They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me. They said, "We will surely give them." I highly suggest reading the entirety of the two chapters to get a full picture of Gideon and all God accomplished through him. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Brian. ", He divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. Gideon said, "All right, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." In fact, Psalm 83 is a second biblical source in which can be found proof that Gideon’s Midianite onslaught is a type of end-times Arab invasion, and proof that Gideon is a type of Christ. ". Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. 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.”, The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Despite his failures from a modern perspective, Gideon is remembered as a good man, he is even a Saint in the Orthodox Church, because Gideon prays, listens, obeys and defers to YHWH. Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Thank you for the enlightening commentary. Creation testifies that God exists and our consciences attest to our sinful nature. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. Furthermore, this broken peace treaty leads to wars, lawlessness and anarchy, economic depression, famine, diseases, and deaths, as symbolized by the Book of Revelations’ four horsemen of the Apocalypse (the opening of the first four seal judgments). ~ Matthew 13:39b-42, CJB, 41 “Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, ‘Get away from me, you who are cursed! 21 Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. The story of Gideon can help those of us who feel discouraged or intimidated by a sacred call to lead, whether in the home or in church. And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' The above last statement is true, because both the Midianites’ crescent (moon-shaped) chains around their camels’ necks and the 21st century’s Islamic crescent moon with a star symbol on armored combat vehicles, minarets, turrets, and flags no doubt represent the idolatry copied from ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, of which their people not only worshipped a pantheon of pagan gods but also one common god—the moon-god Sin. The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) The book of Judges covers the period of time after Joshua had led the Israelites into the Promised Land –and before Saul had become their king. || Word meanings are derived from "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance." Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. The story of Gideon in the Bible is told in Judges chapters 6-8. God uses people –our parents, a radio program, a pastor, a close friend– as angels to carry His message. Gideon not only killed these Midianite leaders but also removed the crescent (moon-shaped) chains that were around the necks of these Arab leaders’ camels. Likewise, we wonder how we can trust something that we can’t see. Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) This is the first resurrection. Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. And he captured a youth from Succoth and questioned him. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. This truth is revealed in the list of plunder taken by Moses when he fought the Midianites some two centuries before Gideon’s war (cf. When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken." "Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You." Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." Gideon said, "All right, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar." The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior." He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior." When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! Ultimately though it is the dynamic of Spiritual Warfare that Gideon adds to emerging picture of Christ and his saving work. They said to one another, "Who did this thing?" Sitting on the cloud was someone like a Son of Man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. (Judges 6:20-24). Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire army of the sons of the east; for the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen. Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. I addressed your concern about genuinely devout Christians or the true Body of Christ, also known as the Bride of Christ and the CHURCH, in my last comment: “Therefore, anyone who is left behind, anyone who has not been raptured either in the pre-Tribulation (the Bride of Christ/Body of Christ/CHURCH) or before and after mid-Tribulation begins (2 Jewish witnesses, 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists, martyred beheaded saints), as the result of God’s poured out wrath, will suffer plenty of pain, hunger, thirst, sickness, disease, pestilence, natural disasters, and so forth!.”. And they said, "They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king." that was very relieving. I highly suggest reading the entirety of the two chapters to get a full picture of Gideon and all God accomplished through him. And when they searched about and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash did this thing." Then the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?" Have I not sent you?" The LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die." But he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground." Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." His sold out surviving Tribulation believers are in the Lord’s End of the Age Great Harvest of saved souls who do not have glorified bodies. Change ). Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. Micah’s seven nations will fight the Assyrian or Antichrist and his forces, until the second bodily return of Christ Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. What has He done lately? They became like their neighbors –worshipping idols of Baal and Asherah poles. As the LORD lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you."