Judges 6

Judge #5: Gideon (Manasseh)
            Verses 1-6: The Midianites are the descendants of Abraham through his handmaid Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2), and the Amalekites (v.3) are the offspring of Esau (Genesis 36:12). Both nations are used by God to once again punish Israel for their disobedience. (v.1) It’s clear from this passage that not all the Midianites were killed and/or conquered by Israel in their first encounter several generations earlier. (Numbers 31) Many of them must have escaped and fled into neighboring countries, eventually coming back together to form their own nation by the time Israel begins their conquest of the promised land.
         The Midianites raid the fields and towns of Israel, plundering their crops and livestock, until there is almost nothing left for the Israelites to sustain themselves. (v.3-4) This, too, makes sense in that the descendants of those survivors from the first encounter with Israel are motivated by vengeance, and God uses that to chasten His people. The armies of the Midianites and the Amalekites combined are so great in number that the author compares them to the multitude of grasshoppers, and their invasion of Israel’s land is sudden and swift. (v.5) (This is also further proof of God’s initial promise to Abraham. It was not only by Sarah that Abraham’s seed was as great in number as the stars in the sky, but also by Hagar and Keturah as well.) The resulting devastation is so great that all of Israel is left utterly destitute. (v.6) They are forced to flee into the mountains, hiding themselves in caves. (v.2)
            As always, Israel cries out to the LORD, repenting of their sin and begging Him for deliverance from their enemies. (v.6)
 
            Verses 7-10: As with Deborah, God uses a prophet to deliver a message to His people, and the prophet begins the message with a reminder to Israel of their fathers’ deliverance from Egypt by His hand. Keep in mind that the whole reason for Israel’s constant apostasy and idolatry is because each generation is neglecting to pass on to their children who God is and what He did for the descendants of Jacob in Egypt. Therefore, God Himself must now remind the new generation of who He is and what He’s done for their fathers. (v.8-9)
            God reminds Israel of the covenant He made with their fathers at Mount Sinai, how He delivered them from all their enemies – not just the Egyptians – and that it was He who gave them the promised land. (v.9-10) God had warned His people about turning away from Him to worship the false gods of the Amorites, but Israel didn’t listen and disobeyed the Lord’s commandments, thus breaking His covenant with them. (v.10)
 
             Verses 11-24: Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite, is threshing wheat in a winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. (v.11) Gideon is of the tribe of Manasseh, from Ophrah, which in the north, in the Jezreel valley.
            Threshing wheat is a process whereby the grain is separated from the stalks by having people or oxen tread over them in a wide, flat, open area, typically in the fields and preferably on high ground. Then, once the grain has been separated, the next step is called winnowing, where the wheat and chaff are separated by tossing them into the air. The kernels of wheat, which are heavier than the chaff, fall to the ground while the chaff is blown away in the wind. All of this is typically done in a large, open communal area that is easily visible to anyone passing by. But the threat and the oppression of the Midianites is so great at this time that Gideon is forced to thresh the wheat in a winepress. The winepress, however, is usually tucked away in the middle of a garden or a vineyard, away from public view.
            The angel of the LORD, a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, surprises Gideon in the midst of his threshing wheat and greets him with the salutation “thou mighty man of valour.” (v.12) The angel also informs Gideon that “…The LORD is with thee…”, but Gideon is skeptical of this statement. He asks the angel why, if God is truly with Israel, has all this recent misery befallen them? Gideon references the accounts of their fathers, of their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and all the other signs and wonders that God had displayed for His people afterwards. (v.13) Gideon, like many of his generation, believes that God has abandoned Israel, leaving them at the mercy of the Midianites.
           This statement is also proof that in every generation of Israel not all had failed in teaching their children about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is always a remnant that remembers the Law of Moses and has taught their children about the one true God.
            Verse 14 is further proof that Gideon is speaking directly with Christ Himself (“And the LORD looked upon him…”). God tells Gideon that he has been chosen to be the next leader of Israel, to save them from the Midianites, and that he is being sent by God. In other words, Gideon should take courage and strength from the certainty that God is with him and will give him all that he needs to defeat the Midianites.
             But Gideon, like Moses, is fearful and timid, and lacks faith in God’s promises. He’s also understandably bewildered by the LORD’s choice of him, a poor farmer from an insignificant house of one of the lesser tribes of Israel. (v.15) In the ANE, as well as the nation of Israel, rank is everything. One’s status is derived from one’s birth order, house, and clan or tribal name, and Gideon is understandably skeptical about his chances of gaining a large enough following of the armies of Israel in order to defeat an enemy so great as the Midianites. It’s also very likely that he is the youngest son of his family (“…I am least in my father’s house.”) As with David several generations later, God chooses the youngest and the lowliest to lead His people. The LORD graciously reassures Gideon that He will be with him, and he “…shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” (v.16) In other words, Gideon, with the supernatural aid of God, will be successful in commanding the army of Israel.
              But Gideon is still skeptical, and he asks the LORD for a sign that He is indeed the God of Israel. (v.17) The way this verse is phrased (“…shew me a sign that thou talkest with me”) suggests that Gideon is not entirely certain that he’s actually speaking with God. He desires proof that it’s truly the LORD Himself that is standing before him. Gideon asks the angel to wait while he prepares a gift in the form of a sacrifice, and the LORD agrees. (v.18) This is even further proof that the angel is the preincarnate Christ, for only God would accept worship from mankind. Abraham did something similar when he was visited by the angel of the LORD. (Genesis 18:3-5)
             Gideon prepares a young goat and unleavened cakes made from an ephah of flour which the angel of God commands him to lay upon the altar. (v.19-20) The angel then holds out his staff, touching the altar, and fire from heaven consumes the offering, but the fire comes up from the altar itself instead of raining from heaven. Following this the angel disappears. (v.21) Gideon then realizes that he has seen God Himself in the flesh, face to face, and he is filled with awe and fear. (v.22) But God commands him, “Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (v.23) Gideon then builds another altar in the same spot as the previous one that had been consumed. (v.24) He names it Jehovah-shalom, which means “The LORD is peace”.
 
