Judges 6:6-16

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried to the LORD.

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites,

8 That the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth from the house of bondage;

9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;

10 And I said to you, I [am] the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which [was] in Ophrah, that [pertained] to Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon thrashed wheat by the wine-press, to hide [it] from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

13 And Gideon said to him, O my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then hath all this befallen us? and where [are] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

15 And he said to him, O my Lord, by what means shall I save Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father's house.

16 And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Judges 6:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 6

In this chapter we have an account of the distressed condition Israel was in through the Midianites, Jud 6:1-6, of a prophet being sent unto them to reprieve them for their sins, Jud 6:7-10 of an angel appearing to Gideon, with an order to him to go and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites, Jud 6:11-16 and of a sign given him by the angel, whereby he knew this order was of God, Jud 6:17-24, and of the reformation from idolatry in his father's family he made upon this, throwing down the altar of Baal, and building one for the Lord, Jud 6:25-32, and of the preparation he made to fight the Midianites and others, Jud 6:33-35, but first desired a sign of the Lord, that Israel would be saved by his hand, which was granted and repeated, Jud 6:36-40.