Judges. Lesson #10. The Judges: Gideon (6: 1 8: 35) Gideon

Transcription

1 Judges Lesson #10 The Judges: (6: 1 8: 35) 1

2 Review A(er the death of Joshua and those of his era, the new genera6on fell far from God, intermarrying with the indigenous people and serving their gods. Consequently, as we moved more deeply into the book of Judges, Israel began a cycle of decline, and with each cycle, the na6on spiraled lower and lower. With each cycle of decline God raised a judge. In the book of Judges we meet 13 judges, but they are not judicial figures, they are military or poli6cal leaders (although Deborah the only woman judge served both judicial and military func6ons). Theore6cally, judges emerged at a 6me of crisis, addressed the crisis, and then returned to their ordinary lives as farmers and shepherds. But, of course, when people are given power (or take it), they are loathe to give it up, so as 6me goes by the judges become more and more corrupt. By 1 Samuel the people are fed up with judges, and they demand a king, like all the other na@ons, to rule us (8: 5). In lesson #9 we met the first 4 of Israel s 13 judges: Othhiel, Ehud, Shamgar and Deborah. 2

3 Preview, judge #5, is a most unlikely judge. We meet him as he is hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat in a wine press, a ludicrous and silly idea. The angel of the Lord sits nearby and says to him, in a voice dripping with irony: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior (6: 12)! God has a job for : defeat the Midianites and free the Israelites from their oppression. But, like Moses, doesn t want to do it, so he says to God: If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you have said, I am pujng this woolen fleece on the threshing floor, and if dew is on the fleece alone, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save Israel through me, as you have said (6: 36-37). How can dew only be on the fleece and not on the ground? But the next morning, it is. So, reverses the demand: Do not be angry with me if I speak once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece. Let the fleece alone be dry, but let there be dew on all the ground (6: 39). The next morning, it is. So, goes on to defeat the Midianites with but a small force of men. Wait un6l you see how! 3

4 A(er Deborah saved the Israelites from Jabin, king of Hazor, the land had peace for 40 years, an en6re genera6on. But with the death of Deborah and her genera6on, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of the Midian for seven years (6: 1). Recall The Cycle of Sin in Judges. Here we go again! 4

5 The Cycle of Sin in Judges The na6on serves God The na6on is delivered The na6on does evil God raises a Judge The na6on forsakes God The na6on repents The na6on follows its own way The na6on turns to God Depression and war result The na6on cries out to God The na6on is sold into slavery The na6on suffers servitude 5

6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of Midian for seven years, so that Midian held Israel subject. From fear of Midian the Israelites made dens in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. For it used to be that whenever the Israelites had completed sowing their crops, Midian, Amalek, and the Kedemites would come up, encamp against them, and lay waste the produce of the land as far as the outskirts of Gaza, leaving no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock, and their tents would appear as thick as locusts. They would be too many to count when they came into the land to lay it waste. Israel was reduced to utter poverty by Midian, and so the Israelites cried out to the Lord. (6: 1-6) 6

7 MOAB Kadesh-barnea è EDOM. Mt. Sinai è Midian 7

8 Midian is located in what today is the northwest Arabian Peninsula on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, but geographical boundaries did not limit their influence. Banding together with other nomadic eastern tribes, such as Amalek and the Kedemites, the Midianites made incursions into Canaan, as far west as Gaza on the Mediterranean coast. They would ajack in the spring, when kings go to war (2 Samuel 11: 1), plundering the newly harvested crops and newly birthed livestock. As a result, Israel was reduced to urer poverty my Midian (6: 6). 8

9 At this stage Israel is lijle more than a lose confedera6on of Not tribes me. and clans, a rag-tag people without a leader. To the Midianites the Israelites were lowhanging fruit, easy pickins. 9

10 When Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites who said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am the one who brought you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the house of slavery. I rescued you from the power of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you: I, the Lord, am your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you did not listen to me. (6: 7-10) 10

11 Through a prophet think both Moses and Joshua the Lord reminded the Israelites that it is he who did remarkable things for them: freeing them from Egyp6an slavery, guiding them through 40 years Not in me. the wilderness, and conquering people much greater and stronger than they. But the Israelites quickly forgot what God had done, and they strayed far from him, like sheep without a shepherd. 11

