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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Nothing that occurred in the quiet and peaceable times of Israel is
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recorded; the forty years' rest after the conquest of Jabin is passed
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over in silence; and here begins the story of another distress and
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another deliverance, by Gideon, the fourth of the judges. Here is,
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I. The calamitous condition of Israel, by the inroads of the
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Midianites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. The message God sent them by a prophet, by convincing them of sin,
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to prepare them for deliverance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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III. The raising up of Gideon to be their deliverer.
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1. A commission which God sent him by the hand of an angel, and
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confirmed by a sign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:11-24">ver. 11-24</A>.
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2. The first-fruits of his government in the reform of his father's
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house,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:25-32">ver. 25-32</A>.
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3. The preparations he made for a war with the Midianites, and the
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encouragement given him by a sign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:33-40">ver. 33-40</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Inroads of the Midianites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
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2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: <I>and</I>
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because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the
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dens which <I>are</I> in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
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3 And <I>so</I> it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites
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came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even
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they came up against them;
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4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of
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the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for
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Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
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5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they
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came as grasshoppers for multitude; <I>for</I> both they and their
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camels were without number: and they entered into the land to
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destroy it.
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6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the
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Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here,
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I. Israel's sin renewed: <I>They did evil in the sight of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The burnt child dreads the fire; yet this perverse unthinking people,
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that had so often smarted sorely for their idolatry, upon a little
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respite of God's judgments return to it again. <I>This people hath a
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revolting rebellious heart,</I> not kept in awe by the terror of God's
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judgments, nor engaged in honour and gratitude by the great things he
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had done for them to keep themselves in his love. The providence of God
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will not change the hearts and lives of sinners.</P>
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<P>
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II. Israel's troubles repeated. This would follow of course; let all
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that sin expect to suffer; let all that return to folly expect to
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return to misery. <I>With the froward God will show himself froward</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:26">Ps. xviii. 26</A>),
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and will walk contrary to those that walk contrary to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:21,24">Lev. xxvi. 21, 24</A>.
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Now as to this trouble,
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1. It arose from a very despicable enemy. God delivered them into the
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hand of Midian
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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not Midian in the south where Jethro lived, but Midian in the east that
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joined to Moab
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+22:4">Num. xxii. 4</A>),
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a people that all men despised as uncultivated and unintelligent; hence
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we read not here of any king, lord, or general, that they had, but the
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force with which they destroyed Israel was an undisciplined mob; and,
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which made it the more grievous, they were a people that Israel had
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formerly subdued, and in a manner destroyed (see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+31:7">Num. xxxi. 7</A>),
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and yet by this time (nearly 200 years after) the poor remains of them
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were so multiplied, and so magnified, that they were capable of being
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made a very severe scourge to Israel. Thus <I>God moved them to
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jealousy with those who were not a people,</I> even a foolish nation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:21">Deut. xxxii. 21</A>.
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The meanest creature will serve to chastise those that have made the
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great Creator their enemy. And, when those we are authorized to rule
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prove rebellious and disobedient to us, it concerns us to enquire
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whether we have not been so to our sovereign Ruler.
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2. It arose to a very formidable height
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>The hand of Midian prevailed,</I> purely by their multitude. God had
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promised to increase Israel as the sand on the sea shore; but their sin
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stopped their growth and diminished them, and then their enemies,
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though otherwise every way inferior to them, overpowered them with
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numbers. They came upon them as <I>grasshoppers for multitude</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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not in a regular army to engage them in the field, but in a confused
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swarm to plunder the country, quarter themselves upon it, and enrich
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themselves with its spoils--bands of robbers, and no better. And sinful
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Israel, being separated by sin from God, had not spirit to make head
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against them. Observe the wretched havoc that these Midianites made
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with their bands of plunderers in Israel. Here we have,
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(1.) The Israelites imprisoned, or rather imprisoning themselves, in
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dens and caves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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This was owing purely to their own timorousness and faint-heartedness,
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that they would rather fly than fight; it was the effect of a guilty
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conscience, which made them tremble at the shaking of a leaf, and the
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just punishment of their apostasy from God, who thus fought against
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them with those very terrors with which he would otherwise have fought
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for them. Had it not been for this, we cannot but think Israel a match
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for the Midianites, and able enough to make head against them; but the
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heart that departs from God is lost, not only to that which is good,
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but to that which is great. Sin dispirits men, and makes them sneak
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into dens and caves. The day will come when chief captains and mighty
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men will call in vain to rocks and mountains to hide them.
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(2.) The Israelites impoverished, greatly impoverished,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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The Midianites and the other children of the east that joined with them
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to live by spoil and rapine (as long before the Sabeans and Chaldeans
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did that plundered Job, free-booters) made frequent incursions into the
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land of Canaan. This fruitful land was a great temptation to them; and
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the sloth and luxury into which the Israelites had sunk by forty years'
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rest made them and their substance an easy prey to them. They came up
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against them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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pitched their camps among them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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and brought their cattle with them, particularly camels innumerable
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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not a flying party to make a sally upon them and be gone presently, but
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they resolved to force their way, and penetrated through the heart of
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the country as far as Gaza on the western side,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They let the Israelites alone to sow their ground, but towards harvest
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they came and seized all, and ate up and destroyed it, both grass and
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corn, and when they went away took with them the sheep and oxen, so
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that in short they left no sustenance for Israel, except what was
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privately taken by the rightful owners into the dens and caves. Now
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here we may see,
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[1.] The justice of God in the punishment of their sin. They had
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neglected to honour God with their substance in tithes and offerings,
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and had prepared that for Baal with which God should have been served,
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and now God justly sends an enemy to take it away <I>in the season
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thereof,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:8,9">Hos. ii. 8, 9</A>.
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[2.] The consequence of God's departure from a people; when he goes all
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good goes and all mischiefs break in. When Israel kept in with God,
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they reaped what others sowed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:13,Ps+105:44">Josh. xxiv. 13; Ps. cv. 44</A>);
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but now that God had forsaken them others reaped what they sowed. Let
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us take occasion from this to bless God for our national peace and
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tranquillity, that we <I>eat the labour of our hands.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Israel's sense of God's hand revived at last. Seven years, year
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after year, did the Midianites make these inroads upon them, each we
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may suppose worse than the other
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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until at last, all other succours failing, <I>Israel cried unto the
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Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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for crying to Baal ruined them, and would not help them. When God
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judges he will overcome; and sinners shall be made either to bend or
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break before him.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud6_10"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> because of the Midianites,
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8 That the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sent a prophet unto the children of Israel,
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which said unto them, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, I
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brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house
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of bondage;
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9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out
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of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from
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before you, and gave you their land;
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10 And I said unto you, I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God; fear not the
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gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not
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obeyed my voice.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Observe here,
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I. The cognizance God took of the cries of Israel, when at length they
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were directed towards him. Though in their prosperity they had
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neglected him and made court to his rivals, and though they never
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looked towards him until they were driven to it by extremity, yet, upon
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their complain and prayer, he intended relief for them. Thus would he
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show how ready he is to forgive, how swift he is to show mercy, and how
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inclinable to hear prayer, that sinners may be encouraged to return and
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repent,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:4">Ps. cxxx. 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The method God took of working deliverance for them.</P>
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<P>
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1. Before he sent an angel to raise them up a saviour he sent a prophet
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to reprove them for sin, and to bring them to repentance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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This prophet is not named, but he was a man, a prophet, not an angel,
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as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+2:1"><I>ch.</I> ii. 1</A>.
