Judges 6-7 (Companion Reader)

Welcome back!

Judges 6-9 will deal with the story of Gideon and his son, Abimelech. Both judges. Neither one very admirable, in my opinion. Honestly, I don't like Abimelech, at all! He's terrible! But more on that later.

Chapter 6, verses 1-6.

"The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and YHWH gave them in the hand of Midian for seven years." What kind of evil? Idolatry. Idolatry. Idolatry. That's always the problem.

Anyway, meet our newest oppressor, Midian.

Background on Midianites, Amalekites and the people of the East:

Who exactly are we dealing with here in Judges 6?

These are peoples east of Canaan on the Arabian Peninsula (think Saudi Arabia), although their area is disputed. They were a nomadic people group.

It was to Midian that Moses fled in Exodus 2 after he committed premeditated murder. He found safe-haven there for 40 years (so first Midian preserves Israel, now they're oppressing Israel). There he met the "priest of Midian", Reuel (aka Jethro) who took Moses into his home.

I want to look at that name, Reuel. It is composed of the verb רעה (ra'a) "to befriend" and the word אל (el) "God". Meaning "friend of God".

So, this Midianite is described as a "priest" but to which deity?

Well, El. It's in the name! And we actually see as the story progresses in Exodus that El Shaddai (God Almighty) is how YHWH refers to Himself in chapter 6, "I am YHWH. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai, but by my name YHWH I did not make myself known to them."

It would seem that Reuel is a priest of El Shaddai -- before the revelation of His name, YHWH, in Exodus 3 to Moses.

This would make a fair bit of sense when you consider the Midianite ancestry?

They are sons of Abraham's son... just not the one we know and love.

From Genesis 25, "Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bored him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah... Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to his sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country."

It would make sense that these Midianites would have preserved some knowledge of their patriarch's deity, even if they weren't the sons of the Abrahamic Covenant. Nobody fights like brothers.

In Numbers 25, you can read the story of an Israelite man committing sexual immorality with a Midianite woman (she was the daughter of a tribal chief of Midian). This takes place right on the heels of some Israelite men committing sexual immorality with Moabite women, which led them to make sacrifices to Baal of Peor. Both the man and the woman are put to death, and this is the first instance of the Midian-Israel relationship becoming antagonistic.

What about the Amalekites, though? Who are they?

They are another group of nomads, prominent in the southern part of Canaan. This is often called the Negev -- the stretch of land that separates Egypt from the Holy Land.

The Negev is mentioned numerous times before the book of Judges. Abraham spent a period of time here before a great famine led him to Egypt. This is also where Isaac eventually meets Rebekah. This is a dry, desert region. (If you ever go to the Holy Land, go and see it. It's beautiful to look at if you've got air-conditioning and water waiting for you.)

These Amalekites -- some of the fiercest enemies of Israel -- come from this region. Their history with Israel stretches back to the 40-years of wandering, when they attacked the people of Israel at Rephidim (Exodus 17) and Joshua defeated their armies. It was after that battle that YHWH declared He would "completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth." (1 Samuel 15 through King Saul)

"And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds." You can hear the note of humiliation here. (There are caves all over the Holy Land because of the limestone formations in the rocks, which are porous/soft and easy to carve out. You can actually find a really good example of a limestone "cave" here in the states in Kansas City -- SubTropolis!)

"For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number -- both they and their camels could not be counted -- so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for the help of YHWH."

These Midianites and Amalekites are described like an infestation! They enter in from the Jordan and they spread out all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. And this blight upon the people AND the land, is exactly the sort of thing Moses warned them about in Deuteronomy 28.

Verses 7-10.

YHWH hears the people's cries and sends a prophet. The prophet is not named, but this is the message, "Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery."

We've not had a prophetic message precede the raising up of a judge to this point in the story. And it's also interesting to note that YHWH explicitly reminds Israel of His deliverance from captivity.

"And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, 'I am YHWH your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites (Canaanite people group) in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice."

So great is Israel's apostasy at this time that YHWH has to actually remind them who they are dealing with.

Verses 11-18.

"Now the angel of YHWH (malak YHWH) came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites."

I enjoy the little details in the narrative here. Again, it's worth pointing out how much more intimate and detailed this raising up of Gideon is, in contrast with the other Judges to this point in the story.

Note Gideon's situation: You typically thresh wheat on a threshing floor, which is a big open space where you can eventually toss the wheat into the air so that the chaff can separate. But note that Gideon is so afraid that he'll be discovered by the Midianites that he resorts to doing this job in a winepress (a hole that's a few feet deep into the ground, typically in a valley -- I mean, it's more complicated than that, but I think you get the picture) so that his enemies can't find him, kill him, and steal his grain.

Contrast the posture and setting of Gideon with the malak YHWH. Gideon is hiding; the malak YHWH is simply sitting under the tree, without the slightest fear of being discovered.

The malak YHWH says to Gideon, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to him (and this is hilarious), "Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."

