Judges 6- Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Jud 6:1-24

1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.” But you have not listened to me.’

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’

13 ‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.’

14 The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’

15 ‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’

16 The Lord answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.’

17 Gideon replied, ‘If now I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.’

And the Lord said, ‘I will wait until you return.’

19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realised that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, ‘Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’

23 But the Lord said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.’

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

A. Find Out:

1. Who did what to Israel, and why? v.1-6
2. Who did the Lord send to say what to Israel ? v.7-10
3. Who came to who, where, and what greeting did he give? v.8-12
4. Why did Gideon have trouble with that? v.13
5. What was he told to do and what assurance did he receive? v.14-16
6. What confirmation then followed? v.17-24

B. Think:

1. How was Gideon’s activity a sign of their oppression?
2. How was his mind-set fixed in oppression?
3. How did he show he was in unbelief?

C. Comment:

     We embark on the story of a judge that takes 3 chapters. The cycle has started again. Israel have fallen away, and are now oppressed by the Midianites. This time we’re given more detail of the nature of the oppression. They came in number, camped on the land, ruined the crops and stole all the cattle and treated the land as theirs. Israel cry out to the Lord and He sends a prophet to remind them of their guilt and of the changes that need to be made. Merely crying out is not enough! It needs life change. The same is true today.

     Now we’re introduced to Gideon. He’s threshing wheat in a wine press – in a hole in the ground, not on a high open spot as was usual. That’s a sign of his fear of the enemy. An angel comes and calls him a ‘mighty man of valour’ or a ‘mighty warrior’. He’s not this and he knows it. God sees the future and He knows this is what he will become. Often the Lord speaks of what we will be. The Lord says He’s with him. Gideon says how can this be? Look at the state we’re in. The point is that the Lord is with him IN IT. He’s come to use him to bring change to it, but Gideon hasn’t grasped that yet. He’s not even sure this is an angel yet – until the supernatural happens (v.22)! Suddenly he fears. Now he realises the truth. Now things can happen. He had to be brought out of oppression into belief. Now he’s ready for action!

D. Application:

1. Have we accepted the oppression of the world’s values?
2. Do we believe God wants US to change the world?

Passage: Jud 6:25-40

25 That same night the Lord said to him, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.’

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly-built altar!

29 They asked each other, ‘Who did this?’

When they carefully investigated, they were told, ‘Gideon son of Joash did it.’

30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, ‘Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.’

31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, ‘Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.’ 32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, ‘Let Baal contend with him.’

33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

36 Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.’ 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew – a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.’ 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

A. Find Out:

1. What was Gideon to do, when did he do it and why? v.25-28
2. What was the reaction in the morning? v.28-30
3. Who stood up for Gideon? v.31,32
4. What then followed and why? v.33-35
5. How did Gideon first get confirmation of his orders? v.36-38
6. How did he get it a second time? v.39,40

B. Think:

1. Why do you think removing the wrong altar was necessary?
2. What fruit did that bear?
3. What provoked Gideon into further action?

C. Comment:

     Things start happening in Gideon life. He has just built an altar to the Lord (v.24), a sign of his new-found relationship with God – worship is a sign of bowing before the Lord. Now he’s called by the Lord to replace his father’s altar to Baal with an altar to the Lord, which he does at night. The fact that he has ten servants is an indication that he comes from a family of some wealth. When, next morning, the men of the town come to worship Baal, they see what has happened and demand Gideon’s death (the servants no doubt told). His father at this point stands up for the Lord. This is a major turning point. An important man in the town has turned back to the Lord. The tide is about to turn.

     Then we find the Midianites and others come into the land again. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon – a sovereign act of God coming in power on this man – energizing his to rise up against the enemy and call the people to gather to fight them.

     Then we find something strange happening: Gideon seeks the Lord for confirmation of his instructions by the use of a fleece on two nights running. He’s had an angelic visit, he’s been empowered by the Spirit, but still he doubts – such is the power of oppression of a number of years. The Lord graciously grants him the guidance he’s looking for. It may be a sign of half-heartedness or immaturity, but He gives it.

D. Application:

1. We’re called to stand out and put our lives in line with God’s law.
2. Being filled with the Spirit is great – but we’re still who we were!