Chapter 6
Midian Overpowers and Oppresses Israel
6:1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
After forty years of peace under Deborah and Barak, the people of Israel started the cycle over again and did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, so He gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Abraham's second wife, see Genesis 25:2). The ancestors of Israel and the Midianites maintained an unusual “up and down”relationship through the years, as they were involved in the sale of Joseph to Egypt (see Genesis 37:25–36), had cordial ties with Moses (see Exodus 2:15-18), but were once defeated by Israel (see Numbers 25:6-18). And now, approximately two centuries later, they had renewed their strength, and definitely were not pro-Israel.
6:2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
The Midianites oppressed the people of Israel to the point they left the plains and made places to hide underground in the mountains and utilized caves and other natural strongholds to live in.
6:3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
We are told that whenever it was time to harvest the crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites (last seen associated with the defeated Moabites, see Judges 3:1-30) along with the “people of the East” (Josephus identifies them as being Arabian, likely Bedouins who had camels that would allow for quick approach for raiding) came and took their crops.
6:4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in.
The raiders would come and consume any and all produce of the land. They devastated the land as far south as Gaza by removing any potential food source as well as any sheep, ox, or donkey. These marauders would even bring their own livestock to graze on Israel’s land. We are told they would come like locusts in number, an apt analogy as swarms of locusts can easily strip away virtually any vegetation quickly. The number of the raiders and their camels were so many they could not be counted. After they were done the land laid waste, nothing of any value remained.
6:6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.
As life was difficult and the people of Israel were distressed by the Midianites, they cried out for help from YHWH. Finally after seven years of oppression, the people sought God’s guidance and help.
6:7 When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8 the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”
Sadly, an often repeated response to when something bad happens, people blame or question God. Such as, “Where was God during our time of oppression?” or “Why did that bad thing happen?,” are frequently our first thoughts instead of asking, “What did I do wrong?” It appears that the people had no clue why they were being oppressed. So God sent an unnamed prophet to first remind them that He is the one that brought them out of Egypt and that He isn’t going to give up on them now. He tells them that they were not to fear the gods of the Amorites. Which essentially means that they are not to worship those gods, as previously agreed to in the covenant between them. But that would require obedience and now through the prophet, God tells them that they have not obeyed His voice, which explains the oppression by the Midianites. Nothing more is explained or recorded, the text quickly changes scenes and we are introduced to the next judge.
The Call of Gideon
6:11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
The scene now opens with the angel of YHWH, a Christophany, Jesus Himself (see commentary for Judges 2:1) sitting under a terebinth tree (Hebrew ’ē·lāh’, either an oak or terebinth tree, Septuagint reads terebinth) at Ophrah, a location that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, the father of Gideon. There were two cities named Ophrah, allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (approximately four miles north of Bethel) and the other, the hometown of Gideon, was located in Manasseh’s west territory sometimes referred to as Ophrah of the Abiezrites (exact location is unknown). Jesus appears while Gideon is beating out wheat in a winepress, a task that typically requires a large place to maneuver, often trotted on by animals followed by winnowing in a windy location. But due to the oppression by the Midianites, who would take the grain away, Gideon was hiding in a small winepress beating the grain.
6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
Jesus appears to Gideon and says to him, YHWH is with him, and then calls him a mighty man of valor. Hiding in a winepress doesn’t sound like a man of valor, but God doesn’t see who we are, but what we can become through Him. In God’s eyes, Gideon was a mighty man!
6:13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon apparently does not recognize who is talking to him as he immediately asks if YHWH is truly with them (the Israelites) then why is all this oppression happening. Where are all His wonderful deeds that they have been hearing about since childhood? Did not YHWH bring them out of Egypt? Where is He now? He concludes that YHWH must have abandoned them and gave them over to the Midianites!
6:14 And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
Not influenced by Gideon’s incorrect perspective, Jesus tells him to go in his might and save Israel from the Midianites, and then asks, “Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14b, NASB)
6:15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Still not knowing who he is talking to, Gideon asks how he can save Israel, and still thinking from just a human perspective, states that his clan is the weakest of the tribe, and that he is the least in his father’s house. He is essentially saying, “Who’s going to listen to me?”
6:16 And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”
Jesus then told Gideon that He will be with him and he will be able to defeat the Midianites, as if they were just one man. Perhaps now starting to think that this visitor may be from God, Gideon asks for a sign and further asks for Him to not depart until he came back with a present (Hebrew min·ḥāṯ, a tribute, a gift, an offering), Jesus said He would wait.
6:19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.
Gideon proceeds to prepare an offering to God. He prepares a kid goat and unleavened bread from a ephah of flour (minimum weight of 34 pounds, a sizable amount, but during a time of grain being scarce, it would be a significant gesture). Unleavened bread, while employed in several offerings (see Leviticus 2:4, 5; 7:12; 8:2, 26; 23:6; Numbers 6:14-19), it is not unusual to serve when time is short (although preparing and cooking a goat would likely take some time too). Gideon put the meat in a basket and the broth (a word that only appears here and the next verse in the Bible, a variation can be found in Isaiah 65:4 referring to a pagan ritual) he put in a pot and brought them out to Jesus.