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Whether this prophet took an opportunity of delivering his message to
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the children of Israel when they had met together in a general
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assembly, at some solemn feast or other great occasion, or whether he
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went from city to city and from tribe to tribe, preaching to this
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purport, is not certain; but his errand was to convince them of sin,
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that, in their crying to the Lord, they might confess that with sorrow
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and shame, and not spend their breath in only complaining of their
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trouble. They cried to God for a deliverer, and God sent them a prophet
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to instruct them, and to make them ready for deliverance. Note,
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(1.) We have reason to hope God is designing mercy for us if we find he
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is by his grace preparing us for it. If to those that are sick he sends
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a messenger, an interpreter, by whom he <I>shows unto man his
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uprightness, then he is gracious,</I> and grants a recovery,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:23,24">Job xxxiii. 23, 24</A>.
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(2.) The sending of prophets to a people, and the furnishing of a land
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with faithful ministers, is a token for good, and an evidence that God
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has mercy in store for them. He thus turns us to him, and then causes
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his face to shine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:19">Ps. lxxx. 19</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. We have here the heads of the message which this prophet delivered
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in to Israel, in the name of the Lord.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He sets before them the great things God had done for them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>):
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<I>Thus saith the Lord God of Israel;</I> they had worshipped the
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<I>gods of the nations,</I> as if they had had no God of their own to
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worship and therefore might choose whom they pleased; but they are here
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reminded of one whom they had forgotten, who was known by the title of
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<I>the God of Israel,</I> and to him they must return. They had turned
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to other gods, as if their own had been either incapable or unwilling
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to protect them, and therefore they are told what he did for their
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fathers, in whose loins they were, the benefit of which descended and
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still remained to this their ungrateful seed.
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[1.] He brought them out of Egypt, where otherwise they would have
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continued in perpetual poverty and slavery.
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[2.] He <I>delivered them out of the hands of all that oppressed
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them;</I> this is mentioned to intimate that the reason why they were
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not now delivered out of the hands of the oppressing Midianites was not
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for want of any power or good-will in God, but because by their
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iniquity they had sold themselves, and God would not redeem them until
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they by repentance revoked the bargain.
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[3.] He put them in quiet possession of this good land; this not only
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aggravated their sin, and affixed the brand of base ingratitude to it,
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but it justified God, and cleared him from blame upon account of the
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trouble they were now in. They could not say he was unkind, for he had
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given all possible proofs of his designing well for them; if ill befel
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them notwithstanding, they must thank themselves.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He shows the easiness and equity of God's demands and expectations
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from them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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"<I>I am the Lord your God,</I> to whom you lie under the highest
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obligations, <I>fear not the gods of the Amorites,</I>" that is, "do
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not worship them, nor show any respect to them; do not worship them for
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fear of their doing you any hurt, for what hurt can they do you while I
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am your God? Fear God, and you need not fear them."</P>
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<P>
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(3.) He charges them with rebellion against God, who had laid this
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injunction upon them: <I>But you have not obeyed my voice.</I> The
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charge is short, but very comprehensive; this was the malignity of all
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their sin, it was disobedience to God; and therefore it was this that
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brought those calamities upon them under which they were now groaning,
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pursuant to the threatenings annexed to his commands. He intends hereby
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to bring them to repentance; and our repentance is then right and
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genuine when the sinfulness of sin, as disobedience to God, is that in
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it which we chiefly lament.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Call of Gideon.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 And there came an angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and sat under an oak
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which <I>was</I> in Ophrah, that <I>pertained</I> unto Joash the Abiezrite:
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and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide <I>it</I>
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from the Midianites.
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12 And the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> appeared unto him, and said unto
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him, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
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13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> be with
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us, why then is all this befallen us? and where <I>be</I> all his
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miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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bring us up from Egypt? but now the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath forsaken us, and
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delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
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14 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy
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might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the
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Midianites: have not I sent thee?
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15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save
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Israel? behold, my family <I>is</I> poor in Manasseh, and I <I>am</I> the
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least in my father's house.
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16 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and
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thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
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17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy
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sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.
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18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and
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bring forth my present, and set <I>it</I> before thee. And he said, I
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will tarry until thou come again.
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19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened
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cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he
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put the broth in a pot, and brought <I>it</I> out unto him under the
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oak, and presented <I>it.</I>
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20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the
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unleavened cakes, and lay <I>them</I> upon this rock, and pour out the
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broth. And he did so.
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21 Then the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> put forth the end of the staff
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that <I>was</I> in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened
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cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the
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flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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departed out of his sight.
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22 And when Gideon perceived that he <I>was</I> an angel of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord
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G<FONT SIZE=-1>OD</FONT>! for because I have seen an
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angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> face to face.
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23 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto him, Peace <I>be</I> unto thee; fear not:
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thou shalt not die.
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24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and called
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it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it <I>is</I> yet in Ophrah of the
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Abi-ezrites.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is not said what effect the prophet's sermon had upon the people,
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|
but we may hope it had a good effect, and that some of them at least
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|
repented and reformed upon it; for here, immediately after, we have the
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|
dawning of the day of their deliverance, by the effectual calling of
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|
Gideon to take upon him the command of their forces against the
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|
Midianites.</P>
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<P>
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|
I. The person to be commissioned for this service was Gideon, the son
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|
of Joash,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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The father was now living, but he was passed by, and this honour put
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|
upon the son, for the father kept up in his own family the worship of
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Baal
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
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which we may suppose this son, as far as was in his power, witnessed
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|
against. He was of the half tribe of Manasseh that lay in Canaan, of
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|
the family of Abiezer; the eldest house of that tribe,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:2">Josh. xvii. 2</A>.
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|
Hitherto the judges were raised up out of that tribe which suffered
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|
most by the oppression, and probably it was so here.</P>
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<P>
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|
II. The person that gave him the commission was an <I>angel of the
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|
Lord;</I> it should seem not a created angel, but the Son of God
|
|
himself, the eternal Word, the Lord of the angels, who then appeared
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|
upon some great occasions in human shape, as a prelude (says the
|
|
learned bishop Patrick) to what he intended in the fulness of time,
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|
when he would take our nature upon him, as we say, for good and all.
