BOOK 7 OF 66 · HISTORY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Judges 6

Judges book home•Chapter 6 of 21•40 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Judges 6 Overview

Midianite raiders impoverish Israel so severely that the people hide in dens and caves. After a prophet reminds Israel that their trouble follows disobedience, the angel of the LORD calls Gideon to save Israel. Gideon tears down his father’s altar to Baal, gathers men for battle, and asks for confirming signs with a fleece before moving against Midian.

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6Chapter

40Verses

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Before you read Judges 6

Coming from

Chapter 5 ended with forty years of rest after the defeat of Sisera.

In this chapter

A new oppression exposes Israel’s weakness, and the LORD begins raising Gideon from fearful obscurity into the role of deliverer.

Leads into

Chapter 7 reduces Gideon’s army to only three hundred men so that Israel cannot boast that its own strength produced the victory over Midian.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Midian’s oppression is economic as well as military: raiders repeatedly destroy crops and livestock, leaving Israel greatly impoverished. Before Gideon is commissioned, an unnamed prophet interprets the oppression covenantally—God brought Israel from Egypt, but they did not obey his voice. Gideon’s questions therefore occur in a setting where Israel has forgotten the explanation already given by God’s word. The signs surrounding Gideon’s call confirm God’s commission; they are not presented as a routine method by which every believer must discover God’s will.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God addresses the cause of Israel’s crisis before giving military relief: a prophet first confronts the nation’s disobedience.

Truth 2

Gideon’s weakness and insignificance do not prevent God from commissioning him; the decisive promise is, 'Surely I will be with thee.'

Truth 3

Deliverance begins at home when Gideon destroys the altar of Baal and the grove associated with false worship.

Truth 4

Gideon is genuinely called and empowered, yet the chapter also honestly records his fear and repeated desire for reassurance.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Deuteronomy 28:30–33 warned that covenant disobedience could result in enemies consuming Israel’s crops and labor, closely matching Midian’s oppression.

Connection 2

Judges 7:2 explicitly explains why Gideon’s force will be reduced: Israel must not vaunt itself against the LORD by claiming its own hand saved it.

Connection 3

Hebrews 11:32 includes Gideon among those named in its survey of faith, while Judges itself still records his weaknesses and later failures.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not turn Gideon’s fleece into a command to invent signs whenever making a decision. Gideon had already received a direct commission and was asking for confirmation in a unique setting.

Keep this clear 2

The angel of the LORD is presented in language closely identifying his message and presence with the LORD. Interpreters differ on how specifically to identify this figure, so do not state more than the text establishes with certainty.

Keep this clear 3

The Spirit of the LORD coming upon Gideon equips him for the work before him; do not collapse every Old Testament empowering into the full New Testament doctrine of the Spirit’s permanent indwelling.

Read Judges 6 watching for…

How Midian’s raids affect ordinary life and food supply.

The prophet’s explanation for Israel’s trouble.

Gideon’s questions and the LORD’s answer centered on his presence.

The destruction of Baal’s altar before the military campaign begins.

The difference between Gideon’s divine commission and his requests for signs.

Chapter outline5 sections

1-6Midian oppresses Israel and leaves the land impoverished 7-10A prophet reminds Israel how they disobeyed the LORD 11-24The angel of the LORD calls Gideon and gives him a sign 25-32Gideon destroys Baal’s altar and is called Jerubbaal 33-40The enemy gathers, and Gideon asks for the signs of the fleece

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.

And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.

And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.