2025 Bible Study Group

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Judges 6

1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of Midian seven years.

Notice how the text says this over and over again: Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. See how the narrative takes God's perspective into account. This narrative device will be used later in the book. Keep an eye out for it.

13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

The Angel of the Lord visits Gideon and commissions him to save Israel from the Midianites. There are strong textual reasons to believe that this is an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ. One, he is sitting under a tree when Gideon meets him. It is evocative of God meeting Abraham under the Oak of Mamre. Trees are highly theologically charged in the Bible. You had the two trees in the garden of Eden. You have the cross. I submit to you that the pillars in the Temple are symbolic of the trees in Eden, as the Temple is itself a reclamation of Paradise. Two, verse 14 straight up calls him YHWH.

Three, he accepts a sacrificial offering from Gideon. Messengers may represent those who sent them, but this does not mean they are entitled to all the rights of the one who sent them. You may pick a man to represent you for whatever reason, in matters of business, legal proceedings, etc. But this does not entitle him to everything you have. For example, he is not entitled to the rights of your spouse even though he represents you. In the same vein, God's representatives are not entitled to receive worship on God's behalf. Only God has the right to accept worship, which the Angel of the Lord does from Gideon.

15 But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Gideon sees that he is an unlikely choice to be Israel's savior. But it is this sort of irony that God works wonders in. God will use the weak to bring down the strong.

25 Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull aand a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the bAsherah that is beside it,

God commands Gideon to pull down the idols of his father's house. Like Peter says, judgement begins with the people of God. After Gideon does this, his father's people want to kill him for blasphemy. But Gideon's father sees that the idols are powerless to defend themselves and defends Gideon from the mob. Figuratively, the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son, to quote Superman.

33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34But the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

The Midianites prepare to war against Gideon. Notice the language of verse 34. The Spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon. He covered him. A Catholic lady friend of mine once asked me if I "had God's grace in my substance." I replied that God's grace has covered me.