Day 71. Judges 6-8

The story of Gideon begins with a formula which should by now be familiar to us: the Israelites do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gives them into the hand of the Midianites, a nomadic people descended from Ishmael (6:1). So these Bedouin plunderers would be the ancestors of the Arab peoples of today.
In response to Israel's need, however, the LORD sends them a deliverer, this time in the person of a young man named Gideon (6:11). An "angel" appears to Gideon as he is "beating out wheat in the wine press" (6:11), and greets him with the words, "The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior." The greeting reminds us of the one given to Mary in Luke (1:28). To have the LORD "with you" like this means to be especially noticed by God and singled out for a great task. And the angel—who is the LORD himself—gives Gideon his orders in a single sentence—"Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you" (6:14).
Thus ordained, Gideon performed the duties of hospitality for his supernatural guest, but when he set the food before him, the angel of the LORD "reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cake; and fire sprung up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight" (6:21). The gift has become a burnt offering.
Gideon now fully realizes the danger he is in, having seen this supernatural being face to face and prays that he will not die. But the voice of the LORD says, "Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die" (6:23). This is the essential good news, the gospel--God is with us and we need not be afraid.
So Gideon obeys the command of the LORD and does the primary work of a judge—he clears away the paraphernalia of the Baal cult from his own father's land (6:25-27). Then "filled with the spirit of the Lord" (6:34), he begins to gather an army.
But this time numbers will not do. This victory must belong to the LORD alone. So at God's instruction Gideon "sifts" the troops. He watches them drink from a brook and takes only those who lap the water out of cupped hand, eyes peeled for the approach of any enemy. It is stealth and craftiness that must win this victory, not brute force.
We have noted before the seriousness with which ancient people regarded dreams. The dream that is overheard by the spies in the Midianite camp (7: 13-14), steels Gideon for his purpose. Using the element of surprise--the sound of horns and the sudden light of torches hidden in jars--he puts the Midianites to flight and defeats them.
The people of Israel want to make Gideon a king and establish a dynasty upon him (8:22), but he declines, knowing that in the Israelite confederacy the LORD alone is king. (But the offer of kingship to Gideon's family will cause trouble after the old man's death.)
So Gideon acts righteously declining the crown, but he does take some of the Midianite plunder and make an "ephod" of it and erect it in his home town of Ophrah (8:27). What exactly this "ephod" was is unclear. The ephod was the elaborate outer garment the high priests of Israel wore. Perhaps this was some sort of memorial banner that celebrated Gideon's victory. In any case "all Israel prostrated themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family" (8:27). In other words the memorial banner became an idol.
But in spite of this mistake, Gideon succeeded in giving Israel forty years of rest (8:28), but during which time they "relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals" (8:33). We are told that they made "Baal-berith their god" (8:33)—the names means "lord of the covenant." But they forgot the LORD their God and the result of that is always disaster.