Judges chapter 6

 

Memory verse: Judges 6:12

 

After the generation of Joshua died, there was a period of about 300 years in which Israel was led by judges. Israel kept going through a cycle of backsliding, turning to God, being delivered from their oppressors by a judge, the judge dying, and them backsliding again (Judges 2). Their problem was summed up in Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. As long as they had strong spiritual leadership, they did right. When they led themselves, they fell. There were 14 judges before Saul, the first king of Israel. The last judge was Samuel.

 

Day 1 – seven years

Verses 1-10

True to form, Israel backslid after the victory God gave Deborah and Barak. God sent the Midianites to oppress them. They fled from their homes to hide in caves and mountains. The Midianites took all their harvest and their animals until they were in extreme poverty. It took Israel 7 years to finally call out to God. God responded by sending them a prophet to remind them of the good He had done for them, and how they had not obeyed Him. Moses warned them in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 that if they forsook the Lord, their curses would keep getting progressively worse if they did not repent. Why do people wait so long for things to get so bad before they pray? There is not enough pleasure in sin to make the price worth it. The pleasure is too short, and the consequences are too long. God is willing to forgive, but we must turn to Him in repentance. If we confess His goodness, and our lack of it, He can restore (1John 1:7-2:2); but we must go through the process. He may not clean everything up right away, so we can learn our lesson. The longer we delay our return, the longer the trip home is.

 

Day 2 – the Lord is with thee

Verses 11-16

Gideon was threshing his wheat by the winepress. This was not the normal place, but he could not do it out in the open or the Midianties would come and take it by force. An “angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour”. Gideon said if that was the case, then why were the Midianites doing what they were, and where were the miracles? God told him he was going to deliver Israel. Gideon said he did not have the pedigree or resources to do it. God said it would happen because He would be with him. It is normal to feel inadequate for what God call us to do because we are. It is God who calls and equips us. If we rely on our meager abilities, we will fail. If we rely on Him, we can do things that would be impossible otherwise (Romans 8:28-39).

 

Day 3 – thou shalt not die

Verses 17-23

God and angels sometimes appeared visibly in human form. Gideon did not realize he was being visited by and angel. He asked for a sign confirming it was really the word of the Lord by serving his visitor a meal. When he brought it, the angel said to place it on a rock that was there. The angel touched the rock, and fire came out of the rock, and burned up the food. He turned a meal into an offering, and a rock into an altar. Then he vanished. Gideon realized it was an angel, and was afraid. This was a common response, especially in the Old Testament (Genesis 28:16-17, Judges 13:15-22). The Lord told him he would not die. God does not call us to kill us.

 

Day 4 – build an altar unto the Lord

Verses 24-32

After God told Gideon to have peace because he was not going to die for seeing the angel, he built an altar which he called Jehovah-shalom, which means the Lord is peace. That night, God told him to tear down the altar of Baal, build one for Him, and offer the second bullock with the wood of the grove of Baal. Gideon did it at night because he was afraid. When it was discovered, the men of the city went to Gideon’s father to have him killed. He said if Baal is a god, let him plead for himself. Gideon had built an altar to honor God for not killing him. God told him to build an altar that made a different statement. It was to say that Baal is an idol, and the Lord is the true God. It was to be declared before the entire city. Although we sometimes battle fear, God lets us know that He is not afraid. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2Timothy 1:7).” When we are doing what God wants us to do, we do not have to be rude, but neither should we be intimidated. God defends His reputation, and His word. We should not give a false representation of who God is, and what He is like.

 

Day 5 – if thou wilt save Israel by mine hand

Verses 33-40

When Gideon took down the grove of Baal, the word apparently got to the Midianites. They gathered their armies to Jezreel. Gideon gathered Israelites from his city and his tribe, and from 3 neighboring tribes. Gideon then prayed and asked God for a sign to confirm His word. Gideon used the word if. There are over 100 places in the Bible where the word if is used to place conditions on us receiving the promises of God. We are never authorized to put conditions on God. Yet when we are sincere but our faith is not as strong as it should be, He can help us (Mark 9:24). Gideon put a sheepskin down, and asked God to let the dew fall only on the fleece. He did. Then Gideon asked for the dew to fall everywhere except the fleece. It did. Gideon thought this would help him finally overcome his doubt, but it did not. In Judges 7, he still had to go through  the water test, and hear the Midianite’s dream, before he finally found his faith. Our humanity does not stop God. God purposefully works through it so all will know that it is Him. He needs our willingness more than our ability. Paul told Timothy to commit the preaching of the gospel to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also (2Timothy 2:2), not to able men who shall be faithful. God gives the ability to the faithful. Gideon is mentioned in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11:32. We remember him not for his battle with doubt, but for his battle with the Midianites.