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|
This angel is here called <I>Jehovah,</I> the incommunicable name of
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|
God
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14, 16</A>),
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|
and he said, <I>I will be with thee.</I></P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
1. This divine person appeared here to Gideon, and it is observable how
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|
he found him,
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|
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|
(1.) Retired--all alone. God often manifests himself to his people when
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|
they are out of the noise and hurry of this world. Silence and
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|
solitude befriend our communion with God.
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|
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|
(2.) Employed in threshing wheat, with a <I>staff</I> or <I>rod</I> (so
|
|
the word signifies), such as they used in beating out fitches and
|
|
cummin
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:27">Isa. xxviii. 27</A>),
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|
but now used for wheat, probably because he had but little to thresh,
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|
he needed not the oxen to tread it out. It was not then looked upon as
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|
any diminution to him, though he was a person of some account and a
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|
<I>mighty man of valour,</I> to lay his hand to the business of the
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|
husbandman. He had many servants
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
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|
and yet would not himself live in idleness. We put ourselves in the way
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|
of divine visits when we employ ourselves in honest business. Tidings
|
|
of Christ's birth were brought to the shepherds when they were keeping
|
|
their flocks. The work he was about was an emblem of that greater work
|
|
to which he was now to be called, as the disciples' fishing was. From
|
|
threshing corn he is fetched to thresh the Midianites,
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|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:15">Isa. xli. 15</A>.
|
|
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|
(3.) Distressed; he was threshing his wheat, not in the
|
|
threshing-floor, the proper place, but <I>by the wine-press,</I> in
|
|
some private unsuspected corner, for fear of the Midianites. He himself
|
|
shared in the common calamity, and now the angel came to animate him
|
|
against Midian when he himself could speak so feelingly of the
|
|
heaviness of their yoke. The day of the greatest distress is God's time
|
|
to appear for his people's relief.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
2. Let us now see what passed between the angel and Gideon, who knew
|
|
not with certainty, till after he was gone, that he was an angel, but
|
|
supposed he was a prophet.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
(1.) The angel accosted him with respect, and assured him of the
|
|
presence of God with him,
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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|
He calls him a <I>mighty man of valour,</I> perhaps because he observed
|
|
how he threshed his corn with all his might; and seest thou a man
|
|
diligent in his business? whatever his business is, he shall <I>stand
|
|
before kings.</I> He that is faithful in a few things shall be ruler
|
|
over many. Gideon was a man of a brave active spirit, and yet buried
|
|
alive in obscurity, through the iniquity of the times; but he is here
|
|
animated to undertake something great, like himself, with that word,
|
|
<I>The Lord is with thee,</I> or, as the Chaldee reads it, <I>the Word
|
|
of the Lord is thy help.</I> It was very sure that the Lord was with
|
|
him when this angel was with him. By this word,
|
|
|
|
[1.] He gives him his commission. If we have God's presence with us,
|
|
this will justify us and bear us out in our undertakings.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He inspires him with all necessary qualifications for the
|
|
execution of his commission. "The Lord is with thee to guide and
|
|
strengthen thee, to animate and support thee."
|
|
|
|
[3.] He assures him of success; for, <I>if God be for us, who can</I>
|
|
prevail <I>against us?</I> If he be with us, nothing can be wanting to
|
|
us. The presence of God with us is all in all to our prosperity,
|
|
whatever we do. Gideon was a mighty man of valour, and yet he could
|
|
bring nothing to pass without the presence of God, and that presence is
|
|
enough to make any man mighty in valour and to give a man courage at
|
|
any time.</P>
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|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Gideon gave a very melancholy answer to this joyful salutation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>O my Lord! if the Lord be with us</I> (which the Chaldee reads,
|
|
<I>Is the Shechinah of the Lord our help?</I> making that the same with
|
|
<I>the Word of the Lord) why then has all this befallen us?</I> "all
|
|
this trouble and distress from the Midianites' incursions, which force
|
|
me to thresh wheat here by the wine-press--all this loss, and grief,
|
|
and fright; and <I>where are all the miracles which our fathers told us
|
|
of?</I>" Observe, In his reply he regards not the praise of his own
|
|
valour, nor does this in the least elevate him or give him any
|
|
encouragement, though it is probable the angel adapted what he said to
|
|
that which Gideon was at the same time thinking of; while his labouring
|
|
hands were employed about his wheat, his working head and daring heart
|
|
were meditating Israel's rescue and Midian's ruin, with which thought
|
|
he that knows the heart seasonably sets in, calls him a man of valour
|
|
for his brave projects, and open him a way to put them in execution;
|
|
yet Gideon, as if not conscious to himself of any thing great or
|
|
encouraging in his own spirit, fastens only on the assurance the angel
|
|
had given him of God's presence, as that by which they held all their
|
|
comfort. Observe, The angel spoke in particular to him: <I>The Lord is
|
|
with thee;</I> but he expostulates for all: <I>If the Lord be with
|
|
us,</I> herding himself with the thousands of Israel, and admitting no
|
|
comfort but what they might be sharers in, so far is he from the
|
|
thoughts of monopolizing it, though he had so fair an occasion given
|
|
him. Note, Public spirits reckon that only an honour and joy to
|
|
themselves which puts them in a capacity of serving the common
|
|
interests of God's church. Gideon was a mighty man of valour, but as
|
|
yet weak in faith, which makes it hard to him to reconcile to the
|
|
assurances now given him of the presence of God,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The distress to which Israel was reduced: <I>Why has all this</I>
|
|
(and <I>all this</I> was no little) <I>befallen us?</I> Note, It is
|
|
sometimes hard, but never impossible, to reconcile cross providences
|
|
with the presence of God and his favour.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The delay of their deliverance: "<I>Where are all the miracles
|
|
which our fathers told us of?</I> Why does not the same power which
|
|
delivered our fathers from the yoke of the Egyptians deliver us out of
|
|
the hands of the Midianites?" As if because God did not immediately
|
|
work miracles for their deliverance, though they had by their sins
|
|
forfeited his favour and help, it must be questioned whether ever he
|
|
had wrought the miracles which their fathers told them of, or, if he
|
|
had, whether he had now the same wisdom, and power, and good-will to
|
|
his people, that he had had formerly. This was his weakness. We must
|
|
not expect that the miracles which were wrought when a church was in
|
|
the forming, and some great truth in the settling, should be continued
|
|
and repeated when the formation and settlement are completed: no, nor
|
|
that the mercies God showed to our fathers that served him, and kept
|
|
close to him, should be renewed to us, if we degenerate and revolt from
|
|
him. Gideon ought not to have said either, <I>First,</I> That <I>God
|
|
had delivered them into the hands of the Midianites,</I> for by their
|
|
iniquities they had sold themselves, or, <I>Secondly,</I> That now they
|
|
were in their hands he had forsaken them, for he had lately sent them a
|
|
prophet
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
which was a certain indication that he had not forsaken them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The angel gave him a very effectual answer to his objections, by
|
|
giving him a commission to deliver Israel out of the hands of the
|
|
Midianites, and assuring him of success therein,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now the angel is called <I>Jehovah,</I> for he speaks as one having
|
|
authority, and not as a messenger.
