Judges 6:1 - 8:35

Outline :

Chapter 6-8 :
Gideon. One of the more famous judges...famous for his multiple requests for signs, for the method of defeating the enemy (no real fighting), and for his ephod.

Chapter 6 :

6:1-6

Sin/Oppression : Israel does evil, Midian Oppresses them Midian makes an annual journey through Israel, stealing food, livestock, etc... Some Israelites have taken to living in mountains and caves to get away.

6:7-10

A Prophet Condemns their Disobedience An unamed prophet reminds Israel of their unfaithfulness and God's faithfulness after they cry out to the Lord.

6:11-24

Gideon is Called Gideon, a youngest child, is hiding in a wine press, threshing some wheat. The Angel of the Lord tells him that he will deliver Israel "as one man" (though Gideon ends up with 300 to do the job; the one man comment refer to his leadership, or it could have not been carried out due to Gideon's cowardice/refusal to believe). Gideon doesn't seem to recognize the Angel of the Lord as such, and pouts, saying "But now the Lord has abandoned us". The Angel responds by sending him to go and defeat Mideon, but Gideon isn't so sure...he asks for a sign, and tells the angel to stay put while he goes and gets an offering. He returns, the angel kicks the offering into flames with a touch of his staff, and Gideon suddenly becomes very religious.

6:25-33

Gideon destroys the local Baal/Asherah stuff That night, God tells him to cut down the Asherah pole and to destroy the alter to Baal. He cuts them down at night because he's afraid of dad and the locals. When the locals discover his cleansing, they want to kill Gideon; but his dad sticks up for him, saying that Baal should defend himself.

6:34-40

Gideon Again asks for a Sign (twice) The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon, and he gathers his clan...he also calls folks from Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. But before he really commits, he asks God for a few more signs. First, he asks that God would make a fleece wet and the ground dry; God humors him. Then, he reverses the proposition (hey, the scientific method) and has the fleece dry and the ground wet. Again, God plays ball.

7:1-8

God weeds out the Ranks Gideon has, at this point, about 32,000 people hanging around. God decides that this is to many, that if he allows this to continue, Israel might start to think that they're tough. So, he weeds them out...first, he has Gideon tell those who are skeered to go home; 22,000 run away. God still says that 10k is to many though; he has them drink at a creek, and tells Gideon that anyone who didn't lap like a dog (from hands) should go. That leaves 300.

7:8-14

God give Gideon another sign God tells Gideon (at night) to go and get Midian; or, if he's scared, to go sneak around their camp with his servant. Gideon takes option two, and overhears a Midianite interpret a dream that ends up with Gideon destroying Midian. Quite the confidence builder; Gideon returns back to camp, ready for action.

7:15-23

Gideon attacks (badly scares) the Midianites Gideon gets back to camp after another confidence boosting sign from God, and gets the troops ready. Each man carries a torch, a pitcher, and a trumpet (i'd guess that the pitcher covers the torch and keeps the light hidden). They sneak on down the Midianites camp, and all yell 'boo' (break the pitchers, blow the trumpets, and yell); the Midianites go beseerk, and start killing one another before running away. Gideon summons Israelites from the area to go hunting for the Midianites on the run...

7:24-8:3

Ephraim gets two of the Midianite Kings Ephriam gets into the hunt, and captures and kills two of the Midianite kings, Oreb and Zeeb. They also get ticked at Gideon for not letting them in on the original attack (they thought that he was trying to grab all the glory for himself/his tribe), but he settles them down with a little flattery ("oh, but you guys got the kings...that's much better than anything i did").

8:4-21

Trouble with Succoth and Penuel; Gideon finishes the Midianite army Gideon has chased Midian across the Jordan...He and his men are hot, tired, and hungry. He asks at two towns for some food, and they turn him down; he says that he'll teach them some manners on his way back through town...he then proceeds to defeat an army of 15,000 (it is revealed that there were 120,000 originally), though i'd guess that by this time he probably had more than 300 men in his company. So, having defeated the army, he turns back to the rude towns and teaches them their lesson...

8:22-28

Gideon leads Israel Astray Gideon builds a golden ephod, and parked it in his home town. It leads to bad stuff (idolatry? at least a violation of the levitical code) for all Israel. We also get here that Gideon judged for about a 40 year period.