            Verses 25-32: Now that Gideon has accepted God’s calling for him, the LORD assigns him a specific task. He commands Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the grove that is around it. (v.25) Using the wood from those trees, Gideon is to then offer up a blood sacrifice on a new altar that he will build in its place. (v.26) Before Gideon can lead all of Israel to victory, he needs to clean up his own house first. Not only that, God needs to build up Gideon’s courage and his faith in preparation for national leadership. As with Moses, God summons His chosen man first and then qualifies him for the task He assigns him.
              Gideon obeys God, but he completes the assignment by night out of fear of reprisal from both his father and the elders of the city. (v.27) When the elders discover the vandalism the next morning, it doesn’t take them long to search out the culprit. It was most likely one of the ten servants that Gideon used to assist him the night before that gave him up to the city elders. (v.28-29) When they confront Joash at his house, demanding that he surrender Gideon to them for execution, Joash challenges the men to let Baal plead for himself. (v.30-31) If he’s a real god he will be the one to punish Gideon, not the men of the city.
             As mentioned earlier, the fact that Gideon knows of God and of the Mosaic Law, combined with Joash’s response to the city elders in verse 31, indicate that Joash taught Gideon of the one true God of Israel. However, it also stands to reason that Joash had built the altar to Baal, as well as practicing the pagan rituals associated with that heathen worship, in order to appease the elders and protect his house. But now that Gideon has courageously stood up to the men and done what’s right in the eyes of God, Joash is also willing to take a stand. Perhaps his youngest son persuaded Him of God’s calling, and Joash, too, has experienced renewed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He and all his house no longer fear the men of the city as they once did.
          Joash also gives Gideon another name, Jerubbaal, because of his actions. (v.32) News of Gideon’s act and his calling by God naturally spreads throughout Ophrah and the surrounding region, as indicated by the rest of this chapter.
 
          Verses 33-40: The armies of the Midianites and the Amalekites set up camp in the valley of Jezreel in preparation for another battle. (v.33) As with the previous judges, the Holy Spirit  indwells Gideon (v.34), and he sends messengers to not only his own tribe of Manasseh, but also Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. (v.35) Their armies readily join together under Gideon’s leadership, but Gideon’s faith is still weak.
            This account of the fleece and Gideon’s testing of God’s calling is not to be taken by believers today as a good example. Gideon already knew what God had called him to do, and God had already promised Gideon that He would deliver the Midianites and Amalekites into Israel’s hands. There was no need for Gideon to seek another sign from the Lord as assurance of His promise of victory. Nevertheless, rather than rebuke His servant, God patiently allows Gideon to test His word and gives Gideon the two signs that he asks for.