|
|
|
|
[1.] There was something extraordinary in the look he now gave to
|
|
Gideon; it was a gracious favourable look, which revived his spirits
|
|
that dropped, and silenced his fears, such a look as that with which
|
|
God's <I>countenance beholds the upright,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+11:7">Ps. xi. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
He looked upon him, and smiled at the objections he made, which he gave
|
|
him no direct answer to, but girded and clothed him with such power as
|
|
would shortly enable him to answer them himself, and make him ashamed
|
|
that ever he had made them. It was a speaking look, like Christ's upon
|
|
Peter
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:61">Luke xxii. 61</A>),
|
|
|
|
a powerful look, a look that strangely darted new light and life into
|
|
Gideon's breast, and inspired him with a generous heat, far above what
|
|
he felt before.
|
|
|
|
[2.] But there was much more in what he said to him. <I>First,</I> He
|
|
commissioned him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer. Such a one
|
|
the few thinking people in the nation, and Gideon among the rest, were
|
|
now expecting to be raised up, according to God's former method, in
|
|
answer to the cries of oppressed Israel; and now Gideon is told, "Thou
|
|
art the man: <I>Go in this thy might,</I> this might wherewith thou art
|
|
now threshing wheat; go and employ it to a nobler purpose; <I>I will
|
|
make thee a thresher of men.</I>" Or, rather, "this might wherewith
|
|
thou art now endued by this look." God gave him his commission by
|
|
giving him all the qualifications that were necessary for the execution
|
|
of it, which is more than the mightiest prince and potentate on earth
|
|
can do for those to whom he gives commissions. God's fitting men for
|
|
work is a sure and constant evidence of his calling them to it. "Go,
|
|
not in thy might, that which is natural, and of thyself, depend not on
|
|
thy own valour; but go in <I>this</I> thy might, this which thou hast
|
|
now received, <I>go in the strength of the Lord God,</I> that is, the
|
|
strength with which thou must strengthen thyself." <I>Secondly,</I> He
|
|
assured him of success. This was enough to put courage into him; he
|
|
might be confident he should not miscarry in the attempt; it should not
|
|
turn either to his own disgrace or the damage of his people (as baffled
|
|
enterprises do), but to his honour and their happiness: <I>Thou shalt
|
|
save Israel from the hand of the Midianites,</I> and so shalt not only
|
|
be an eye-witness, but a glorious instrument, of such wonders as thy
|
|
<I>fathers told thee of.</I> Gideon, we may suppose, looked as one
|
|
astonished at this strange and surprising power conferred upon him, and
|
|
questions whether he may depend upon what he hears: the angel ratifies
|
|
his commission with a <I>teste meipso</I>--<I>an appeal to his own
|
|
authority;</I> there needed no more. "<I>Have not I commanded
|
|
thee</I>--I that have all power in heaven and earth, and particular
|
|
authority here as Israel's King, giving commissions
|
|
immediately--<I>I</I> who <I>am that I am,</I> the same that sent
|
|
Moses?"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:14">Exod. iii. 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) Gideon made a very modest objection against this commission
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>O my Lord! wherewith shall I save Israel?</I> This question bespeaks
|
|
him either,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Distrustful of God and his power, as if, though God should be with
|
|
him, yet it were impossible for him to save Israel. True faith is often
|
|
weak, yet it shall not be rejected, but encouraged and strengthened.
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] Inquisitive concerning the methods he must take: "Lord, I labour
|
|
under all imaginable disadvantages for it; if I must do it, thou must
|
|
put me in the way." Note, Those who receive commissions from God must
|
|
expect and seek for instructions from him. Or rather,
|
|
|
|
[3.] Humble, self-diffident, and self-denying. The angel had honoured
|
|
him, but see how meanly he speaks of himself: "My family is
|
|
comparatively poor in Manasseh" (impoverished, it may be, more than
|
|
other families by the Midianites), "and I am the least, that have the
|
|
least honour and interest, <I>in my father's house;</I> what can I
|
|
pretend to do? I am utterly unfit for the service, and unworthy of the
|
|
honour." Note, God often chooses to do great things by those that are
|
|
little, especially that are so in their own eyes. God delights to
|
|
advance the humble.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) This objection was soon answered by a repetition of the promise
|
|
that God would be with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Object not thy poverty and meanness; such things have indeed often
|
|
hindered men in great enterprises, but what are they to a man that has
|
|
the presence of God with him, which will make up all the deficiencies
|
|
of honour and estate. <I>Surely I will be with thee,</I> to direct and
|
|
strengthen thee, and put such a reputation upon thee that, how weak
|
|
soever thy personal interest is, thou shalt have soldiers enough to
|
|
follow thee, and be assured <I>thou shalt smite the Midianites as one
|
|
men,</I> as easily as if they were but one man and as effectually. All
|
|
the thousands of Midian shall be as if they had but one neck, and thou
|
|
shalt have the cutting of it off."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(6.) Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed touching this
|
|
commission; for he would not be over-credulous of that which tended so
|
|
much to his own praise, would not venture upon an undertaking so far
|
|
above him, and in which he must engage many more, but he would be well
|
|
satisfied himself of his authority, and would be able to give
|
|
satisfaction to others as to him who gave him that authority. He
|
|
therefore humbly begs of this divine person, whoever he was,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he would give him a sign,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, the commission being given him out of the common road of
|
|
providence, he might reasonably expect it should be confirmed by some
|
|
act of God out of the common course of nature: "Show me a sign to
|
|
assure me of the truth of this concerning which thou talkest with me,
|
|
that it is something more than talk, and that thou art in earnest."
