way:
The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. Judges 6.1a
The LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian. 6.1b
The children of Israel cried unto the LORD. 6.7
And God kills all the guys that he sold them to. (Midianites this time around.)
Here’s the long version.
An angel of the Lord was sitting under an oak tree when he saw Gideon threshing some wheat. So he started up a conversation with him.
The angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 6.12
And then God joined in.
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 the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 6.14-16
So Gideon has a three-way conversation with the angel and God, but he doesn’t believe either of them. He demands a sign.
Shew me a sign. 6.17
But first, he runs off to slaughter a goat. And then, guess what happened.
Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff ... 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. 6.21
Yep. The angel touched the bloody, dead goat and it burst into flames.
A neat trick, but it still didn’t convince Gideon. He needed another sign to prove that God wasn’t lying to him. So he put some wool on the ground and asked God to make it wet, while keeping the surrounding ground dry.
Gideon said unto God ... 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. 6.36-37
And God passed that test, no sweat.
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. 6.38
Now you might think that would be enough proof for Gideon. But no. He’s still not sure he can trust God, so he asks God to reverse the trick, and make the ground wet and the wool dry.
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. 6.39
And God did that trick, too!
And God did so. 6.40
So God passed all of Gideon’s tests and Gideon and God got down to business. But first, they had to find some accomplices.
I’m not sure how this could happen, but in Judges it always happens this way. The Israelites were enslaved, but somehow they managed to keep a huge, well-equipped army. I guess they did this so they’d be ready when they cry out to God and he decides to kill the guys that he sold them to.
Well, this time is no different. The Israelite slaves had a big army, too big, in fact, for God’s liking. He worried that if they killed all the Midianites with a big army, no one would believe that it was God that did the killing. And God wants all the credit for his killings.
The LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 7.2
So God tells Gideon to get rid of some of the men. Start with the chicken shits.
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 7.3
That got rid of 22,000. But 10,000 were still there, which was still too many. But God had a plan.
God told Gideon to have the soldiers go down to the water to get a drink. Those that lap the water “as a dog lappeth” are the natural-born killers that he’s looking for, while those that get down on their knees
The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. Judges 6.1a
The LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian. 6.1b
The children of Israel cried unto the LORD. 6.7
And God kills all the guys that he sold them to. (Midianites this time around.)
Here’s the long version.
An angel of the Lord was sitting under an oak tree when he saw Gideon threshing some wheat. So he started up a conversation with him.
The angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 6.12
And then God joined in.
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 the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 6.14-16
So Gideon has a three-way conversation with the angel and God, but he doesn’t believe either of them. He demands a sign.
Shew me a sign. 6.17
But first, he runs off to slaughter a goat. And then, guess what happened.
Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff ... 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. 6.21
Yep. The angel touched the bloody, dead goat and it burst into flames.
A neat trick, but it still didn’t convince Gideon. He needed another sign to prove that God wasn’t lying to him. So he put some wool on the ground and asked God to make it wet, while keeping the surrounding ground dry.
Gideon said unto God ... 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. 6.36-37
And God passed that test, no sweat.
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. 6.38
Now you might think that would be enough proof for Gideon. But no. He’s still not sure he can trust God, so he asks God to reverse the trick, and make the ground wet and the wool dry.
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. 6.39
And God did that trick, too!
And God did so. 6.40
So God passed all of Gideon’s tests and Gideon and God got down to business. But first, they had to find some accomplices.
I’m not sure how this could happen, but in Judges it always happens this way. The Israelites were enslaved, but somehow they managed to keep a huge, well-equipped army. I guess they did this so they’d be ready when they cry out to God and he decides to kill the guys that he sold them to.
Well, this time is no different. The Israelite slaves had a big army, too big, in fact, for God’s liking. He worried that if they killed all the Midianites with a big army, no one would believe that it was God that did the killing. And God wants all the credit for his killings.
The LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 7.2
So God tells Gideon to get rid of some of the men. Start with the chicken shits.
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 7.3
That got rid of 22,000. But 10,000 were still there, which was still too many. But God had a plan.
God told Gideon to have the soldiers go down to the water to get a drink. Those that lap the water “as a dog lappeth” are the natural-born killers that he’s looking for, while those that get down on their knees
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