Gideon’s story is found int he 6th chapter of the book of Judges. To understand the context of the story of Gideon, we must first understand the concept behind the book of Judges.
The book of Judges, probably written about 1000 BC, is a compilation of stories of men who rise up to do God’s will during a 350 year period before the first king of Israel (Saul) comes into power. During this time Israel has no king, and therefore the Israelites have to rely on a different kind of rule, one which is about dependence on God and not another human, and certainly not themselves.
Judges begins shortly after the death of Joshua. Joshua was originally Moses’ assistant and was slated with clearing out the promised land for the Israelites. By God’s command, the Israelites were to first clear the Canaanites from the land and claim The Promised Land (Israel) for themselves. The Canaanites were very evil in the eyes of God. They worshipped gods like Baal and Molek, sacrificed children, prostituted men and women in their religious ceremonies, and had perverted God’s Law.
God commanded that Joshua, and the subsequent Israelites, completely expel them form he land (Deuteronomy 7:1-6, Exodus 23:27-32). This isn’t because God is racist; it’s because leaving the Canaanites (the title I am using for the people living in Israel’s territory) in the Holy land would have a corruptive influence on the Israelites. The Canaanites had had many centuries to change, but instead moved further away from God. To have that influence among God’s holy people would defeat the purpose God wanted to see in Israel: to create holy people, independent of the world, which the entire world could see as God’s.
But this ideal wasn’t meant to be. As the Israelites come into the land (Judges 1), they immediately begin to show signs of fracture. Instead of destroying and sending the people away, they end up compromising with them, and this sets up a terrible series of events over the following 350 years. The influence of the Canaanites causes the Israelites to intermarry with them, to adopt their gods, and most appalling, to wander away from God.
This starts a cycle that we see throughout this book. The cycle is this:
1. The Israelites do evil in the eyes of God. 2. The people are oppressed by outside enemies. 3. The people call out to God. 4. God sends a savior (Judge) to oust the enemy and bring Israel back into alignment with God This cycle is seen in all of the stories of the major judges. The minor judges are a collection of very brief interludes about judges who rose up in Israel’s history. Gideon is a major judge, and he is the fifth judge in this book.
1The 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.
So we see the cycle begin here in verse 1. The people have wandered away again. Although the evil isn’t specified, it probably has to do with worshipping other gods. Whatever the case is, they are oppressed by the Midianiites. The Midianites are a nomadic group from modern day Saudi Arabia, and their oppression of Israel lasts for 7 years. 7, in biblical numerology, is the number for completion or perfection, so we know God is working this story.
You’ll notice something interesting about how the Midianites operate. They aren’t squatting in Israel and keeping the Jews under their control (like the Romans would do in Jesus’ time). They swarm up, invade the country at the time of harvest and steal all their work. They overpower Israel, take all of their grains, wheat and supplies, then leave.
To understand how the sin cycle works in this story, let’s list it: 1. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord (V.1) - (Do evil in the eyes of God) 2. The Midians swarm in to oppress them (V.4) (oppressed by outside enemies) 3. They cried out to God for help (V.6) (Cry out to God)
In a few verses we will see the last part, the calling of the Judge. But first, God sends a prophet.
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.”
God answers their plea with a prophet, and the prophet reminds them: 1. God brought them out of Egypt • God rescued them from the Egyptians • Delivered them from all oppressors • Drove the oppressors away and gave them the land • God told them not to worship other gods
At the end of the list, we see something very important. Even though God has done all of this for them, Israel didn’t listen. They didn’t keep their part of the covenant. And this becomes a central problem with Israel going forward. Israel sees Midian as the problem. But the real problem is Israel’s disobedience.
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.”
The angel of the Lord comes to visit Gideon. First, who is the angel of the Lord? This is an entity that is distinct from “angels of the Lord” or “an angel of the Lord.” Both of these examples refer to actual angels. As we will see further along, this entity is either a Theophany (an appearance of God in scripture) or a Christohany (an appearance of Jesus before he took human form). Whichever it is, it is a divine appearance to a young man who is threshing wheat in a winepress.
A winepress is a sunken chamber. Wheat threshing usually involved separating the chaff from the wheat on a hill, so that when the chaff was scraped off, it would be taken by the wind and whisked away. But Gideon, perhaps afraid of the oppressive Midianites, is hiding as he does this. It is an interesting sight, because the Angel of the Lord finds him (he can’t hide) and calls him a 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.”
Gideon has a few pertinent questions. “If you are with us,” he says, “why has all this happened to us?” Furthermore, Gideon has an understanding of Israel’s history, yet he doesn’t see God operating in his life. His final summation: God has abandoned us. He then assesses his weakness. How can one person save Israel? He is weak and from a weak tribe.
Gideon doesn’t understand one of the basic elements of the relationship between God and man. The relationship demands trust. From that trust comes a strength that can only be achieved from God’s strength. It can’t be done on our own. Gideon only sees himself as weak and unworthy.
God does not promise to make Gideon into Superman. He simply offers relationship. I will be with you. You will achieve this through Me.
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor 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 realized 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.
In Gideon’s mind, he must verify that this is really God speaking to him. This is probably because God has been so maligned in Gideon’s culture that he believes it could be a host of gods. So, he prepares a sacrifice. This sacrifice is acceptable to God and burnt on the rock. Gideon, after the sacrifice is accepted and the angel of the Lord disappears, understands that he has seen the face of God and believes he will die. But when he doesn’t, he builds an altar of worship toGod.
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[d] 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.”
Immediately God enlists Gideon into action. He tells Gideon to dismantle an altar dedicated to Baal (his father’s altar!) and place one to God atop it. First, this gives us a little insight into where Israel is spiritually at this moment. God is worshipped along with Baal (God of weather, essentially) and Asherah (goddess of fertility).
Second, we see Gideon’s fear rise again. He knows that there is a chance of public scorn if he is to be caught doing this. So he does it at night, with the help of his servants.
He is immediately found out, and the town wants to kill him for it. But his father comes to his aid. “If Baal is real,” his father essentially says, “then Baal can deal with Gideon.” This allays the calls for Gideon’s death and even gives Gideon a title he will take through the rest of his life. Jerub-Baal, which means A man against whom Baal is to strive and contend.
In Gideon’s case, he was responsive to God. When we are responsive to God, he guides us to our next step. Our job isn’t to interpret the entire path, but to continue to be responsive.
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.
Gideon is divinely empowered by God and is able to go throughout Israel and amass a large army (32,000, as we will discover in Chapter 7.) When we continue to be responsive to God, as Gideon was, God provides us with strength and courage to continue.
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.
Gideon continues to test God. By these test, we begin to see a problem with Gideon: his faith is weak. God had already promised that he wouldn’t leave Gideon (v. 16). God still obliges Gideon though, showing us God’s graciousness even when we stagger around. But Gideon isn’t done with the tests. He asks for a reversal of the first test, which shows us that Gideon doesn’t keep his word. During the fleece test (v.9), Gideon says that “I will know” that God will save Israel through his hand. Now, he is asking for more verification.
This is problematic, because when we do this in our life, it gives us cause to back out of a situation. Tests to God compel us to wriggle out of what God wants us to do. Tests don’t compel God…we must trust the word (Colossians 3:16-17).