Judges 6:11-16
In last week’s study we looked at Judges 6:1-10 and saw the reason of Israel’s spiritual corruption and adversity was a result of their disobedience to God’s word and their worshiping the gods of the Amorites.
Judges 6:1
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Judges 6:10b
“…do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
As a result, we saw in verses 2 to 6 how Israel suffered for seven years under the oppression of not only the Midianites but also Amalekites and other eastern peoples who invaded the country.
Israel’s disobedience to God and His Word was that they turned their back on God by worshiping “the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.”
This is the spiritual and cultural context in which Gideon lived which in many ways is not much different today. From this context, God calls Gideon to be the man that He was going to use to be Israel’s deliverer from the oppression of the Midianites. However, for Gideon to be used by God, he first had to overcome his personal doubts about himself and the fear of confronting the godless culture in which he lived. For this to happen, Gideon needed to have a total dependency and trust in God.
For a believer in Christ, fear in many different situations is not only an acknowledgment of the present or possible danger one is or will encounter, but can also be an indication of the lack of acknowledgment of who God is and the deficiency of knowing His Word and how it applies to their life. There is nothing wrong recognizing the danger and or the difficulty of situation we are confronting and or will be confronting. However, for a believer in Christ not to acknowledge the presence of God who is in them and the fact that God is always with them, leaves a vacuum or void in their heart and mind for fear to fill or occupy the thoughts and emotions of that person. This is also true when the believer in Christ is ignorant of God’s word and or negligent in applying God’s Word to the situation they are confronting or will confront in the near future.
When God is absent from the heart and mind of a Christian, His peace is also absent and fear will be present instead. However, the opposite is true when we acknowledge God and His word by applying it to our lives, we experience His absolute peace in our lives. Jesus said in;
John 14:27, NLT
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Philippians 4:7, NIV
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
2 Thessalonians 3:16, NLT
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation.
In Judges 6:11-12 we see Gideon wisely not being in the open threshing wheat in a winepress. Wisely, because in the winepress he and his wheat were hidden from the Midianite oppressors.
Judges 6:11b, “…where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.”
What is “threshing wheat”? “It is the method of separating or breaking open the edible grains or heads of wheat from the protective husks or the inedible chaff by beating or crushing the wheat plants.”
This process is always done in the open so that the wind will assist in the separation of the chaff being lighter that the wheat grain.
What is a “winepress”? “A winepress was a basin hewn in rock in the vicinity of a vineyard.” A great description is found in Isaiah 5:2, He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks.
With this understanding we now can see that Gideon was not a coward hiding, but wisely protecting what little food his family had from being confiscated by the Midianite oppressors. We also have from this explanation a good understanding of what verse 11b tells us of why Gideon was in the winepress threshing wheat.
11a The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
The angel of the Lord in this verse is what many scholars of the Bible believe is a preincarnate appearance of Christ or a “Christophany”. The angel of the Lord tells Gideon two significant facts about how God sees him. The first is, “The Lord is with you”. This is a personal confirmation of the presence of God in the life of Gideon at that moment in spite of his current unpleasant situation. This statement was also an assurance of God’s presence with him in the future.
Why did the angel of the Lord greet Gideon with these specific words at this moment? Even though the Bible does not tell us what Gideon was thinking while he threshing wheat in the winepress, it is possible that Gideon was thinking about his and his people’s harsh predicament over the past seven years in relation to their suffering caused by the Midianites.
The second comment that the angel of the Lord made to Gideon was calling him a “mighty warrior (verse 12)”. Gideon’s response did not make any reference acknowledging this. However, this is a good indication of where Gideon’s heart was, it was concerned about the nation of Israel and not on himself and his hardship. This is another example of his good character.
Judges 6:13, “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon expressing respect says “But sir,” while at the same time being transparent stating his doubt with his questions and comments. We also see with Gideon’s response that he did not only see himself in this dismal situation because of the oppression of the Midianites. Gideon included the whole nation of Israel in his questions and comments. Six times in his response Gideon uses the word “us”. It is clear he is not feeling sorry about himself suffering the consequences of the Midianites harsh oppression. His response included all his people of his country.
What Gideon fails to take into account or mention is the reason why Israel, his people including himself had been suffering seven years of hardship at the hands of the Midianites. In his comments Gideon did not take into account that “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 1), because of their disregard for the God and His word “…do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.” (verse 10b). Both facts of which became such a normality in the culture of Israel that Gideon failed to understand why God “gave them into the hands of the Midianites”.
Judges 6:14, 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?”
The angel of the Lord’s response to Gideon was not focused on what Gideon said in verse thirteen, but it was focused on God’s planned purpose of how He was going to use Gideon. This was Gideon’s commission by the Lord.
Acting in faith on what we are told by God to do, we need not disregard or fail to acknowledge the situation we are experiencing. However, we are to put our faith, trust and confidence in what God says giving it more importance than what we are experiencing. “Faith in God means obeying God in spite of what we see, how we feel, or what the consequences might be.”
Judges 6:15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
In this verse we see how Gideon thought of himself in relation to what God told him. His comment is a good indication that Gideon’s hearing what God told him and seeing the situation with his understanding, which is very common for many Christians.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT, 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Judges 6:16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” This is the second time that the Lord is telling Gideon that He will be with him and reassuring him what He is going to accomplish through Gideon. As before God does not focus His response to Gideon’s doubt, “how can I save Israel?” but on His plans to deliver Israel from the Midianites.
As with us, many times we only see ourselves through our eyes and understanding but find it difficult to focus on who God is and what He says He will do in us and through us.
Warren Wiersbe give us his thoughts concerning Gideon’s and the Lord’s conversation in verses 12 to 16. “Once God has revealed His will to us, we must never question His wisdom or argue with His plans. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” (Romans 11:34, NIV; see Isaiah 40:13 and 1 Corinthians 2:16) “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7, NKJV) A.W. Tozer wrote, “All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time.” That being true, who are we to question Him?”
Pastor John
