Juízes 7

Juízes 7

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission Chart on Judges - Charles Swindoll RECYCLING SIN (The High Cost of Compromise) Jdg 1:1-3:6 Jdg 3:7-16:31 Jdg 17:1-21:25 Introduction History of the Judges Appendix Causes of the Cycles THE REASON Curse of the Cycles THE RECORD Conditions in the Cycles THE RESULTS God's Judgment for Failure Jdg 2:1-3:6 Curse of the Cycles Conditions in the Cycles Living with Canaanites War with the Canaanites Living Like the Canaanites Religious Laxity Political Uncertainty Moral Anarchy About 350 Years of Israel's History - Almost 25%! From Compromise to Confusion! A TIMELINE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY "in the days when the JUDGES governed" (Note: All dates are approximations & time gaps NOT to scale) Exodus 40 Years Israel Enters Canaan JUDGES Saul David Messiah Redemption from Slavery Wilderness Wandering Canaan Conquered Joshua Dies LIGHT of book of RUTH Shines forth in Dark Days of Judges To obey is better than sacrifice Man after God's Own Heart The Lamb that was slain -- 40 yrs ~24 yrs 350+ yrs 40 yrs 40 yrs Forever MESSIAH'S LINE To Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab To Boaz was born Obed by Ruth To Obed was born Jesse To Jesse was born David the King Jesus Christ the Lord 1445BC 1445 -1405 1405 -1381 1381-1051 1051-1011 1011-971 4AD Another Timeline of Israel's History from Jensen's Survey of the OT Other ways to describe Israel's cycle… Rest > Rebellion > Retribution > Repentance (?) > Restoration Sin > Suffering/Servitude > Supplication > Salvation Apathy > Apostasy > Affliction > Answered Prayer Disobedience > Desperation > Deliverance Disobedience > Bondage >Misery > Liberation and Rest > Compromises FOLLOWING NOTES ARE COMPLETELY REVISED SPRING, 2022 Hannah's Bible Outline Gideon (Judges 6:1-8:32) Gideon's death (Judges 8:29-32) Israel's rest (Judges 8:28) Israel's deliverance (Judges 6:7-8:27) The promise of deliverance (Judges 6:7-10) The summons of the deliverer (Judges 6:11-32) The angelic visit (Judges 6:11-18) The worship by Gideon (Judges 6:19-24) The destruction of the pagan altars (Judges 6:25-32) The conflict for deliverance (Judges 6:33-8:27) The army gathered (Judges 6:33-35) The assurance of victory (Judges 6:36-40) The army reduced (Judges 7:1-8) The dream of the Midianite (Judges 7:9-14) The defeat of the Midianites (Judges 7:15-8:21) The strategy (Judges 7:15-18) The confusion (Judges 7:19-23) The scattering (Judges 7:24-25) The jealousy of Ephraim (Judges 8:1-3) The search for the Midian kings (Judges 8:4-21) The refusal of Succoth and Penuel (Judges 8:4-9) The capture of the kings (Judges 8:10-12) The punishment of Succoth and Penuel (Judges 8:13-18) The death of the Midian kings (Judges 8:19-21) Gideon's failure (Judges 8:22-27) Israel's servitude (Judges 6:2-6) Israel's sin (Judges 6:1) Parenthesis: the tyranny of Abimelech (Judges 8:33-16:31) Israel's idolatry (Judges 8:33-35) Shechem's submission to Abimelech (Judges 9:1-5) Judges 7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) Jdg 6:32 rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod: Ge 22:3 Jos 3:1 6:12 Ec 9:10 on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh: Ge 12:6 Gideon Defeats the Midianites (Source: ESV Global Study Bible) GIDEON'S ARMY CAMPED AT THE "SPRING OF TREMBLING" Paul Apple introduces this famous chapter writing that "This is one of my favorite OT stories because it is the best illustration of a key biblical principle: God demonstrates His strength in our weakness. We always want to be as strong as possible in facing any challenge; we prefer to have as many resources as possible at our disposal. We have no problem if the odds are on our side; in fact we prefer that to be the case. But God has a different perspective....You have to be at the point of desperation in weakness to ensure that God gets all of the glory." (Strength Through Weakness) Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley: The meaning of Gideon's name is "Baal will contend". His new name would have been a constant reminder of the futility and impotence of the lifeless Baals! It was as if every time the Israelites heard his name, it was a rebuke in their face for worshipping the Baals! In the map cutout above notice the location of Gideon's camp is in the vicinity of the Jezreel Valley where Deborah and Barak had defeated Jabin and Sisera approximately 47 years earlier (40 years rest + 7 years Midianite oppression). The Midianites were camped on the north side of the Spring of Harod ("Spring of Trembling" or "Spring of Palpitation" - see picture around 1900 and then a modern picture and so-called "Gideon's Cave" from which the spring originates) JERUBBAAL [ISBE] - jer-u-ba'-al, je-rub'-a-al (yerubba`al, "let Baal contend"): The name given to Gideon by his father, Joash, and the people in recognition of his destruction of the altar of Baal at Ophrah (Jdg 6:32). For this name the form "Jerubbesheth" (2 Sam 1:21) was substituted after the analogy of "Ishbosheth" and "Mephibosheth," in which bosheth, the Hebrew word for "shame," displaced the word ba`al, no doubt because the name resembled one given in honor of Baal. HAROD [EBD] (Meaning - "palpitation"), a fountain near which Gideon and his army encamped on the morning of the day when they encountered and routed the Midianites (Judg. 7). It was south of the hill Moreh. The present 'Ain Jalud ("Goliath's Fountain"), south of Jezreel and nearly opposite Shunem, is probably the fountain here referred to (7:4, 5). MOREH [SMITH] (teacher). The hill of Moreh, at the foot of which the Midianites and Amalekites were encamped before Gideon?s attack upon them. (Judges 7:1) It lay in the valley of Jezreel, rather on the north side of the valley, and north also of the eminence on which Gideon?s little band of heroes was clustered. These conditions are most accurately fulfilled if we assume Jebel ed-Duhy , the "Little Hermon" of the modern travellers, 1815 feet above the Mediterranean, to be Moreh, the Ain-Jalood to be the spring of Harod, and Gideon's position to have been on the northeast slope of Jebel Fukua (Mount Gilboa), between the village of Nuris and the last-mentioned spring. MOREH, HILL OF [ISBE] - mo'-re (gibh`ath ha-moreh, "hill of the teacher"; Codex Vaticanus Gabaathamora; Codex Alexandrinus, tou bomou tou Abor): The Hebrew moreh is derived from the verb yarah, "to teach," "to direct," and indicates one who directs, or gives oracular answers. We might therefore read "hill of the teacher," the height being associated with such a person who had his seat here. The hill is named only in describing the position of the Midianites before Gideon's attack (Jdg 7:1). (ED: THE NAME OF THE HILL IS INTRIGUING AS IT WOULD BE THE SITE AT WHICH GOD "TEACHES" GIDEON HIS FINAL "FAITH LESSON"!) If the identification of the Well of Harod with `Ain Jalud is correct, Gideon must have occupied the slopes to the East of Jezreel. The Midianite camp was in the valley of Jezreel (Jdg 6:33). The Hebrew text in Jdg 7:1, which has probably suffered some corruption, seems to mean that the Midianites lay North of the position held by Gideon, their lines running from the hill of Moreh in the plain. The hill can hardly have been other than Jebel ed-Duchy, often called Little Hermon, which rises boldly from the northern edge of the vale of Jezreel, with Shunem (Solam) lying at its western foot. Moore ("Judges," ICC, 200) would lay the scene in the neighborhood of Shechem, but there is no good reason to doubt the accuracy of the tradition which places it at the eastern end of the plain of Esdraelon. W. Ewing Note the Hill of Moreh is a different location then the Oak of Moreh QUESTION - Why is Gideon referred to as Jerubbaal? ANSWER - Gideon earned the title Jerubbaal (or Jerub-Baal) after he destroyed his family’s altar of Baal. “Because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, ‘Let Baal contend with him’” (Judges 6:32). The name Jerubbaal means “Baal will contend” and is a combination of two Hebrew words: the first is riyb or rub, which means literally “to grapple” and holds the figurative meaning “to wrangle” or “to hold a controversy.” The second is the proper noun Baal, the name of the Phoenician god that Gideon picked a fight with. In Gideon’s day, Israel was rife with idolatry, and the Lord “gave them into the hands of Midianites” for seven years (Judges 6:1). When Israel cried out to God for help (verse 6), He sent a prophet who reminded the Israelites of God’s past deliverance and God’s commands against honoring false gods (verse 10). Israel had disobeyed, and Baal and Asherah worship was rampant. It was time for Gideon to become Jerubbaal. To create His Jerubbaal, God sent the Angel of the Lord to Gideon, the son of Joash the Abiezrite. The angel sat under a tree watching Gideon thresh wheat in the winepress to keep it hidden from the Midianite raiders. The angel said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Gideon’s reply showed a weak faith: “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian” (verse 13). The Lord then commissioned Gideon to “save Israel