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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 6
Israel is in bondage to Midianites—An angel appears to Gideon and
calls him to deliver Israel—He overthrows altar of Baal, the Spirit of
the Lord rests upon him, and the Lord gives him a sign to show he is called
to deliver Israel.
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1 AND the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that
the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the
aeast, even they came up against them;
4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the
aincrease of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left
no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
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5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
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7 ¶ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your
God; afear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye
dwell: but ye have not bobeyed my voice.
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11 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and
sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that
apertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son
Gideon threshed wheat bby the winepress, to hide it
from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD
be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all
his amiraclesa
which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the
LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites.
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13a where be all his miracles
God is a God of miracles. And when his people are good and faithful the Lord
is enabled to work for them whatsoever he will to their benefit and
preservation. Yet consider the state of the Christian religion the was before
the restoration. And why was it that those Christians were in the way of
denying the very power of God to be such a God of miracles, and visitations
and wonders by his great power? Like those of Gideon's day, they had fallen
into a state of unrighteousness and unfaithfulness and the miracles had
ceased from among them, and angels no longer were commonly had to minister
unto them. And this is a gauge that may be measured. Is the power of God
active among the people of the Lord or not. If not then the reason is not with
God but with the people and their exercise of faith in the Lord.
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14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in
this thy amight, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand
of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall
I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am
the aleast in my father's house.
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16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be
awith thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one
man.
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found
agrace in thy sight, then shew me a bsign
that thou talkest with me.
18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
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19 ¶ And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
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21 ¶ Then the angel of the LORD put forth the
end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the
unleavened cakes; and there rose up afire out of the rock,
and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD
departed out of his sight.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an [the]
angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an [the]
aangel of the LORD face to bface.
23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not:
thou shalt not diea.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD,
and called it aJehovah-shalom: unto this day it is
yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
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23a thou shalt not die When Jehovah came to Gideon to
call him to be a prophet and deliver Israel, Gideon did come to preceive that it was the Lord God
Jehovah himself, that Spirit God of the Old Testament that he had been speaking with and who had called
him to be a prophet and deliver Israel from the Medianites and the gentiles of the east. Thus Jehovah
did speak peace unto Gideon that though he had seen and spoken to God face to face as one man speaketh
to another, that Gideon would not die. This is the source and reason for the name Jehovah-shalom
that Gideon did call and name the altar that he did then build unto Jehovah to offer sacrifice upon
(v. 24).
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25 ¶ And it came to pass the same night, that
the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second
bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of
aBaal that thy father hath, and cut down the
bgrove that is by it:
26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the
top of this arock, in the ordered place, and take the
second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which
thou shalt cut down.
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
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28 ¶ And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
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30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him,
Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him
be put to death awhilst it is yet morning: if he
be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down
his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called him
aJerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he
hath thrown down his altar.
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33 ¶ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
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36 ¶ And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine
aanger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once:
let me bprove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece;
let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be
dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
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