A Devotional for Thoughtful Readers
Judges 6:1-10
“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD” (New
International Version).
Six short words, yet they open the fourth round of the cycle we have
watched since chapter 1: compromise → oppression → cry → rescue. In this
round the oppressor is Midian, a desert people who, according to
Egyptian texts and the Timnah copper-mines, criss-crossed the southern
trade routes with swift camels and keen eyes for easy plunder. Midian’s
yearly raids left Israel so stripped that they dug caves and threshing
floors in the hillsides—archaeologists still find these rock-cut
hideouts in the Shephelah.
Key idea
Sin does not merely offend God; it shrinks our horizon. A people once
promised “a land flowing with milk and honey” now measure life by how
well they can avoid being seen.
Cross-references
• Deuteronomy 28:47-48 (curse of foreign yoke)
• John 10:10 (the thief’s purpose vs. Christ’s)
Reflection
Where has fear made you small? Ask the Spirit to name the “Midian” that
keeps you in hiding—then name it aloud before God.
Judges 6:11-24
The Angel of the LORD (Hebrew malʾakh YHWH) sits under an oak at Ophrah and greets Gideon with the unlikely words, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (gibbôr ḥayil). In Hebrew, the phrase can mean a seasoned soldier—or, more broadly, a person of strong character. The irony is sweet: Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress, a cramped stone pit, to hide from Midian. God speaks promise, not present appearance.
Hebrew note
“Go in the strength you have” (v. 14) literally reads, “Go in this your
strength.” Many commentators (Calvin, Matthew Henry) take “this” to mean
the hidden courage God already sees. Others (e.g., Brueggemann) read it
as “the strength of My sending.” Both truths fit the gospel: God
supplies what He commands.
A brief Christological note
Church fathers from Justin Martyr onward often saw the Angel of the LORD
as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ—an early whisper that the
Deliverer Himself would one day step fully into human weakness.
Cross-references
• Exodus 3:7-12 (another reluctant deliverer)
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (strength in weakness)
Reflection
Imagine Christ calling you by a name that feels too large—“peacemaker,”
“servant,” “healer.” Sit with that name for a moment. What shifts
inside?
Judges 6:25-32
God’s first assignment for Gideon is local, even domestic: demolish his father’s altar to Baal and the sacred Asherah pole, then build a new altar to YHWH. Nighttime obedience shows Gideon’s fragility, yet it is obedience. Come dawn, scandal erupts, but Gideon’s father Joash voices a shrewd defense: “If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself.” Thus Gideon receives a second name, Jerub-Baal, “Let Baal contend.”
Cultural window
Asherah poles were wooden symbols of the Canaanite fertility goddess.
Excavations at Kuntillet ’Ajrud (8th c. BC) even show inscriptions
pairing “YHWH and his Asherah,” underscoring how easily Israel blended
covenant faith with local cults. Gideon’s act is not mere vandalism; it
is a covenant renewal ceremony.
Cross-references
• 1 Kings 18:20-39 (Elijah vs. Baal)
• 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (separate from idols)
Reflection
Notice the order: inner call → break idols → public mission. Have you
asked God what “altar” in your own home, habits, or screen time needs
tearing down before bigger victories can come?
Judges 6:33-40
“The Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon” (v. 34). The Hebrew verb lāvash means “clothed.” It is as if God wears Gideon like a garment—an image both intimate and humbling.
Then comes the famous fleece. Twice Gideon asks for a sign: dew only on fleece, then dew only on ground. The narrative neither praises nor condemns him outright, yet later Scripture warns against demanding proofs (Matthew 12:39). Puritan commentator Matthew Poole calls Gideon’s request “a tremble of honest weakness.” God answers anyway—another splash of grace in Israel’s dry season.
Early Christian reading
Origen and later Augustine saw the wet-then-dry fleece as a picture of
Israel and the nations: first Israel alone is saturated with God’s
revelation, then the Gentile world receives the moisture while Israel
lies dry. Whether or not we follow the typology, the episode reminds us
that God’s patience often runs further than our faith.
Cross-references
• Luke 1:34-38 (Mary’s question vs. unbelief)
• James 1:5 (ask without doubting)
Reflection
The fleece was not magic but dialogue. What question, fear, or longing
do you need to lay out before God tonight?
Hymn suggestion
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (William Cowper, 1774). Its gentle
steady tune and lyrics about unseen purposes make it a fitting
soundtrack for Gideon’s story.
Lord of Peace,
You find us in hidden corners and call us by a name we hardly
recognize.
Clothe us with Your Spirit; strip us of the idols we defend;
Teach us to trust Your whisper more than the noise of our fears.
May Your shalom settle over our hearts, our homes, and our land,
through Jesus Christ, the True Deliverer.
Amen.