March 16, 2010 Judges 6-7

The history of Gideon is rather exciting! Once again the Israelites did evil things. God was not happy with their lifestyle choices. They were oppressed by the Midianites this time. It's sad reading about the way the Midianites moved in like locusts and stripped the land bare. God sent the Israelites a prophet who told them that they had not done what God had asked of them.

One day a man named Gideon was busy threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. He was on his father's (Joash) land under an oak tree. An angel of the Lord came to where Gideon was and sat down under the tree and told him that the Lord was with him. Gideon replied that he couldn't understand why God had abandoned them to the Midianites. In the next part, the Lord is present with Gideon and the angel. Depending on the translation of the bible you read, it implies that the Lord is physically there. Some versions say that the Lord turned to him, others say that the Lord looked at him, and spoke to him. The Lord told him to go in strength and save Israel, wasn't He sending him? Gideon didn't understand how he could make a difference. But God told him that He would be with him and give him strength. So Gideon asked God for a sign that He really was God. Gideon asked the Lord to wait for him to bring an offering. God said He would wait. Gideon prepared the offering and brought it back to the oak tree where God waited. The angel told Gideon to put the meat and bread on the rock and pour the broth over it. Then the angel touched the offering with the tip of the staff in his hand and the offering was burned up! Then the angel disappeared. Gideon was afraid he would die because he had seen the angel face to face, but God told him not to fear, he would not die. Gideon built an altar in that place.

Later that night God told Gideon to take the 7 year old bull, and offer it to Him on an altar he was to make out of his father's altar and use the wood from the Asherah pole to burn the offering. So he got 10 of his servants and went right out during that night and did what God had told him. (He was afraid of his father and the men of the town which is why he used the cover of darkness.) In the morning when the men saw what was done they were angry and wanted to kill Gideon when they found out he was responsible. They went to Gideon's father who defended his son and told them that if Baal was really a god then he could defend himself. So they named Gideon Jerub-Baal which meant, let Baal fight for himself.

The Midianites and Amalekites were gathering close by and Gideon blew the trumpet to signal the Israelites to gather. He sent messengers to Manasseh, his own tribe, and also to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali calling them to battle.

Gideon asked God for another sign. He put a piece of wool on the floor and asked God to make it wet in the morning but the ground under it to be completely dry. God did it. Gideon asked for another sign, this time using the same materials to have the opposite result. Again God did it. To me this proves God loves those of us who aren't too sure of ourselves.

32,000 men showed up to fight. God told Gideon that there were too many because they would believe they had won because of themselves, not God. So Gideon told all the men who were scared to go home and 22,000 left. But 10,000 was still too many so God told Gideon to take them to the water to drink. The men who drank from their hands were to stay while the ones who drank directly from the stream were to leave. 300 men remained and Gideon told the others to leave their trumpets and food with the 300. God told Gideon that if he was afraid he could take his servant and go into the Midian camp and eavesdrop on them. So they did and found out how scared the Midianites were. Later that night Gideon roused his men and told them to do exactly what he did. He gave each of them a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch. They circled the Midian camp and blew the trumpets and broke the jars. In their left hands they held the torches and in the right the trumpet and together they all shouted "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" As they blew the trumpets, all the Midianites ran and began to fight each other. The Midianites kept running and were subdued by the other tribes which Gideon had sent messages to come and fight. They killed two Midianite leaders named Oreb and Zeeb and brought their heads to Gideon.

Tomorrow read Judges 8-9