|
|
Now, under the dispensation of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs
|
|
before our eyes, such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray
|
|
to God that, if <I>we have found grace in his sight,</I> he would show
|
|
us a sign in our heart, by the powerful operations of his Spirit there,
|
|
<I>fulfilling the work of faith,</I> and perfecting what is lacking in
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] In order hereunto, that he would accept of a treat, and so give
|
|
him a further and longer opportunity of conversation with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who know what it is to have communion with God desire the
|
|
continuance of it, and are loth to part, praying with Gideon, <I>Depart
|
|
not hence, I pray thee.</I> That which Gideon desired in courting his
|
|
stay was that he might bring out some provision of meat for this
|
|
stranger. He did not take him into the house to entertain him there,
|
|
perhaps because his father's house were not well affected to him and
|
|
his friends, or because he desired still to be in private with this
|
|
stranger, and to converse with him alone (therefore he calls not for a
|
|
servant to bring the provision, but fetches it himself), or because
|
|
thus his father Abraham entertained angels unawares, not in his tent,
|
|
but under a tree,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:8">Gen. xviii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Upon the angel's promise to stay to dinner with him, he hastened to
|
|
bring out a kid, which, it is likely, was ready boiled for his own
|
|
dinner, so that in making it ready he had nothing to do but to put it
|
|
in the basket (for here was no sauce to serve it up in, nor the dish
|
|
garnished) and the broth in a vessel, and so he presented it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Hereby he intended, <I>First,</I> To testify his grateful and generous
|
|
respects to this stranger, and, in him, to God who sent him, as one
|
|
that studied what he should render. He had pleaded the poverty of his
|
|
family
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
to excuse himself from being a general, but not here to excuse himself
|
|
from being hospitable. Out of the little which the Midianites had left
|
|
him he would gladly spare enough to entertain a friend, especially a
|
|
messenger from heaven. <I>Secondly,</I> To try who and what this
|
|
extraordinary person was. What he brought out is called his
|
|
<I>present,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is the same word that is used for a meat-offering, and perhaps that
|
|
word is used which signifies both because Gideon intended to leave it
|
|
to this divine person to determine which it should be when he had it
|
|
before him: whether a feast or a meat-offering, and accordingly he
|
|
would be able to judge concerning him: if he ate of it as common meat,
|
|
he would suppose him to be a man, a prophet; if otherwise, as it
|
|
proved, he should know him to be an angel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(7.) The angel gives him a sign in and by that which he had kindly
|
|
prepared for his entertainment. For what we offer to God for his glory,
|
|
and in token of our gratitude to him, will be made by the grace of God
|
|
to turn to our own comfort and satisfaction. The angel ordered him to
|
|
take the flesh and bread out of the basket, and lay it upon a hard and
|
|
cold rock, and to pour out the broth upon it, which, if he brought it
|
|
hot, would soon be cold there; and <I>Gideon did so</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
believing that the angel appointed it, not in contempt of his courtesy,
|
|
but with an intention to give him a sign, which he did, abundantly to
|
|
his satisfaction. For,
|
|
|
|
[1.] He turned the <I>meat into an offering made by fire, of a sweet
|
|
savour</I> unto himself, showing hereby that he was not a man who
|
|
needed meat, but the Son of God who was to be served and honoured by
|
|
sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a
|
|
sacrifice.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He brought fire <I>out of the rock,</I> to consume this sacrifice,
|
|
summoning it, not by striking the rock, as we strike fire out of a
|
|
flint, but by a gentle touch given to the offering with the end of his
|
|
staff,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Hereby he gave him a sign that he had <I>found grace in his sight,</I>
|
|
for God testified his acceptance of sacrifices by kindling them, if
|
|
public, with fire from heaven, as those of Moses and Elias, if private,
|
|
as this, with fire out of the earth, which was equivalent: both were
|
|
the effect of divine power; and this acceptance of his sacrifice
|
|
evidenced the acceptance of his person, confirmed his commission, and
|
|
perhaps was intended to signify his success in the execution of it,
|
|
that he and his army should be a surprising terror and consumption to
|
|
the Midianites, like this fire out of the rock.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He <I>departed out of his sight</I> immediately, did not walk off
|
|
as a man, but vanished and disappeared as a spirit. Here was as much of
|
|
a sign as he could wish.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(8.) Gideon, though no doubt he was confirmed in his faith by the
|
|
indications given of the divinity of the person who had spoken to him,
|
|
yet for the present was put into a great fright by it, till God
|
|
graciously pacified him and removed his fears.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Gideon speaks peril to himself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When he perceived that he was an angel</I> (which was not till he
|
|
had departed, as the two disciples knew not it was Jesus they had been
|
|
talking with till he was going,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:31">Luke xxiv. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
then he cried out, <I>Alas! O Lord God!</I> be merciful to me, I am
|
|
undone, for <I>I have seen an angel,</I> as Jacob, who wondered that
|
|
his life was preserved when he had seen God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+32:30">Gen. xxxii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse an
|
|
express from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to
|
|
expect good tidings thence; at least, in this world of sense, it is a
|
|
very awful thing to have any sensible conversation with that world of
|
|
spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him
|
|
now.
|
|
|
|
[2.] God speaks peace to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
It might have been fatal to him, but he assures him it should not. The
|
|
Lord had <I>departed out of his sight,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
But though he must no longer walk by sight he might still live by
|
|
faith, that faith which comes by hearing; for the Lord said to him,
|
|
with an audible voice (as bishop Patrick thinks) these encouraging
|
|
words, "<I>Peace be unto thee,</I> all is well, and be thou satisfied
|
|
that it is so. Fear not; he that came to employ thee did not intend to
|
|
slay thee; <I>thou shalt not die.</I>" See how ready God is to revive
|
|
the hearts of those that tremble at his word and presence, and to give
|
|
those that stand in awe of his majesty assurances of his mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The memorial of this vision which Gideon set up was a monument in
|
|
form of an altar, the rather because it was by a kind of sacrifice upon
|
|
a rock, without the solemnity of an altar, that the angel manifested
|
|
his acceptance of him; then an altar was unnecessary (the angel's staff
|
|
was sufficient to sanctify the gift without an altar), but now it was
|
|
of use to preserve the remembrance of the vision, which was done by the
|
|
name Gideon gave to this memorial, <I>Jehovah-shalom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>)--<I>The
|
|
|
|
Lord peace.</I> This is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The title of the Lord that spoke to him. Compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+16:13">Gen. xvi. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same that is the <I>Lord our righteousness</I> is <I>our peace</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:14">Eph. ii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
our reconciler and so our Saviour. Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) The substance of what he said to him: "<I>The Lord spoke
|
|
peace,</I> and created that fruit of the lips, bade me be easy when I
|
|
was in that agitation." Or,
|
|
|
|
(3.) A prayer grounded upon what he had said, so the margin understands
|
|
it: <I>The Lord send peace,</I> that is, rest from the present trouble,
|
|
for still the public welfare lay nearest his heart.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_32"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Gideon Overturns the Altar of Baal; Gideon Rescued from the Mob.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>25 And it came to pass the same night, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto
|
|
him, 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, and cut down the grove that <I>is</I> by it:
|
|
26 And build an altar unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God upon the top of
|
|
this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and
|
|
offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou
|
|
shalt cut down.
|
|
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had said unto him: and <I>so</I> it was, because he feared his
|
|
father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do
|
|
<I>it</I> by day, that he did <I>it</I> by night.