8:29-35

The end of Gideon... Gideon has 70 sons through various wives and concubines...once he dies, Israel turns to Baal again...

6:1-6
Sin/Oppression : Israel does evil, Midian Oppresses them	Midian makes an annual journey through Israel, stealing food, livestock, etc... Some Israelites have taken to living in mountains and caves to get away.
6:7-10
A Prophet Condemns their Disobedience	An unamed prophet reminds Israel of their unfaithfulness and God's faithfulness after they cry out to the Lord.
6:11-24
Gideon is Called	Gideon, a youngest child, is hiding in a wine press, threshing some wheat. The Angel of the Lord tells him that he will deliver Israel "as one man" (though Gideon ends up with 300 to do the job; the one man comment refer to his leadership, or it could have not been carried out due to Gideon's cowardice/refusal to believe). Gideon doesn't seem to recognize the Angel of the Lord as such, and pouts, saying "But now the Lord has abandoned us". The Angel responds by sending him to go and defeat Mideon, but Gideon isn't so sure...he asks for a sign, and tells the angel to stay put while he goes and gets an offering. He returns, the angel kicks the offering into flames with a touch of his staff, and Gideon suddenly becomes very religious.
6:25-33
Gideon destroys the local Baal/Asherah stuff	That night, God tells him to cut down the Asherah pole and to destroy the alter to Baal. He cuts them down at night because he's afraid of dad and the locals. When the locals discover his cleansing, they want to kill Gideon; but his dad sticks up for him, saying that Baal should defend himself.
6:34-40
Gideon Again asks for a Sign (twice)	The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon, and he gathers his clan...he also calls folks from Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. But before he really commits, he asks God for a few more signs. First, he asks that God would make a fleece wet and the ground dry; God humors him. Then, he reverses the proposition (hey, the scientific method) and has the fleece dry and the ground wet. Again, God plays ball.
7:1-8
God weeds out the Ranks	Gideon has, at this point, about 32,000 people hanging around. God decides that this is to many, that if he allows this to continue, Israel might start to think that they're tough. So, he weeds them out...first, he has Gideon tell those who are skeered to go home; 22,000 run away. God still says that 10k is to many though; he has them drink at a creek, and tells Gideon that anyone who didn't lap like a dog (from hands) should go. That leaves 300.
7:8-14
God give Gideon another sign	God tells Gideon (at night) to go and get Midian; or, if he's scared, to go sneak around their camp with his servant. Gideon takes option two, and overhears a Midianite interpret a dream that ends up with Gideon destroying Midian. Quite the confidence builder; Gideon returns back to camp, ready for action.
7:15-23
Gideon attacks (badly scares) the Midianites	Gideon gets back to camp after another confidence boosting sign from God, and gets the troops ready. Each man carries a torch, a pitcher, and a trumpet (i'd guess that the pitcher covers the torch and keeps the light hidden). They sneak on down the Midianites camp, and all yell 'boo' (break the pitchers, blow the trumpets, and yell); the Midianites go beseerk, and start killing one another before running away. Gideon summons Israelites from the area to go hunting for the Midianites on the run...
7:24-8:3
Ephraim gets two of the Midianite Kings	Ephriam gets into the hunt, and captures and kills two of the Midianite kings, Oreb and Zeeb. They also get ticked at Gideon for not letting them in on the original attack (they thought that he was trying to grab all the glory for himself/his tribe), but he settles them down with a little flattery ("oh, but you guys got the kings...that's much better than anything i did").
8:4-21
Trouble with Succoth and Penuel; Gideon finishes the Midianite army	Gideon has chased Midian across the Jordan...He and his men are hot, tired, and hungry. He asks at two towns for some food, and they turn him down; he says that he'll teach them some manners on his way back through town...he then proceeds to defeat an army of 15,000 (it is revealed that there were 120,000 originally), though i'd guess that by this time he probably had more than 300 men in his company. So, having defeated the army, he turns back to the rude towns and teaches them their lesson...
8:22-28
Gideon leads Israel Astray	Gideon builds a golden ephod, and parked it in his home town. It leads to bad stuff (idolatry? at least a violation of the levitical code) for all Israel. We also get here that Gideon judged for about a 40 year period.
8:29-35
The end of Gideon...	Gideon has 70 sons through various wives and concubines...once he dies, Israel turns to Baal again...