out of Midian’s hand” (verse 14). The angel confirmed God’s Word with a miracle (verses 20–22) and gave Gideon a promise: “I will be with you” (verse 16). That night, after his meeting with the Lord, Gideon was ready to transform into Jerubbaal. Following God’s specific instructions (Judges 6:25–26), Gideon and ten of his servants tore down Baal’s altar on his family’s property and cut down the Asherah pole next to it. Gideon then built a proper altar to God, laid the wood of the Asherah image on top, and sacrificed a bull to the Lord. “But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night” (Judges 6:27). The next morning, the men of the town discovered that Gideon had torn down the altar to Baal, and they were incensed that someone had disrespected their god. The men came to Joash, Gideon’s father, and said, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it” (Judges 6:30). Defending his son, Joash replied to the mob, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? . . . If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar” (verse 31). The logic was irrefutable. If Baal was really a god, then Baal could save himself. If Gideon should be punished, then let the god he destroyed punish him personally. After that, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, or “Let Baal contend with him” because Gideon had broken down the altar of Baal (verse 32). Gideon not only contended with Baal but also with the Midianites. God was true to His promise, and Gideon won a decisive victory over the enemy. Later, Gideon is still being called Jerubbaal (Judges 7:1; 8:29; 9:1). Scripture uses the names Gideon and Jerubbaal interchangeably in those passages. Baal never did exact vengeance upon Jerubbaal; rather, God poured out His blessing on Gideon. (GotQuestions.org) Judges 7:2 And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.' The people who are with you are too many for Me: 1Sa 14:6 2Ch 14:11 Zec 4:6 12:7 1Co 1:27-29 2:4,5 2Co 4:7 2Co 10:4,5 lest Israel become boastful: Dt 32:27 Isa 2:11,17 Jer 9:23 Ro 3:27 11:18 1Co 1:29 Eph 2:9 Jas 4:6 My own power has delivered me: Dt 8:17 Isa 10:13 Eze 28:2,17 Da 4:30 Hab 1:16 Related Passages: Deuteronomy 8:16-17+ “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ THE SECRET OF DELIVERANCE HIS POWER NOT OURS And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands: God frequently cuts down on our resources in order that we may depend entirely upon Him. Sometimes He sends sickness or financial reverses or difficulties of one kind or another to train us to rely solely on His power. (See Scripture above) ILLUSTRATION - Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China firmly believed God knew his needs and would meet them. On one occasion, when Taylor's assets were down to 87 cents, he wrote to a friend "We have this--and all the promises of God." That is faith that sees the invisible, the eternal and it is faith that pleases the Father. When God finished preparing Gideon for battle, he had no other choice but to trust God. Man's extremity is always God's opportunity. He delights to reveal His power when men acknowledge their weaknesses. When odds are overwhelming, God overwhelms the odds! Lest Israel become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me: As we soon discover, some 32,000 Israelites had come to join Gideon's army. This was still far fewer than the 135,000 Midianites encamped several miles north at Mt Moreh. But God says even with these odds stacked against Israel, if they were to defeat the Midianites, they would be tempted to take credit for the victory. God wants to remove any doubt from this equation, so that the only one who can take credit for the victory is God Himself. THOUGHT - Isn't this true for all of us? The pews fill up and we begin to take just a tiny fraction of the glory. There is a side of us (probably the old Adam, the Sin nature within us that remains in these fleshly bodies, defeated at the cross to be sure, but ever seeking to reign in these mortal bodies). Sometimes God cannot trust us with His work unless we realize how inadequate we are and this may explain why God frequently chooses such unlikely instruments (1Cor 1:27-30). Ralph Davis writes that…"Few would ever have suspected William M’Culloch of kindling a revival. He was parish minister in Cambuslang (Scotland) about 1740. A scholarly pastor excelling in languages, especially Hebrew, he had, nevertheless, little gift for the pulpit. His own son described him as “not a very ready speaker…not eloquent … his manner [was] slow and cautious.” In