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SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
(THE JUDGES TO THE KINGS)
Gideon

Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Lesson 14

Judges 6:1-32

VIII. THE FOURTH CYCLE OF OPPRESSION AT THE HANDS OF THE MIDIANITES. JUDGES 6:1-8:32:

A. In their usual fashion. during the 40 years of Peace & Freedom following the deliverance from the Canaanites, Israel began to turn again from the Lord: Verse 1.

1. Judges 6:1 says, "The Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord."

2. Once-again the warning of scripture is sounded: how quickly God's people forget! One generation, and they are back to their old ways. The big picture of freedom and prosperity followed by apathy and sin leading to bondage and oppression seemed to escape them.

Such is still the case. We get into trouble and repent. God delivers, and we soon forget the trouble we had, and start doing the very things that got us into trouble in the first place. It can happen to any of us; and will if we take our eyes off our deliverer. Hebrew 12:2-3 states it this way," Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

B. This time their sin brought oppression at the hand of the Midianites: Verses 1- 6:

1. The Midianites were cousins of the Israelites. They were Abraham's children through Keturah, Genesis 25:1-2. They were Nomadic, constantly moving about in search of pasture. Their normal homeland was the area east of the Gulf of Agabah, although their tents were often seen in most of the area east of the Dead Sea and south of the Jabbok River.

2. Evidence is that they were a very prosperous people. Israel had earlier conquered them in Numbers 31. In that victory; Israel took 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, and 61,000 asses. Numbers 31:32-34. It seems from Judges 6:4 that their move against Israel was partly an act of revenge. The three main interests of their thrust were sheep. oxen, and asses. By the time they came against Israel here in Judges 6, they have fully recovered from their earlier losses at the hand of Israel. Judges 6:5 says, "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 destry it. "Note that they didn't just come to live there, they came to destroy it. Again their motive of revenge is evident.

3. These Midianites brought with them the Amalekites and other children of the east, Verse 3. The Arnalekites lived in the desert area south of Beersheba, and were constant enemies to Israel. Israel met them at Rephidim soon after Egyptian deliverance, Exodus 17. The Amalekites came with the Moabites against Israel in Judges 3:13. Now, they're back with Midian. They're typical of the Palestinians of today, who will use any excuse to fight Israel. Scholars generally agree that the children of the east refer to a nomadic people from the Syrian desert.

4. A new and major weapon is mentioned here as being used against the Israelis. Camels! Verse 5 says "Their camels were without number." One came] could carry 400 pounds in addition to a rider, and could travel over barren, dry, and very rugged terrain for up to a week without water. (Carrying only a rider, a camel could cover up to 100 miles a day.) Thus, coming up from the southern desert was no problem for these Midianites. Desert survival was their life. They had been born and raised there, and had the perfect desert animal for transportation, endurance, speed, and warfare. As they began to pour in in hoards, strike, and retreat, Israel found herself powerless to stop them or to retaliate.

5. The oppression was so severe, the Israelites were forced to flee to the inaccessible areas of the mountains, and take refuge in caves, primitive shelters, and rocky mountain strongholds. The Midian coalition came in such numbers and with such devastation that Verse 5 uses the simile -like -grasshoppers" or locusts. They destroyed the crops and fruit trees. They killed Israel's herds as they struck one point, then another. Survival in winter became especially hard for Israel since they could not raise and gather summer crops. It was not safe to dwell in the plains or valleys. Israel was forced to hide and exist like a primitive wild animal. This continued seven years, Judges 6:1

C. The third phase of the cycle is recorded in Judges 6:7-10.

1. Verse 7 says, "The children of Israel cried unto the Lord."

2. It is too bad that the only thing which seems to get the attention of many of God's people back on to the Lord is bondage and oppression. In most cases, prosperity is a far greater threat to the spirituality of God's people than poverty. They can handle a rebuke far better than a compliment, and a material loss better than a material blessing.

3. In this case God takes time to send an unnamed prophet to remind Israel of why she got into this bondage in the first place. It didn't happen because of the numbers of the Midianites, nor because of the camels. It happened because of the sins of the Israelites, Judges 6:8-10.