|
|
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
|
|
behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut
|
|
down that <I>was</I> by it, and the second bullock was offered upon
|
|
the altar <I>that was</I> built.
|
|
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And
|
|
when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash
|
|
hath done this thing.
|
|
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 that <I>was</I> by it.
|
|
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye
|
|
plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let
|
|
him be put to death whilst <I>it is yet</I> morning: if he <I>be</I> a god,
|
|
let him plead for himself, because <I>one</I> hath cast down his
|
|
altar.
|
|
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let
|
|
Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. Orders are given to Gideon to begin his government with the
|
|
reformation of his father's house,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
A correspondence being settled between God and Gideon, by the
|
|
appearance of the angel to him, it was kept up in another way; the same
|
|
night after he had seen God, when he was full of thoughts concerning
|
|
what had passed, which probably he had not yet communicated to any,
|
|
<I>The Lord said unto him</I> in a dream, <I>Do so and so.</I> Note,
|
|
God's visits, if gratefully received, shall be graciously repeated. Bid
|
|
God welcome, and he will come again. Gideon is appointed,
|
|
|
|
1. To throw down Baal's altar, which it seems hi father had, either
|
|
for his own house or perhaps for the whole town. See the power of God's
|
|
grace, that he could raise up a reformer, and the condescensions of his
|
|
grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of one
|
|
that was a ring-leader in idolatry. But Gideon must not now think it
|
|
enough not to worship at that altar, which we charitably hope he had
|
|
not done, but he must throw it down; not consecrate the same altar to
|
|
God (tit is bishop Hall's observation), but utterly demolish it. God
|
|
first commands down the monuments of superstition, and then enjoins his
|
|
own service. He must likewise <I>cut down the grove that was by it,</I>
|
|
the plantation of young trees, designed to beautify the place. The
|
|
learned bishop Patrick, by the grove, understands the image in the
|
|
grove, probably the image of Ashtaroth (for the word for a grove is
|
|
<I>Ashereh</I>), which stood upon or close by the altar.
|
|
|
|
2. To erect an altar to God, <I>to Jehovah his God,</I> which
|
|
probably was to be notified by an inscription upon the altar to that
|
|
purport--to Jehovah, Gideon's God, or Israel's. It would have been an
|
|
improper thing for him to build an altar, even to the God of Israel,
|
|
especially for burnt-offering and sacrifice, and would have been
|
|
construed into a contempt of the altar at Shiloh, if God, who has not
|
|
tied up himself to his own laws, had not bidden him to do it. But now
|
|
it was his duty and honour to be thus employed. God directs him to the
|
|
place where he should build it, on the <I>top of the rock,</I> perhaps
|
|
in the same place in which the angel had appeared to him, near to the
|
|
altar he had already built: and he must not do it in a hurry, but with
|
|
the decency that became a religious action (<I>in an orderly
|
|
manner,</I> as it is in the margin), according to the ancient law for
|
|
altars raised on particular occasions, that they must be of earth not
|
|
of hewn stone. The word here used for the rock on which the altar was
|
|
to be built signifies a fortress, or strong-hold, erected, some think,
|
|
to secure them from the Midianites; if so, it was no security while the
|
|
altar of Baal was so near it, but it was effectually fortified when an
|
|
altar to the Lord was built on the top of it, for that is the best
|
|
defence upon our glory. On this altar,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He was to offer sacrifice. Two bullocks he must offer: his
|
|
father's <I>young bullock, and the second bullock of seven years
|
|
old,</I> so it should rather be read, not <I>even</I> the second as we
|
|
read it. The former, we may suppose, he was to offer for himself, the
|
|
latter <I>for the sins of the people</I> whom he was to deliver. It was
|
|
requisite he should thus make peace with God, before he made war on
|
|
Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great sacrifice, no good is to
|
|
be expected. These bullocks, it is supposed, were intended for
|
|
sacrifices on the altar of Baal, but were now converted to a better
|
|
use. Thus, when the <I>strong man armed</I> is overcome and
|
|
dispossessed, the stronger than he divides the spoil, seizes that for
|
|
himself <I>which was prepared for Baal.</I> Let him come <I>whose right
|
|
it is,</I> and <I>give it to him.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Ball's grove, or image, or whatever it was that was the sanctity
|
|
or beauty of his altar, must not only be burnt, but must be used as
|
|
fuel for God's altar, to signify not only that whatever sets up itself
|
|
in opposition to God shall be destroyed, but that the justice of God
|
|
will be glorified in its destruction. God ordered Gideon to do this,
|
|
|
|
[1.] To try his zeal for religion, which it was necessary he should
|
|
give proofs of before he took the field, to give proof of his valour
|
|
there.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That some steps might hereby to taken towards Israel's
|
|
reformation, which must prepare the way for their deliverance. Sin,
|
|
the cause, must be taken away, else how should the trouble, which was
|
|
but the effect, come to an end? And it might be hoped that this example
|
|
of Gideon's, who was now shortly to appear so great a man, would be
|
|
followed by the rest of the cities and tribes, and the destruction of
|
|
this one altar of Baal would be the destruction of many.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Gideon was <I>obedient to the heavenly vision,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that was to command the Israel of God must be subject to the God of
|
|
Israel, without disputing, and, as a type of Christ, must first <I>save
|
|
his people from their sins,</I> and then save them from their enemies.
|
|
|
|
1. He had servants of his own, whom he could confide in, who, we may
|
|
suppose, like him, had kept their integrity, and had <I>not bowed the
|
|
knee to Baal,</I> and therefore were forward to assist him in
|
|
destroying the altar of Baal.
|
|
|
|
2. He did not scruple taking his father's bullock and offering it to
|
|
God without his father's consent, because God, who expressly commanded
|
|
him to do so, had a better title to it than his father had, and it was
|
|
the greatest real kindness he could do to his father to prevent his
|
|
sin.
|
|
|
|
3. He expected to incur the displeasure of his father's household by
|
|
it, and the ill-will of his neighbours, yet he did it, remembering how
|
|
much it was Levi's praise that, in the cause of God, <I>he said to his
|
|
father and mother, I have not seen him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:9">Deut. xxxiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, while he was sure of the favour of God, he feared not the anger of
|
|
men; he that bade him do it would bear him out. Yet,
|
|
|
|
4. Though he feared not their resentment when it was done, to prevent
|
|
their resistance in the doing of it he prudently chose to do it by
|
|
night, that he might not be disturbed in these sacred actions. And some
|
|
think it was the same night in which God spoke to him to do it, and
|
|
that, as soon as ever he had received the orders, he immediately
|
|
applied himself to the execution of them, and finished before
|
|
morning.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He was brought into peril of his life for doing it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:28-30"><I>v.</I> 28-30</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. It was soon discovered what was done. Gideon, when he had gone
|
|
through with the business, did not desire the concealment of it, nor
|
|
could it be hid, for the men of the city <I>rose early in the
|
|
morning,</I> as it should seem, to say their matins at Baal's altar,
|
|
and so to begin the day with their god, such a one as he was, a shame
|
|
to those who say the true God is their God, and yet, in the morning,
|
|
direct no prayer to him, nor look up.