6:20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
Gideon placed the offering on a rock and then poured the broth over them as instructed. Jesus then touched the offering with the staff that was in His hand and fire sprung up from the rock and consumed the offering, essentially equivalent to a burnt offering on the brazen altar (the rock serving as an altar was made holy by the presence of Jesus) was accepted and then Jesus disappeared.
22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
At this point Gideon realizes he was talking face-to-face with God, and was concerned he was going to die. He then heard YHWH speak to him saying that he would not die (click here to read more about those who saw God and lived). Gideon, upon hearing this built an altar there and called it, “The LORD is Peace,” which still stood in Ophrah when this book was written.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal and Cut Down the Asherah
6:25 That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
Later that night God told Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah idol (see Appendix 1) apparently near or on his father’s property. Then build an altar to YHWH on top of the stronghold there (Hebrew mā·‛ōz’, a fortress, a place of security, a sanctuary, a temple) with stones laid in an orderly manner. Next, he was to take a seven-year old bull from his father and offer it as a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah. The Hebrew word šē·nî’ found in verses 25 and 26, both times translated as ’second’, can also mean being distinct from something else, to be of a higher rank (exulted higher). God did not tell Gideon to get two bulls, just the one that was seven-years old that was probably unblemished and likely Joash’s prize bull. It is interesting to note that normally animals selected for sacrifices would be no older than three-years old, the bull selected here is seven-years old. Understanding that Biblically the number seven is the number of completion (click here for additional information), there seems to be a connection to the fact that the people of Israel have been oppressed for seven years.
Gideon, with the help of ten servants, did as YHWH told him to do. But since he was afraid of his own family and wha the townspeople would do if they saw him destroy these idols, he did it by cover of night.
6:28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”
When the people of the town woke up they saw that the altar of Baal was destroyed, the Asherah was cut down, and the prize bull was gone, sacrificed on an altar. They immediately wanted to know who did this atrocious act. They find out that Gideon was responsible and approach Joash demanding that he bring out his son so that he would be put to death for his actions. The fact that they desire to kill Gideon gives us readers a snapshot of just how far they have fallen from YHWH and how much of the Canaanite pagan influence had enveloped them.
6:31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
Joash defended his son, and asked them, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him?” Joash is essentially saying, if Baal is a god, why does he need them to fight or kill for him? Can someone save a god? If Baal is a god, let him take action for the destruction of his altar.
6:32 Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.
Apparently Joash’s response calmed the townspeople, but gave Gideon the nickname ‘Jerubbaal’ (Hebrew yerǔb·bǎ’·‛ǎl, meaning “let Baal fight,” or simply, the Baal fighter).
6:33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the East (the Arabians) crossed the Jordan River and setup camp in the Valley of Jezreel to raid once again the food supply of the people of Israel. They likely crossed the Jordan near Beth-Shan (also Beth-Shean, now called Beit She’an) and then northwest into the Valley of Jezreel where the Kishon River flows. This camp is near the location where Balak and his men encountered the Canaanites several years earlier (see Judges 4:1-3; 5:19-23).
The Spirit of YHWH clothed (Hebrew lǒḇ·šā(h)’, to clothe, in context, to come upon) Gideon (click here for more information regarding the difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament and the often-temporary presence of the Holy Spirit in people in the Old Testament). He then sounded the trumpet to rally the people (see Numbers 10:9, see also Judges 3:27). The Abiezrites (the local clan) responded and came out to follow Gideon. He then sent messengers to the remaining clans of Manasseh, to the tribe of Asher, to the tribe of Zebulun, and to the tribe of Naphtali, who all responded to his call to come.
Considerations
First Remove Those Things That Impede in Your Own Home
God had Gideon tear down and destroy the altar of Baal and the Asherah before anything else. God would not allow the very reason that the Israelites were being oppressed, namely idolatry, continue in the family that He was going raise the next judge of Israel. Before changes could be implemented the abomination of worshiping false gods had to be neutralized first.
The Fleece Signs
6:36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”
Gideon begins to doubt everything he saw earlier with Jesus and before he accepts the role as a military leader he wants to make sure he is talking with God, so he asks for a supernatural sign. He lays down a piece of fleece wool on the threshing floor and asks God to allow the fleece to be wet from the nightly dew while the ground around it remains dry.
6:38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”
God did what he asked, the fleece was soaking wet while the ground was dry. Perhaps thinking that could happen naturally, Gideon asks God to not be angry with him, but asks for another test with the opposite conditions, the fleece wool remains dry while the ground is covered in dew.
6:40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
God graciously did as Gideon requested, the fleece was dry and the ground was wet, confirming that Gideon was to lead the people of Israel and liberate them from the hand of the Midianites. But more importantly, God will be with him.
Considerations
Asking God for a Sign
God understood Gideon’s doubts and fears, so He allowed him to experience a double sign. God also understands when we have doubts and fears. Should we expect God to grant us direction through signs like these? That depends on your request and motive. If your request is in alignment with with His Word and we earnestly desire to hear from Him, then yes, we should expect a sign. But that doesn’t mean He will respond. Why not? Because He is omniscient and knows what is best for His believers, and if that means it is best not to answer with a clear tangible direction, He won’t respond.