Gideon - Part 2 Series

Last week in verses Judges 6:1-10

Israel had been committing spiritual adultery

That’s not a term I made up

Many of the prophets used the term adultery because it was graphic

We are to be the bride of Christ

God disciplined them in an attempt to bring them back to Himself

He gave them measured discipline

They cried out to God for relief from the oppression of the Midianites

Judges 6:7-10

(7) When the Israelites cried out to Him because of Midian, (8) the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.

(9) I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

(10) I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.’”

He don’t know who this prophet is

He recounted the glorious things God had done for Israel

He recounted the commandments of God

Here’s an easy word to overlook in verse 10 - “fear”

“Fear the Lord” as an exact translation shows up 49 times in the Bible

Psalm 111:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Proverbs 15:33 - The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom

If the fear of the Lord is wisdom and knowledge what is it called when you fear something or someone other than God? Foolishness and ignorance! Actually, it is sin and all sin is lawlessness and rebellion!

Then the prophet makes the pronouncement, “But you did not obey Me!!!”

One curious thing is that he never called Israel to repent and to turn back to the Lord.

Was the Lord just saving His breath?

Now, here’s a curious question … how long was it between when the Lord sent the prophet and when the Angel of the Lord came to have a chat with Gideon?

Pastor Karenlee and I like to watch some of the police shows on TV. Some of them are just soap operas filled with all sorts of filthiness but a few, a very few attempt to be somewhat realistic.

One thing that they try to do in order to solve a crime is to piece together a timeline of the crime and those involved.

Who was there at the time of the crime?

Who had witnessed the crime?

You can even see this in old shows like Matlock and so when we jumped from the prophet in Israel to the angel of the Lord visiting Gideon it made me wonder how long was the period between the two verses? A day. A week? A month? Several months?

There is probably no relevance or the Lord would have said how long it was, that’s just the way my mind works …

So, let’s move on to the next section …

Judges 6:11-24

(11) The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

(12) When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

(13) “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

(14) The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

(15) “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

(16) The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

(17) Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.

(18) Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

(19) Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.