|
|
|
|
2. It was soon discovered who had done it. Strict enquiry was made.
|
|
Gideon was known to be disaffected to the worship of Baal, which
|
|
brought him into suspicion, and positive proof immediately came against
|
|
him: "Gideon, no doubt, <I>has done this thing.</I>"
|
|
|
|
3. Gideon being found guilty of the fact, to such a pitch of impiety
|
|
had these degenerate Israelites arrived that they take it for law he
|
|
must die for the same, and require his own father (who, by patronising
|
|
their idolatry, had given them too much cause to expect he would comply
|
|
with them herein) to deliver him up: <I>Bring out thy son, that he may
|
|
die.</I> Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and tremble, O earth! By
|
|
the law of God the worshippers of Baal were to die, but these wicked
|
|
men impiously turn the penalty upon the worshippers of the God of
|
|
Israel. How prodigiously mad were they upon their idols! Was it not
|
|
enough to offer the choicest of their bullocks to Baal, but must the
|
|
bravest youth of their city fall as a sacrifice to that dunghill-deity,
|
|
when they pretended he was provoked? How soon will idolaters become
|
|
persecutors!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He was rescued out of the hands of his persecutors by his own
|
|
father,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. There were those that stood against Gideon, that not only appeared
|
|
at the first to make a demand, but insisted on it, and would have him
|
|
put to death. Notwithstanding the heavy judgments they were at this
|
|
time under for their idolatry, yet they hated to be reformed, and
|
|
walked contrary to God even when he was walking contrary to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Yet then <I>Joash stood for him;</I> he was one of the chief men of
|
|
the city. Those that have power may do a great deal for the protection
|
|
of an honest man and an honest cause, and when they so use their power
|
|
they are ministers of God for good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) This Joash had patronised Baal's altar, yet now protects him that
|
|
had destroyed it,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Out of natural affection to his son, and perhaps a particular
|
|
esteem for him as a virtuous, valiant, valuable, young man, and never
|
|
the worse for not joining with him in the worship of Baal. Many that
|
|
have not courage enough to keep their integrity themselves yet have so
|
|
much conscience left as makes them love and esteem those that do. If
|
|
Joash had a kindness for Baal, yet he had a greater kindness for his
|
|
son. Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] Out of a care for the public peace. The mob grew riotous, and, he
|
|
feared, would grow more so, and therefore, as some think, he bestirred
|
|
himself to repress the tumult: "Let it be left to the judges; it is not
|
|
for you to pass sentence upon any man;" he that offers it, <I>let him
|
|
be put to death:</I> he means not as an idolater, but as a disturber of
|
|
the peace, and the mover of sedition. Under this same colour Paul was
|
|
rescued at Ephesus from those that were as zealous for Diana as these
|
|
were for Baal,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:40">Acts xix. 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
[3.] Out of a conviction that Gideon had done well. His son, perhaps,
|
|
had reasoned with him, or God, who has all hearts in his hands, had
|
|
secretly and effectually influenced him to appear thus against the
|
|
advocates for Baal, though he had complied with them formerly in the
|
|
worship of Baal. Note, It is good to appear for God when we are called
|
|
to it, though there be few or none to second us, because God can
|
|
incline the hearts of those to stand by us from whom we little expect
|
|
assistance. Let us do our duty, and then trust God with our safety.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Two things Joash urges:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] That it was absurd for them to plead for Baal. "Will you that are
|
|
Israelites, the worshippers of the one only living and true God, plead
|
|
for Baal, a false god? Will you be so sottish, so senseless? Those
|
|
whose fathers' god Baal was, and who never knew any other, are more
|
|
excusable in pleading for him than you are, that are in covenant with
|
|
Jehovah, and have been trained up in the knowledge of him. You that
|
|
have smarted so much for worshipping Baal, and have brought all this
|
|
mischief and calamity upon yourselves by it, will you yet plead for
|
|
Baal?" Note, It is bad to commit sin, but it is great wickedness indeed
|
|
to plead for it, especially to plead for Baal, that idol, whatever it
|
|
is, which possesses that room in the heart which God should have.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That it was needless for them to plead for Baal. If he were not a
|
|
god, as was pretended, they could have nothing to say for him; if he
|
|
were, he was able to plead for himself, as the God of Israel had often
|
|
done by fire from heaven, or some other judgment against those who put
|
|
contempt upon him. Here is a fair challenge to Baal to <I>do either
|
|
good or evil,</I> and the result convinced his worshippers of their
|
|
folly in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself;
|
|
after this Gideon remarkably prospered, and thereby it appeared how
|
|
unable Baal was to maintain his own cause.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) Gideon's father hereupon gave him a new name
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
|
|
he called him <I>Jerubbaal:</I> "Let Baal plead; let him plead against
|
|
him if he can; if he have any thing to say for himself against his
|
|
destroyer, let him say it." This name was a standing defiance to Baal:
|
|
"Now that Gideon is taking up arms against the Midianites that worship
|
|
Baal, let him defend his worshippers if he can." It likewise gave
|
|
honour to Gideon (a sworn enemy to that great usurper, and that had
|
|
carried the day against him), that encouragement to his soldiers, that
|
|
they fought under one that fought for God against this great competitor
|
|
with him for the throne. It is the probable conjecture of the learned
|
|
that that Jerombalus whom Sanchoniathon (one of the most ancient of all
|
|
the heathen writers) speaks of as <I>a priest of the god Jao</I> (a
|
|
corruption of the name <I>Jehovah</I>), and one to whom he was indebted
|
|
for a great deal of knowledge, was this Jerubbaal. He is called
|
|
<I>Jerubbesheth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:12">2 Sam. xi. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Baal,</I> a <I>lord,</I> being fitly turned into <I>Besheth,
|
|
shame.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud6_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Gideon's Fleece.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children
|
|
of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in
|
|
the valley of Jezreel.
|
|
34 But the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came upon Gideon, and he blew a
|
|
trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
|
|
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was
|
|
gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto
|
|
Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
|
|
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine
|
|
hand, as thou hast said,
|
|
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; <I>and</I> if
|
|
the dew be on the fleece only, and <I>it be</I> dry upon all the earth
|
|
<I>beside,</I> then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine
|
|
hand, as thou hast said.
|
|
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.
