The Lord God Speaks to Gideon |
Judges 6:1-40 The Book of Judges [in Smaller Chunks] |
[Again] the children [people] of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord & the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Midian for 7 years. [Judges 2:11-13 And the children [people] of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord & served Baalim. |
And they [abandoned] the Lord God of their [forefathers, Who] brought them out of the land of Egypt & followed other gods, of the gods of the people [who] were [around] them & provoked the Lord to anger. They [abandoned] the Lord & served Baal & Ashtaroth.] |
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel & in the mountains, they made dens, caves & [fortified places for themselves,] because of the Midianites. |
[After] Israel had sown [their crops,] the Midianites, Amalekites & even the [people] of the east came up against them & [set up camp] against them & destroyed [their produce] & left no [food] for Israel [or for] sheep, [oxen, or donkeys all the way to the tribe of] Gad. |
They came up with a multitude of their [livestock,] tents & camels. They came [like a] multitude [of] grasshoppers. For both they & their camels were without number & they entered into the land to destroy it. The [people] of Israel cried [out] to the Lord, [because] of the Midianites & they were [extremely poor.] |
It [happened,] when they cried [out] to the Lord, because of the Midianite,the Lord sent a prophet to the [people] of Israel, [who told them what] the Lord God said to them. |
The Lord God of Israel [says this,] I brought you up from Egypt, out [from] the house of bondage & I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians & out of the hand of all [who] oppressed you. |
And [drove] them out before you & gave you their land. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; [don’t] fear [respect] the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell, but you [didn’t] obey My voice. |
There came an Angel of the Lord, [Who] sat under an oak in Ophrah, [that belonged] to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son, Gideon, threshed wheat [near] the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. |
The Angel of the Lord appeared to [Gideon] & said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord [is] with us, then why has all this [happened to] us? |
Where [are] all His miracles [that] our [forefathers] told us [about,] saying, Didn’t the Lord bring us [out] from Egypt? Now the Lord has [abandoned] us & delivered us into the hand of the Midianites. |
The Lord looked [at] Gideon & said, Go in your [strength] & you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? [Gideon] said [to the Lord,] Oh, my Lord, [with what] shall I save Israel? |
[See,] my family is poor in Manasseh & I am the [the youngest] in my father’s house. The Lord said to [Gideon,] Surely, I will be with you & you shall [attack] the Midianites, [united like] 1 man. |
[Gideon] said to [the Lord,] If I have now found grace in Your sight, then [show] me a sign that you talked with me. I pray [that] You [don’t go] until I come [back] to You & bring my present & [put] it [in front of] You. [The Lord said,] I will [wait] until you come again. |
Gideon went in & [prepared] a kid [goat] & unleavened cakes [made] of an ephah of flour & put the [meat of the goat] in a basket & the broth in a pot & brought it to [the Lord] under the oak & presented it [to Him.] |
The Angel of God said, Take the [meat of the goat] & unleavened cakes & lay them on this rock & pour out the broth & he did so. The Angel of the Lord put [out] the end of the staff in His hand & touched the [meat] & unleavened cakes & fire rose up out of the rock & consumed the [meat] & unleavened cakes. |
Then, the Angel of the Lord departed out of [Gideon’s] sight. When Gideon [realized] He was the Angel of the Lord, [Gideon] said, Alas, O Lord God, because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face. |
And the Lord said to [Gideon,] Peace be to you. [Don’t be fearful;] you [won’t] die. Then, Gideon built an altar there to the Lord & called it Jehovah Shalom [The Lord is Peace, which is still] called this to this day in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. |
It [happened] the same night, the Lord said to [Gideon,] Take your father’s young [bull] & a 2nd [bull] 7 years old & [tear] down the altar of Baal that your fathers has & cut down the grove that is by it. |
[Deuteronomy 12:2-3 You shall [totally] destroy all the places, [where] the nations you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, hills & under every green tree. And you shall [tear] down their altars & break their pillars & burn their groves with fire. And you shall [cut] down the [carved] images of their gods & destroy the names of them out of that place.] |
And build an altar to the Lord God on top of this rock [with its proper arrangement] & take the 2nd [bull] & offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood from the grove that you shall cut down. |
Then, Gideon took 10 [male] servants & did as the Lord had said to him. [Since Gideon was fearful] of his father’s household & the men of the city, he [didn’t do it during the day] & did it at night. |
When the men of the city arose early in the morning & [saw] the altar of Baal [torn] down & the grove was cut down that was by it & the 2nd [bull] was offered on the altar that was built [to the Lord God,] they said to 1 another, Who has done this thing? |
When they asked [around,] they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. Then, the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, so that he may die, because he has [torn] down the altar of Baal & cut down the grove that was by it. |
Joash said to all [those who] stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? Will you save him? [Let those who] plead for him be put to death while it’s still morning. |
If [Baal is supposed] to be a god, let him plead for himself, because [someone] has [thrown] down his altar. Therefore, on that day, [his father] called [Gideon] Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar. |
Then, all the Midianites, Amalekites & the [people] of the east were gathered together & went over & [set up camp] in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon & he blew a trumpet & [the Abiezrites] were gathered [behind] him. |
Gideon sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh; who was also gathered [behind Gideon.] And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun & Naphtali & they came to [join] them. |
Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as You have said, l will [put] fleece of wool [on] the floor & if [it has] dew only on the fleece & the [ground around it] is dry, then I shall know that You will save Israel by [my] hand, as you have said & it was so. |
For [Gideon] rose up early the [next morning] & [squeezed] the fleece together & [wrung out] a bowl full of dew water out of the fleece. |
Gideon said to God, [Don’t be angry with me, but] I pray to You, this [time about] the fleece. Let [the fleece] now be dry & [only] the ground be [wet] with dew. God did so that night & it was dry on the fleece & only [wet] with dew on all the ground. |