Now, if you know my thoughts on who this malak YHWH character is, then you should understand why this interaction is so funny!

The malak YHWH sitting under a tree, says, "YHWH is with you, O mighty man of valor." What a funny thing for God to call Gideon in this situation! Feels premature. And Gideon who was probably feeling less than valiant in this moment, as he hides in the winepress, with absolutely no idea that he is talking to God says, "Buddy, look where I am right now. I'm not mighty. And YHWH isn't with me OR His people."

I just imagine there was a divine eyeroll at this point in the story because YHWH's got to be thinking:

1. I am literally with you. Like a couple feet away from you. Talking to you directly, but you're such a dolt that it's going to take another couple of verses for you to put it all together.

2. And seriously? You're going to accuse me! Last I checked it was Israel that had forsaken me.

But YHWH doesn't say any of that because He's a much better guy than I am.

The story continues, "And YHWH turned to him and said, 'Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?' And he said to him, 'Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.' And YHWH said to him, 'But I will be with you, and you shall strike Midian as one man.'"

As a side note, I always appreciate when a biblical character argues with God.

Gideon then requests a sign from YHWH in verse 17. This is something we're going to see a few times with Gideon. And YHWH, again and again, is going to indulge Gideon's requests. Frankly, it's sort of odd just how often YHWH is willing to perform a sign for the sake of Gideon's faith.

Verses 19-24.

"So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.' And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight."

Note how much food Gideon is prepping! A young goat. Unleavened cakes (an ephah of flour is something like 30-50 lbs. of flour). And a pot of broth. This meal would also take a while to prepare. The way that the food is presented, followed by the manner in which it is consumed by fire, suggests to me that this is an offering being made by Gideon to the malak YHWH.

"'Alas, O YHWH God! For now I have seen the malak YHWH face to face.' But YHWH said to him, 'Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.' Then Gideon built an altar there to YHWH and called it, YHWH Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

This story reminds me a lot of Exodus 3-4. In both stories, YHWH appears to a coward (Moses/Gideon), hiding from his enemies. He then commissions said coward. The coward argues. YHWH promises His presence. YHWH assures the coward with miraculous signs. And both stories make me feel better about myself.

Verses 25-27.

"That night YHWH said to him, 'Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut (or perhaps hew) down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to YHWH your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut (or hew) down. So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as YHWH had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

Even Gideon's father, Joash, has been worshipping Baal and Asherah. By extension, it is more than fair to assume Gideon would have worshipped the pagan gods. It would seem the whole town worshipped Baal and Asherah! And this Gideon fellow is still a coward, despite having just seen a miraculous sign from the malak YHWH.

By the way, the name Gideon comes from the Hebrew verb גדע (gada) which means "to hew down or cut off".

So, imagine a sanctuary of sorts, with fortified walls, and YHWH is going to besiege and conquer this stronghold for Himself. The bull (often used as an image or depiction for Baal) will pull down the Baal statue. Gideon will hew down the wooden figure to Asherah, and her graven image will be the kindling for the bull being sacrificed to YHWH. YHWH is retaking the land. He is utterly destroying and humiliating the gods of the Canaanites.

Verses 28-32.

"When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, 'Who has done this thing?' And after they had searched and inquired, they said, 'Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.' then the men of the town said to Joash, 'Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.' But Joash said to all who stood against him, 'Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.' Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerub-baal, that is to say, 'Let Baal contend against him,' because he broke down his altar."

Ok, so we see Joash speaking on behalf of Gideon here. What gives? My understanding is that Gideon is still a member of Joash's household, therefore, Joash and all of his house would have been accountable for Gideon's actions. That's why we see Joash confronting the men of the town.

As for the name, Jerubbaal, there's actually some contention as to what that name actually means. The one from the ESV, though, makes sense given that Joash is calling Baal to avenge himself. So we'll just leave it at that.

Most disturbingly from this chunk of verses, what you see here from the men of the town is a perverted inversion of YHWH's command in Deuteronomy 13!

Check these verses out:

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you... you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. -Deuteronomy 13:6-9

If you hear in one of your cities, which YHWH your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. - Deuteronomy 13:12-15

Verses 33-35.

"Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of YHWH clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them."

This represents a pretty abrupt shift in the narrative. There is no satisfying conclusion to the tearing down of the Baal and Asherah. There is no resolution among the men of the town and Joash/Gideon. We've really not seen Gideon do a whole lot leading, truthfully. He roused up 10 men in the middle of the night for a covert operation, but uniting Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali is quite the leap from where we were just a few verses ago. Why would any of these men listen to Gideon?

I suppose the solution to this abrupt shift/skip is in the phrase "the Spirit of YHWH clothed Gideon," which would -- in theory -- give him a supernatural ability for leadership.