fact, he was called an “Ale–minister,” which meant that, when he rose to speak, a number in the audience left to quench their thirst at the local tavern. Yet God chose to use William M’Culloch’s ministry as the means of revival at Cambuslang, some time before George Whitefield visited there. Now I cannot divine the divine ways. But I wonder if God was pleased to use William M’Culloch in order to make clear that the Cambuslang work could not be explained by eloquence or human dynamism but only by the Spirit of God. The necessity of weakness — that is often Yahweh’s method." (Focus on the Bible: Judges) Judges 7:3 "Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'" So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. Whoever: Dt 20:8 Mt 13:21 Lk 14:25-33 Rev 17:14 21:8 So 22,000 people returned Mt 20:16 Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing (literally "the ears") of the people, saying, 'Whoever is afraid and trembling (chared), let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'" So 22,000 people returned - Fear can have disastrous effects on an army and especially if over 2/3's of the army is fearful as in this case! In Deuteronomy 20:8 Moses records “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’ Put yourself for a moment in Gideon's sandals… imagine his heart sink as he watched his numbers dwindle by 2/3's in keeping with the instruction in [Dt 20:8]. They were keenly aware that up to 135,000 Midianites (8:10) were camped just 3-4 miles N at the foot of the Hill of Moreh. RESULT? many had greater fear of man than trust in God and so they departed from what appeared to be a humanly impossible situation. How could 32,000 untrained and unqualified Israelis hope to defeat a heavily armed force of 135,000? One mighty God would be the soon coming answer. God wanted the victory in battle to teach Israel to trust Him and give Him the glory. In the Christian life if our victories make us self-reliant, they ultimately work against us and they dishonor the God we serve. Treasury of Scripture note on Mount Gilead - Gideon was certainly not at mount Gilead, east of Jordan at this time; but rather near mount Gilboa, west of Jordan. Calmet thinks there must either have been two Gileads, which does not appear from Scripture to have been the case, or that the Hebrew text is corrupt, and that for Gilead we should read Gilboa. This reading, though adopted by Houbigant, is not confirmed by an MS. or version. Dr. Hales endeavours to reconcile the whole, by the supposition that in Gideon's army there were many eastern Manassites from mount Gilead, near the Midianites; and therefore proposes to read, "Whosoever from mount Gilead is fearful and afraid, let him return (home) and depart early." But 10,000 remained Gideon likely had heard the story of Barak's army of 10,000 and how God had used them to route Sisera's invincible forces and must have reasoned 'If 10,000 are good enough for Barak, then it is good enough for me.' But God was not finished paring down the numbers. THOUGHT - You cannot be too small for God to use but you can be too big. If you want the credit for what God is doing, God will not use you. He says that He alone is Lord and there is no other and that He will not give His glory to another. And so we often see God working powerfully in the lives of some very weak people. They are the ones who know that only He could get the glory and they are careful to give it to Him Trembling (startled, frightened, make afraid, terrified) (02730)(chared from charad = human trembling before some strange or fearsome event) means fearful, afraid, but in a number of the uses (see below) speaks more of a reverential reaction (usually to God or His Word). Chared - tremble(1), trembled(1), trembling(2), who tremble(1), who trembles(1). Jdg. 7:3; 1Sa 4:13 = "his heart was trembling for the ark of God"; Ezr. 9:4 = "everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel"; Ezr. 10:3 = " those who tremble at the commandment of our God"; Isa. 66:2 = "To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."; Isa. 66:5 = "you who tremble at His word." Judges 7:4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." The people are still too many: Ps 33:16 I will test them for you there: Ge 22:1 1Sa 16:7 Job 23:10 Ps 7:9 66:10 Jer 6:27-30 Mal 3:2,3 GOD WHITTLES THEM DOWN WITH A "WATER TEST" Then the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go: Keep in mind that the Harod (means "trembling") springs were in plain view of the Midianites, so going down to the water took some courage. Warren