March 20

March 20

Judges 6–7

Scripture Text: Judges 6:1–7:25

Series: Read the Bible in a Year

Judges 6:1–7:25

Another great judge of Israel turns up in today’s reading. God appointed this judge because Israel did evil in the sight of God. This evil is always disobedience toward God that brings worship of false gods. The wrath of God ensues, typically through the oppression of a foreign power or of the Canaanites whom the Israelites had failed to drive out of the land. It was a vicious cycle of disobeying and disregarding the Lord, being enslaved or otherwise dominated, crying out to the Lord whom they had defied and forgotten, then being delivered again—only to disobey and forget him yet again. 

The Midianites in particular, but also the Amalekites and eastern people, harassed Israel. Whenever the people tried to settle the land, this alliance of raiders would overcome them like locusts that had come to stay. The irony of this is Israel had come to worship the Baals, a fertility cult. Meanwhile other Baalites came in and took their crops and livestock. Israel was being mocked for the faithless addiction to false gods. However, because this became such an intolerable situation, Israel remembered they had the real and only God. And they cried out to him for help. Again. The Lord answered their cries by calling Gideon as judge. 

Gideon is at least as reluctant as Moses had been to undertake God’s call. But he finally does and destroys the altar of Baal, as well as Asherah, Baal’s consort. For this, he was condemned to death. But Joash, Gideon’s father, argues that Baal can fight his own battles and that no man would contend with Gideon on Baal’s behalf. The emboldened Gideon, now named Jerubbaal, meaning, “Let Baal contend against him,” begins to gather an army to fight the Midianites and their allies. As he awaits the arrival of warriors, he asks of God specific signs (of fleece, Judges 6:36–40) of a guaranteed victory. God assures him with Gideon’s requested wet fleece on dry ground then dry fleece on wet ground. Meanwhile many troops have gathered—32,000.

Knowing Israel would end up boasting in their own military might, and disregard the Lord again, God demands the number of soldiers be fewer. Eventually 32,000 becomes an acceptable 300 to go up against the Midianite alliance. It was then clear that God had given  Midian into the hand of Gideon.   

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