This phrasing of the Spirit "clothing" Gideon is atypical. The verb in Hebrew is לבשׁ which does mean "to put on a garment", but so far as I can tell this is the only instance in which the translators gloss this verb as the Spirit "clothing" a person. The same verb is used in 1 & 2 Chronicles to describe how the Spirit "came upon" two individuals. Generally, though, the Judges and the totality of Scripture! The more standard verb for this action of the Spirit is צלח which we typically translate as "came upon _________ powerfully." This verb is used to describe the Spirit's work in Samson in Judges 14, Saul in 1 Samuel 10 & 11, and David in 1 Samuel 16. There are other constructions that describe similar actions by the Spirit, some of which we've seen earlier in Judges, that I won't get into. I guess my point is I like the imagery of being clothed in God's Spirit.

ANYWAY, verses 36-40.

"Then Gideon said to God, 'If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said."

Weird but not important coincidence that we now find ourselves with Gideon, eliciting a sign from YHWH, on a threshing floor.

The first sign came at a winepress serving as a makeshift threshing floor.

What probably stuck out more to you was the fact that the Gideon had been clothed by the Spirit, rallied the men of Israel, and yet here he is again... asking for a sign because he is afraid. These requests don't come from a place of faith. This is unbelief.

"And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew form the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, 'Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.' And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew."

Amazing that Gideon admits he is "testing" YHWH. Despite Moses explicitly commanding Israel to not do that very thing. Yet, YHWH indulges Gideon. Why? I really don't know, but I wouldn't make it a habit.

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You may have noticed that this second part of the Companion Reader is already as long as the first part... and we've covered exactly 1 chapter. I've still got to cover 7-11. I'll do my best from this point forward to be a little less wordy.

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Chapter 7, verses 1-8.

Jerubbaal (Gideon) and his army have gathered together and encamped at the spring of Harod. The Midianites are north of them. Battle is imminent.

YHWH says to Gideon, "You've got too many men. I don't want the people to get the wrong idea that Israel somehow saved themselves. Tell them, 'If you're afraid, go home.'"

The army shrinks from 32,000 to 10,000.

YHWH says to Gideon again, "Still way too many men. Send your men down to get a drink. The men that drink like a bunch of dogs, lapping up the water with their tongues, set them aside cause that's going to be your army.

Just for fun... pretend to drink water like a dog. Go ahead and do it. What sound does that make? *lap lap lap* I think that's onomatopoeia, right?

This whole situation is funny. YHWH is giving it right back to Gideon. "Test me? Ok. Now I'm testing you! You're going to go to battle with .9% of the army you originally had!" And remember, the "people of the east" and their camels came in numbers that "could not be counted" (Judges 6:5).

Verses 9-14.

"That same night YHWH said to him, 'Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.' Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, 'Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.' And his comrade answered, 'This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.'"

YHWH put this prophetic dream into the mind of a Midianite. This kind of revelation, through a non-Israelite, is uncommon but not unheard of in Scripture. The first instance of this I can think of is Pharaoh's dream in Genesis 41, which Joseph interprets for him. But Nebuchadnezzar has a prophetic dream in Daniel 2; Balaam has very direct conversations and revelations/oracles from YHWH in Numbers 22-24 (Funnily enough, Balaam was in cahoots with the Moabites and the Midianites, and he's killed with the Midianite males in Numbers 31). But this is the only instance I know of where a non-Israelite has a prophetic dream from YHWH, which is then correctly interpreted by another non-Israelite.

Let's talk about the dream a little bit: A cake of barley bread tumbling into the camp and tent of Gideon, turning it upside down and flattening it. Is there some sort of symbolism to the barley that connects us or the Midianites to Gideon? The only thing I can come up with is the two explicit mentions of Gideon threshing in Judges 6:11 and then the sign of the fleece (Judges 6:36-40) taking place "on the threshing floor." Barley, like wheat, goes through the process of threshing after it has been harvested. But we're still left to marvel at the fact that a non-Israelite understands the symbolism, knows Gideon and his father by name, and declares the impending defeat that awaits him and his buddies. Strange story!

Verses 15-18.

Gideon rallies his men because he knows the battle is already won.

Verses 19-23.

No swords or weapons of war. Gideon arms his men with trumpets and torches hidden inside jars. They blow their trumpets (made of ram's horn most likely), smash their jars, and with trumpet and torch in hand, they -- ironically -- shout, "A sword for YHWH and for Gideon!" The irony, of course, is the fact not a single one of those men were holding a sword, nor will they use a sword at any point in this battle.

Instead, YHWH turns the Midianite men against one another. They cry out in terror and YHWH sets "every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army." Figuratively, I suppose you could say that YHWH has turned the camp upside down. (Remember the dream)

The army flees back to the Jordan, into the Negev, as the men of Israel pursue them.

Verse 24-25.

"Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, 'Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.' So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

What an ending! The Ephraimites capture and behead two Midianite royals -- Oreb (meaning Raven) and Zeeb (Wolf), and they join the rest of Gideon's army to chase the remainder of the Midianites out of the land.

More coming soon! Thanks for reading!