12 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. Joash s son was beating out wheat in the wine press to save it from the Midianites, and the messenger of the Lord appeared to him and said: The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior! My lord, said to him, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are his wondrous deeds about which our ancestors told us when they said, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? For now the Lord has abandoned us and has delivered us into the power of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said: Go with the strength you have, and save Israel from the power of Midian. Is it not I who send you? But he answered him, Please, my Lord, how can I save Israel? My family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father s house. The Lord said to him: I will be with you, and you will cut down Midian to the last man. He answered him, If you look on me with favor, give me a sign that you are the one speaking with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you. He answered: I will await your return. (6: 11-18) 12

13 ç Shechem ç Ophrah miles km

14 Because the Midianites were raiding crops, is out wheat in a wine press (6: 11). Stop and consider: To thresh wheat by hand you hold the stalks and slam them against a big, flat floor. As the grains of wheat fall from the stalk, you collect them up and throw the stalks away. You do this on a hilltop, with a gentle breeze to carry away the chaff. is threshing wheat in a wine press! A wine press is below ground, a pit cut out of solid rock and out of the wind. Grapes are thrown into the pit and stomped with human feet. The juice then flows downhill and is collected in another pit. This is a very funny scene! looks ridiculous as he threshes wheat in the wine press, clouds of chaff falling on his head! 14

15 Ha, ha, ha! 15

16 Large, Byzan6ne wine press in southern Israel near Ashkelon. Photo by Saar Ganor, Israeli Authority 16

17 So went off and prepared a young goat and an ephah of flour in the form of unleavened cakes. Putting the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out to him under the terebinth and presented them. The angel of God said to him: Take the meat and unleavened cakes and lay them on this rock; then pour out the broth. When he had done so, the angel of the Lord stretched out the tip of the staff he held. When he touched the meat and unleavened cakes, a fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared from sight., now aware that it had been the angel of the Lord, said, Alas, Lord God, that I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face! The Lord answered him: You are safe. Do not fear. You shall not die. So built there an altar to the Lord and called it Yahweh-shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (6: 19-24) 17

18 James Tissot. The Angel Puts Fire on the Altar of (watercolor), c Jewish Museum, New York. 18

19 Well, that should certainly get Not me. s ajen6on! It got mine! 19

20 That same night the Lord said to him: Take your father s bull, the bull fattened for seven years, and pull down your father s altar to Baal. As for the asherah beside it, cut it down and build an altar to the Lord, your God, on top of this stronghold with the pile of wood. Then take the fattened bull and offer it as a whole-burnt sacrifice on the wood from the asherah you have cut down. So took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had commanded him. But he was too afraid of his family and of the townspeople to do it by day; he did it at night. (6: 25-27) 20

21 was afraid of the Midianites, so he was threshing wheat in a wine press. Now, with encouragement from the angel of the Lord, he agrees to tear down the altar to Ba al and chop down Not me. the asherah pole, but he does it at night because he is afraid of his family and of the townspeople. might s6ll be afraid, but he s making progress! 21

22 Early the next morning the townspeople found that the altar of Baal had been dismantled, the asherah beside it cut down, and the fattened bull offered on the altar that was built. They asked one another, Who did this? They inquired and searched until they were told,, son of Joash, did it. So the townspeople said to Joash, Bring out your son that he may die, for he has dismantled the altar of Baal and cut down the asherah that was beside it. But Joash replied to all who were standing around him, Is it for you to take action for Baal, or be his savior? Anyone who takes action for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him act for himself, since his altar has been dismantled! So on that day was called Jerubbaal, because of the words, Let Baal take action against him, since he dismantled his altar. (6: 28-32) 22

23 s father, Joash, comes to the rescue, saying that if Ba al doesn t like what has done, he can fight for himself! Not me. That s prejy gutsy, I d say! 23

24 Then all Midian and Amalek and the Kedemites mustered and crossed over into the valley of Jezreel, where they encamped. And was clothed with the spirit of the Lord, and he blew the horn summoning Abiezer to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they, too, were summoned to follow him; he also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they advanced to meet the others. (6: 33-35) 24

25 The support from his family seems to have galvanized now called Jerubbaal ( Let Ba al take ac6on ). When Midian, Amalek and the Kedemites move into the Jezreel Valley, the spirit of the Lord comes upon and he musters troops from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali to confront them. But s6ll wavers. He needs proof that this is what God wants him to do, so he asks for a clear sign... 25

26 said to God, If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you have said, I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor, and if dew is on the fleece alone, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save Israel through me, as you have said. That is what happened. Early the next morning when he wrung out the fleece, he squeezed enough dew from it to fill a bowl. then said to God, Do not be angry with me if I speak once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece. Let the fleece alone be dry, but let there be dew on all the ground. That is what God did that night: the fleece alone was dry, but there was dew on all the ground. (6: 36-40) 26

