This chapter starts as chapter 4 did – “And the Children of Israel did evil in the sight of The LORD.” This time the LORD had delivered them into the hands of Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were the descendants of the union between Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1,2; Genesis 37:28). They were the traders to whom Joseph was sold by his brothers and who then sold him to Potiphar in Egypt.
Perhaps we can recap who the people were who the Israelites fell into captivity – Mesopotamians who were the people who Abraham left in obedience to The LORD’s call. The Moabites- descendants of the wicked relationship of his nephew Lot and his elder daughter. The Canaanites – the people who the Israelites should have driven out, and now the Midianites, the descendants of Abraham’ polygamous relationship. Sometimes they are referred to as Ishmaelites, descendants of Abraham through his relations with Hagar, the slave girl, when he and Sarah thought they would give God a helping hand in producing a son.
Amazing how God works – The Children of Israel and the Midianites – sons of the same father used by God to take the Israelites into Egypt, into bondage from which God had now freed them and now they are back in the land (or part of it) promised to Abraham, but through disobedience are slaves to the same Midianites, half-brothers who did not receive the blessing promised to Abraham. No doubt they resented that and maybe now they considered revenge. They came and camped in the land and were taking the food of the Israelites. Israelites ploughed and sowed the crops but when harvest came, they forced the Israelites to hand it over. The Midianites were nomads never settling anywhere. Here they are taking the food from the people who God had said, this was their land to enter and possess all of it.
Let us beware of those people and things that would come into our lives and steal great parts of it when God would possess all of us and have us take possession of all of Him. Remember the lesson from the beginning of this study – In The LORD Jesus is the heavenly inheritance which God purposes for us to enjoy. Not part of Christ, but ALL of Christ. Before we can know what it is in fullness to possess Him, we must be first possessed by Him. How often are we satisfied with less than God’s perfect will and, therefore, the fullness of Jesus Christ, for our lives.
The Israelites called out to God. (v7) The answer God gave is interesting and shows that He is consistent, He never changes and is always reliable. God sent an unnamed prophet to them and reminded them of their history and God’s provision for them. He reminded them of His word – “I am The LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell – But you have not obeyed my voice.” (10) He simply reminded them of how He had gone before them and kept them, but they had not obeyed Him.
The answer to their question was simply – ‘you need to obey Me and then things will improve’. So often we want an answer from God, perhaps even something spectacular, but it simply requires obedience to God on our part.
The Angel of The LORD then came (v11) and sat under a terebinth tree which belonged to Joash the father of Gideon. We are not told if the prophet was still there or whether he had left after giving the message.
God chose Gideon to rescue His people and we find him in 6:11 and he is in hiding, threshing wheat and The Angel of The LORD then came to him. Even though he was scared, he was faithful He knew that Israel needed food – the right strategy to keep God’s people going. We may be going through difficulties, but it is essential that we feed on the Bread of Life to keep us going. We need spiritual food to help us to grow.
Notice in v 18,19 that he even had food for the angel.
Have we food for The LORD today or are our minds filled with and feeding on the trash of the world that really is not worth any of our time? The question is, what are we storing our minds with?
Gideon was PREPARED and Gideon also LISTENED. It is said that we only listen to 25% of what we hear. To listen requires our attention.
Gideon must have been surprised at the answer God gave to him – “The LORD is with you, mighty man of valour” (warrior) Gideon felt anything but mighty, and a warrior, but he was listening because he asked a question. (v13) – “But …. If The LORD is with us why has all this befallen us ….” Perhaps we should ask the same question. The answer is in verse 1 “Israel did evil again.” The answer to the problem in v1 is in verse 14 “Go in the strength you have and save Israel; I am sending you” If God is sending us that settles it. We must make sure that God is sending us. However, faith is not always demonstrated by fearlessness.
Gideon wanted to be sure that God was sending him, and we are introduced to the fleece which I’m sure you have heard of – wet fleece, dry ground and wet ground, dry fleece. If God wasn’t sending him, he wasn’t going. We have a similar statement in Exodus 33:14,15 where Moses received the promise of The LORD, “My presence will go with you. ….” And Moses’ reply, “If your presence does not go with us do not bring us up from here.” In common parlance – if you don’t go with me, I don’t want to go..
Do we want that assurance? I don’t believe that Gideon was trying to strike a bargain with God, he just wanted to be sure he was doing God’s will. Notice also that God didn’t criticise Gideon for wanting to be sure. The Word of God is our guidebook but there may be things that the Bible does not say specifically and often we have to pray for God to close or open doors.
We must be prepared to go where He wants and not to go where He doesn’t want. If we trust, He has promised to guide. There may be nothing wrong in asking God for signs so long as it is for the right reason. Signs do not replace faith.
There is no appeal against God’s Word, but how often do we think we know best?
Gideon was willing to go God’s way even though he was afraid. It wasn’t sufficient to PREPARE and LISTEN only, He must OBEY.
The Bible says it is not enough to be hearers only, but doers of the Word.
The non-Christian can read, even pray, and listen but unless one does accept Christ, repent and turn from sin, one will be merely a Religious or an educated fool.
To the Christian – to live a full life, we must accept and act upon the Word of God even though we may be afraid.
First of all, Gideon had to remove the idol in his own life. (v25) and secondly, replace it with a proper altar (v26)
An idol is anything which comes between God and me. Evidently Gideon’s own family were worshiping Baal. Don’t think that because your family do not serve The Living God that you can’t. That was Gideon’s situation. However, it may, as it did here, mean drastic action in removing the family idol, whatever it may be. Afraid, Gideon did it at night with ten friends. (v27) It still took courage.
As a result, his father, who had built the altar and the idol of Baal, became his greatest defender. (v30-32) He gave Gideon the nickname Jerubbaal which meant ‘let Baal plead against him or Baal conqueror’.
Do not be afraid to witness at home, school, college, work, wherever… Because you are afraid doesn’t indicate that you are faithless. Faith is shown by obedience; thus, people may tag you with a name, make sure it is because you are committed to God and serve Him faithfully and not as a compromiser.
1. Remove the things that come between God and you – it may be friends, job, home, possessions, selfishness, self-centredness.
2. Replace it with things that help you grow. You know what is helping and what is hindering.
Philippians 3:7-11 and 4:8,9 may help. “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
How this accords with Judges 6:23 The LORD said to Gideon, “Peace be unto you, fear not.”
Gideon (v24) built an altar to The LORD and called it ‘Jehovah Shalom’ (The LORD is peace)
