The Lord Calls Gibeon
Comments for Study 6
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I. You Did Not Listen to Me (6:1-10)
>1. What did yet another generation do and how did the Lord respond? (1)
* Judges 6:1 "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites."
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>What would it be like to be forced out of your home to live in a cave? (2)
* Judges 6:2 "Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds."
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>What can be learn by the ever increasing oppression when Israel sinned?
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>2. How did the Lord use Israel's enemies to turn their hearts to him? (3-4)
* Judges 6:3-4 "Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 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."
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>What happened that this generation finally had to call out to the Lord for help? (5-6)
* Judges 6:5-6 "They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help."
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>What does this say about people, even those who have had parents who served the Lord?
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>3. When the Israelites cried out to the Lord what did he do? (7-8a)
* Judges 6:7-8a "When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, he sent them a prophet"
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>What history lesson did he give? (8b-10a)
* Judges 6:8b-10a "who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.'"
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>What can we learn about the Lord who teaches why troubles come to his people? (10b)
* Judges 6:10b "But you have not listened to me."
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II. I Have Seen the Angel of the Lord Face to Face (6:11-24)
>4. What must it have been like for Gibeon when the angle of the Lord came to him? (11-12)
* Judges 6:11-12 "The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
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>Even though the prophet had told Israel why they were in such a terrible situation what did Gibeon say? (13-14)
* Judges 6:13-14 ""But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put 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. Am I not sending you?" "
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>How did the Lord correct Gibeon's small-faith thinking? (15-16)
* Judges 6:15-16 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
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>5. What reassuring act did Gibeon request of the Lord? (17-19)
* Judges 6:17-19 "Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak."
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>What does the fact that the angel received Gibeon's sacrifice tell us about his identity? (20-21)
* Judges 6:20-21 "The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared."
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>What can we learn about the Lord Jesus who appeared as an angel?
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>6. Why was Gibeon suddenly filled with fear? (22)
* Judges 6:22 "When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
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>What kind words did the Lord give Gibeon? (23)
* Judges 6:23 "But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."
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>How is Jesus our peace? (24)
* Judges 6:24 "So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."
* Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
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III. Gibeon called Jerub-Baal (6:25-40)
>7. What challenging mission did the Lord give Gibeon? (25-26)
* Judges 6:25-26 "That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."
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>What can we learn about Gibeon from the way he chose to obey the Lord? (27)
* Judges 6:27 "So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime."
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>How are we often like Gibeon with the tasks that the Lord Jesus gives us?
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>8. Why would Gibeon's act go unnoticed? (28-29)
* Judges 6:28-29 "In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."
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>How did Gideon get his nickname? (30-32)
* Judges 6:30-32 "The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar."
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>Does God ever ask people to kill to defend his name an honor? (Luke 9:52-56)
* Luke 9:52-56 "And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village."
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>9. Who enabled Gideon to get the people ready for battle? (33-35)
* Judges 6:33-35 "Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them."
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>Is this how the Spirit works today? (Romans 15:13; John 15:26, 16:7-15; and 1 Peter 4:6)
* Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
* 1 Peter 4:6 "For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit."
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* John 15:26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me."
* John 16:7-11 "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."
* John 16:12-15 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."
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>10. Was the test Gideon did righteous? (36-38)
* Judges 6:36-38 "Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised-- look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water."
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>What did he have to do to ensure it was God working? (39-40)
* Judges 6:39-40 "Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew."
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>In what similar way should we test spirits? (1 John 4:1-6)
* 1 John 4:1-6 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood."
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