27 Top register, le(: destroys Ba al s Altar. Top register, right: Dew on the fleece. The Crusader s Bible (illuminated manuscript, MS M.638, fol. 13r), c The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. 27

28 When I read this story I think of Moses at the burning bush and the five reasons why he can t do what God had asked him to do. Perhaps is s6ll a lijle tenuous, a lijle afraid. The dew Not on me. the fleece seems like more than just a sign; maybe is looking for an excuse not to go. I m not so sure. But like anyone going into a fight, needs all the encouragement he can get! 28

29 Early the next morning Jerubbaal (that is, ) encamped by the spring of Harod with all his soldiers. The camp of Midian was north of him, beside the hill of Moreh in the valley. The Lord said to : You have too many soldiers with you for me to deliver Midian into their power, lest Israel vaunt itself against me and say, My own power saved me. So announce in the hearing of the soldiers, If anyone is afraid or fearful, let him leave! Let him depart from Mount Gilead! Twenty-two thousand of the soldiers left, but ten thousand remained. The Lord said to : There are still too many soldiers. Lead them down to the water and I will test them for you there. If I tell you that a certain man is to go with you, he must go with you. But no one is to go if I tell you he must not. (7: 1-4) 29

30 rallied 32,000 men to fight the Midianite alliance, but the Lord said he had too many! Recall when Joshua said to the Israelites, One of you puts to flight a thousand, because it is the Lord, your God, himself who fights for you, as he promised you (23: 10). This will be the Lord s bajle, and he wants to make clear that the victory is his, that it is not one achieved by and his men by sheer force of numbers. Besides, when says that if any of the men are afraid they may leave and then 22,000 do they are probably not the men you want with you in bajle! What s more, a much smaller force may well give a tac6cal advantage, as we shall see. 30

31 When led the soldiers down to the water, the Lord said to him: Everyone who laps up the water as a dog does with its tongue you shall set aside by himself; and everyone who kneels down to drink raising his hand to his mouth you shall set aside by himself. Those who lapped up the water with their tongues numbered three hundred, but all the rest of the soldiers knelt down to drink the water. The Lord said to : By means of the three hundred who lapped up the water I will save you and deliver Midian into your power. So let all the other soldiers go home. They took up such supplies as the soldiers had with them, as well as their horns, and sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents, but kept the three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. (7: 5-8) 31

32 Now, there s a puzzle! Why does God direct to choose everyone who laps up the water as a dog does over everyone who kneels down to drink raising his hand to his mouth? Clearly, a person cannot lap up water as a dog does: human tongues don t work that way! Rather, lapping up water as a dog does suggests haste, drinking quickly, rather than kneeling down and leisurely drinking by cupping the hands. Perhaps those who drink quickly are the most alert and the most eager for bajle. 1 1 William B. McPherson. s Water-Lappers, Journal of the American Oriental Society 22 (1901), pp

33 That s right! I always drink quickly! 33

34 Megiddo è En Dor è ç Harod Spring ç Beit Shean ç Ophrah miles km

35 That night the Lord said to : Go, descend on the camp, for I have delivered it into your power. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your aide Purah and listen to what they are saying. After that you will have the courage to descend on the camp. So he went down with his aide Purah to the outposts of the armed men in the camp. The Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Kedemites were lying in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could not be counted, for they were as many as the sands on the seashore. When arrived, one man was telling another about a dream. I had a dream, he said, that a round loaf of barley bread was rolling into the camp of Midian. It came to a certain tent and struck it and turned it upside down, and the tent collapsed. This can only be the sword of the Israelite, son of Joash, the other replied. God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his power. When heard the account of the dream and its explanation, he bowed down. Then returning to the camp of Israel, he said, Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your power. (7: 9-15) 35

36 Ah, ha! So knows that the Midianites are afraid of him! That s exactly the intel Joshua learned when he sent the two spies into Jericho: the whole city was quaking Not in fear me. of the Israelites. There is s tac6cal advantage! Now all he needs to do is ratchet up that fear into sheer terror! And I ll bet I know how he does it! 36

