Jump to:
Judges
Chapter
6 (Continued)
{Verses
25-32: The Man of Decision and Action - A Basic Leadership Course}
25~~And
it came to pass that same night
{hajah - one of the ways in Hebrew to start a new paragraph},
that
the Jehovah/God said unto him,
"Seize
your father's young bull/bullock,
and
the second bull/bullock of seven years old
{7 years is the length of the Arab reign of terror over the Jews},
and
tear down the altar of Baal
that
your father has,
and
cut down the 'asherah/'wooden idol to Astarte'
{Baal was a little fat man idol and Astarte was the goddess of love
these gods were worshiped by mixing sex, religion, and human
sacrifice - great evils}
that
is by it."
{Note: Basic leadership training starts right away before Gideon meets his soldiers. In this verse, the symbols of evil had to be destroyed so that people would not think that 'Baal' was responsible for Gideon's great success to follow. Principal: Mature believers must separate from apostate people and organizations in order for God to bless their actions - otherwise those apostate organizations might be perceived as being blessed by God.}
26~~"And
you will build an altar
to
Jehovah/God your 'Elohiym /Godhead
upon
the top of this rock/stronghold {ma`owz},
in
an orderly manner,
and
take the second bull/bullock,
and
offer a burnt offering
with
the wood of the 'asherah/'wooden idol to Astarte'
which
you shall cut down.
{Note: So this will establish Gideon as the man who dared to tear down the altars to Baal and Astarte and instead built an altar to Jehovah 'Elohiym.}
{Gideon
Forms His 10 Men Officer Corps}
27~~Then
Gideon selected ten men of his servants
{God uses prepared men, so these men must be mature believers
also - they are going into a night action - which will help them
against the Arabs later},
and
'executed the command'/manufactured {`asah}
as
Jehovah/God had communicated unto him.
And
so it came to pass,
because
he {Gideon} feared his father's household,
and
the men of the city
{afraid that they would try to stop them},
that
he could not do it by day,
so
that he did it by night.
{Note: Little did Gideon realize, but this 'night action' by a small force was exactly what God wanted him to do. It will prepare him for future night actions.}
28~~The
next morning,
when
the men of the city arose early in the morning,
behold,
the altar of Baal was torn down,
and
the 'asherah/'wooden idol to Astarte'
was
cut down that was by it,
and
the second bull/bullock was offered
upon
the altar that was built.
{Note: Remember, this was not Gideon's bull, but his father's bull. Bulls were very expensive - this would be like destroying your fathers new Cadillac without asking to borrow it!}
29~~And
they said one to another,
"Who
has done this thing?
And
when they inquired and asked,
they
concluded, 'Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing'
{Gideon must have been the most obvious believer in God in the
area}.
30~~Then
the men of the city said unto Joash,
"Bring
out your son, that he may die
{the men had relied on the 'power' of Baal to protect them - they
worked themselves up into a lynch mob} . . .
because
he has torn down the altar of Baal,
furthermore,
because he has cut down
the
'asherah/'wooden idol to Astarte'
that
was by it."
31~~And
Joash said unto all that stood against him,
'Will
you content {riyb} on behalf of Baal?'/
'You
want to do Baal's fighting for him?'
Will
you deliver/save him {Baal}
{Baal is supposed to be a god. Joash is taking the true doctrine
that a creature can not 'help' a true God, and is using this
doctrine against them. If Baal is a true god, can he not punish
Gideon himself for tearing down Baal's temple? You people
arrogantly think you can 'help god'?}
Whoever
will {arrogantly} content {riyb} on behalf of Baal,
he
will be put to death while it is yet morning
if
he {Baal} is a 'member of the 'elohiym/gods'.
Let
him {Baal} contend for himself,
because
someone has cast down his altar.
32~~Therefore
on that day, he {Joash}
called
him {Gideon} Jerubbaal
{name means 'Baal contends for himself' and came to mean 'Baal is
nothing'},
saying,
Let Baal contend against him,
because
he has thrown down his altar.
{Verses
33-40: Crisis - Arab Invasion of the Valley of Jezreel - An Advanced
Leadership Course}
33~~Then
all the Midianites and the Amalekites,
and
the sons/children {ben} of the east
{the wandering Bedouins from all the Arab tribes}
assembled
together,
and
crossed over {the Jordan River},
and
bivouacked in the valley of Jezreel
{because of a mound in the middle of the valley,
the valley of Jezreel is also called Armageddon}.
{Note:
The Arabs apparently were wintering elsewhere. Now 135,000 of them
are gathering together into an army to attack the Jews once more
(Judges 8:10 gives the number).}
34~~However,
the spirit {ruwach} of Jehovah/God
clothed
Gideon
{in the Jewish Age, believers were not indwelled with God the Holy
Spirit. Instead certain believers were endued temporarily with God
the Holy Spirit. This was a temporary enduement for a special
purpose.}.
Therefore,
he {Gideon} kept on blowing a trumpet
{'sounding the trumpet many times' was a system of mobilization of
the troops};
and
{the clan of} Abiezer was mobilized to follow him.
{Note: To being with, Gideon would draw together the members of his own clan in the tribe of Manasseh. This was the only place where 'religion' (here in the form of worshiping Baal and Astarte) was removed.}
{Details
of Mobilization}
35~~And
he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh
{the rest of the tribe will send men also to fight};
and
they also were assembled to follow him {Gideon}.
And
he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun,
and
unto Naphtali.
And
they advanced to meet them.
{Note: These are the extreme Northern tribes of Israel and they are providing the men to drive the Arabs out.}
36-37~~And
Gideon said unto 'Elohiym/Godhead,
"If
You are delivering Israel by my hand
{and I believe you are - but I need proof},
as
You have said, 37~~
Behold,
I will put a fleece of wool in the 'threshing-floor'.
And
if the dew is on the fleece only,
and
it is dry upon all the ground beside,
then
shall I know that You will deliver Israel by my hand,
as
You have already communicated."
{Note: Mixed up Gideon is testing God instead of realize it is God who should be testing him.}
{The
Patience of the Lord is Exercised}
38~~And
so it came to pass,
when
he rose up early in the morning
and
squeezed out the fleece
{Gideon is checking on the Lord},
and
drained/wringed dew out of the fleece . . .
{to
the amount of} a bowl full of water.
{Note: So the ground was dry all around, but the fleece was FILLED with water. Miracles really are not difficult for God! He is patiently permitting Gideon to come along slowly.}
{Gideon
Reverses His 'Test' of God - Iron Nerve . . . All Gall}
39~~And
Gideon said unto 'Elohiym/Godhead,
"Do
not let Your anger burn against me,
let
me speak one more time
and
let me test/prove, please/'I pray you',
and
this one time with the fleece
let
it now be dry only upon the fleece,
and
upon all the ground let there be dew."
40~~Therefore,
'Elohiym/Godhead did so that night
and
it was dry only on the fleece,
and
there was dew on all the ground.
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