Judges 6

Israel Back in Trouble, God Raises Up Gideon

1 Israel went back to doing evil in God’s eyes. So the Lord let them get handled by the Midianites for 7 years.

2 The Midianites ran Israel like bullies. The Israelites had to hide out in the mountains, caves, and strongholds just to survive.

3 Every time Israel planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern crews would pull up and run through everything.

4 They camped out on Israel’s land and destroyed all the crops, did not leave anything for the people, not even sheep, cows, or donkeys.

5 These folks came in like a swarm of locusts, deep with camels and soldiers, showing up just to ruin everything.

6 Israel was broke down bad because of Midian. So the people finally cried out to the Lord for help.

God Sends A Prophet

7 When Israel cried out to God about Midian…

8 The Lord sent a prophet who told them, “This is what God said: I brought you all up out of Egypt, outta that slavery.”

9 “I saved you all from the Egyptians and from everybody who was oppressing you all. I drove out your enemies and gave you all their land.”

10 “I told you all, ‘I am the Lord your God. Do not worship these fake gods of the Amorites.’ But you all did not listen.”

God Calls Gideon

11 Then the angel of the Lord pulled up and sat under an oak tree in Ophrah, at Joash the Abiezrite’s crib. Gideon, Joash’s son, was hiding out, threshing wheat in a winepress, so the Midianites would not catch him.

12 The angel told Gideon, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”

13 Gideon said, “If the Lord is with us, why are we going through all this, Where the miracles at that our ancestors told us about, Looks like the Lord left us and handed us over to Midian.”

14 The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in the strength you got, I am sending you to save Israel from Midian.”

15 Gideon said, “Lord, how I am supposed to save Israel, My family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the smallest in my family.”

16 The Lord told him, “I will be with you, and you are going to smash the Midianites like they are one man.”

17 Gideon said, “If this really You, let me bring an offering back to You, stay right here.”

18 God said, “I will wait until you get back.”

Gideon’s Offering Accepted

19 Gideon went and cooked a young goat and made some bread without yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought it back to the angel under the oak tree.

20 The angel told him, “Put the meat and bread on this rock and pour the broth on it.” Gideon did it.

21 Then the angel touched it with the tip of his staff, fire came up from the rock and burned up the meat and bread. Then the angel disappeared.

22 Gideon freaked out and said, “Oh snap! I just saw the angel of the Lord face-to-face!”

23 But the Lord told him, “Peace, do not trip. You not going to die.”

24 Gideon built an altar right there and called it “The Lord is Peace.” It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon Tears Down the Fake Gods

25 That night the Lord told Gideon, “Go take your daddy’s bull and another one that is seven years old. Tear down your daddy’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole next to it.”

26 “Then build a proper altar to Me, the Lord your God, on this hilltop. Use the wood from the Asherah pole to burn the second bull.”

27 Gideon took ten of his guys and did what the Lord told him. But he was scared of his family and the townspeople, so he did it at night.

The Town Wants Gideon Dead

28 The next morning, the people saw Baal’s altar smashed, the Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull burned on the new altar.

29 They said, “Who did this?” After asking around, somebody snitched, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 The men of the town told Joash, “Bring your son out, he must die for what he did to Baal’s altar and the Asherah pole.”

31 Joash said, “If Baal’s really a god, let him fight for himself. Why are you all fighting for him?”

32 So that day they called Gideon “Jerubbaal,” saying, “Let Baal fight him if he is real.”

Gideon Prepares for War

33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and eastern armies linked up and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon heavy. He blew a trumpet and called the Abiezrites to roll with him.

35 He sent messengers to Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they all pulled up ready to fight.

Gideon Asks for A Sign

36 Gideon told God, “If You really going to save Israel through me like You said…

37 I am going to put this wool fleece on the ground. If the fleece is wet with dew but the ground all around it is dry, then I will know You really with me.”

38 And that is exactly what happened. The next morning, he wrung out the fleece and filled a bowl with water.

39 But Gideon said, “Lord, do not get mad, let me ask for one more sign. This time make the fleece dry and the ground all around it wet with dew.”

40 That night, God did exactly that, the fleece was dry, but the ground was soaked with dew.