|
|
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against
|
|
me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee,
|
|
but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the
|
|
fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
|
|
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece
|
|
only, and there was dew on all the ground.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here we have,
|
|
|
|
I. The descent which the enemies of Israel made upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
A vast number of Midianites, Amalekites, and Arabians, got together,
|
|
and came over Jordan, none either caring or daring to guard that
|
|
important and advantageous pass against them, and they made their
|
|
headquarters in the valley of Jezreel, in the heart of Manasseh's
|
|
tribe, not far from Gideon's city. Some think that the notice they had
|
|
of Gideon's destroying Baal's altar brought them over, and that they
|
|
came to plead for Baal and to make that a pretence for quarrelling with
|
|
Israel; but it is more likely that it was now harvest-time, when they
|
|
had been wont each year to make such a visit as this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that they were expected when Gideon was threshing,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God raised up Gideon to be ready against this terrible blow came. Their
|
|
success so many years in these incursions, the little opposition they
|
|
had met with and the great booty they had carried off, made them now
|
|
both very eager and very confident. But it proved that <I>the measure
|
|
of their iniquity was full</I> and the year of recompence had come;
|
|
they must now <I>make an end to spoil</I> and <I>must be spoiled,</I>
|
|
and they are <I>gathered as sheaves to the floor</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+4:12,13">Mic. iv. 12, 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
for Gideon to thresh.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The preparation which Gideon makes to attack them in their camp,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. God by his Spirit put life into Gideon: <I>The Spirit of the Lord
|
|
clothes Gideon</I> (so the word is), clothed him as a robe, to put
|
|
honour upon him, clothed him as a coat of mail, to put defence upon
|
|
him. Those are well clad that are thus clothed. <I>A spirit of
|
|
fortitude from before the Lord clothed Gideon;</I> so the Chaldee. He
|
|
was of himself a mighty man of valour; yet personal strength and
|
|
courage, though vigorously exerted, would not suffice for this great
|
|
action; he must have the <I>armour of God</I> upon him, and this is
|
|
what he must depend upon: <I>The Spirit of the Lord clothed him</I> in
|
|
an extraordinary manner. Whom God calls to his work he will qualify and
|
|
animate for it.
|
|
|
|
2. Gideon with his trumpet put life into his neighbours, God working
|
|
with him; he <I>blew a trumpet,</I> to call in volunteers, and more
|
|
came in than perhaps he expected.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The men of Abiezer, though lately enraged against him for throwing
|
|
down the altar of Baal, and though they had condemned him to death as a
|
|
criminal, were now convinced of their error, bravely came in to his
|
|
assistance, and submitted to him as their general: <I>Abiezer was
|
|
gathered after him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
So suddenly can God turn the hearts even of idolaters and persecutors.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Distant tribes, even Asher and Naphtali, which lay most remote,
|
|
though strangers to him, obeyed his summons, and sent him in the best
|
|
of their forces,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though they lay furthest from the danger, yet, considering that if
|
|
their neighbours were over-run by the Midianites their own turn would
|
|
be next, they were forward to join against a common enemy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The signs which God gratified him with, for the confirming both of
|
|
his own faith and that of his followers; and perhaps it was more for
|
|
their sakes than for his own that he desired them. Or, perhaps, he
|
|
desired by these to be satisfied whether this was the time of his
|
|
conquering the Midianites, or whether he was to wait for some other
|
|
opportunity. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. His request for a sign
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:36,37"><I>v.</I> 36, 37</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Let me by this <I>know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand,</I> let
|
|
<I>a fleece of wool,</I> spread in the open air, be <I>wet with the
|
|
dew,</I> and let the ground about it be dry." The purport of this is,
|
|
<I>Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.</I> He found his own faith
|
|
weak and wavering, and therefore begged of God by this sign to perfect
|
|
what was lacking in it. We may suppose that God, who intended to give
|
|
him these signs, for the glorifying of his own power and goodness, put
|
|
it into his heart to ask them. Yet, when he repeated his request for a
|
|
second sign, the reverse of the former, he did it with a very humble
|
|
apology, deprecating God's displeasure, because it looked so like a
|
|
peevish humoursome distrust of God and dissatisfaction with the many
|
|
assurances he had already given him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let not thy anger be hot against me.</I> Though he took the boldness
|
|
to ask another sign, yet he did it with such fear and trembling as
|
|
showed that the familiarity God had graciously admitted him to did not
|
|
breed any contempt of God's glory, nor presumption on God's goodness.
|
|
Abraham had given him an example of this, when God gave him leave to be
|
|
very free with him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:30,32">Gen. xviii. 30, 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak.</I> God's favour must
|
|
be sought with great reverence, a due sense of our distance, and a
|
|
religious fear of his wrath.
|
|
|
|
2. God's gracious grant of his request. See how tender God is of true
|
|
believers though they be weak, and how ready to condescend to their
|
|
infirmities, that the bruised reed may not be broken nor the smoking
|
|
flax quenched. Gideon would have <I>the fleece wet</I> and the
|
|
<I>ground dry;</I> but then, lest any should object, "It is natural for
|
|
wool, if ever so little moisture fall, to drink it in and retain it,
|
|
and therefore there was nothing extraordinary in this," though the
|
|
quantity wrung out was sufficient to obviate such an objection, yet he
|
|
desires that next night the ground might be wet and the fleece dry, and
|
|
it is done, so willing is God to <I>give to the heirs of promise strong
|
|
consolation</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:17,18">Heb. vi. 17, 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
even by two immutable things. He suffers himself, not only to be
|
|
prevailed with by their importunities, but even to be prescribed to by
|
|
their doubts and dissatisfactions. These signs were,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Truly miraculous, and therefore abundantly serving to confirm his
|
|
commission. It is said of the dew that it is <I>from the Lord,</I> and
|
|
<I>tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+5:7">Micah v. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
and yet God here in this matter <I>hearkened to the voice of a man;</I>
|
|
as to Joshua, in directing the course of the sun, so to Gideon in
|
|
directing that of the dew, by which it appears that it falls not by
|
|
chance, but by providence. The latter sign inverted the former, and, to
|
|
please Gideon, it was wrought backward and forward, whence Dr. Fuller
|
|
observes that <I>heaven's real miracles will endure turning, being
|
|
inside and outside both alike.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Very significant. He and his men were going to engage the
|
|
Midianites; could God distinguish between a small fleece of Israel and
|
|
the vast floor of Midian? Yes, by this he is made to know that he can.
|
|
Is Gideon desirous that the dew of divine grace might descend upon
|
|
himself in particular? He sees the fleece wet with dew to assure him of
|
|
it. Does he desire that God will be as the dew to all Israel? Behold,
|
|
all the ground is wet. Some make this fleece an emblem of the Jewish
|
|
nation, which, when time was, was wet with the dew of God's word and
|
|
ordinances, while the rest of the world was dry; but since the
|
|
rejection of Christ and his gospel they are dry <I>as the heath in the
|
|
wilderness,</I> while the nations about are <I>as a watered
|
|
garden.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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