Get that message believer. If you go down in defeat. it  won't be because somebody was stronger than you. That's not why you abuse drugs, drink, practice immorality. or get in financial bondage. Never. It will happen because you got your eyes off the Lord, got to indulging in self, and let sin enter your life. You could be victorious over EVERY enemy, I Cor. 10:13 There is no victory you can't win in Christ, Phil.4:13, 17. Your strength in Christ is greater than all your enemies combined, I John But sin renders you helpless to defend yourself, and sin is your own willful choice. Once you let it in, you're on your own; and zap, you're defeated: not because of your enemies, but because of you and your sins.

D. Deliverance from God through Gideon:

1. God's preparation of Gideon for the job: Judges 6:1

a. Gideon was the son of Joash. Though the location of Ophrah is uncertain, it was apparently somewhere in the mountains surrounding the Jezreel Valley. Paul Enns suggests it was near Beth Shari (Commentary in Judges, p. 62). This would seem logical since the warrior's he gathered came out of the tribes located around the huge valley, and his attack on the Midianites came in that valley. See Judges 6:35 & 7:1.

b. The severity of the Midianite oppression is again seen in Judges 6:11. Gideon was "threshing wheat by the -winenress to hide it front the Midianites. "A winepress was normally a hole carved out of a rock with a slanted floor to one side where a sort of drainplug could empty the grape juice into a lower vat or container. Grapes were placed in there and then trampled by foot till the juice was squeezed out. By contrast, a threshing floor for wheat was a flat rock or floor in an open place, where the wind was used to separate the chaff from the wheat kernels. In terms of location and construction, winepress & threshing floors were incompatible. Yet Gideon was threshing wheat at the winepress, a most unlikely and unfunctional place. This fact shows what a grievous state of oppression existed, and it suggested that the wheat harvest was indeed very small.

c. As Gideon was threshing, The Lord, in the form of an angel, appeared unto him. Verse 14 says it was The Lord." The Lord addressed Gideon as "Thou mighty man of Valor," Verse 12. It seems strange that God would address a man, who was hiding from the enemy, in this fashion. Although, God not only sees where a man is; he also sees where he could be. Praise God that he doesn't give up on us where we are. He seeks by his power, to make us all we can be. The reason He could address Gideon as a mighty man of valour is because "The Lord is with thee " Verse 12. Gideon would be a mighty warrior; not in his own strength, but through the divine power of God. Listen to Verse 16, "And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man." Gideon recognized the impossibility of the task in his own power. He said his was one of the poor families in Manasseh; and, he added, he was the youngest in his family, Verse 15. The least of the least: that's how Gideon viewed Gideon.

d. Gideon wanted assurance God's presence would truly be his, realizing he (like all of us) would surely fail without it. In Verse 17 he said show me a sign: something that will be a certain indication of divine presence. The word sign" denotes a miracle. It is used of the miracles in Exodus 4:8-9, 30. Verse 13 will show you that Gideon was of the mind that it would take a miracle to help Israel.

As proof of Gideon's sincerity before God, he determined to offer an offering on an improvised rock altar, Verse 20. Gideon took a kid goat plus an ephah (approximately 40 pounds) of flour and brought it to the Lord. That was exceedingly generous in view of the extreme poverty described in this text. Once the offering was placed on the rock at the direction of the Lord, the angel touched it with the tip of his staff. and fire came up out of the rock and consumed it. Verse 21 says, "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 an-gel of the Lord departed out of his sight." This was the means by which God indicated the acceptance of an offering, Lev. 9:24. Gideon asked for a sign, and he got it; and once he realized the Lord had actually appeared unto him, he feared he would die for having seen the Lord, Verse 22 (Exodus 33:2 Although in a special revelation, God assured Gideon he would not die, Verse 23. So Gideon built an altar there and called that place "Jehovah – shalom, meaning "The Lord is peace.

e. Verse 11 says this happened around "on oak" which was at Ophrah. The oak was often regarded as a sacred tree. Joash, Gideon's father was directly involved in the idolatrous worship of the false gods of the Canaanites. which worship was one of the main reasons why they, were all in this oppression in the first place.

