Judges 6

Israel Oppressed by Midian

1 Then the sons of Israel ¹did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of ²Midian seven years.

2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because * of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves ³the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them.

4 So they would camp against them and ⁴destroy the produce of the earth as far * as Gaza, and ⁵leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in ⁶like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable *; and they came into the land to devastate it.

6 So Israel was brought ⁷very low because * of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the LORD.

7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian,

8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ⁸he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery.

9 'I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before * you and gave you their land,

10 and I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; you ⁹shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed * Me.""'

Gideon Is Visited

11 Then ¹⁰the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the ¹¹Abiezrite as his son ¹²Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.

12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior."

13 Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But ¹³now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."

14 The LORD looked at him and said, "¹⁴Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?"

15 ¹⁵He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in ¹⁶Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."

16 ¹⁷But the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man."

17 So Gideon said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me ¹⁸a sign that it is You who speak with me.

18 "Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You." And He said, "I will remain until you return."

19 Then Gideon went in and ¹⁹prepared a young * goat * and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and ²⁰fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

22 ²¹When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now * I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face."

23 The LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die."

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still ²²in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now on the same night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ²³Asherah that is beside it;

26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."

27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father's household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The Altar of Baal Destroyed

28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.

29 They said to one another, "Who did this thing?" And when they searched about and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash did this thing."

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it."

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar."

32 Therefore on that day he named him ²⁴Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he had torn down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in ²⁵the valley of Jezreel.

34 So ²⁶the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he ²⁷blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, ²⁸Zebulun, and Naphtali, and ²⁹they came up to meet them.

Sign of the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, "³⁰If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken,

37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken."

38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, "³¹Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground."

40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

Judges 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Israel oppressed by Midianites. (1-6) Israel rebuked by a prophet. (7-10) Gideon set to deliver Israel. (11-24) Gideon destroys Baal's altar. (25-32) Signs given him. (33-40)

Verses 1-6 Israel's sin was renewed, and Israel's troubles were repeated. Let all that sin expect to suffer. The Israelites hid themselves in dens and caves; such was the effect of a guilty conscience. Sin dispirits men. The invaders left no food for Israel, except what was taken into the caves. They prepared that for Baal with which God should have been served, now God justly sends an enemy to take it away in the season thereof.

Verses 7-10 They cried to God for a deliverer, and he sent them a prophet to teach them. When God furnishes a land with faithful ministers, it is a token that he has mercy in store for it. He charges them with rebellion against the Lord; he intends to bring them to repentance. Repentance is real when the sinfulness of sin, as disobedience to God, is chiefly lamented.

Verses 11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice. Hereby a sign was given to Gideon, that he had found grace in God's sight. Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse, a message from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to expect good tidings thence. In this world, it is very awful to have any converse with that world of spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him. But God spoke peace to him.

Verses 25-32 See the power of God's grace, that he could raise up a reformer; and the kindness of his grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of a leader in idolatry. Gideon must not think it enough not to worship at that altar; he must throw it down, and offer sacrifice on another. It was needful he should make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great Sacrifice, no good is to be expected. God, who has all hearts in his hands, influenced Joash to appear for his son against the advocates for Baal, though he had joined formerly in the worship of Baal. Let us do our duty, and trust God with our safety. Here is a challenge to Baal, to do either good or evil; the result convinced his worshippers of their folly, in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself.

Verses 33-40 These signs are truly miraculous, and very significant. Gideon and his men were going to fight the Midianites; could God distinguish between a small fleece of Israel, and the vast floor of Midian? Gideon is made to know that God could do so. Is Gideon desirous that the dew of Divine grace might come down upon himself in particular? He sees the fleece wet with dew to assure him of it. Does he desire that God will be as the dew to all Israel? Behold, all the ground is wet. What cause we sinners of the Gentiles have, to bless the Lord that the dew of heavenly blessings, once confined to Israel, is now sent to all the inhabitants of the earth! Yet still the means of grace are in different measures, according to the purposes of God. In the same congregation, one man's soul is like Gideon's moistened fleece, another like the dry ground.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 2:11
• 2. Numbers 22:4; Numbers 25:15-18; Numbers 31:1-3
• 3. 1 Samuel 13:6; Hebrews 11:38
• 4. Leviticus 26:16
• 5. Deuteronomy 28:31
• 6. Judges 7:12; Judges 8:10
• 7. Deuteronomy 28:43
• 8. Judges 2:1, 2
• 9. 2 Kings 17:35; Jeremiah 10:2
• 10. Judges 2:1; Judges 6:14; Judges 13:3
• 11. Joshua 17:2; Judges 6:15
• 12. Hebrews 11:32
• 13. Judges 6:1; Psalms 44:9
• 14. Hebrews 11:32-34
• 15. Exodus 3:11
• 16. Judges 6:11
• 17. Exodus 3:12; Joshua 1:5
• 18. Judges 6:37; Isaiah 38:7, 8
• 19. Genesis 18:6-8
• 20. Leviticus 9:24
• 21. Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:20; Judges 13:21, 22
• 22. Judges 8:32
• 23. Exodus 34:13
• 24. Judges 7:1
• 25. Joshua 17:16
• 26. Judges 3:10
• 27. Judges 3:27
• 28. Judges 4:6, 10; Judges 5:18
• 29. Judges 7:3
• 30. Judg 6:14, 16, 17
• 31. Genesis 18:32

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "hand"
• [b]. Lit "go up"
• [c]. Lit "until your coming to"
• [d]. Lit "slaves"
• [e]. Lit "listened to My voice"
• [f]. Or "terebinth"
• [g]. Or "turned toward"
• [h]. Lit "with what"
• [i]. Lit "smite"
• [j]. Lit "he"
• [k]. I.e. Approx one bu
• [l]. Lit "and he put"
• [m]. Or "terebinth"
• [n]. Or "departed"
• [o]. Lit "Gideon"
• [p]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
• [q]. Heb "Yahweh-shalom"
• [r]. Or "even"
• [s]. I.e. wooden symbol of a female deity, also vv 26, 28, 30
• [t]. Or "contend"
• [u]. Lit "clothed"
• [v]. Lit "by my hand"
• [w]. Lit "by my hand"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 6

In this chapter we have an account of the distressed condition Israel was in through the Midianites, Jud 6:1-6, of a prophet being sent unto them to reprieve them for their sins, Jud 6:7-10 of an angel appearing to Gideon, with an order to him to go and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites, Jud 6:11-16 and of a sign given him by the angel, whereby he knew this order was of God, Jud 6:17-24, and of the reformation from idolatry in his father's family he made upon this, throwing down the altar of Baal, and building one for the Lord, Jud 6:25-32, and of the preparation he made to fight the Midianites and others, Jud 6:33-35, but first desired a sign of the Lord, that Israel would be saved by his hand, which was granted and repeated, Jud 6:36-40.