Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Judges 6:25 - 6:40

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Judges 6:25 - 6:40


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Gideon Granted Special Signs

v. 25. And it came to pass the same night,
following this wonderful manifestation, that the Lord said unto him, Gideon, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, for thus openly was idolatry practised in Israel, and cut down the grove, the Ashera pillar that is by it, the chief deities of the Canaanites being worshiped by the family of Abiezer;

v. 26. and build an altar unto the Lord, thy God, upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place,
on the grotto or fortification, the wood from the pillar of Ashera being intended to consume the burnt offering of Gideon, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

v. 27. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had said unto him; and so it was, because he feared his father's household,
addicted to idolatry as they were, and the men of the city that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

v. 28. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove,
the wooden pillar erected in honor of Ashera, was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built, for it was not yet fully consumed by the fire.

v. 29. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked,
searching for the man who might be guilty, they said, either the searchers themselves upon strong suspicion, or men who knew of Gideon's exploit, Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing.

v. 30. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove,
the wooden pillar, that was by it.

v. 31. And Joash said unto all that stood against him,
for he fully approved of the act of his son, Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? The emphasis in either case is on the "ye," since Joash wanted to ridicule the idea of Baal's having need of men to defend him, if he were in truth god. He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning; if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. He demanded that his enraged townspeople wait till the morning, in order to give Baal time to avenge himself if he were able. Joash knew, and the people knew, that this settled the matter, for none of them seriously believed in the idol. It is one of the characteristic illusions of heathenism in all ages that it itself does not believe in that for which it appears to be so zealous.

v. 32. Therefore on that day he, Joash, called him,
Gideon, Jerubbaal ("Let Baal plead his case"), saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. This brought the incident to a close.

v. 33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East,
all the enemy allies, were gathered together, and went over, passed over Jordan from the east, and pitched in the Valley of Jezreel, in the upper reaches of the Kishon.

v. 34. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon,
clothing him like a garment or a coat of mail, and he blew a trumpet, to summon Israel against their enemies; and Abiezer, his own section of the tribe of Manasseh, was gathered after him.

v. 35. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher,
who had held back from Barak, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

v. 36. And Gideon said unto God,
in asking a further confirmation of the success of his undertaking, If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said,

v. 37. behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor,
out in the open on the ground; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and if it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said. He had such a humble opinion of himself and his influence that he felt the need of such a sign to establish his courage.

v. 38. And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water,
while the ground round about was dry.

v. 39. And Gideon said unto God, let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once,
requiring one more sign, in which all explanations on natural principles would be excluded; let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, which has a tendency to absorb the slightest moisture, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

v. 40. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground,
as Gideon had asked. His request did not flow from unbelief, but from the weakness of his flesh, which causes even the servants of God to be anxious for the future. But God is rich in kindness; He has compassion with our weakness, and comes to our assistance even with extraordinary blessings and miraculous manifestations.