGiving to God
Will of God Decision-Maker outline
Will of God Sermon Part 2 with audio