By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Mobile
CALLED
Judges 6:1–4, 7–16
Oppression (1–4, 7–10)
The dreadful cycle we were introduced to last week rears its ugly head once again. The Israelites abandoned the Lord and worshipped the false gods of the Canaanites. Their defiant disobedience resulted in the Lord’s anger, which in turn led to God punishing His people.
This time the Lord sent the Midianites against His people. These wandering herdsmen from east of the Red Sea attacked Israel over a period of seven years, leaving little of value behind.
Rather than simply demanding tribute from Israel, the Midianites, along with the Amalekites and other easterners, invaded the land en masse, destroyed the ready-to-harvest crops and forced the Israelites to hide out in secure areas. Severely weakened by these attacks, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance.
In previous cycles God responded by sending them a deliverer (3:9, 15) or by announcing His intention to deliver them (4:6). The pattern is altered here. God did indeed intend to deliver Israel from its misery, but before expressing this intention, He sent an unnamed prophet to confront the nation with the reason for its troubles. God put His people on notice that He would not always automatically deliver them from their suffering. At some point they had to recognize and repent of the underlying issue of their unfaithfulness.
The prophet reminded the people of God’s gracious acts. Their covenant-keeping God had rescued them from all of their oppressors and had enabled them to conquer the promised land. The prophet then reminded them of God’s demand for loyalty and concluded with a brief accusation.
Commission (11–14)
The angel of the Lord met Gideon while he was hard at work threshing wheat in a winepress in an attempt to hide the wheat from the Midianites.
The angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon, saying, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.” These words were meant to inspire confidence in Gideon. The divine commission assured him that God enabled him and that Gideon would hold a military role.
Gideon, like Moses before him, balked at the suggestion that God might use him to defeat the Midianites. Gideon answered politely but then questioned the reality of God’s presence and altered the personalized “with you” (v. 12) to a collective “with us” (v. 13). Gideon argued that the circumstances proved that the Lord had abandoned His people and given the nation over to Midian.
His argument was correct as far as it went. God had temporarily abandoned Israel but only because they had sinned against Him (Deut. 32:15). Gideon gave no indication of understanding this important fact, nor did recalling God’s miraculous deeds impact his perspective.
Reassurance (15–16)
The Lord was not dissuaded by Gideon’s arguments and formally commissioned him to go and defeat the Midianites.
Focusing on the words “the strength you have” (v. 14) rather than the assurance of God’s presence (v. 12), Gideon questioned his suitability for the mission. After all, his family was the weakest in Manasseh, and he was the youngest in his father’s family.
Gideon’s apparent ignorance of the patriarchal traditions is striking. Anyone familiar with those accounts will remember that God can take the youngest and seemingly most insignificant and use them mightily to accomplish His purposes. In response to Gideon’s argument that he was not qualified for the assignment, the Lord personally assured him of His presence. With God’s enablement, Gideon would completely destroy the Midianites.
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