At or near this place, there was an altar to Baal. which belonged to Gideon's father, and his father had a seven year old bull, which was (from the context) apparently earmarked for use in this false. idolatrous worship. Note Verse 25. (The bull was one of the prime symbols of fertility, and was regarded as sacred by these Canaanite cults.) Furthermore, at this site, Verse 25 says there was "a grove." Remember that "a was a wooden symbol to a false god used as a sex object in the pagan worship.

Now, if a man is going to clean up a Nation (church. business, etc.), he must first clean up his own family. (Oh, how easy to miss this lesson!) God told Gideon to destroy the false altar and cut down the wooden pole symbolizing Asherah (The Grove). Then, he was to build a proper altar to God in the proper way upon the top of this rock, " Verses 25-26. The "rock" in this case is from a Hebrew word meaning "stronghold"; not the hidden rock near the winepress; but out public in such a place that everyone (no doubt including the Midianites) could see. and it was not to be just another false, Canaanite altar, but a true altar to God. The phrase "in the ordered place" means in the way directed by God. Then the bull was to be sacrificed on this altar.

Wow In one night Gideon both tore down false worship and established true worship. What boldness and decisiveness. Oh, how this world needs more men of God with these characteristics. Judgment on the Canaanite deity Baal is evident. First, the sacred Canaanite bull was used to destroy Baal's altar. Second. this same bull was sacrificed to the Lord. Third the wood of Asherah, the consort prostitute of Baal was used as firewood for the offering. What a disgrace to Baal' And when morning came, for Gideon and ten servants did it at night, the house of Baal lay in ruins, and there at the pinnacle where all could see stood the stronghold altar of Jehovah - Shalom!! What a decisive signal. As King David put it "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer my God, my strength. in whom I will trust: my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower "Psalm 18:2. Why should the heathen rage when God's people are silent? Is it not time for the people of God to stand in the strength and name of their God? "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hat redeemed from the hand of the enemy, " Psalm 107:2.

Morning came and the men of the city saw what had happened to their false god and his place of worship, Verse 28. When they learned that Gideon had done it, they demanded his death, Verses 29-30. Oh, how I love the words of Verse 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." If Baal be God, let him defend himself. Jehovah performs miracles. Baal never even talks, walks, or shows any signs of life, let alone power. All Baal and every god like him does is fill the empty heads of superstitious men with hopes of material prosperity and sex gratification, neither of which he ever produces. He can't plead for himself. The name Jerubbaal means "Let -Baal plead" or "Let the shameful thing plead."

f. One thing more needs to be noted here. All the men of Israel were afraid, oppressed, and hiding, and had been for seven years. But once one man had the boldness and courage to step up and do something firm, clear cut, and decisive in the name of God: it was like a lightning bolt throughout the land. Courage rose, men rallied, and victory was soon to come.

QUESTIONS ON "GIDEON"

1. How long after Deborah & Barak did Israel remain oppressed?

2, How can you avoid oppression & spiritual bondage?

3. Locate on your map, the general homeland of the Midianites.

4. How were the Midianites related to Israel?

5. Who were allied with the Midianites against Israel?

6. What evidence indicates this action by Midian was an action of revenge?

7. How did camels give the Midianites such a distinct advantage?

8. How long can a camel travel without water?

9.    What is the daily range of a camel and rider?

10.    Why were camels especially suited to this geographic region?

11.    What simile does Judges use to describe the size and devastation of the inva ding Midianites?

12. What action was Israel forced to take for survival?

13. How did God finally get the attention of sinful Israel?

14. Explain why it was not strong enemies or camels that put Israel in bondage.

15. What lesson for all believers is in question #14?

16. Who was Gideon?

17, What insight does Gideon's threshing wheat at a winepress give you?

18. What assurance of divine presence did God give Gideon?

19.    Explain how Gideon's family was deeply involved in pagan worship.

20. What decisive action did Gideon take against Baal worship and for Jehovah?

 "It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"