37 He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and provided them all with horns and with empty jars and torches inside the jars. Watch me and follow my lead, he told them. I shall go to the edge of the camp, and as I do, you must do also. When I and those with me blow horns, you too must blow horns all around the camp and cry out, For the Lord and for! So and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the posting of the guards. They blew the horns and broke the jars they were holding. When the three companies had blown their horns and broken their jars, they took the torches in their left hands, and in their right the horns they had been blowing, and cried out, A sword for the Lord and for! They all remained standing in place around the camp, while the whole camp began to run and shout and flee. When they blew the three hundred horns, the Lord set the sword of one against another throughout the camp, and they fled as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zeredah, near the border of Abel-meholah at Tabbath. (7: 16-22) 37

38 Master of the Soane Josephus. s Bajle (illuminated manuscript, Royal MS 18 E V, fol. 54v), c Bri6sh Library, London. 38

39 Very nice work on s part! Here s what he did: A(er learning that the huge Midianite army was trembling in fear of and the Israelites, s strategy fell into place. In the dead of night posi6oned his 300 men in 3 groups of 100 to surround the Midianite camp, equipped them with jars, torches and shofars. Since they were few in number, they could move quickly and quietly. At the beginning of the 2 nd watch (10:00 PM to 2:00 AM) strikes just a(er the changing of the guard, when the 1 st watch is 6red and the 2 nd watch just woke up: both are vulnerable. 300 shofars make a tremendous noise coming from all direc6ons, followed by smashing jars and flaming torches, panics the Midianites. Surrounded and terrified in the pitch black night, they strike at anything that moves, all the while rushing in a head-long panic toward Zeredah. 39

40 That s similar to Joshua s strategy when he fought the five tribal warlords at Gibeon, the night the sun stood s6ll. Joshua ajacked with surprise, speed and overwhelming Not violence me. in the dark of night, using a furious storm to his advantage, crea6ng confusion and panic. And having only 300 men worked to s advantage. He couldn t have pulled it off with a huge army. 40

41 So, presses the ajack, calling in reinforcements from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh and ordering them to capture the water sources all the way to Beth-barah (Beit Shean), including the Jordan River, depriving the Midianites of water and the means of escape. The Israelites capture two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and bring them to, who beheads them at the Jordan River, opposite the fording place at Beit Shean. s victory is almost complete, but troubles come quickly... 41

42 When reached the Jordan and crossed it, he and his three hundred men were exhausted and famished. So he said to the people of Succoth, Will you give my followers some loaves of bread? They are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. But the princes of Succoth replied, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give food to your army? said, Very well; when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, I will thrash your bodies with desert thorns and briers. He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request of them, but the people of Penuel answered him as had the people of Succoth. So to the people of Penuel, too, he said, When I return in peace, I will demolish this tower. (8: 4-9) 42

43 It looks like many of the Israelites don t support and his troops, even holding him in contempt! Those Not are me. prejy serious threats makes. I wonder if he ll make good on them? may have been a wimp early on, but he s not any more. I sure wouldn t want to be the people of Succoth or Penuel! 43

44 Well, a(er capturing Zebah and Zalmunna does exactly as he promised. He captures a boy from Succoth who gives the names of 77 princes and elders of Succoth, and thrashes them with desert thorns and briers along with the people of the city. Then he demolishes the tower of Penuel and kills all the people in the city. Zebah and Zalmunna are another story... 44

45 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What about the men you killed at Tabor? They were all like you, they replied. They appeared to be princes. They were my brothers, my mother s sons, he said. As the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you. Then he said to his firstborn, Jether, Go, kill them. But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, for he was still a boy. Zebah and Zalmunna said, Come, kill us yourself, for as a man is, so is his strength. So stepped forward and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. He also took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels. (8: 18-21) 45

46 Oooo! is one tough dude! A far cry from the 6mid young man threshing wheat in a wine press! 46

47 s ac6ons earn him respect, and the Israelites make him an offer that most men could not refuse: Rule over us you, your son, and your son s son for you saved us from the power of Midian. (8: 22) But refuses, saying: I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord must rule over you (8: 23). does, however, reap great reward from the Midianite plunder, and he and his many wives and 70 sons! live lavishly, as the land enjoys peace for 40 years. 47

48 s life ends well except for one thing: late in life he fathers a bastard son, Abimelech. Unfortunately, we will meet him soon. 48

49 49

50 Ques6ons for discussion and thought 1. Why was threshing wheat in a wine press? 2. Why did God choose to rescue Israel? 3. What were s mo6ves for the dew on the fleece test? 4. Why did God choose those for bajle only those men who lapped up water like a dog? 5. How would you contrast s character at the beginning of the story with his character at the end? 50

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